INEC Announces Date For 2019 Elections And Commencement Of Voters Registration

The Independent National Electoral Commission has announced that continuous voters registration for the forthcoming 2019 general elections will commence nationwide on Thursday, April 27, 2017.

A National Commissioner and Acting Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Amina Zakari, said in a statement on Wednesday that the commission reached the decision during a special meeting of its Resident Electoral Commissioners and the Administrative Secretaries.

She said, during the meeting, that the officials discussed the methodologies, modalities, and the date for the commencement of the nationwide exercise.

Zakari said that the exercise, programmed to take off in all the 774 local government areas of the country, would take place on weekdays from Monday to Friday between the hours of 9am and 3pm.

Zakari said the exercise would give Nigerians who turned 18 years since the last registration the opportunity to register to vote.

She added that those, who registered but could not collect their permanent voter cards before the last general election of 2015, would have the opportunity to collect them, the Punch reports.

Zakari stated that registration centres would be opened in all the local government offices of the commission or other locations considered suitable by the commission.

She advised Nigerians who had registered before not to do so as double registration is an offence.

The electoral commission recently announced new dates for the 2019 elections.