The House of Representatives on Wednesday called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the deadline for continuous voter registration by 60 more days.
The federal lawmakers made the call following a motion moved by Ben Kalu (APC, Abia), asking INEC to extend the deadline from the current June 30.
The House, consequently, directed its Committee on Electoral Matters to liaise with INEC on the extension.
Kalu, when moving the motion, had said that a large number of unregistered voters willing to be registered has led to congestion of various registration centres.
Noting that he is worried over the reports of a shortage of registration machines in some places in the country, he said that “if nothing is done to improve the shortage of voter registration equipment and extend the deadline for voter registration, millions of Nigerians will be disenfranchised, thus jeopardising the integrity of the 2023 general elections.”
But Rep Yusuf Gagdi (APC, Plateau) cautioned that a long extension could affect INEC’s preparation for the general election.
He then moved that the extension should be for 30 days, but nobody seconded his motion.
Another Rep, Isiaka Ibrahim (APC, Ogun), in his motion on the matter said there was no reason INEC should have a deadline, arguing that registration should continue to the point of the election.
But countering Isiaka’s argument, the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, said that the electoral body is only complying with the Electoral Act.
The House at the end, called on the INEC to deploy an additional 30 voter registration machines in each local government area, and to train and deploy ad-hoc staff to improve the shortage of manpower at registration centres and provide security for the ad-hoc staff.
The House mandated the Committee on Electoral Matters to engage INEC to examine and proffer solutions to the shortage of registration machines and manpower.
The committee is to report back to the House in two weeks.
The move is coming as there has been a surge in the number of persons registering for PVC recently.