TheCable

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has received over one million applications on the online portal for the continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise.

In June, the commission launched a portal where Nigerians can register or request to update their voter information before they complete the process physically at designated centres.

In a statement issued on Monday, Festus Okoye, INEC commissioner for information and voter education, said the number of new registrants has risen to 1,006,661.

The electoral body said youths — between 18 and 35 — constitute the highest number of applications with 740,063.

The electoral umpire said physical registration has also commenced and designated centres have been uploaded on its website and social media platforms.

“The detailed distribution of the registrants by age, state/FCT, gender, occupation and disability for week four of the exercise has been uploaded to the Commission’s website and social media platforms,” the statement reads.

“As earlier announced by the Commission, physical or in-person registration begins today, Monday 26th July 2021 at our 811 state and local government area offices nationwide.

“The exact locations of the designated centres have already been uploaded to our website and social media platforms. For further details, citizens are encouraged to contact our state offices through the dedicated telephone numbers provided in the uploaded publication.

“Nigerians who pre-registered online can now complete their registration at those centres based on scheduled appointments. In addition, other Nigerians who prefer to register physically/in-person can now do so at those centres.”

INEC said both the online pre-registration and physical registration will subsist simultaneously until the CVR exercise is suspended on June 30, 2022.

“The right to vote begins with the registration of voters. Thus, as we enter the next phase of the CVR exercise, we once again appeal to all citizens who wish to register to approach any of the Commission’s State or Local Government Area offices nationwide to do so,” the electoral body said.

“Once again, we wish to remind citizens that the ongoing registration does not include those already registered as voters. The current exercise is only open to Nigerians who are 18 years and above who have not registered before. It is an offence under the Electoral Act for any citizen to register more than once.”