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A coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) for Good Governance has appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to further extend the July 31 deadline for the suspension of ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).
The coalition made the appeal in a letter signed by its Convener, Prof. Theophilus Ndubuaku, addressed to INEC Chairman and submitted at the commission’s headquarters on Friday in Abuja.
According to the letter, the CSOs urged INEC to magnanimously consider extending the deadline for the exercise in favour of the 2023 general elections.
The CSOs said that its appeal was anchored on information reaching it from several parts of the country, across the six geo-political zones.
It stated that large segments of the population have not been able to register after queuing up at various registration centres without any hope of being registered.
“If this deadline is not extended, millions of Nigerians will be disenfranchised and since this problem may enhance the narrative of marginalisation, which cannot augur well for democracy in Nigeria.
“During the anticipated extension of the deadline for voter registration, INEC will have the opportunity of addressing the lapses which have been experienced.
“By law, INEC enjoys the liberty of official closure of 90 days to the elections, so extending it by at least one month will enable good citizens of Nigeria to register,” the letter stated.
Ndubuaku, who led members of the society in a protest to submit the letter, urged INEC to consider the plead of Nigerians.
“Somebody might say even if you extend it forever some people might not still register. But so long that we still have crowd at the centres it means that we still have people who are waiting.
“Some people are afraid that they may not be able to register in the remaining two days.
“We know the tenacity of INEC that you can extend it a little bit, which will still be within the law.
“We know you have extended it several times. You have tried, but all over the country there are still long queues,” Ndubuaku said.
He said while the coalition could not force INEC to extend it as well as know its constraints, they believe that INEC could still consider the request, “even if it is to ask for more fund which is justifiable”.
Ndubuaku said that if the request could be granted, the coalition made up of about 25 CSOs, would mobilise support of NIgerians for INEC on the exercise.
Receiving the letter, the Assistant Director, Security Unit, INEC, Mrs Endurance Babaginda, said that the letter would be forwarded to the INEC chairman.
The commission has fixed July 31 as the deadline to allow it perform the legal requirements it has to undertake before the general elections.
These includes Clean-up of voter register, display details of the newly registrants at each of the 8,809 Registration Areas (Wards) across the 774 Local Government Areas and printing of millions of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
The deadline was earlier fixed for June 30.
The exercise was also extended to eight hours daily from 9 a.m – 5 p.m instead of the previous duration of six hours (9 a.m – 3 p.m) daily; including weekends.
Registrations from 2011 don’t need revalidation – INEC
Meanwhile, the INEC in Lagos State said PVCs issued by the commission since 2011 till date do not expire and there is no need for any revalidation.
INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Lagos, Mr Olusegun Agbaje, made this clarification in a statement on Saturday to reduce crowd at various Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in the state.
There has been huge surge in most voter enrollment centres in the state ahead of July 31 CVR deadline.
There have been speculation on social media that old PVCs needed some revalidation, hence the reason why many people besiege CVR centres daily, while some engage in double and multiple registrations.
Agbaje also appealed to those who are not registering for the first time or do not have any issue with PVC or fingerprint during accreditation in any past election not to visit the designated voter enrollment centres.
Agbaje said: “The commission wishes to reiterate that Permanent Voter Cards issued by the independent National Electoral Commission since 2011 till date do not expire and no need for any revalidation.
“The PVC will work very well with the commission’s new technology code, named Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS), as witnessed in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun states governorship elections recently conducted by the commission.
“The commission once again appeals to those who are not registering for the first time or do not have any issue with PVC or fingerprint during accreditation in any past election not to visit the designated Physical CVR Centres but address transfer and PVC incidences like damage, deface or loss on the commission’s online portal to reduce the crowd.”
He said that the CVR, which commenced on June 28, 2021, would end on July 31.
According to him, all eligible citizens that are yet to register should visit any of the CVR Centres at the INEC headquarters office in Sabo-Yaba.
Agbaje noted that they could also go to INEC offices in the 20 local government arears or scheduled wards to do so.
“The commission is ready to capture all eligible citizens before the end of the exercise,” he added.
Agbaje said that those that were eligible to register at the CVR centres included Nigerians who had clocked 18 years and above and had not registered before.
The INEC boss added that registered voters who had had any problem during accreditation for any past election with either PVC or their fingerprints not being read by the Smart Card Reader.
He said that registered voters who wanted to transfer their voting location from one place to another, correct issues with their data or those whose PVCs were damaged, defaced or lost did not need to visit the CVR Centres but visit the commission’s online CVR platforms; https://cvr.inecnigeria org or https://cvr.inec.gov.ng to address the issue as the case may be.