Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has announced that the ongoing nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise will be suspended on the 30th of June, 2022.
He made the announcement on Wednesday, during the Second Quarterly Consultative meeting with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), held in Abuja.
Announcing the suspension which he explained will start with the online pre-registration on 30th of May, 2022, Professor Yakubu said; “ as you are aware, the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise ends next month i.e. 30th June 2022. Both the online pre-registration as well as the physical registration at designated centres are taking place simultaneously.”
“However, online pre-registrants would require time to schedule appointments to complete their registration physically at designated centers. For this reason, the Commission has decided to suspend the online registration in the next three weeks i.e. 30th May 2022. This will enable the online registrants to complete their registration physically at the designated centres before the exercise is suspended on 30th June 2022. “
He explained that “this will enable the Commission to clean up the registration data, print the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and compile the register ahead of the 2023 General Election”.
On the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) which the Commission has maintained it’s stand on its optimal functionality, Professor Yakubu, said “the lessons learnt from the most recent bye-elections have been taken into consideration as we prepare for the forthcoming Ekiti and Osun State Governorship elections”.
He added that “The Commission has just finished the configuration of the BVAS for the Ekiti State Governorship election. We will also undertake a mock voter accreditation exercise in Ekiti State ahead of the main election on 18th June 2022, the details of which will be announced shortly”.
