Voter registration'll be continuous exercise _ INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is committed to Continuous Voter Registration (CRV) with a view to ensuring authentic register of eligible voters for future elections, the Chairman of the commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, said on Monday.

He said, “It (CRV) also provides an opportunity for all those with missing essential biometric details on the electronic register to be recaptured. “INEC offered these opportunities to people in Anambra in August, preceding the governorship election; regrettably many did not utilise them. “As we move into 2015, we, that is, all stakeholders, have the joint obligation to ensure that the CVR is utilised maximally to update and improve upon the register of voters.''

Jega spoke at the quarterly meeting it held with the representatives of political parties in Abuja.

The INEC boss explained that the previous voters' registration was not as bad as some people make it to be, adding however, that the commissioned planned to keep improving on the exercise by updating existing register regularly.

He believes that the continuous voter registration will provide an opportunity for registering young Nigerians who turned 18 years after the last exercise.

Jega said that the  regular quarterly meetings afforded the commission the opportunity  to keep the parties informed on its activities through the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC).

The Chairman of IPAC, Dr Yunusa Tanko, in his remarks, noted that the Anambra governorship election of Nov. 16 was marred by lapses in the voters' register  made available. He, however,  commended INEC for responding promptly to some of the issues raised during the Anambra election, assuring the political umpire that  the  political parties would operate according to the laws of the country.

The IPAC chair said that transparency of elections must be given, urging  INEC to strive towards credible free and fair elections in 2015.