By Chinelo Obogo, Lagos
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said the deadline for the ongoing Continuous Voters’ Registration (CVR) exercise would be extended by 60 days.
Briefing lawmakers on Wednesday, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters, Aishatu Jibril Dukku, said that the Commission has agreed to extend the CVR to 60 days.
“The Committee held a meeting with INEC yesterday (Tuesday) and they agreed to extend the CVR, all our resolutions were approved,” she told members of the House at plenary on Wednesday.
The exercise was to end on June 30, but some organisations filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, praying the court to compel INEC to extend the deadline for registration following reports of a surge of voters in registration centres across the South-East, Lagos and Kano states.
The court ruled recently, ordering the electoral body to continue with the exercise until all eligible voters have been registered.
The House of Representatives had last Wednesday urged INEC to extend the deadline for the continuous voter registration by an extra 60 days from June 30, 2022, to enable more Nigerians to register.
The House also called on the Commission to deploy additional staff and voter registration machines across the country to meet the objective.
The chairman, House Committee on Media and Publicity, Benjamin Kalu, through a motion, said that the ongoing CVR by INEC was scheduled to end on June 30 ahead of the 2023 general elections.