By John Ikani
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday said it has received over one million applications within one month of resumption of Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).
INEC’s Spokesman, Festus Okoye in a statement, explained that the commission received 1,006,661 applications since it opened the portal on June 28.
According to him, a total of 1,135,395 people have used the portal in the past one month, a figure that also included applications submitted by people who are requesting voter transfer, replacement of PVC, or update of voter information record.
He added that 740,063 applications representing 73.5 per cent were young Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 34.
While noting that designated centres have been listed on the commission’s website and social media platforms, Okoye urged Nigerians to reach out to INEC for any clarification on the registration exercise.
“Nigerians who pre-registered online can now complete their registration at those centres based on scheduled appointments,” he noted, assuring that both the online and physical registration will continue until June 30, 2022.
“In addition, other Nigerians who prefer to register physically/in-person can now do so at those centres.”
Okoye disclosed that both online pre-registration and physical registration would continue simultaneously until the suspension of the exercise on June 30, 2022.
This according him, would enable the commission to clean up the data and compile the voters’ register for the 2023 General Election.
“I wish to remind citizens that the ongoing registration does not include those already registered as voters. The current exercise is only open to Nigerians who are 18 years and above who have not registered before. It is an offence under the Electoral Act for any citizen to register more than once,” he added.