- Says it’s ready for Diaspora voting
- Earmarks N1bn for exercise
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise will commence in the first quarter of 2021 ahead of the 2023 general election.
This announcement was made yesterday by its Chairman, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu during a budget defense session with the Senate Committee on INEC to defend the Commissions 2021 budget. The INEC boss during the session said the sum of N1billion has also been earmarked by INEC for the exercise.
On Diaspora voting, he said the Commission is desirous to give Nigerians abroad the right to vote, noting that the actualisation requires an amendment to the Constitution and the Electoral Act and called on the National Assembly to amend the Electoral Act to accommodate Diaspora and early voting.
Earlier at the budget defense, the INEC boss disclosed that the Commission is also seeking approval of the Senate to spend N5.2 billion from the special INEC Fund to make up for the shortfall in its 2020 budget, which was cut because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also revealed that the Commission is currently involved in about 1,700 pre-election and post-election court cases from the 2019 general elections.
