The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, has restated that INEC will continue to register eligible persons as voters pending the outcome of a suit against the commission.
The continuous voter registration (CVR) which resumed on June 28, 2021, was scheduled to end on June 30, 2022, to enable INEC to clean up its register and prepare for the 2023 General Elections.
Due to the recent surge in the number of people turning out for voter registration, individuals and groups had called on INEC to extend the CVR to enable intending persons to partake in the exercise.
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Following INEC’s initial refusal to grant the requests, the Socio-economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) approached the Federal High Court, Lagos, to seek the declaration of the commission’s failure to extend the deadline as “unconstitutional, illegal, and incompatible with international standards”.
INEC spokesperson, Festus Okoye, said in a statement on Thursday that the commission was granted accelerated hearing when the suit came up on Wednesday, adding that the outcome will determine the new CVR deadline.
“The Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) will continue nationwide, and all the Resident Electoral Commissioners and Electoral Officers have been directed to continue with the exercise pending further directives from the Commission. The Commission has consistently reiterated its resolve to continue to provide electoral services to the Nigerian people and register all eligible Nigerians that are interested in registering. The Commission has yet again deployed additional machines to areas of pressure and will continue to serve the people of Nigeria.
“Furthermore, the case at the Federal High Court relating to the terminal date of the CVR came up yesterday Wednesday 29th June 2022, and based on the request of the Commission, the Court granted an accelerated hearing and adjourned the matter to Monday 4th July 2022 for hearing of the substantive matter. The Commission will give an update after the court hearing next week,” said Okoye.
He said amid this, INEC had been inundated with applications for certified true copies of various documents from political parties, aspirants, and candidates, among others.
“So far, 186 requests for CTCs, some running into hundreds of pages, have been processed. The Commission is working round the clock, including weekends, to attend to all such requests,” he said.
The commission further urged political parties to ensure that the names and particulars of their governorship and state assembly candidates are uploaded to its portal latest by July 15.
“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 6 pm on 15th July 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,” said Okoye.