The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Oyo State on Tuesday engaged relevant stakeholders in the state on the ongoing Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) and other recent activities of the commission.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Dr Mutiu Agboke, addressing the stakeholders in Ibadan, said it was imperative to update them on the ongoing nationwide CVR, geared toward credible and clean register of voters.
The Ibadan/Ibarapa meeting, which was held at Mapo Hall, in Ibadan, attracted security agents, traditional chiefs, religious leaders, political party leaders and state executive of IPAC.
Agboke said the exercise would serve as precursor to the conduct of successful general elections in 2023.
He intimated the gatherings that the the second quarter of the CVR, which started on Oct. 4, would end on Dec. 20.
The REC said that a total of 111,557 registrants had so far visited the commission’s registration website, noting that only 60, 641 people had completed their registration.
Cross section of the stakeholders at the meeting.
Agboke admitted that the commission needed to do more in terms of voters’ education and publicity.
According to him, there is need for stakeholders and eligible people “to take the exercise with all the seriousness that it deserve”.
He, also urged various key stakeholders, including traditional chiefs, religious leaders, politicians and members of the Intra-Party Advisory Committee to mobilise the electorate to register for their Permanent Voter Cards(PVCs) so as to be on the voters’ registration list.
The REC further disclosed that of over 700,000 uncollected PVCs in the custody of the commission, a total of 485,732 were owned by electorate in Ibadan/Ibarapa zone.
He implored the respective stakeholders at the gathering to sensitise their people whose PVCs were in the custody of the commission to go for its collection.
Agboke said the commission had been exploring all available avenues to reach out to the general public on the importance of the ongoing CVR and on the need for those that had registered to collect their voters cards.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the commission had earlier held similar stateholders meeting in Oyo/Ogbomosho and Oke-Ogun zones, where management of the commission in Oyo State, intimated the stakeholders on the activities of the commission, among others.