On Wednesday, a group of over 80 human rights organizations working together under the umbrella of the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room bemoaned the fact that 11 million online applicants were left without a way to register for PVCs as the deadline expired on Sunday.
At the same time, the CSOs urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to extend the CVR for a window of one month so that it could accommodate more voters.
INEC’s decision to not prolong the process has angered many Nigerians who were unable to register for the continuous voter registration.
In separate interviews, the stranded applicants criticized INEC for discontinuing the CVR, the nationwide registration which began in June 2021, calling it a sneaky method of depriving them of their rights.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), another civil society organization, filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court on June 5 to request an extension of the CVR beyond the original intention of the electoral body to end the exercise on June 30.
As a result, on June 20, Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon issued an order of temporary injunction prohibiting INEC from suspending the registration process.
The electoral commission extended the registration till July 31 in accordance with the directive.
Despite the delay, hundreds of candidates have continued in crowding registration centres to register before the deadline, particularly in the states of Niger, Kano, Lagos, Katsina, Benue, Ogun, and Enugu as well as the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja.
Ene Obi, the convener of the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, said in a statement to reporters on Wednesday that it would be unfair for INEC to deny voting rights to more than 11 million Nigerians who rushed to submit applications online but were unable to complete the physical registration process.
She said, “The Nigeria Civil Society is advocating and appealing to INEC to reopen the CVR because the rush will tell you that a lot more people want to register. We don’t want to shut down their enthusiasm. It is therefore important to reopen it, even if it is going to be for one month, and make it less stressful.
“There are reports of people queuing up for a day to a whole week and still end up not getting registered. We can make this less stressful in terms of registration processes.
“More than 11 million applicants who completed their forms online were unable to complete their registration. That means you are losing 11 million electorates. That’s whopping! INEC should address it. Why are they unable to allow them complete the task? It is even a subject for study.
“You will find out that everything is online now and with speed, so many millions can register at one go. But they are not able to be on the queue. We are urging INEC to reopen the process for more Nigerians to register even if it is just for a window of one month.”
