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Tag: CVR

  • INEC suspends ward level CVR in Igboeze North LGA over attack on officials

    INEC suspends ward level CVR in Igboeze North LGA over attack on officials

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has suspended Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) at the ward level in Igboeze North Local Government Area of Enugu State, following the attack on its officials in the area.

    This is contained in a statement by Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, in Abuja on Thursday.

    Okoye said that INEC Administrative Secretary in Enugu State, Mr Jude Okwuonu, reported that at about 2.30 pm on Wednesday,  the commission officials involved in the CVR were attacked by gunmen in the Community Primary School Umuopu in Umuozzi Ward 19 of Igboeze North Local Government Area.

    “The gunmen fired sporadically into the air to disperse registrants and registration officials. In the ensuing stampede, one of our staff sustained injuries and is receiving treatment in a hospital.

    “However, two voter registration machines and personal items of the staff such as mobile phones were lost.

    “Consequently, the ward level registration of voters in Igboeze North is hereby suspended,” Okoye said.

    He recalled that on July 3, INEC office in Igboeze North Local Government Area was burnt down by unknown arsonists.

    Okoye said that in spite of the attack, the INEC was able to continue with ward-level registration with the assistance of vigilantes provided by the local government authority adding that “it is one of the centres that has now been attacked.”

    Okoye said that the incident had been reported to the police for investigation.

  • Delta State Orientation Bureau Enlightenment campaign on Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) and Collection of PVC team ongoing

    Delta State Orientation Bureau Enlightenment campaign on Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) and Collection of PVC team ongoing

     

    The sensitization team was at Warri South Local Government area visiting Igbudu Market, Warri Central Motor park, Ogbe-Ijoh Market, and Central Hospital junction. The team was at Udu Local Government Areas with stops at Opete junction and Motor park, Mofor junction and adjoining areas thru Ovwian junction, Jigbale Market and Enerhen junction. At Uvwie Local Government Area the team was at Effurun roundabout, P. T. I junction Motor park, Ugbolokposo junction and Ugbomro and Okuokoko.

  • INEC express concern over low PVC registration in Katsina State

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Katsina State has expressed concern over the poor turnout of residents registering for the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) in the newly established 1,750 polling units.

    Alhaji Jibril Zarewa, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen on Friday in Katsina.

    He said that one year after the commencement of PVC registration, there was a poor turnout of people for registration in the newly established polling units.

    According to Zarewa, “In May 2022 when we did analysis, we realised out of the 1,750 newly established polling units, about 1,200 units did not have more than 50 people who registered in each of them.

    “This registration involved transfers. Some of the polling units have zero registration, some have only one, some five while some have not more than 50 people who registered.

    “Although this can be attributed to the suspension of telecommunication networks in 17 of the 34 Local Government Areas (LGAs) for about five months due to the security problem.

    “Since the resumption of the exercise in March, out of the 1,750 polling units created, about 1,200 don’t have up to 50 people that registered in each of them.

    “We are appealing to the people of those areas where the new polling units were created to go and register, as INEC is always ready for them.

    “The reasons for the creation of additional polling units is to serve the areas and decongest the congested polling units through the transfer of their polling units, he said.

    He disclosed that initially there were 4,902 polling units in the state but with the creation of the additional ones, there are 6,652 polling units at present.

    Zarewa explained that the collection of the PVCs is appreciable, saying towards the 2019 election, INEC had to stop the issuance of the PVCs.

    “As at that time, we had about three per cent of our cards collected, which means out of the 3.230 million PVCs, we had, just about 50,000 not collected.

    “As of Jan. 12, 2022, we have taken 53,000 from the headquarters, and just a few days ago, we have taken an additional 20,000 for people who made corrections.”

  • INEC directs officials to continue CVR pending further notice

    INEC directs officials to continue CVR pending further notice

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has directed its officials to continue with the ongoing continuous voters’ registration (CVR) exercise pending further directives.

    The INEC also reminded political parties that the deadline for uploading the list and particulars of their nominees remains July 15.

    The commission made the disclosure in a statement issued by Mr Festus Okoye, National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, on Thursday after the commission’s meeting held in Abuja.

    He said that INEC met and deliberated on a number of issues, including the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), the 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.

    “By the Timetable and Schedule of Activities released by the Commission, Political Parties that conducted valid Governorship and State Assembly primaries shall upload the list and personal particulars of their nominated candidates between July 1 and 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 6pm on July 15,” Okoye said.

    He advised 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.

    On the CVR, Okoye said that the exercise would continue nationwide, saying all the Resident Electoral Commissioners and Electoral Officers had been directed to continue with the exercise pending further directives from the Commission.

