INEC fixes new date for commencement of physical registration of voters

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says the physical registration of votes will now commence on July 26.

The commission had earlier given the date for commencement of physical registration as July 19 but added that it may be affected by public holidays.

In a statement on Friday, Festus Okoye, INEC national commissioner and chairman, information and voter education, said with the federal government’s declaration of July 20 and July 21 as public holidays, the date had to be adjusted.

“Consequently, the physical registration of voters will now commence on Monday 26 July 2021. Online registrants that have scheduled appointments from 19th July 2021 to 23rd July 2021 will have their appointments rescheduled,” the statement reads.

“It is important to emphasise that this Continuous Voter Registration will take place over a period of one year. The Commission assures all Nigerians that no citizen eligible to register as a voter will be left behind.”

INEC had on June 28 launched an online portal where citizens can register or request to update their voter information before they complete the process physically at designated centres across the country.

The commission had said 66 percent of applications received so far on the online portal are from youths.

“Out of 542,576 online registrants so far, 356,777 (or 66%) are young people between the ages of 18 and 34 years. This is followed by 134,719 middle-aged registrants who fall between 35 and 49 years. The third category is elderly persons aged between 50 and 69 years of which 44,896 Nigerians have registered,” it said.