The President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists
President and Council Members of the NIPR
Senior Officials of the Nigerian Guild of Editors
Executive Director of the International Press Centre (IPC)
Media Executives and Heads of Various Media Organisations
Editors and Senior Journalists
National Commissioners of INEC
The Secretary and Other Senior Officials of the Commission
Members of the INEC Press Corps
Ladies and Gentlemen

1. It is my pleasure to welcome you all to our second regular quarterly consultative meeting for this year. You may recall that our first meeting for the year was held about two months ago on Thursday 21st March 2024 at which we briefed you about the 9 bye-elections and 38 re-run elections in 26 States of the Federation held on 3rd February 2024. We would like to further inform you that with the exception of two State Assembly constituencies in Enugu and Kano States disrupted by violence and thuggery, winners have emerged in 45 out of 47 constituencies. Following extensive consultation with stakeholders in the two States, the Commission is remobilising to conclude the outstanding re-run elections in Enugu South 1 State Constituency of Enugu State and Ghari (formerly known as Kunchi Local Government Area) for the Ghari/Tsanyawa State Constituency of Kano State. We similarly briefed you on the forthcoming off-cycle Governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States.

2. Early this week, the Commission announced the plan to resume the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) as part of our preparations for the Edo and Ondo State Governorship elections. As you are aware, the Edo State Governorship election is holding in the next four months on Saturday 21st September 2024 while the Ondo Governorship election holds in the next six months on Saturday 16th November 2024.

3. The Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in the two States will enable eligible citizens who are not registered voters to do so. Similarly, registered voters also have the opportunity to transfer their registration from other States of the Federation to Edo and Ondo States or from one location to another within the States. Lost or damaged voters’ cards will be replaced during the exercise. The CVR will take place simultaneously in the two States from Monday 27th May 2024 to Wednesday 5th June 2024 from 9.00am to 3.00pm daily including the weekend. Let me reiterate that the CVR is only open to new registrants and those who seek to transfer their registration. Persons who are registered as voters should not attempt to register again as double or multiple registration is illegal.

4. Taking into consideration the limited time to the Governorship elections, the Commission has decided to conduct the registration at Ward level and our State headquarters instead of our Local Government offices and a few designated centers as was the case in the past. This means that there will be 192 Ward registration centres in Edo State and 203 centres in Ondo State in addition to our State offices in Benin City and Akure, making a total of 397 walk-in registration centres in the two States. There will be no online pre-registration option in the two States because of time constraint. Each centre will be managed by two officials drawn from our regular staff and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). In the next few days, the Commission will commence the training of at least 794 officials for the exercise. The locations of the registration centres as well as other relevant information have been compiled in a detailed 28-page document included in your folders for this meeting. The same information has already been uploaded to our website and social media platforms for public information.

5. The Commission therefore appeals to the media to join us in mobilising prospective registrants for the exercise, particularly on the need to register early and not wait until the deadline approaches when the registration centres will be inundated by eleventh hour registrants.

6. In addition to the registration of voters, the Commission will also make available the uncollected Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) for collection during the CVR. In the coming days, the list of uncollected PVCs will be published in our offices in the two States and simultaneously uploaded to our website. We believe that doing so will make it easier for voters to know the availability of the cards and identify the locations to collect them. However, no PVCs will be collected by proxy. Registered voters should come in person to collect their cards. Again, we seek for the support of the media in encouraging voters to locate and pick up thier PVCs as was done in the past.

7. Still on our preparations for the two Governorship elections, the Commission has published the final list of candidates for Edo following the conclusion of party primaries and the end of the period for withdrawal and substitution of candidates as provided in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election. Campaign in public by political parties commenced on Wednesday 24th April 2024 and will end at midnight on Thursday 19th September 2024 i.e. 24 hours before the date fixed for the election as provided by law. We look forward reading your monitoring reports of the campaigns as some of you have done in the past.

8. As we move closer to Election Day in Edo State, it is also imperative to request media organisations to submit applications for accreditation to report on the election in earnest along with the required documentation for individual journalists and support staff. Doing so will enable the Commission to produce and deliver the identity cards for journalists covering the election in good time. The Commission will not entertain requests outside the deadline for the receipt of applications from interested media organisations or process requests that do not meet the criteria for accreditation.

9. Turning to outstanding bye-elections, the Commission would like to inform you about the existence of vacancies in four States of the Federation involving three State Assembly constituencies and one Federal Constituency as a result of death or resignation of Honourable Members. As soon as preparations are concluded, the Commission will announce the dates for bye-elections in Khana 2 State Constituency of Rivers State, the Bagwai/Shanono State constituency of Kano State, the Zaria Kewaye State Constituency of Kaduna State and the Garki/Babura Federal Constituency of Jigawa State.

10. On this note, I once again welcome you all to this meeting. I thank you and God bless.