The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has explained why it is ending the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) today, August 31.

INEC National Commissioner, Solomon Soyebi, told Channels Television that the commission needed ample time to effectively make some preparations ahead of the 2019 general elections.

“We don’t have the time. This registration has been going on now for the past 16 months now and we have given lots of efforts to ensure that a lot of people come on board,” he said in an interview on Thursday.

According to Soyebi, the commission has 150 days stipulated by the law to embark on post-registration activities ahead of next year’s polls.

“We need nothing less than 150 days to do the duplication, production of the cards, the integration and signing of the register before the elections in 2019.

“We listened to the public outcry and extended by two weeks. You recall that we extended it on August 17 this year, which was even the time when we embarked on the 2019 elections by giving out a notice for the process.”

Soyebi’s comments come two weeks after INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, announced the extension of the voters’ registration.

On August 14, Yakubu explained the move was necessary to enable Nigerians who had yet to be registered to do so.

16 days after, Soyebi noted that the exercise has to come to an end. He faulted people who had yet to avail themselves of the extension period, stating that the commission already has about 14 million registered Nigerians.

•Text (excluding headline) sourced from a Channels TV report

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