” Pledges hitch free exercise.
The Independent National Electoral Commission in Kogi state has today Monday 11 May 2026 commenced the third and final phase of the Continuous Voter registration CVR exercise before the 2027 general elections.
The kogi state Resident commissioner of INEC, Dr.Shehu Wahab made the disclosure on Monday at a press briefing with the media in Lokoja
The Resident commissioner noted that the commencement of Phase 3 of the CVR exercise was a continuation of the online registration on 18 August 2025 and physical registration on the 25 August 2025, described the exercises as encouraging.
He said as part of the Commission’s commitment to ensuring that no eligible Nigerian is disenfranchised, this phase is scheduled to begin today Monday, 11 May 2026 and end on 10 July 2026.
The Resident commissioner said the this exercise remains open to several categories of citizens such as Nigerian citizen who has turned 18 since the last phase and for Individuals who have moved their residence to or within Kogi State and wish to move their voting station.
Dr Wahab added that the exercise will avail those who need to rectify errors in their names, dates of birth, or photographs,PVC Replacement, and hose whose Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) have been lost, damaged, or defaced.
He said a total of 114, 530 individuals registered in phase 1 between Aug – Nov 2025) while phase 11 between Jan – Apr 2026 shows significant increase of 164,193 of registrants
He added that in both phases female registrants consistently outnumbered the male gender, as 93,232 females, compared to 70,961 males turned up for the exercise.
According to him ,LGAs such as Yagba East and Okehi showed remarkable growth in Phase II, with Yagba East recording 15,470 total activities.
He said during the exercises, the commission identified some challenges, including poor Network access , Last-Minute Surge, geographical Barriers and hard to reach communities
He hinted that in order to mitigate the challenges, the state has adopted the implemention of a rotational registration strategy, as the state office centre will remain registration centers, while their mobile teams will move across the various Wards (Registration Areas) on a scheduled basis in the LGAs.
“Already, Electoral officers have been directed to submit their schedules of movement. This is to ensure proper monitoring and enhance transparency of the process.
” In order to mitigate the issue of the network, the registration officer will be allowed to move from one registration centre to another. This is to ensure that those in the most remote areas of the state are reached and captured.
” I wish to assure the public that we are working closely with the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) to provide a safe environment for both our staff and the registrants at all centers.
“I must also emphasize that registration is free. No staff member or agent is authorized to demand payment for any part of this process.
” I urge citizens to avoid the temptation of multiple registration, as the system will automatically flag and invalidate such entries, and offenders may face prosecution” He disclosed.
While calling on the media to sensitize the public, mobilize the grassroots for a high turnout., said only valid voter’s card remained their power to choose candidates of their choice
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