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The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and former Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the July 31 deadline it has set for the Continuous Voters Registration as this would disenfranchise many Nigerians if not extended.

It will be recalled that INEC, through a press release signed by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee Festus Okoye, in June, had announced July 31, 2022, as the new deadline for the Continuous Voter Registration exercise.

The electoral commission had premised the extension on the judgement delivered by the Federal High Court, Abuja on Wednesday 13th July 2022 which dismissed the suit filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) for an extension of the exercise beyond 30th June 2022.

The court had then ruled that “INEC is at liberty to appoint a date of its choice to suspend the CVR, provided it is not later than 90 days before the date fixed for the General Election as provided in Sec. 9(6) of the Electoral Act 2022.”

But despite the court ruling, INEC had said it extended the CVR till July 31 in compliance with an interim court injunction pending the determination of the substantive suit.

But while appealing to the electoral body in a video posted on his verified Twitter handle on Wednesday afternoon, Kwankwaso noted that there are still many Nigerians that will attain the age of 18 between the end of July and February 2023 and that ending the voters’ registration by July 31 would disenfranchise many of them.

The former Kano state governor said: “I want to urge all the people who are yet to get their Permanent Voters Card (PVCs) to endeavour to do so, so that when the time comes, they can go and fulfil their civic responsibilities by voting their conscience and the right people to lead this country at all levels. And I believe it is also an opportunity to appeal to INEC itself to extend the time again because, between the end of July and Election Day, you still have August, September, October, November, December and January, which are seven months.

“The implication is that so many people will be 18 years each day, so within the space of seven months, only God knows how many people will be 18 years of age. Otherwise, if you just draw the curtain by the end of this month, it means all these people will be disenfranchised, which is not the best for the country and not good for democracy either,” he added.

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