The Independent National Electoral Commission has agreed to lift the suspension on Continuous Voter Registration which was halted in Imo State following the attack by gunmen on staff members, Governor Hope Uzodimma has said.
According to him, the CVR will commence on Monday (today).
Several calls, SMS, and WhatsApp messages to the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, on Sunday, were not replied.
A statement issued by Uzodimma’s Chief Press Secretary, Oguwike Nwachukwu, said the governor gave the hint on Sunday at the end of a church service at the Government House Chapel, Owerri.
The governor was quoted as saying that his intervention became necessary to allow Imo citizens to register and obtain their Permanent Voter Cards before the next general election.
Uzodimma said, “By Monday, April 25, 2022 the CVR will resume in all the designated centres while the three local governments under ban will carry out the registration at their local government headquarters.
“Those who are deliberately scaring the people away from registering are enemies of the state who want to draw the state back knowing full well that the INEC registration and the population census are yardsticks for Federal Revenue Allocation to states and local governments.
“Therefore, there is every need for every citizen of Imo State, 18 years and above, to go and register and obtain the PVC for the forthcoming election.”
Speaking on the Ohaji Egbema fire outbreak, where nearly 100 persons lost their lives as a result of illegal bunkering and refining, Uzodimma condemned the act and emphasised that the right of oil allocation and refining belonged only to the Federal Government.
“It is an economic sabotage and in fact a taboo to engage in such clandestine business,” he said, just as he warned Imo people involved in such activities to desist from such.