From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has pleaded with the media to escalate the sensitisation campaign to Nigerians against double or multiple registration in the ongoing Continuous Voters Registration (CVR). INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, made the appeal at the quarterly consultative meeting with media organisations at the commission’s office in Abuja on Friday. The electoral umpire boss equally disclosed that the 18 registered political parties have given it notice for conduct of their primaries for the June 18 Ekiti State governorship election.
“There is a lot of information for public enlightenment and sensitization. We seek for the support of media organisations in this regard. Related to the issue of voter registration is the issuance of PVCs. We are aware that Nigerians want to know when their PVCs will be available for collection. We appreciate the role of media organisations in encouraging and mobilizing eligible Nigerians who have not registered to do so. At the same time, we want you to continue to sensitise them that those who had registered at any time previously need not register again.
“For those who have completed the registration, the commission is right now undertaking the most comprehensive cleaning up of the data to ensure that only eligible citizens are added to the voters’ register for the 2023 General Election. We will share our findings with Nigerians very soon. The actual dates for the collection of the PVCs nationwide will also be announced very soon.
“In the next 23 days, February 12, 2022, a major end of tenure election will hold in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to elect six Area Council chairmen/chairwomen and 62 councillors. This will be followed by two governorship elections in Ekiti State on June 18, 2022 and Osun State on July 16, 2022,” the commission noted. Giving update on the Ekiti governorship polls, Prof Mahmood said: “Party primaries for the Ekiti State governorship election are scheduled for January 4–29, 2022. For the Osun State governorship election, primaries will hold from to March 12, 2022.
“In the case of Ekiti State, all the 18 political parties have indicated their intention to participate in the election and have already served the mandatory notices for their primaries to elect their candidates as required by law. The commission’s preparation for the three off-cycles elections is one of the issues for discussion at this meeting.