The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC INEC has explained why it barred certain categories of electorates from voting at the upcoming by-elections in Cross River State.
The Ogoja/Yala federal constituency and Akpabuyo state constituency by-elections will take place on the 26th of February 2022.
In a statement signed by the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Cyril Omorogbe and the administrative secretary, Mrs Irene N. Nghuma, stressed that only eligible voters whose names appear in the INEC Register of 2019 are qualified to participate in the by-elections.
“New registrants who enrolled from when the Continuous Voter Registration CVR commenced in June 2021 till date should note that they cannot vote in this election.
All eligible voters whose names appeared in the INEC Register 2019 are qualified to participate in the forthcoming Bye-election in Ogoja/Yala Federal Constituency and Akpabuyo State Constituency which is scheduled to hold on Saturday, February 26, 2022.”
INEC also spelt out guidelines for the elections to eligible voters in the Ogoja/Yala and Akpabuyo areas.
Biometrics Voters Authentication System BVAS will be used for accreditation. Accreditation and Voting will take place simultaneously between 8 o’clock in the morning to 2:30 in the afternoon.
“Remember that only your Permanent Voter’s Card PVC is your power to vote. Please note that Permanent Voter’s Card PVC no matter the year issued does not expire.”
The INEC administrative officer said, “The training is focused on Polling and counting procedures and other election processes.”
She added that ‘the two-day training was organized by the Electoral Institute TEI.
Declaring the training open, the Head of Electoral Operations, in the State, Mr. Fred Emezu, urged the participants not to take the training for granted.
“This training is one of those election trainings that require maximum concentration, concentrate, as there’s always something new to learn like the new technology of Bimodal Voter Authentication System BVAS device which will be unveiled to the participants and voters in the State for the conduct of elections for the first time”.
