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The Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) says it has registered 71,627 eligible voters in the ongoing Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) in Enugu State as at May 31, 2022.
The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Enugu State, Dr Emeka Ononamadu, disclosed this in a news briefing on the ongoing CVR in the state on Friday.
Ononamadu, who admitted that the registration in the state had been low, however, said that since June 1 the registration rate had skyrocketed to close to 10,000 fresh registrants per week in the state.
According to him, “first of all, we commend the citizenry that finally woke up and are expressing their trust in INEC systems by showing their interest to vote.”
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He said: “At one end there is expression of trust after the signing of the amended Electoral Act in which INEC joined Nigerians to advocate for major electoral law reforms.
“And at another end, citizens expressed new trust from their observation of seriousness with which many political parties attempted to adhere to the new provisions of the amended electoral Act during their congresses and primaries, believing that such discipline and seriousness will be extended into the 2023 General Election.
“No matter what is responsible for the surge of prospective voters, it is a positive sign for Nigeria and the Commission. Therefore, INEC will not relent in registering every eligible citizen within time.
“There is no need for panic that some eligible voters will be excluded. INEC practices inclusivity that is one of the reasons why new polling units will be created to ensure more voters’ access to units to address low percentage of voters during elections.
“I am calling on citizens to always be abreast with the electoral law as well as INEC guidelines and policies while sustaining their interest in the electoral system.”
The REC noted that barely nine days to the deadline set by INEC for the stoppage of the CVR, the state headquarters of INEC in Enugu had been flooded with a series of requests for extension of the exercise.
Ononamadu said: “We have forwarded those requests to the Commission and they are being reviewed.
”Meanwhile in the remaining nine days, we have set out strategies to ensure that eligible registrants who put themselves forward will be registered.
“We are going to expand the update Centres by more than 34, and reallocate registration machines from places of low registrants’ turnout to areas with higher upsurge.
“We have within the period worked till 7pm against the 5pm closing time. We have also improved on publishing the CVR centres to avoid many registrants crowding around one or two major registration centres.”