    He said that the commission had consistently reiterated its resolve to continue to provide electoral services to the Nigerian people and register all eligible Nigerians that were interested in registering.

    Okoye added that INEC had yet again deployed additional machines to areas of pressure and would 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, June 29, 2022.

    “Based on the request of the commission, the Court granted an accelerated hearing and adjourned the matter to Monday July 4, 2022 for hearing of the substantive matter.

    “The Commission will give an update after court hearing next week.”

    On the issuance of CTC of documents, Okoye said that the Commission had been inundated with applications for CTCs of various documents.

    “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.

    “We wish to assure political parties, aspirants, candidates, and all applicants for CTCs of documents that their applications will be treated expeditiously and will be issued in earnest.”

  • Over 1m old PVCs, 28,000 new ones uncollected in Lagos – INEC

    Over 1m old PVCs, 28,000 new ones uncollected in Lagos – INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lagos State, says a total of 1,091,157 old Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) are still uncollected by their owners in the state.

    The commission also said that after two months it flagged off the distribution of  34,242 newly printed PVCs for new registrants, only 6, 382 applicants had come for collection across the state.

    Mr Olusegun Agbaje, the Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC,  made this disclosure at the Stakeholders’ Meeting on Election with leaders of political parties, on Tuesday in Ikeja.

    Agbaje, who described as worrisome the low rate of PVCs collection across the 20 local government areas, added that the turnout for the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) was not impressive at the start.

    This development, he said,  puts the state at fifth position nationwide in the number of new registered voters.

    He said: “The low rate of PVC collection in Lagos State is worrisome as only 6,382 PVCs out of 34,242 received from the Commission’s Headquarters for the first and second quarters CVR had been collected by their owners. This is just 18.6 per cent.

    “Similarly for the old PVCs, a total of 1,091,157 are still uncollected by their owners.

    “In view of the foregoing, I want to strongly urge you to continue to assist the Commission in mobilising the eligible citizens residing in Lagos State that are yet to collect their PVCs to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the ongoing collection of PVCs at the INEC LGA offices where they registered to collect their PVCs.

    “As anyone without the PVC cannot vote during any election.”

    The INEC boss, who hinted that the June 30 deadline for the ongoing CVR would slightly be extended, cautioned political leaders against do-or-die politics.

    According to him, this has become stock in trade of some politicians who want to win elections by all means including violence, malpractices, thuggery and all other election vices.

    Agbaje said that INEC was more worried that Lagos State was one of the most violent states during the last primary elections with five people reportedly killed in two local fovernment areas.

    “We cannot continue like this. Therefore, all hands must be on deck with the political party leaders at the forefront to make Lagos State one of the most peaceful states during electioneering campaigns and elections in 2023.

    “The political class must change her do or die attitude to good conduct in politics by doing away with all election vices including destroying the bill boards of opponents, using vulgar languages during campaigns and using thugs to harass political opponents.

    “It is important to stress that the inability of the political parties to imbibe the culture of genuine internal party democracy is unhealthy for the electoral process.

    “If we must achieve our collective goal of building a durable democratic culture, political parties must embrace the culture of sincere internal party democracy while also avoiding all forms of contraventions to the extant laws,” he said.

    Agbaje, who decried voter apathy, urged the party leaders to increase political awareness.

    He said that increased political education would no doubt increase the PVC collection rate and check voter apathy that had characterised past elections in the state.

    According to him, only 1,156,590 out of 6,570,291 registered voters (17.6 per cent) participated in the 2019 General Election in Lagos State while only 104, 405 out of 1,343, 448 registered voters (7.8 per cent) participated in the 2020 Lagos East Senatorial District bye-election.

    Agbaje, who noted that INEC was working assiduously round the clock toward ensuring the successful conduct of the 2023 elections, said that the commission would continue to focus on its mandate, guided by its mission and vision.

    He said: “The Commission will equally as usual, remain an unbiased umpire in dealing with all political parties in Lagos State.

    “It is imperative to once more enjoin all stakeholders to play strictly by the rules as part of our collective efforts towards ensuring the successful conduct of the general election.

    “It is pertinent to note that the Commission has also taken a bold step in her ongoing efforts to inject technological impetus into the electoral system and has further strengthened the voting process for the conduct of very free, fair, credible and acceptable elections by introducing the Bi-modal Voter Authentication System (BVAS).”

    He said in Lagos State, 640,786 eligible voters had done the online registration before it ended on  May 30, but as at June 20, only 338,955 had completed their registration.

    He said that the commission was making frantic efforts toward ensuring that all eligible citizens were captured before the end of the CVR.

