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INEC Shuts CVR Pre-Registration Portal, April
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it would shut down the ongoing nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) Pre-Registration online portal in April in preparation for the 2023 general election.
INEC National Commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education, Mr Festus Okoye, said this, yesterday in Lagos.
Okoye said: “We are going to shutdown the online portal latest by April but the physical registration will be going on until June.
“After June, the possibility of extending the CVR process is next to impossibility because we got to clean up the register, do claims and objections, and we have to print PVCs.
“People have to collect PVCs and we have to give every registered political party the voters register that will be used for the 2023 general election.
“The law has obligated us to stop everything relating to voter registration at a particularly point in time.”
Okoye said shutting down the portal had become imperative for INEC to clear those who had done their online pre-registration for the purpose of capturing their biometrics.
He said the fourth and the final quarter of the ongoing CVR, billed to start on April 11, would be rounded off in June, urging Nigerians to do the needful at the right time, to avoid last minute rush.
Okoye said the commission had seven services on the online registration portal for eligible voters as against six in previous registrations.
He added that the seventh allowed people to locate where their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) were domiciled.
For those who registered during the first, second and third quarters of the ongoing CVR, he said the chairman of the commission will soon let them know the date and time when the new PVCs will be ready and the points of collection.
“Some of these PVCs have already been printed and we want people to come and collect their PVCs.
“The fourth and the last quarter will end sometime in June. Now, we do not want a situation where people will begin to rush to register at the 11th hour, to create a surge in our local government and state offices.
“We want people to approach the state or local government offices now and get registered. We have also devolved the CVR to the various registration areas/wards on a rotational basis. We want people to go and register now.
“We do not want a situation where people will overwhelm our offices toward the end of June. People should seize the opportunity and do the needful at this point in time,” the INEC boss said.
Meanwhile, Okoye added that many people were yet to collect their PVCs printed from previous INEC registrations, saying the commission had been making it possible and seamless for people to collect their PVCs.
According to him, Nigerians who made the sacrifice to register for PVCs should make an additional sacrifice to go to either the state or local government offices of INEC to individually pick them up.
“In a place like Lagos and in other states, we have so many PVCs that have remained uncollected from precious registrations and we want people to access these voter cards.
“There are millions of PVCs yet to be collected nationwide. In fact, in Lagos State we have over a million PVCs that have not been collected and this varies from state to state.
“We have millions of PVCs that have not been collected by those who registered since 2011 up till this time,” he said.
According to him, after sometime the commission will gather all the uncollected PVCs and deposit them in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to ensure that those PVCs do not fall into wrong hands.
Okoye said one of the biggest challenges encountered in the ongoing CVR was that hundreds of Nigerians in diaspora who used the online pre-registration portal were yet to come back to the country to complete their biometric capturing physically.
He said the law stated that they must present themselves physically to complete the process to be eligible for the issuance of the PVCs to vote or to be voted for.
“So, those who started the online pre-registration and have not completed it, after sometime, it will lapse,” he added.
Okoye said the Nigerians who had moved from one place to another did not need to register afresh but only needed online transfer of details to their new state, local government, ward and polling unit for INEC to print new PVCs for them.
He said the same applied to those who had lost their PVCs and those whose PVCs were defaced.
Okoye, who noted that multiple registration remained a punishable electoral offence, said INEC would use its Automatic Biometric Finger Identification System (ABIS) to clean up those who engaged in multiple registration.
The commissioner, who urged Nigerians to know the power and value of their votes, advised them to be involved to make a difference in governance.
The Rivers State Investment Promotion Agency (RSIPA) has unveiled measures to enthrone ease of doing business and win back the confidence of the business community.
The Director-General of the Agency, Dr Chamberlain Peterside, unveiled the plans at the Breakout Session of RSIPA at the ongoing 18th Port Harcourt International Trade Fair, at the Obi Wali International Cultural Centre, in Port Harcourt.
Dr. Peterside said the agency was poised to free the state from accumulation of wrong narratives that branded it over the years as unsafe for business.
He, however, admitted that many things had gone wrong in the past where regulators joined to make the business environment difficult for investors.
He announced that the agency was rather focused on actions, solutions, and results as adopted in the mission statement of the Board.
“Our task is no mean feat. We are dealing with the perception risk that over several years branded the state as unsafe. We are also faced with the challenges of dealing with the lack of cohesion amongst MDAs, policy inconsistencies, multiple taxation, incessant harassment by miscreants, red tape and delays in obtaining operating permits, high cost of operations and opaque public sector,” he said.
“It is about listening to the investors in the field and ensuring that MDAs are carried along, hence the imperative for the setting up of our One-Stop-Center”, he added.
In his remarks, the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Warisenibo Joe Johnson, who represented the state governor, said the Fubara administration was ready to listen to the business community to see ways of reducing impediments to investments.
He listed the stages of actions being undertaken by the governor as outlined in his 37-page blue print to revive the economy of Rivers State.
