Yemisi Izuora
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has announced suspension of online Continuous Voter Registration, CVR, exercise in the meantime.
Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the INEC, told a media engagement session Thursday in Abuja that the Commission has decided to suspend the online registration in the next three weeks precisely 30th May 2022, to enable the online registrants to complete their registration physically at the designated centres before the exercise is suspended on 30th June 2022.
This will enable the Commission to clean up the registration data, print the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and compile the register ahead of the 2023 General Election.
According to him, For the first time, the Commission deployed the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) which is a comprehensive and robust system involving not just the fingerprint identification but also the facial biometric recognition.
On election technology, he said the Commission has reviewed the functionality of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) following the complaints received after the recent Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) held on 12th February 2022.
“Two weeks later, the Commission conducted six bye-elections in four States across four geo-political zones of the country covering rural, sub-urban and urban areas. It was the most extensive geo-political deployment of the BVAS since it was pioneered in the Isoko South I State Constituency bye-election in Delta State in June last year. In these bye-elections, the BVAS functioned optimally as attested to by the reports of field observers accredited by the Commission.” Yakubu said.
“The lessons learnt from the most recent bye-elections have been taken into consideration as we prepare for the forthcoming Ekiti and Osun State Governorship elections. The Commission has finished the configuration of the BVAS for the Ekiti State Governorship election. To further ensure optimal performance of the BVAS on Election Day, the Commission will undertake a mock voter accreditation exercise in Ekiti State ahead of the main election on 18th June 2022, the details of which will be announced shortly.”
He also announced that the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise ends on 30th June 2022, adding, “Both the online pre-registration as well as the physical registration at designated centres are taking place simultaneously. However, online pre-registrants would require time to schedule appointments to complete their registration physically at designated centers.”