The TakeItBack Movement is leading protests today at the Lagos and Abuja offices of INEC to demand that the Continuous Voters’ Registration (CVR) be continued till 60 days to the February 16th, 2019 elections.
We reject the arbitrarily manufactured August 17th deadline by INEC as it is clear this is a ploy to further frustrate and disenfranchise Nigerians in the coming elections.
Countless Nigerians have narrated the torture they endure to acquire their fundamental civic right – the right to vote, many with pictorial and video evidence. These complaints have been shared with the electoral commission. Unfortunately INEC has responded by shortening the registration date.
The list of complaints is extensive and includes:
- Late-coming of officials to registration centres
- Early shutting of registration centres
- Demand for bribes by officials before registering citizens
- Registration of ‘under-age voters’
- Painfully slow registration process
- Mysteriously incomplete tools and resources to correctly register citizens
- Threats and mockery of the futility of the exercise by INEC officials
Despite several reports to the Commission, at this time, there has not been a tangible response given or action taken by the Commission to address these concerns.
It is now time for action and the TakeItBack Movement is committed to leading the charge.
Being denied the basic right to vote in the next election due to the inadequacies of the Electoral Commission is an obstruction of democracy, one that the Take it Back Movement will not stand for. The CVR is also a requirement of the electoral act.
We call on INEC to redress these injustices so that we may ALL get the Nigeria we deserve.
Nigeria MUST progress!