The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says
the COVID-19 pandemic is delaying the continuous voter registration (CVR)
exercise ahead of 2023 general election.
Speaking with TheCable, Rotimi Oyekanmi, chief press
secretary to the INEC chairman, said the commission had planned to resume the
exercise in the first quarter of 2020.
There have been calls on the electoral umpire to continue
registering voters after it suspended the exercise in the buildup to the 2019
elections.
A petition to that effect has more than 30,00 signatures so
far.
Oyekanmi said the commission is not oblivious of carrying
out the voter registration exercise amid the pandemic.
“This virus is still very much with us and we are not out of
the woods yet. The CVR is a national exercise that requires the mobilization of
a lot of equipment, materials and personnel. The 10 fingerprints of the
registrants will be captured. This has implications in the context of the
COVID-19 protocols,” he told TheCable
The INEC spokesman, however, added that the commission would
meet “in a matter of weeks” to consider all options and decide on “the best
route to follow.”
“Definitely, INEC will resume the CVR exercise but we have
to think carefully and put a safe and sustainable plan in place to do it,” he
said.
As of 2018 when INEC suspended registration of voters, the
country’s voting population stood at 84 million which translates to just 42
percent of the entire population of 198 million.
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