Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reacted to the plea by the House of Representatives to extend the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).
The lower chamber of the National Assembly had on Wednesday asked the electoral commission to extend the CVR exercise by 60 days.
The lawmakers noted that the extension of the voter registration will enable many eligible Nigerians to get registered before the 2023 general elections.
The CVR exercise which began in June 2021 is scheduled to end on June 30, 2022, while the online registration ended on May 30, 2022.
The exercise has however, witnessed a surge in the number of registrants in recent weeks, prompting the calls for an extension by the Green chamber and several civil society organisations.
In his reaction, Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, stated that the commission does not have a position on the matter.
Speaking with The Punch on Friday, Oyekanmi added that INEC has not decided to extend the deadline, stating that June 30 still remains the deadline for the exercise.
“INEC does not have any position yet. As of today, the deadline for the CVR remains June 30, which is less than 13 days away. The commission will decide what to do next when we get to the bridge,” he said.
INEC had earlier stated that the deadline for the registration was to enable the commission to clean up the registration data, print the permanent voter cards and compile the register ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The commission also revealed that about 10.2 million fresh registration had been recorded since the exercise started last year