ABUJA – Ahead of the Continuous Voters Registration exercise which is scheduled to take place in June, 2021, the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) has trained some of the participating officers for the exercise in Kano state.

Following the conclusion of the 2019 General Election and the Commission’s review exercises, it was assumed that the CVR will recommence in the first quarter of 2020 but the outbreak of the COVID-19 and its declaration as a global health pandemic by the World Health Organisation in March, 2020 truncated it.

The exercise will be undertaken on a continual basis until the end of September, 2022 to enable the Commission prepare for the printing of the last batch of PVCs and the production of the voter register for the 2023 General Election, scheduled for Saturday 18, February, 2023.

The workshop for Head of the Voter Registration Unit and Registration Area Officer in Kano state is therefore part of the preparation towards ensuring the successful take-off and conduct of the CVR exercise.

In adherence to the Commission’s COVID policy and relevant Health advisory, the workshop was designed to hold in two phases.The first phase involving participants from 18 States was held in Benin three weeks ago. This second phase of the workshop according to the Commission is for participants from the other 18 States and FCT.

The workshop undertook a comprehensive review of the 2017/2018 CVR exercise by providing information on the methodology for the conduct of the new CVR exercise and the new equipment and technology for the CVR process.

The success of the CVR exercise according to the Commission will depend largely on the capacity of the trained officers to comprehend and cascade the new knowledge in undertaking all the required new tasks and activities associated with the CVR exercise.

The Commission also noted that, the Commission’s ability to diligently register voters, produce an accurate register of voters and manage the collection of PVC by registered voters remain the building blocks for free, fair and a credible election.