The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has called on the residents of Gombe State to take advantage of the ongoing online Pre-registration, which marks the resumption of the 2021 Continuous Voters Registration, CRV, nationwide.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC for Gombe State, Alhaji Umar Ibrahim, told journalists in Gombe that the online registration would give prospective registrants the opportunity to start the process from anywhere.
It will be recalled that the online pre-registration commenced on June 28, 2021, across Nigeria, aimed at reducing overcrowding at voting units, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as protect INEC facilities from attacks.
Alhaji Umar said the pre-registration was free and opened for those 18 years and above, who had never registered.
“The Pre-registration services are opened to registered voters who had accreditation issues in the past, either with the PVC or with the failed fingerprint authentication by the Smart Card reader, or registered voters who wish to transfer their voting location from one place or the other, both intra and inter-state”.
Other categories of those who wish to undergo the pre-registration are registered voters who would want to correct issues with their data, registered voters whose PVCs are either lost or damaged and would wish to request for their uncollected PVCs.
The INEC Resident Electoral Commission for Gombe State said physical CVR would begin on July 19 at state and LGA offices of INEC in the state, while the online pre-registration process would continue.
He said for those who could not carry out the pre-registration process online due to lack of access to internet, they would be given the opportunity to do so in INEC offices at a date to be announced.
“Prospective registrants who have no access to the internet should be rest assured that every eligible Nigerian would have the opportunity to register, because the registration would continue for at least the next one year,” Alhaji Umar said.
He also announced that the scheduled appointments for online registration would also begin from July 19 at the INEC state and LGA offices in the state.
Biometric capture
Alhaji Umar urged prospective registrants to arm themselves with all necessary information on where to relocate to before beginning the registration process.
He also said with time, the venue for the physical biometric capture of the registrants would be expanded beyond the state and local government offices of INEC.
According to him, after logging on to the INEC Registration portal and filling all the necessary fields, such as bio-data and other details, the registrants would be required to print the slip, which would be required to complete the new registration.
He said the registrants would thereafter secure an appointment on the web portal for a date and time to visit the INEC state or LGA officer for biometric capture and portraits to complete the registration process.
Emmanuel Ukoh
