INEC Conducts Voter Registration For Lepers In Inclusion Drive

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has captured a leper colony in Niger State in its ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.

It explained that the move was in line with its commitment to promoting inclusion in the nation’s electoral process.

INEC, in a tweet on Saturday, shared photos of some registration officers while capturing some electorate at a leper colony in Chanchaga Local Government Area of Niger State.

According to the tweet, the officials were deployed in the community by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Niger, Professor Samuel Egwu, to conduct the exercise ahead of the general elections in 2023.

In line with its resolve to ensure a hitch-free process and large turnout of voters in the forthcoming elections, INEC began the online pre-registration and physical registration for the CVR in June and July 2021 respectively.

As part of the Commission’s effort to promote inclusion in the electoral process, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Niger State deployed registration officers to Chanchaga Leprosy Colony to conduct Voter Registration ahead of the 2023 General Election.#NigeriaDecides2023 pic.twitter.com/kk9MYsG5Zu

— INEC Nigeria (@inecnigeria) July 23, 2022

Deadline Extended

After several months since the exercise began, it announced that the voter registration exercise would come to an end on June 30.

But the announcement by the electoral umpire did not go well with some concerned groups, including the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) which tested the legality of the move at the time in court.

While ruling on a motion ex parte filed by the civil group, Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon of the Federal High Court in Abuja granted an order of interim injunction which stopped INEC from going ahead with its decision to end the CVR exercise on June 30, as scheduled.

The judge had also asked the electoral body to appear before the court while the suit was adjourned till June 29 for the hearing of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.

Hours after the ruling was delivered on June 20, INEC through its spokesman Festus Okoye said it would give effect to the court order.

Stressing that the exercise had been ongoing for a long time, Okoye lamented that there were instances where registration officers registered just an individual for the whole day, saying the cost implications cannot be overlooked.

He would later announce an extension of the deadline of the exercise to July 31.