THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Friday, announced that it would begin online voter registration through its registration portal on June 28.
INEC National Commissioner in charge of information and voter education Festus Okoye made the announcement during a press briefing in Abuja.
“The INEC Voter Registration Portal will be deployed to enable people register online and thereafter go to their respective states or local government offices of the commission to capture their biometrics and facials,” he said.
Okoye stated that citizens who would rather transfer their registration to a different location could do that through the online portal.
“Those that have prior issues of accreditation and with damaged or defaced PVCs can also use the online portal to rectify the challenge,’’ the commissioner explained.
He disclosed that INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu will announce the commencement of physical registration after consultations with critical stakeholders.
While appealing to stakeholders to increase their voter education programmes, Okoye called on media and civil society organisations to assist in educating Nigerians on the importance of voter registration.
During the last voter registration exercise, a total of 84.004 million Nigerians registered while 72.755 million collected their permanent voters’ card (PVC), according to data obtained from the commission.
The Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) programme was temporarily suspended on August 31, 2018 due to preparations for the conduct of the 2019 general elections.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.