The Zamfara Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof. Sa’idu Ahmad, says the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would resume the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) on March 8, across the state.
Ahmad said this on Thursday at a stakeholders’ meeting organised by the commission in Gusau.
He said the resumption of the exercise followed the restoration of law and order in most parts of the state by security forces.
“INEC headquarters has approved our plans to resume the exercise in all local government area (LGA) offices of the state on March 8.
“We are to rotate the ward/Residential Areas (RAs) at the LGAs, to give opportunity for intending registrants and to reduce crowd.
“We are glad that stakeholders, such as Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), NGOs, traditional and religious leaders as well as the Media, are sensitizing residents to register and obtain their PVCs ahead of the 2023 polls,” Ahmad said.
He said that the CVR was for citizens who turned 18 years after the last exercise and those who for one reason or the other could not register at the previous exercises.
It is also for those who would want to transfer their PVCs to a different location from where they initially registered; or who want to effect corrections on their data, as well as those whose PVCs were either lost, defaced or those machines could not read.
Ahmed said the CVR exercise took place in 2018 and 2021 and was expected to end on June 30, adding that the first and second quarter of the exercise that commenced on Jan 4, would end in March.
He emphasized the need for eligible voters to obtain their PVCs to be able to vote in the 2023 general elections.
“It is important to note that INEC had introduced innovations in the exercise, which required capturing fingerprints and facials of all registrants.
“Also, the registration can now be initiated online with a subsequent physical capture to be done in all the14 INEC LG offices,” the REC said.
Ahmad said that the commission had also increased the number of polling units from 2,516 to 3,529.
“This was in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s vision and the reason that he signed the long awaited 2022 Electoral Act into law.
“Following the signing of the amended Electoral Act, the commission released the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2023 General Elections.
“Indeed, we have, in accordance with section 28(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022, as amended, posted notices of elections in the state capitals and INEC offices in the LGAs.
“So far, the commission had registered 213,224 as at Feb. 21, 2022 through the online exercise,” he said.
The commissioner, however, emphasized the need to scale up the physical capture which, he said, stood at 36, 710 as at Feb. 21, as against the registration figure of 213,224 in the state.
He said that there were still 45,000 uncollected PVCs across the state and appealed to the owners to come forward and collect them ahead of the polls.
Ahmed said he would be working with the security agencies for periodic security threat analyses, to ensure safety of the electorate.
Meanwhile, Mr Bello Galadi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has appealed to the commission to address security concerns in Anka and few other LGAs that bandits still operate.
He appreciated the efforts of the commission at ensuring that eligible voters were captured ahead of the elections, in spite of the security and logistics challenges.
Alhaji Yusuf Idris, state Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), lauded INEC for expanding the number of polling units in the state.
Idris said that the move would decongest the units and allow for active participation of voters.
He appealed to APC supporters, especially the youth and women groups, to see the expansion as an opportunity for them to vote in the 2023 general elections.
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