The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday said
it had registered 1.41 million voters in the ongoing nationwide Continuous
Voter Registration (CVR).
Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made this
known at the launch of Getregistered Naija Mobile App by Election Monitor, a
civil society organisation, in Abuja.
He said that the commission had also distributed 54,395
Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to registered voters across the country in the
ongoing exercise.
Yakubu, who was represented by Mr Iro Gambo, Director Voter
Registry Department of the commission, said that 60, 085 transfer requests had
been received and 125, 543 demands for card replacement.
He said that update on the CVR as at July 7 indicated that
Lagos had recorded the highest number of registered voters, adding that the
commission’s aim was to register 20 million voters at the end of next quarter.
“The commission will continue to strive to get all Nigerians
registered; that was why we considered requests for additional registration
centres and added 302 registration centres to the existing 774 local government
areas.
“New DDCMs are being procured to replace the old ones. The
commission has taken delivery of 900 out of the initial order of 1060.’’
Yakubu said that CVR would be devolved to Registration Area
or ward level in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun States in line with the commission’s
practice for off-season Governorship Elections.
He said that the Getregistered App would help Nigerians to
be more aware of INEC’s activities and to get the necessary information on how
to register.
In his remarks, President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki,
who was represented by Sen. Mao Ohuabunwa, Chairman, Senate Committee on
Primary Healthcare and Communicable Diseases, commended the CSO for creating
the app.
Saraki said that the senate was working towards the
achievement of a free and fair election in 2019, adding that that was why
the Electoral Act was being amended to accommodate better initiative.
He said that the Senate’s quest to have a transparent
election made them come up with a clause to allow INEC to use electronic means
to conduct elections because that was a major way to achieve that.
Mr Abiodun Ajijola, the National Coordinator of the Election
Monitor, said the reason they came up with the app was to bridge the gap
discovered to be existing between INEC and Nigerians.
Ajijola said that it was discovered that there were a lot of
people that wanted to register but that there were challenges of lack of
knowledge on registration areas “and when and how to register’’
He said that the app would encourage more Nigerians to get
registered by providing quality and useful information to facilitate the CRV
process.
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