By: Mercy Peter
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC on Monday announced date for the resumption of voter Registration in Edo and Ondo.
INEC Chair, Prof Mahmood Yakubu said voter registration will resume 27 May in both states.
Residence of the two States will be going to the polls on 21 Septmeber amd 16 November 2023 to elect their governors.
Speaking at the second regular quarterly consultative meeting with pilitical parties, Yakubu said registration would be for only new registrants and replacement of lost or broken voter cards.
He also said the CVR will take place at the ward level amd State headquarters because of time constraint.
He said, “As the elections in the two States approach, the Commission has decided to resume the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in the two States to enable eligible citizens who are not registered voters to do so.
“The CVR in Edo and Ondo States will take place simultaneously from Monday 27th May 2024 to Wednesday 5th June 2024 from 9.00am to 3.00pm daily including the weekend.
“Taking into consideration the limited time to the Governorship elections, the Commission has decided to conduct the registration at Ward level and our State headquarters instead of our Local Government offices and a few designated centers as was case in the past.
“This means that there will be 192 Ward registration centres in Edo State and 203 centres in Ondo State, in addition to our State offices in Benin City and Akure, making a total of 397 walk-in registration centres in the two States.
“There will be no online pre-registration option in the two States because of time constraint. Each centre will be managed by two officials drawn from our regular staff and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
“In the next few days, the Commission will commence the training of at least 794 officials for the exercise. The locations of the registration centres as well as other relevant information have been compiled in a detailed 28-page document included in your folders for this meeting.
“Similarly, those who are registered voters also have the opportunity to transfer their registration from other States of the federation to Edo and Ondo States or from one location to another within the two States.”
Warning against double registration, Yakubu said, “Let me reiterate that the CVR is only open to new registrants and those who seek to transfer their registration. Persons who are registered as voters should not attempt to register again as double or multiple registration is illegal.
” Lost or damaged voters’ cards will be replaced during the exercise but this does require fresh registration.”
The Commission therefore appealed to political parties and other stakeholders to join “in mobilising prospective registrants for the exercise, particularly on the need to register early and not wait until the deadline approaches when the registration centres are inundated by eleventh hour registrants.”
He also added, “In addition to the registration of voters, the Commission will also make available the uncollected Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) for collection during the CVR.
“In the coming days, the list of uncollected PVCs will be published in our offices in the two States and simultaneously uploaded to our website. Again, we encourage those who have not collected their PVCs in the two States to seize the opportunity to do so.”
