Patience Leonard, PBA Journalism Mentee
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has directed its staff to extend voters’ registration pending further instruction from the commission.
Secretary to the Commission, Rose Onaran-Anthony, in statement on June 30 2022, directed all Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) to continue with the voters registration exercise until further instruction is given to them by the commission.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelShe further disclosed that arrangement was being made to provide more funds for the exercise to continue.
The statement read “ This is to inform all RECs that by this Circular they are to continue the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) Exercise until further decision is communicated to them.
“Meanwhile arrangement is being made to provide additional funds for the continuation of the exercise.
“While wishing you a successful exercise, please accept the assurances of the Commission’s warm regards.”
In a separate statement released on Thursday, signed by the INEC national commissioner and chairman voter education committee, Barr. Festus Okoye, the commission directed all political parties which conducted valid Governorship and State Assembly primaries to upload list and particulars of nominated candidates starting from today, July 1 till July 15, 2022.
Okoye advised all political parties to carefully 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.
He further revealed that candidates nomination portal will shut down at 6pm on July 15th 2022, thereby urging them not to wait until the last day before they upload.
Meanwhile, political parties that face difficulty in uploading their particulars were advised to contact the Commission’s Help-Desk, through their dedicated telephone lines or contact the candidate nomination centre at the Commission’s headquarters.
“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 6pm 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,” Okoye stated.
On the extension of voter registration, Okoye said the decision was reached after INEC meeting in its national headquarters, Abuja on Friday where different registration issues were discussed.
The deliberations include Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) exercise, issuance of Certified True Copies (CTCs) of documents and the commencement of the uploading of the list and personal particulars of Governorship and State Assembly candidates.
The INEC National Commissioner, also reiterated the commission’s resolve to continue providing electoral services to the Nigerian people and register all eligible citizens that are interested in participating in the electoral exercise.
He also disclosed that additional machines were already being deployed to areas of pressure and would continue to serve the people of Nigeria.
Okoye further stated that the case at Federal High Court relating to the terminal date of the CVR came up on Wednesday June 29th, 2022. Based on the request of the Commission, the Court granted an accelerated hearing and adjourned the case to Monday, 4th July 2022 for hearing of the substantive matter.
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He informed that the commission will give an update after court hearing next week.
It was also revealed that 186 requests for CTCs, some running into hundreds of pages, have been processed.
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Assuring all applicants of the CTCs of their work, Mr. Okoye said their applications will be treated with care and result issued in earnest.
