By ADEKUNLE WILLIAMS
LAGOS- Mr Okanlawon Sanni, a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, has appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the deadline for the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) by one month.
Sanni, representing Kosofe Constituency 01, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.
NAN reports that INEC has scheduled the fourth quarter of the CVR to end on June 30.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said that the commission had deployed more voter enrolment machines to register potential voters all over Lagos State.
Sanni explained that the extension of the exercise would go a long way to enable eligible Nigerians intensify their efforts in registering for their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
The lawmaker, who is the Chairman, House Committee on Education, said several Nigerians had also requested INEC to extend the exercise to enable them register.
He said: “I want to appeal to INEC to extend this deadline so that more Nigerians can come out and register, so no Nigerian will be disenfranchised in the forthcoming 2023 election.
“Also, my message to eligible Nigerians is that they should all come out in their large numbers to come and register and collect their PVCs because their PVC is their power.
“This is because before anybody can seek for your vote, you must have your PVC. It is your power, it is your strength that you can exercise the way you like.
“When we criticise and condemn bad governance, the only way we can get involved in chasing away bad governance is when we have our PVCs with us.
“However, if you don’t have your PVC then it means anybody can just come on board to seek for elective positions and be our ruler.
“So, the way to chase bad governance away is for us to exercise our franchise and in exercising it, you must have that instrument.
“This instrument is the PVC. So, I enjoin everyone who hasn’t got their own to quickly go and get it so we can ensure good governance in the country.”
Sanni also said that the APC had issued him the INEC form which indicated that he was now the authentic candidate of the party for Kosofe Constituency 01 in the forthcoming general elections.
The lawmaker appealed to his opponents during the last primary election for calm and peace, saying that together they could win the general election for their party. (NAN)
