By Yemi Adeleye
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lagos State says efforts are being made to create additional centres for Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) in 13 local government areas of the state.
Dr Mustapha Mudashiru, the Administrative Secretary of the commission in Lagos State, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos.
He said the commission had pushed for more centres, especially in 13 of the 20 council areas in the state to reduce crowd in existing centres.
He added that “we requested for additional centres, particularly for some peculiar local governments in Lagos State to further address some of the challenges facing CVR in a metropolitan city like Lagos.
“We are still awaiting formal approval by the commission.
“We made the case for additional centres in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Alimosho, Eti-Osa, Ifako-Ijaiye, Ikeja, Ikorodu, Kosofe, Mushin, Ojo, Oshodi-Isolo, Somolu, Surulere, and Lagos Mainland local governments.
“We are hopeful that the commission will consider this and as soon as we get
approval, we will put those centres into use.
“This will go a long way in reducing crowd at existing centres because it is one of the challenges we have been facing.”
The INEC boss said the commission was committed to bringing innovation and improvement to deliver its mandate to the people.
He commended eligible residents of the state for their eagerness and enthusiasm toward the exercise, stressing that statistics nationwide showed that Lagos was leading
in the exercise.
According to him, the commission’s Voter Education Department is reaching out to tertiary institutions in the state to further increase awareness about the ongoing CVR.
Mudashiru noted that the commission had carried its publicity to University of Lagos, College of Education, Technical, Akoka and would visit other tertiary institutions in the state.
He urged the Lagos State Government to complement the efforts of the commission in the area of publicity and enlightenment, saying it would go a long way in assisting those who may be unaware of the exercise.
On the high volume of uncollected Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) to the tune of 1.4 million, Mudashiru said majority of the owners of the cards had relocated, especially students who had completed their course of study.
He urged eligible residents to show interest in the exercise to avoid being disenfranchised in future elections, saying it was free.
INEC started the nationwide CVR on April 27 to capture those who attained 18 years of age and others who did not register or those seeking replacement or transfer.
