‘Many yet to be captured’ — north-west APC asks INEC to extend voter registration deadline

The leadership of the north-west zone of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the voters’ registration exercise.

Musa Mada, APC zonal publicity secretary, made the call during an interview with the NAN on Saturday in Kaduna.

The north-west zone comprises Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara states.

Mada said the call for the extension became necessary following the rush by eligible voters to get registered ahead of the 2023 elections.

“We are concerned about the number of people trooping to the INEC office on daily basis, most of whom are yet to be captured,” Mada said.

“It will only be fair if an extension of the closing date be considered so that additional eligible voters will be registered.”

He also urged INEC to consider the possibility of creating additional registration centres, saying it would ease the difficulty faced by the eligible voters.

“Thousands of eligible voters might be disenfranchised due to difficulties being faced to access registration centres,” he said.

“INEC should know that the whole exercise bothers on the people as such, it will not be fair to disenfranchise them.”

The continuous voter registration is scheduled to end tomorrow, July 31.

The exercise has also been extended to eight hours daily from 9 am to 5 pm instead of the previous six hours (9 am to 3 pm), including weekends.

Several states also declared work-free days to enable workers and residents register to get their PVCs.