With 11 days to the end of the continuous voter registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission, the commission has said it is yet to decide on the growing request for extension. There has been a clamour for an extension of the exercise, which began in June 2021 and is scheduled to end on June 30, 2022. Ahead of the 2023 elections, the exercise has witnessed a surge in the number of registrants in recent weeks, prompting the calls for an extension. The online registration ended on May 30, 2022. The House of Representatives on Wednesday asked the commission to extend the CVR by 60 days, while several civil society organisations and individuals also called for an extension to the exercise to enable more Nigerians to register. Earlier, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project and 185 concerned Nigerians filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Lagos asking the court for, among other things, an order of mandamus to direct and compel INEC to extend voter registration by a minimum of three months and take effective measures to ensure that eligible Nigerians are able to register to exercise their right to vote in the 2023 general elections. INEC, in a notice on its website, said the deadline for the registration was to enable the commission to clean up the registration data, print the permanent voter cards and compile the register ahead of the 2023 general elections. Speaking on the request, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, stated that the commission was yet to decide on the issue. He told our correspondent in an interview on Friday, “INEC does not have any position yet. As of today, the deadline for the CVR remains June 30, which is less than 13 days away. The commission will decide what to do next when we get to the bridge.” The INEC chairman said in June that as of June 1, about 10.2 million fresh registration had been recorded since the exercise started. In many parts of the country and in social media, there has been a renewed drive and persuasion by individuals for people, especially the youths, to register and collect their PVCs. There are indications that at the end of the exercise, the number of registered voters nationwide might increase from the 84 million in 2019 to over 100 million by 2023. The Executive Director, YIAGA Africa, Samson Itodo, said recently during INEC’s first Twitter Spaces, that the efforts by youths to register was fascinating but that they should go beyond registering to ensure they collect their PVCs and vote. PVC collection Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission in Osun State says it has extended the collection of Permanent Voter Cards in the state ahead of the governorship election on July 16. In a statement by the commission’s Public Affairs Officer, Mrs Oluwaseun Osimosu on Saturday, INEC said the decision was aimed at easing the collection of PVCs by those that had yet to collect the items. “INEC wishes to inform the public, most especially all eligible voters who have yet to collect their Permanent Voter Cards that they can collect their PVCs at the registration areas (wards) from June 22 to June 26.

  The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Biodun Oyebanji, has been declared the winner of Saturday’s Ekiti governorship election. Declaring the winner, Prof. Oyebode Adebowale, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) returning officer, said Oyebanji polled a total of 187, 057 to win the election. He said that Biodun Oyebanji had certified the law and was, therefore, declared the winner. “That I, Prof. Oyebode Adebowale, hereby certified that I am the returning officer of the Ekiti 2022 Governorship Election held on June 18. “That Biodun Oyebanji, the candidate of APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and returned,” Adebowale declared. The INEC returning officer, who is also the Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, while giving the breakdown of the total votes scored by the participating political parties, said that Mr Segun Oni, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, scored 82, 211, to come second. According to him, others were the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Chief Bisi Kolawole, who polled 67,457; Accord (A) scored 166; African Action Congress (AAC) 409; All Progressives Grand Alliance,(APGA) 17 while Action Democratic Congress (ADC) polled 141 votes. Also, the Action Democratic Party (ADP) scored 5,597; Allied Peoples Movement (APM) -290; Labour Party (LP) polled 195 votes; New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) scored 529 and National Rescue Movement (NRM) 347. The rest were, Young Progressives Party (YPP)-618; All Peoples Party (APP) polled 1,980 and Zenith Labour Party,(ZLP) polled 282; Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) polled 856. According to the INEC Returning Officer, the total numbers of registered voters were 989,224, accredited voters, 363,438, valid votes were, 351865 and voided votes were 8888. However, the Ekiti South West Local Government area Collation Officer, Prof. Gbolagade Jonathan, said there were issues of ballot snatching at Ward 6 , Units 5 and 7. Jonathan, while given his reports, said they were about to sort the results when gunmen stormed the affected units and started shooting sporadically making the people run for safety, while they carted away the ballot boxes in the process. He explained that the two affected units had a total number of accredited voters of 266 and 128 respectively.

  The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has been declared winner of the ongoing governorship election in seven Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Ekiti State According to results announced at the LGA collation centres, Abiodun Oyebanji of the APC won in Ikere, Emure, Ekiti South West, Ekiti West, Oye, Irepodun/Ifelodun and Ise/Orun LGAs. The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Bisi Kolawole was announced winner in Efon Alaye LGA, while Segun Oni of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) is yet to win a single LGA. The final results of the election would be announced at the state collation center in Ado Ekiti, capital of the state.

  Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, has said that reports of voting-buying in the ongoing governorship election in Ekiti State is not solely synonymous to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Keyamo’s statement comes on the heels of reports suggesting that the APC was involved in mass vote buying and selling in the ongoing Ekiti polls. In his statement on Twitter, the minister said the claims are only subtle messages passed across by opposition parties, all in a bid to see that the ruling party loses the election. “Incidences of vote-buying can’t be synonymous only with the ruling party, but the subtle message the other parties try to pass to the gullible is that only the ruling party engages in illegalities & that the only way an election can be deemed credible is if the ruling party loses,” Keyamo lamented.   The election in Ekiti State has been adjudged peaceful by many, however, there have been pockets of violence and several reports of “money for votes” practices. Agents of the ruling APC were reportedly arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for alleged vote-buying. Parading some of the suspects at the Oke Ori Omi Area Division of the Nigerian Police Force, the suspects were said to have been caught with monies allegedly used to induce voters, an act the EFCC officials say were carried out surreptitiously. The EFCC thereafter proceeded to burst another residence where some persons were caught with a book containing details of voters of certain voting area.