The Mayor of Housing, My-ACE China, who was presented at the event as a star investor and promoter of Rivers State reputation, said for the plans of the investment promotion agency to materialize, an enabling law should replace the Executive Order that established the Rivers State Investment Promotion Agency.
He said this would insulate the agency from political instability and remove fear in the minds of investors about its sustainability.
According to him, protection precedes promotion and Local Direct Investment (LDIs) is what attracts and promotes Foreign Direct Investment (FDIs).
“It is the rat at home that reveals to the one in the bush that there is fish in the kitchen”, he added.
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?The Mayor of Housing who is also the CEO of the Alesa Highlands Sustainable Green Smart City said that Port Harcourt is like a business empire under lock and key because it is not protecting its own and also not promoting its own enough for investors to come in.
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?In the area of land documentation and inventory, China urged Rivers State Government to borrow a leaf from Abuja and adopt the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in dealing with land and property registration and documentation for ease of doing business.
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?He said Lagos understood the power of business information, adding “this creates the impression that if you are not doing it in Lagos, you are not doing it in Africa.
“We need to shout louder than Lagos, because we need more investments than Lagos and the structural integrity of Abuja. When you marry both, Rivers State would be wonderful and become green with investments,” he said.
In her speech, the President of Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), Dr. Chinyere Nwoga, called on the state government to look into the menace of parked trucks now turning Trans-Amadi into a risk zone.
She outlined the activities of the PHCCIMA and invited investors and businesses to the Port Harcourt economic hub, saying peace has returned.
The Director, Investors Relations of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC), Mrs Lovina Kayode, urged Rivers State to make haste and catch up on Ease of Doing Business, saying the Council has come to help businesses in the state.
Mrs Kayode, who represented the Executive Secretary/CEO of NIPC, Aisha Rimi, commended the Mayor of Housing and his counterpart, Mr. Oliver Biedima of Rainbow Heritage Group, for their decision to invest in Rivers State, saying it is a proof that Rivers State is safe for investors and their investments.
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In his remarks, Oliver Biedemi of Rainbow Heritage Group urged government to give the private investors chance to develop the economy, saying ordinarily government does not have the funds to develop the economy.
Happy Birthday Chief Barr. Nyesom Ezenwo Wike CON
Honourable Minister Federal Capital Territory
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We’ll Drive Tinubu’s Vision in Rivers With Vigour – Fubara …Inaugurates Dualized Ahoada/Omoku Road ….Debunks Rift With RSHA
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has stated that he will lead Rivers people to galvanize support for President Bola Tinubu to drive the vision and objectives of the Renewed Hope Agenda in the State with vigour.
The governor, who joined the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), on Tuesday, explained that his decision to join the APC was not for personal interest but for the overall benefit of Rivers State.
Fubara disclosed these while inaugurating the extension of the dualized Ahoada/ Omoku Express road in Ahoada East and Ogba Egbema Ndoni Local Government Areas of Rivers State.
He commended the contracting firm, Julius Berger, for timely delivery of the project, saying the project is a campaign promise fulfilled which will bring economic benefits to the people and tackle issues of insecurity associated with the route.
He said his administration has remained focused in delivering democratic dividends in the state despite facing glaring challenges.
The governor thanked the people of Ahoada East and Ogba Egbema Ndoni Local Government Areas for their continuous support, and urged his supporters to remain steadfast and also support President Tinubu who he said, has demonstrated love to Rivers State as a father.
Fubara denied having rift with the Rivers State House of Assembly, stating that his meeting with the lawmakers was stalled as a result of delay in the agreed meeting to be convened by former Governor Nyesom Wike and other stakeholders for him to meet with the state lawmakers.
“I have made every effort to meet with the Assembly members, but it is not within my leadership to initiate the meeting process.
“The arrangement was for my leader, Wike, and the elders led by Anabraba to call for a meeting with the the lawmakers.
“I’m a gentleman and principled. I can’t go behind to call them when we’ve already agreed. Whoever that tell them that I don’t want to meet with them, or I rejected proposal meant for them isn’t saying the truth,” Fubara said.
The Permanent Secretary of the Rivers State Ministry Works, Mr Austin Ezekiel-Hart, who gave the project description, said the delivery of the project was a fulfillment of long time dream by the people of Ahoada East and Ogba Egbema Ndoni Local Government Areas.
He said the road was previously a single lane and has now been dualised to 14.6 meters wide, complete with solar-powered streetlights with drainages.
He said the road significantly would reduce travel time between Ahoada and Omoku while improving economic activity in the region.
In his welcome address, Chairman of Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area, Hon. Chuku Shedrack Ogbogu, described the road as a symbol of unity, oneness, and development, thanking the governor for fulfilling his campaign promises.
On his part, the Managing Director of Julius Berger, Engr. Peer Lusbash, said the project was awarded to his company in 2023 with a completion period of 18 months which was achieved in best quality.
He added that Julius Berger enjoyed a good support from the Fubara administration, and assured to complete all ongoing projects being handled by Julius Berger on specification, especially the Ring Road project which is a legacy project.
