ABEOKUTA – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday extended the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in Ogun and Lagos by two days.
The extensions were announced separately by the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) in the two states.
In Ogun, the state’s REC, Mr Sam Olumekun, announced the extension in a statement made available to newsmen in Abeokuta.
He said the extension was in view of the challenges encountered in the ongoing exercise in the state.
“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) wishes to inform the general public that the exercise has been extended by two days.
“It will now end on Wednesday Nov. 19 as against Monday, Nov. 17.
The REC warned citizens not to engage in multiple registration, saying it was a punishable offence.
“Again, people whose names appear in the voters registers but could not find their cards should not re-register as their cards shall be provided in due course.
“INEC hereby assures the general public that all eligible citizens would be registered and issued valid voters’ cards before the 2015 elections,’’ he said.
In Lagos, Dr Adekunle Ogunmola, the Lagos State REC told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the extension was to enable the commission to register more eligible voters.
According to him, the exercise, earlier scheduled to end on Monday, will now end on Wednesday.
“We want all eligible voters whose names are not on our Electronic Voters Register to take advantage of that and get registered.
“But people should avoid multiple or double registration as this will deprive them of voting in future elections,” he said.
Ogunmola said the commission had addressed the challenges it faced at the beginning of the exercise and there were tremendous improvements.
He said that during monitoring, it was, however, seen that a lot of people were still eager to register, which necessitated the extension. (NAN)
