INEC to resume nationwide continuous voters’ registration June 28

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled June 28, this year for the resumption of its suspended Continuous Voters Registration, (CVR), across the country with a new technology.

The Commission has also revealed that the national identity number (NIN) will not be needed to register under the new CVR exercise.

The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed these at a press conference in Abuja, adding that the exercise would continue until the third quarter of 2022.

Prof. Yakubu also revealed that the Commission would replace its Direct Data Capture Machine (DDCM) , introduced in the year 2011 for voter registration, with a new technology called, INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED).

The Chairman noted that emphasis will initially be on Anambra State where more centres will be established in view of the Governorship election already scheduled for Saturday 6th November 2021.

He stated that  “Effective from Monday 28th June 2021, the CVR exercise will commence nationwide and be carried out continuously for over a year until the third quarter of 2022.

“However, emphasis will initially be on Anambra State where more centres will be established in view of the Governorship election already scheduled for Saturday 6th November 2021.

“In order to complete preparations for the Governorship election, the CVR exercise in the State will be temporarily suspended in August 2021.

“This will enable the Commission to clean up the data for the State and print the PVCs for registrants.

“As time goes on, the Commission will provide more details on the CVR exercise, particularly the innovations that will ensure a safe and stress-free experience for registrants.

“In doing so, we will fully consult stakeholders. In fact, the first in the series of these consultations will take place after the Easter break”, he said.

The INEC Chairman called on all intending registrants, especially those that have turned 18 recently to turn out and register from Monday 28th June 2021.

The INEC Chairman listed the following categories of Nigerians as those who are particularly encouraged to seize the opportunity of the CVR in order to fulfil the important civic responsibility of voting:

*All Nigerians who are 18 years of age and have never been registered to vote;

*Any registered voter who has had any issue during accreditation at previous elections so that the Commission can rectify the problem;

“All registered voters who wish to transfer their voting locations from the present one to another.

*All registered voters who have lost their PVCs or whose PVCs have been defaced or damaged; and

*All registered voters who wish to correct their information such as misspellings of names, dates of birth.

Commenting on the former CVR, Yakubu hinted that the registration exercise took place continuously from April 27, 2017 and was suspended on Aug. 31, 2018 to enable the commission to prepare the data for the production of register of voters and printing of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for the 2019 general elections.

The Commission, he stressed, could not resume the exercise in 2019 due to litigations that followed the general elections as well as several off-cycle elections, particularly the Kogi and Bayelsa governorship polls, where the same registered voter for 2019 were used.

Yakubu explained that the CVR could not also come up in 2020 largely due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.