Kaduna declares three-day public holiday for voter registration

The Kaduna state government has declared a three-day public holiday for residents to complete their voter registration.

According to a statement by Muyiwa Adekeye, special adviser to the governor on media and communication, the public holiday commences from July 27 to July 29.

“The Kaduna State Government has appealed to residents of the state to register to vote before 31st July 2022,” the statement reads.

“The state government has also declared 27th – 29th July 2022 as public holiday to enable more citizens to complete their voter registration.”

The state government urged residents to seize the opportunity to register, so they would be in a position to exercise their right to vote.

It also appealed to all employers to support their staff to register before the deadline of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

According to INEC, 11,011,119 have completed their voter registration since the exercise began in June 2021. Of this number, 417,427 are from Kaduna.

INEC had earlier fixed June 30 as the deadline for the ongoing CVR ahead of the 2023 elections.

But a federal high court in Abuja stopped INEC from ending the exercise, following a suit filed against the electoral umpire by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 185 persons.

The commission had thereafter extended the voter registration by two more weeks, to end July 31.

The electoral umpire said the exercise has also been extended to eight hours daily — from 9am to 5pm — instead of the current duration of six hours daily.

It also said the exercise will now include weekends as against only weekdays.