The Leadership and Entrepreneurship Advocacy (LEAD) Network Africa, an NGO, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the ongoing Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) to December, 2022.
The Executive Director of LEAD Network Africa, Mr Chukwuma Okenwa, made the call while speaking with newsmen in Enugu on Wednesday.
Okenwa spoke on the sidelines of surging number of new registrants and protests of some youths in some cities in the country on inadequate INEC-CVR machines to capture them daily.
According to him, until INEC get a complimenting number of voters that marches the population of the country that will participate in all democratic exercise going forward, the commission should continue CVR immediately after 2023 General Elections.
He reminded INEC of its founding mandate, which is inclusivity, adding that “on no account should anyone who presents himself to be registered be denied”.
“See, until people are scarce in every registration centre that will be a good reason to end the process, but in this case, there are thousands of Nigerians hoping to get their PVC on a daily basis.
“So I will suggest that the process should continue until two months to the election proper, so that millions of Nigerian will not be disenfranchised,” he said.
Okenwa urged INEC to consider the recent happenings in various polling units in the country, where there have continued to be daily upsurge in voter registrations especially youths, in all decisions the commission takes henceforth.
He called on the commission to deal with the challenge of shortage of CVR registration machines nationwide as the machines are not enough.
“The CVR registration machines are not enough as many cry out of going for their registration and not actualising it after waiting for a whole day. So the commission invariably should move or extend the deadline date,” he said.
The LEAD Network boss, however, commended popular artists, actors and actresses for their unrelenting efforts towards sensitising and persuading the youths in getting their PVC through their media handles and “no-PVC, no-entry” to their shows across the country.
“There are evidences that every young and well meaning Nigeria wants the country’s system to work and economic wellbeing and prosperity for all,” he added.