By EZEKIEL OBI, Abuja –
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has extended the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise till July 31, 2022.
Chairman of INEC Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday.
According to him, the decision followed a recent court judgement that paved way for the extension.
“The Commission met in an extraordinary session today, Friday 15th July 2022, and discussed among other things, the suspension of the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR). This followed the judgement delivered by the Federal High Court on Wednesday 13th July 2022 in which it dismissed the suit filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) which is seeking an extension of the exercise beyond 30th June 2022”.
Okoye stated that the verdict has affirmed that INEC is at liberty to appoint a date of its choice to suspend the CVR, provided it is not later than 90 days before the date fixed for the General Election as provided in Sec. 9(6) of the Electoral Act 2022.
According to him, all legal encumbrances have now been removed following the judgement of the Federal High Court.
“The CVR is hereby extended for another two weeks until Sunday 31st July 2022, thereby bringing the total duration of the extension to 31 days (1st – 31st July 2022),” he stated.
“The exercise has also been extended to eight hours daily from 9.00 am – 5.00 pm instead of the current duration of six hours (9.00 am – 3.00 pm) daily. The exercise is also extended to include weekends (Saturdays and Sundays) as against only weekdays.”
While appreciating the timeframe for many prospective registrants, he admitted that there is a lot for the Commission to do under the electoral legal framework in relation to voter registration and compilation of the register that will require time to accomplish.
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