    Speaking, Mr Philip Aivoji, the Chairman, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Lagos State, called on INEC to further decentralise the CVR and PVCs distribution.

    According to him, centralisation of CVR and PVCs can disenfranchise millions of eligible voters.

    Aivoji urged INEC to compile and publish list of uncollected PVCs and engage political parties’ leaders in each local government to meet their owners.

    Also, Mr Moshood Mayegun, the Deputy Chairman, APC in Lagos State, said that the party leaders were putting machinery in place to mobilise applicants.

    He advised INEC to engage community associations.

    Mr Ibrahim Adeoye, the State Organising Secretary of Young Progressive Party (YPP), called on INEC to embrace technologies fully in electoral processes, above the use of BVAS only.

    This, he said, would help to curb stress in registration and electoral violence.

    In his remarks, Mr Olusegun Mobolaji, Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), Lagos State, said that INEC needed to do more in decentralisation of CVR and PVCs.

    He pledged that party leaders would work with INEC.

  • INEC Chairman says voters registration will be extended

    INEC Chairman says voters registration will be extended

    Prof Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise would be extended.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Prof Yakubu made this known on Saturday, stressing that the CVR exercise will not end on June 30th.

    Yakubu said this at the YouthVoteCount2 concert that was held at the Old Parade Ground in Abuja.

    “The second thing you want to know is when will this registration end? Is it going to end on the 30th of June, in the next five days?

    “On behalf of INEC, let me assure you, e no go end for 30th June for as long as we have you people trying to register to obtain your PVC, we will continue to register you and we will continue to make sure that you get your PVC,” Yakubu said.

    Meanwhile, a court had during the week stopped INEC from ending the registration exercise.

  • INEC agrees to 60 Days extension of voters registration

    Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters, Hon. Aishatu Jibril Dukku, has disclosed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has agreed to 60 days extension of the ongoing continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise initially slated to end at the end of June, 2022.

    He stated this while briefing fellow lawmakers on the committee’s efforts to ensure the implementation of a House resolution reached last week.

    “The Committee held a meeting with INEC yesterday (Tuesday) and they agreed to extend the CVR, all our resolutions were approved,” she told members of the House at plenary on Wednesday.

    The House of Representatives had last Wednesday urged INEC to extend the deadline for the continuous voter registration by an extra 60 days from June 30, 2022, to enable more Nigerians to register.

    The House also called on the Commission to deploy additional staff and voter registration machines across the country to meet the objective.

    The chairman, House Committee on media and publicity, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, through a motion, had noted that the ongoing CVR by INEC was scheduled to end on June 30 ahead of the 2023 general elections.

  • CVR: No eligible registrants will be left out – Yakubu

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reassured Nigerians that no eligible registrant would be left out in the Permanent Voters Card registration exercise.

    INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this on Thursday in Abuja during the commission’s meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs).

    Newsmen reports that the meeting was to review the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) and the submission of the list of candidates by political parties.

    Yakubu recalled that in 2021, the commission resumed the current nationwide CVR exercise with an elaborate calendar of activities spanning over 12 months.

    He said that the introduction of the online pre-registration system and the new INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED) helped to reduce the long queues witnessed in previous registration centres in 2017 and 2018.

    “We also created additional registration centres and deployed more machines.

    “In three states, Anambra, Ekiti and Osun, the exercise was devolved to ward level to give more citizens the opportunity to register ahead of their off-cycle governorship elections.

    “Similarly, on weekly basis since July 5, 2021, the commission has been giving weekly detailed updates on fresh registrations nationwide.

    “Unfortunately, in some places, the exercise was disrupted by general insecurity.

    “In other places, our local government area offices were consistently attacked resulting in the suspension of all activities, including voter registration.

    “A number of IVED machines were snatched and uncollected PVCs were destroyed.

    “Worse, our registration officials were violently attacked. Some of them were abducted but later released. In one sad incident, an official lost his life,” he said.

    Yakubu said that in spite of these challenges, the CVR had continued nationwide.

    He, however, said that as the deadline for the suspension of the current exercise approaches, INEC had received reports of a surge in the number of prospective registrants.

    “They daily throng INEC state and local government area offices as well as designated centres in many states across the country.

    “I wish to reassure Nigerians that the commission remains committed to ensuring that all citizens who wish to register are given the opportunity to do so.

    “This is one of the reasons why this meeting has been convened. Already, some of the RECs have requested for more voter registration machines to ease the congestion.

    “The commission will deploy additional machines to areas of need immediately.

    “Thereafter, the commission will meet to review the progress of the exercise and take further decisions,” he said.

