Group charges INEC to extend June 30 deadline for voter registration

A group, the Joint Action for Good Governance, on Tuesday in Lagos called on INEC to extend the on-going nationwide Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) beyond the stipulated June 30.

It also asked INEC to ensure ease of registration preparatory to the 2023 general elections and beyond.

The National Vice-President of the group, Mr Abdulwaheed Odunuga, made the appeals in a statement.

He noted that voter registration across “has been impeded by bureaucratic bottlenecks, inadequate manpower and equipment in INEC offices’’.

Odunuga, the candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in Kosofe Federal Constituency in Lagos State noted also that the challenges were impediments to seamless voter registration.

“They have led to delays and restiveness in citizens waiting to register in long queues.

“Many Nigerians will be discouraged and disenfranchised if the exercise proceeds in a complicated manner.

“In addition, INEC is yet to cover many of the rural communities in this process thereby disenfranchising citizens who may be far away from the INEC offices,’’ he stated.

INEC ‘s Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said in Lagos on Saturday that it would soon make its stand known on calls for the extension of the June 30 deadline.

He made the declaration when he addressed youths in Lagos State at a musical concert on “Youth Votes Count’’.

The concert was organised by INEC in collaboration with some partners to awaken youths’ consciousness at participating in politics and in governance.

Yakubu said INEC had deployed more voter enrolment machines to register potential voters all over Lagos State.