The Independent National Electoral Commission, on Monday, resumed continuous voter registration in Edo and Ondo states, in preparation for the off-cycle governorship elections.

The elections are scheduled for September 21, 2024, in Edo and November 16, 2024, in Ondo.

The National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, INEC, Sam Olumekun, in a statement on Monday, announced that the CVR began at 397 centres across the two states on Monday.

Following the severe flooding at the INEC headquarters in Edo State, after the rain on Friday, May 24, the commission announced a change in venue for its CVR exercise.

The flooding had resulted in significant damage to the building and its contents, as Olumekun, in a press release on Saturday, quoted the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Dr Anugbum Onuoha, as reporting that both movable and immovable items, including parked vehicles, office furniture, and equipment, were submerged.

The development made the All Progressives Congress in the state ask INEC to cancel the exercise, due to the damage to its secretariat.

The state acting chairman of the APC, Jarret Tenebe, in a statement on Sunday, urged INEC to cancel the exercise due to the damage to its secretariat, materials and equipment meant for the CVR.

The electoral body, however, moved the registration centre to its office at Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of the state.

To facilitate access to registration centres, INEC distributed hard copies of the locations to stakeholders and uploaded the information on its website and social media platforms.

Olumekun said, “The Continuous Voter Registration commenced today, Monday, 27th May 2024, as scheduled. The exercise is held in 397 centres in the two states.

“However, as announced by the commission yesterday, the CVR is holding in our Ikpoba Okha LGA office located at 16, Custom Road, off Benin/Auchi Road, Benin City.

“This is a sequel to the flooding of our state headquarters, following torrential rains on Friday last week.”

The commission released on its website and social media platforms, a short graphic of the procedure for accessing the registration centres.

Olumekun further stated that the CVR offered eligible citizens the chance to register as voters, transfer their registration, request replacements for lost or damaged Permanent Voter Cards, and collect PVCs yet to be collected.

The commission encouraged all eligible voters in Edo and Ondo states to take advantage of the opportunity to ensure they got registered and ready to participate in the forthcoming elections.

“We urge all eligible citizens in Edo and Ondo states who are not registered voters to seize the opportunity of the CVR to register. It is also an opportunity for those who wish to transfer their registration from other states of the federation to the two states or from one location to another within the states to do so.

“Similarly, requests for replacement of lost or damaged PVCs can be made at the registration centres,” the statement said.

The commission appealed to eligible voters to come for registration early while cautioning against late-minute rush.

The registration, as observed by our correspondent, went on smoothly at the venue in Edo State on Monday.

The CVR exercise monitored in Oredo, Egor and Ikpoba-Okha local government areas showed that PVC collection was ongoing alongside the CVR exercise.

Speaking at the Ikpoba-Okha registration area, the INEC National Commissioner in charge of Edo, Delta and Cross River, Prof. Rhoda Gumus, expressed satisfaction with the exercise, while calling for patience.

She said, “We have been to Oredo and we are here at Ikpoba-Okha registration area which we are using as our state head office registration centre because of the flood disaster that happened at our head office on Friday.

“We are in touch with other registration areas within and outside Benin and the exercise is going on smoothly. As you can see, we have registered some people and others are still waiting. The process just started today. It is impressive and commendable.”

The State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Anugbum Onuoha, said the commission was well prepared for the exercise, adding that the flood incident could not stop the exercise.

Onuoha said, “We thank God for the enablement to begin this exercise, having in mind the flood disaster that destroyed some of our equipment on Friday.

“Due to the flood disaster, we moved our head office registration area to the INEC office at Ikpoba-Okha Local Government. We are here and witnessing a large turnout of people who are here as either new registrants to transfer their registration or for PVC collection.

“INEC is prepared for this exercise and nothing will make us fail. People expected us to discontinue the exercise but we were prepared, even before the flood disaster happened.”

He added that both the CVR and the PVC collection would be a 10-day exercise, starting from May 27 to June 5, 2024, from 9 am to 3 pm daily, including weekends.