    The chairman said that INEC would always respond positively to the needs of Nigerians and therefore appealed to all citizens to be patient with the commission as it strives to serve them better.

    “We appreciate the desire of Nigerians to register as voters. Let me reassure all eligible registrants that no one will be left out,” Yakubu said.

  • Continuous Voter Registration closes by June 30 – INEC

    Continuous Voter Registration closes by June 30 – INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says its ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) will end on June 30.

    The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, in his remarks at the Commission’s quarterly meeting with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on Wednesday in Abuja, said that the INEC would suspend online pre-registration by May 30.

    “Both the online pre-registration as well as the physical registration at designated centres are taking place simultaneously.

    “However, online pre-registrants would require time to schedule appointments to complete their registration physically at designated centers.

    “For this reason, the Commission has decided to suspend the online registration in the next three weeks, that is May 30.

    “This will enable the online registrants to complete their registration physically at the designated centres before the exercise is suspended on June 30.

    “This will enable the Commission to clean up the registration data, print the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and compile the register ahead of the 2023 General Election,” Yakubu said.

    The INEC Chairman also disclosed that the commission would by next week finalise the regulations and guidelines for the conduct of future elections.

    These, according to Yakubu include the forthcoming Ekiti and Osun Governorship elections as well as the 2023 General Election.

    “There are many progressive provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, which require clear understanding to guide implementation.

    “One of such provisions is the electronic transmission of election results. At this meeting, we will discuss the implementation of the provisions of Sections 60, 62 and 64 of the Electoral Act 2022 regarding the management of election results.

    “We have prepared a document for discussion which is included in your folders for this meeting,” he said

    On election technology, Yakubu said that INEC had reviewed the functionality of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) following complaints received after the recent Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) held on Feb. 12 and six by-elections in four States across four geo-political zones.

    He said that in the by-elections, the BVAS functioned optimally as attested to by the reports field observers accredited by the Commission.

    “The lessons learnt from the most recent by-elections have been taken into consideration as we prepare for the forthcoming Ekiti and Osun State Governorship elections.

    “The Commission has just finished the configuration of the BVAS for the Ekiti State Governorship election.

    “We will also undertake a mock voter accreditation exercise in Ekiti State ahead of the main election on June 18, the details of which will be announced shortly,” Yakubu said.

    Speaking on behalf of the CSOs, Ene Obi urged INEC to stick to its timetable and schedule of activities for 2023 general elections against the call for two months extension for deadline for conduct of primaries being demanded by registered political parties.

    Obi urged INEC to ensure that its BVAS function optimally in the forthcoming governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states, as well as 2023 general elections.

    She also urged INEC to ensure there were improvement on previous elections in the conduct of the forthcoming elections.

    “If you can conduct in Anambra you can conduct election in Anywhere in the world, not just in Nigeria. Let Osun be an improvement on Ekiti. Transparency and accountability is the key.”

    Obi stressed the need for more sensitisation of voters in Ekiti and Osun State for eligible voters in the states to discourage voter apathy and encourage them to come out en mass during the states governorship elections.

    She urged security agencies to improve on the professionalism they exhibited in Anambra and previous elections.

    Obi called on EFCC to investigate the source of income of those buying parties nomination forms at exorbitant price, when many Nigerians were living in poverty.

  • INEC commences distribution of over 44, 000 PVCs in Kwara

    INEC commences distribution of over 44, 000 PVCs in Kwara

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kwara will on Saturday commence the distribution of over 44, 000 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to newly registered voters in the state.

    INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Malam Garba Madami, disclosed this to newsmen on Friday in Ilorin.

    Madami said that the collection of the PVCs would take place in all the 16 local government offices of the commission and added that they were for those who registered between June and December 2021.

    “In Kwara State, we have received 44,506 PVCs,” Madami said.

    He urged the new registrants within the period to approach INEC offices across the 16 Local Government Areas in the state for collection.

    The resident electoral commissioner added that the collection would be from 9a.m. and 3p.m. daily except on weekends.

    He appealed to the people of the state to avail themselves of the opportunity of devolution of registration to wards to register for their PVCs.

    Madami warned the people against double registration, adding that it was a criminal offence to register more than once.

    The REC urged Nigerians that just turned 18 years and above or those who had not registered before now to start the process online.

    According to him, they should log on to CVR.inecnigeria.org and visit the registration areas at the local government INEC offices or INEC state office to complete the registration.

    Madami implored the eligible residents to take full advantage of the rotational exercise at the ward level to register.

    Newsmen reports that the third quarter of PVC registration ended on March 30, while the fourth and last quarter commenced on April 17 and will end in June.