The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has extended the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in Anambra State by three additional days, pushing the deadline from July 17 to July 20.
The extension follows public appeals and aims to accommodate the surge in turnout as the state prepares for its governorship election scheduled for November 8.
The announcement was made on Thursday by Mr. Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, in a press statement issued in Awka.
“This decision was made during the commission’s weekly meeting held earlier today at the INEC Headquarters in Abuja,” Olumekun stated. “The extension was granted in response to appeals from citizens and stakeholders who requested more time to complete their registration.”
According to Olumekun, the voter registration exercise has proceeded peacefully across all 326 registration centres in the state. In just nine days, a total of 96,085 new voters were registered, averaging more than 10,600 registrations per day.
In addition to new registrations, INEC recorded 12,595 requests for voter transfer, both within and outside Anambra, and 7,061 applications for updates or replacement of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) due to damage or loss.
Olumekun highlighted that the majority of new registrants are women and youth, with 56,017 females (58%) and 50,429 aged 18–34 (52.48%) participating in the exercise.
INEC also confirmed that once registration concludes on Sunday, the preliminary voter register will be displayed for public claims and objections, as mandated by the Electoral Act. This will be followed by a comprehensive clean-up using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) to eliminate duplicate and ineligible entries.
A full demographic breakdown—covering age, gender, occupation, and disability status—will be published after data validation is completed.
In a related development, Olumekun disclosed that the commission had received five new letters of intent from associations seeking to be registered as political parties, raising the total number of pending applications to 134.
“Details of these applications, including proposed names, acronyms, logos, addresses, and interim leadership, have been made available on the commission’s website and social media platforms for public scrutiny,” he noted.
INEC reiterated its commitment to transparency, inclusivity, and timely dissemination of information ahead of the upcoming governorship election.
