The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has given residents of Anambra State three extra days to register as voters. The ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) was supposed to end on July 17, but it will now continue until July 20.

This decision came after INEC’s weekly meeting held at its headquarters in Abuja. In a statement released on July 17 in Awka, Mr. Sam Olumekun, who heads INEC’s Information and Voter Education Committee, said the extension was approved to help more people complete their registration.

Mr. Olumekun explained that many people and groups had asked INEC to give more time for the registration. He also said INEC was pleased with the peaceful process and the large number of people who turned up across all 326 centres in the state.

According to INEC, over 96,000 people were newly registered in the first nine days of the exercise. That’s about 10,600 registrations every day. INEC also received 12,595 requests to move registration details to another location and 7,061 requests for updates or replacement of damaged or missing voter cards.

The data shows that many young people and women took part in the registration. Out of all the new voters, about 58% are women and over 52% are between 18 and 34 years old.

Once the registration ends, INEC will release a draft register for people to review. During this period, people can raise concerns or make corrections before the final list is released. INEC will also run all the data through a biometric system to remove any duplicate registrations or errors.

Mr. Olumekun added that INEC has received five new letters from groups that want to register as political parties. So far, 134 such applications have been submitted. Details like the party names, acronyms, logos, and contact information have been shared on INEC’s official platforms.

INEC assured the public that it will remain open and transparent as it prepares for the Anambra governorship election, which will take place on November 8.