On the heels of pressure from several individuals and civil society bodies, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday evening officially announced an indefinite extension to the ongoing continuous voter registration for the 2023 election which was expected to end on June 30, 2022.
This was made known in a statement issued in Abuja by the commission’s National Electoral Commissioner and Chairman (Information and Voter Education Committee), Festus Okoye.
According to him, the Continous Voter Registration exercise will continue nationwide, adding that all the Resident Electoral Commissioners and electoral officers have been directed to continue with the exercise pending further directives from the commission.
While providing reasons for the extension, Okoye said that the commission had consistently reiterated its resolve to continue to provide electoral services to the Nigerian people by registering all eligible Nigerians that were interested in registering.
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He also explained that the matter was in a Federal High Court, relating to the terminal date of the CVR.
A Federal High Court in Abuja had granted an order of interim injunction stopping INEC from ending voter registration on June 30, 2022.
‘The matter came up on Wednesday June 29, 2022, and based on the request of the commission, the court granted an accelerated hearing and adjourned the matter to Monday July 4, 2022 for hearing of the substantive matter. The commission will give an update after court hearing next week”, Okoye said.
He added that INEC has deployed additional machines to areas of pressure and would continue to serve the people of Nigeria.
Speaking on the issuance of Certified True Copy of documents, Okoye observed that INEC had been inundated with applications for CTCs of various documents.
Okoye said, ‘so far, 186 requests for CTCs, some running into hundreds of pages, have been processed.
He said, ‘The commission is working round the clock, including weekends, to attend to all such requests. We wish to assure political parties, aspirants, candidates, and all applicants for CTCs of documents that their applications will be treated expeditiously and will be issued in earnest.’
While commenting on the submission of list and particulars of nominated candidates for governorship and State Assembly primaries, Okoye said the July 15, 2022 given to political parties remained valid.
‘By the timetable and schedule of activities released by the commission, political parties that conducted valid governorship and State Assembly primaries shall upload the list and personal particulars of their nominated candidates between July 1 and 15 2022.
‘We urge political parties to scrutinize the list and personal particulars of the candidates they propose to sponsor at the election to avoid any mix-up and duplication of names. Political parties are advised not to wait until the last day before uploading the list and personal particulars of their candidates.
‘The candidates nomination portal will shut down at 6pm on July 15, 2022. Political parties that have challenges with uploading documents should contact the Commission’s Help Desk, through the dedicated telephone lines or contact the candidate nomination centre at the Commission’s Headquarters’, he said.