By Joy Odor
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday announced that more than 69,000 Nigerians completed online pre-registration for the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise within just seven hours of the portal going live.
According to a statement signed by National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, the registration portal opened at 8:30am on August 18 and by 3:30pm, a total of 69,376 applications had been received.
The figures show that 33,803 applicants (48.7%) were male, while 35,573 (51.3%) were female.
Young people between the ages of 18 and 34 made up the majority, accounting for 48,033 or 69.2% of registrations.
The Commission said the online pre-registration platform, available 24/7 via https://cvr.inecnigeria.org, will run alongside in-person registration, which is scheduled to commence on Monday, August 25, at INEC’s 811 state and local government offices nationwide between 9:00am and 3:00pm on weekdays.
The in-person registration will serve both new applicants and those who have pre-registered online but need to complete their biometrics.
INEC stressed that the two options will run concurrently throughout the exercise, in line with its earlier schedule.
From next week, the Commission will begin publishing weekly updates with a detailed breakdown of the registration figures by state, gender, age, occupation, and disability status.
INEC reminded the public that only Nigerian citizens aged 18 and above who have not previously registered are eligible.
It warned against double or multiple registrations, which constitute a violation of the law.
However, transfers of voter registration between states or within the FCT, as well as replacements of lost or damaged Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), are permitted.
