By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
Barely one week after the commencement of the continuous voter registration exercise, about 203,497 eligible Nigerians have completed the online pre-registration as fresh voters.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, confirmed this in Abuja yesterday while giving an update on the online pre-registration of voters.
The Commission, in a statement by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Barrister Festus Okoye in Abuja, pointed out that the figure rises to 259,713 if applications for voter transfer, requests for replacement of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs), update of voter information record and so on, are included.
The Commission revealed that full details of Week One of the exercise have been uploaded on the Commission’s website and social media platforms.
INEC stated that for emphasis, the physical or in-person registration is scheduled to commence in all our State and Local Government offices nationwide on Monday 19th July 2021. Eligible Nigerians who wish to register physically and those who have scheduled their appointments to complete their online pre-registration, the commission said, will have the opportunity to do so.
It added that both online pre-registration and the physical registration will go on simultaneously throughout the duration of the CVR, adding that further details of the schedule of activities and locations for the physical exercise will be made available next week.
According to the statement by Okoye,
“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) met today, (yesterday) Tuesday, 6th July 2021 and discussed, among other issues, the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) which commenced online on 28th June 2021.
“In our press statement of Tuesday 29th June 2021, we promised Nigerians that after one week of the exercise, we will be giving weekly updates which will include a detailed breakdown of the distribution of registrants by State, occupation, gender and age.
“As at 7am yesterday, 5th July 2021, one week after the commencement of the exercise, 203,497 eligible Nigerians have completed the online pre-registration as fresh voters.
“The figure rises to 259,713 if applications for voter transfer, requests for replacement of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs), update of voter information record etc are included.
“Full details of Week One of the exercise have been uploaded on the Commission’s website and social media platforms.
“For emphasis, the physical or in-person registration is scheduled to commence in all our State and Local Government offices nationwide on Monday 19th July 2021.
“Eligible Nigerians who wish to register physically and those who have scheduled their appointments to complete their online pre-registration will have the opportunity to do so.
“Both online pre-registration and the physical registration will go on simultaneously throughout the duration of the CVR.
“Further details of the schedule of activities and locations for the physical exercise will be made available next week”, it said.
The Commission however reminded the people that the online pre-registration services are for the following categories of Nigerians:
*Those who are 18 years and above and have never registered.
*Registered voters who have had any problem during the accreditation for past elections, with either their Permanent Voters’ Cards or fingerprints not being read by the Smart Card Reader (SCR).
*Registered voters who want to transfer their voting location from one place to another.
*Registered voters who want to correct issues with their data, such as misspelt names, dates of birth, etc.
*Registered voters whose Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) are lost or damaged.
The Commission this said, “We urge every eligible Nigerian to seize the opportunity of the online pre-registration or the in-person option to register as a voter”.
