CVR: INEC Announces 31st July Deadline

• As Federal High Court Dismisses SERAP’s Suit

16^th July 2022

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced Sunday 31^st July 2022 as the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) deadline, which began in June 2021.

The decision followed the judgment delivered by the Federal High Court (FHC) on Wednesday 13^th July 2022, which not only dismissed the suit filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) that had attempted to force an extension of the exercise beyond 30th June 2022 but also affirmed the Commission’s power to fix a date of its choice for suspending the CVR, provided that the date was not later than 90 days before the date fixed for the General Election, as provided in Section 9 (6) of the Electoral Act 2022.

Rising from an extra-ordinary meeting held on Friday 15^th July, the Commission, in a statement signed by Barrister Festus Okoye, National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), noted that it had continued with the CVR beyond the earlier 30^th June deadline, in compliance with the interim injunction of the FHC, and also to enable more Nigerians to register.

But with the judgment removing all legal encumbrances, the Commission decided to extend the CVR for another two weeks until Sunday 31^st July 2022, bringing the extension duration to 31 days.

In addition, Okoye averred that the exercise would now run for eight instead of the current six hours daily – from 9 am to 5 pm. Similarly, the CVR would also take place on weekends, Saturdays and Sundays, as against only on weekdays.

While the Commission acknowledged that the new deadline might be tight for many prospective registrants, it listed some activities that must be accomplished within a specified period under the current legal framework. 

According to Okoye, the activities include:

• Cleaning up the register to remove multiple registrants using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS);
• Consolidating the national register of voters (existing voters and new registrants) and displaying same on Polling Unit basis for each of the 8,809 Registration Areas (Wards) across the 774 Local Government Areas nationwide for public scrutiny. This will last for one week.  Based on a new projection of 95 million voters, on the basis of 10 voters per page, the Commission has to print 9,500,000 pages for the display;
• Printing millions of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) for all fresh registrants and applicants for transfer and replacement of lost or damaged PVCs;
• Ensuring that there is ample time for voters to collect their PVCs ahead of the 2023 General Election;
• Printing the final register of voters in triplicate for the 2023 General Election, involving a projected 28,500,000 pages for accreditation and display at 176,846 polling units for national elections (Presidential and National Assembly) on 25th February 2023 and State elections (Governorship and State Assembly) on 11th March 2023; and
• Making copies of the updated national register of voters available to political parties not later than 30 days to the date fixed for the General Election.

The Commission appealed for patience and understanding over the new deadline.