By Muhammad Sabiu
Nigerians who had not been able to get registered made a plea to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to prolong the Continuous Voters Registration, CVR, process as it came to an end yesterday.
In a rush to register before the deadline, which was set by the electoral authority on June 25, Nigerians flocked to many registration centres on Sunday.
In order to provide eligible Nigerians more time to apply for PVCs before the 2023 elections, INEC extended the application period from June 30 to July 31.
Many people have yet to register, despite the service being extended to churches and other locations in an effort to help with the process.
On Sunday, intended voters were furious in certain voting locations in Abuja, claiming that there were conspiracies to deny some Nigerians the right to vote.
An aggrieved PVC applicant was quoted by journalists to have said, “I think they just don’t want us to vote. Look at the people that are going to be denied the opportunity to participate in the election. What is wrong in this country?
“If you look around, you will notice that most of us here that have been here since 3 am this morning are youths. They are afraid of the revolution that is coming, and that is why they are deliberately pushing us away”.
Threatening to take their grievances to the street, he said, “we must hit the street to demand the extension of the exercise. It is our right to vote, and nobody should violate that right”.
