BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Monday said it has devolved its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise to wards in Osun State ahead of the July 16 governorship election in the state.
Prof. Abdulganiyu Raji, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Osun, made this known during Election Stakeholders Forum on Devolution of CRV to Registration Areas in the state.
Raji said the devolution exercise would take place from March 24 to March 30, between the hours of 9.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m.
According to Raji, “INEC headquarters in Abuja has graciously approved that the current ongoing CVR at the state office and at the INEC Local Government Area offices be devolved and taken to the 332 Registration areas/electoral wards in the state.
“The decision of the commission is aimed at ensuring that all eligible voters who have not or could not perform their civic duty of registering as voters due to distance, are provided with the opportunity to do so with ease.”
The REC said the commission had been using 72 registration capturing machines for the CVR since last year, but for the one week period of the devolution of the registration to the wards, 400 machines would be deployed by the commission.
He said up till Friday, March 18, about 650,000 people have registered on the INEC portal during CVR in Osun, but only 250,000 of the recorded registered voters had completed their registration.
According to him, the CVR is in two legs; the online registration and the physical capturing to complete the registration.
He added that INEC record regrettably showed that people living in the urban areas (the elite) were the ones not registering or completing their registration.
He said it was important that people register to take part in the July 16 governorship election, and subsequent elections, saying INEC policy of “No PVC, No Voting” still subsists.
He, however, appealed to the stakeholders to help and assist INEC in sensitising and mobilising eligible voters to go and register or transfer their Permanent Voter Card (PVC) to polling units closer to their house.
Also speaking, deputy Director of the CVR department of INEC, Olatunde Gafar said so far, only 278,835 residents of the state had completed the voters registration processes. He urged residents that are 18 years and above to cease the opportunity of the CVR devolution to register adding that it might be the final advantage in Osun ahead of the 2023 general elections.
