By Atoyebi Nike
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed concern over the low turnout in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in Enugu State, where only 1,801 people have registered in the last 15 days.
Chief Rex Achumie, Head of Voter Education and Publicity at INEC Enugu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday that the figure falls far below expectations, noting that the state typically records about 25,000 fresh registrations within the same period.
According to him, the exercise, which began with online registration on August 18 and in-person registration on August 28, has been running smoothly without any issues of manpower, connectivity, or equipment. However, he described residents’ response as “abysmally low.”
“The rate of turnout is low and discouraging, notwithstanding INEC’s engagements with electoral stakeholders before the exercise commenced. We need political leaders and community stakeholders to help in sensitising people, especially those who just turned 18 and others yet to register,” Achumie said.
He stressed that voter registration is not limited to political party members, but a civic duty for all eligible Nigerians.
The CVR runs Monday to Friday, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., at INEC’s state headquarters in Enugu and across the 17 local government council secretariats.
