The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it will begin a nationwide Continuous Voter Registration on June 28 across the 774 Local Government Areas ahead of the 2023 general elections.
INEC’s chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this on Thursday during a briefing in Abuja.
“In consideration of these challenges and the measures we have taken to overcome them, the Commission is now in a position to announce Monday 28th June 2021 as the date for the recommencement of the continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise nationwide,” Mahmood Yakubu, said.
He also declared the indefinite suspension of the bye-election held in Ekiti East following killings, stating “if the purpose of election is to kill, the election will remain suspended indefinitely. And when I mean indefinitely, I mean indefinitely.”
According to him, the continuous voter registration exercise would be carried out continuously for over a year until the third quarter of 2022.
He said: “The CVR could not recommence in 2020 due largely to the COVID-19 pandemic. In line with the general advise by health officials regarding events involving large groups of people, we considered it inauspicious to restart the CVR at the height of the pandemic. In the light of the pandemic, the commission promised the nation that it would recommend the CVR in the first quarter of 2021.
“The first quarter of 2021 ended yesterday (Wednesday) and obviously the commission was unable to restart the CVR exercise.
In consideration of these challenges and the measures we have taken to overcome them, the commission is now in a position to announce Monday June 28 2022 as the date for the recommencement of the CVR exercise nationwide.”