The Continuous Voter Registration CVR exercise deadline has been extended by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to the 31st of July 2022. In a statement released on Friday in Abuja by Barr. Festus Okoye, the INEC National Commissioner in charge of the Information and Voter Education Committee, it was revealed that the Commission had met in an extraordinary session earlier in the day to discuss, among other things, the suspension of the current CVR. This came after the Federal High Court’s decision on Wednesday, July 13, 2022, to dismiss the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project’s (SERAP) lawsuit, which sought to extend the exercise past June 30, 2022.
The Court has affirmed that INEC is free to choose a date to suspend the CVR as long as it is not more than 90 days before the date set for the General Election under Section 9(6) of the Electoral Act 2022, the official said. According to him, the Commission kept using the CVR after June 30, 2022, following the court’s interim injunction while the substantive suit was being decided. This allowed more Nigerians to register. As a result, the CVR has already been extended for a further 15 days past June 30, 2022. All legal obstacles have been eliminated as a result of the Federal High Court’s ruling. In light of this, the Commission has made the following choices
• The CVR is hereby extended for an additional two weeks to Sunday, July 31, 2022, making the total number of days the extension will last from July 1 through July 31 to 31.
• In addition, the exercise’s current six-hour (9.00 am-3:30 pm) daily duration has been increased to eight hours (9.00 am-5.00 pm);
• In addition, instead of just weekdays, the exercise is expanded to encompass weekends (Saturdays and Sundays).
He claims that the Commission is compelled to use the Automated Biometric Identification System to clean up the record by removing multiple registrants (ABIS). He continued by saying that INEC is also required to compile the national voter register (consisting of both current and new registrants) and display it on a polling unit basis for each of the nation’s 8,809 Registration Areas (Wards) spread across the 774 Local Government Areas for public inspection.
“We appreciate the interest of Nigerians to register and participate in the electoral process and once again reiterate our commitment to credible and transparent elections. This can only be achieved with the support and cooperation of all Nigerians”, Okoye added.
