The House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Amttaers, has disclosed that Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has agreed to extend the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).
The Commission had initially fixed the end of this month to terminate the exercise, but the number of potential voters desiring to be registered, the House of Representatives last week, urged the INEC to extend same by a minimum of 60 days.
The resolution came following concerns expressed by spokesman of the House, Hon. Benjamin Kalu who through a motion last week noted the plans by the electoral umpire to end the process soon.
Minority Leader of the House on Wednesday drew attention of the House to a rumoured plan by INEC to appeal a recent court order directing it not to end the ongoing CVR by end of June with a view to vacating same, a move he noted will mean the resolution of the House will also amount to nothing.
This prompted Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila to demand the report of the committee on Electoral Matters on the engagement with INEC, following which its Chairman, Hon. Aishatu Dukku told her colleagues that there was hope of an extension.
“The Committee held a meeting with INEC yesterday (Tuesday) and they agreed to extend the CVR, all our resolutions were approved,” she said.
Besides the call for an extension, the House had also called on the Commission to deploy additional staff and voter registration machines across the country to meet the swelling population of registrants.
