INEC chair: Voter registration won’t end on June 30

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has said the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) will not end on June 30, 2022.

Yakubu made this known while speaking at Youth Vote Count concert at the old parade ground in Abuja on Saturday.

He said: “The second thing is you want to know when will this registration end. Is it going to end on the 30th of June in the next five days?

“On behalf of INEC, let me assure you, e no go end for 30th June for as long as we have you people trying to register to obtain your PVC, we will continue to register you and we will continue to make sure that you get your PVC.”

The House of Representatives had recently urged INEC to extend the voter registration by 60 days.

This followed the adoption of a motion by Benjamin Kalu (APC-Abia) during plenary in Abuja.

The House urged INEC to extend the voters registration deadline by an extra 60 days from June 30, 2022, to enable as many Nigerians as possible to register.

Kalu said the decision to suspend the voters’ registration was in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, which required INEC to suspend voters’ registration at least 60 days before an election.

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He said in April, INEC declared that about 42 per cent of the voter registrations recorded since the commencement of CVR on 28 June, 2021, were invalid with about 20 million unclaimed Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs).

Kalu added that the large number of unregistered eligible voters, willing to be registered as evidenced by crowd seen at various registration centres, had resulted in congestion.

He expressed concern due to reports of shortages of voter registration machines, inadequate manpower and personnel at registration centres.

According to him, this may lead to frustration among prospective registrants, and in some cases, unrest at some registration centres.

The lawmaker further stated that the right to vote was critically important to the health and legitimacy of the country’s democracy, as well as electoral integrity.

Kalu said if nothing was done to improve the shortage of voter registration equipment, and extend the deadline for voters registration, millions of Nigerians would be disenfranchised, which would jeopardise the integrity of the 2023 general election.

The House, therefore, mandated the Committee on Electoral Matters to engage INEC in order to examine and proffer solutions to the shortage of registration machines and manpower.

The Star