INEC Urges Lagosians to Participate Early in CVR

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lagos State has called on eligible residents to promptly engage in the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) and avoid waiting until the last moment, as the nationwide exercise kicks off on Monday.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof. Ayobami Salami, emphasized the commission’s preparedness to roll out the registration process across Lagos.

Salami said: “Don’t wait until the last hours. We must reduce the rush towards the end of the exercise.

“We appeal to all eligible residents to come and use this opportunity now before the rush begin.

“The exercise for now, will take place at the state secretariat, 6 Birrel Avenue, Sabo-Yaba, Lagos as well as all the 20 Local Government offices of INEC.”

According to him, the CVR exercise is a crucial component of the electoral process, aimed at ensuring that all eligible citizens are registered to vote.

He said that the exercise would start Aug. 18 and that  online registration   could be done anywhere  before the physical biometric capturing, beginning Aug. 25.

Salami said that the exercise is expected to end on Aug. 30, 2026.

He said: “Our goal throughout the exercise is to make the process accessible, inclusive and transparent. The Online pre-registration will commence on Monday, Aug.18, 2025.

“At this stage, registrants are urged to go online to commence the registration via our website portal for registration: https://www.cvr.inecnigeria.org OR www.cvr.inec.gov.ng.

“The In-Person Physical Registration biometric capturing will commence on Monday, Aug. 25, in all our twenty (20) Local Government Area offices and the State secretariat of the Commission at Birrel Avenue, Yaba-Lagos.

“The exercise commences by 9.00 am and ends by 3.00 p.m. from Monday to Friday. However, any person on the queue as at 3:00 pm during this period shall be allowed to register.”

The REC said that those eligible to partake in the process included adult Nigerians without prior registration,  those that had attained 18 years of age within the time frame of the exercise.

According to him, others  are those willing to replace their damaged or lost Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), and those willing to transfer their voting rights to other Polling Units, Registration Areas (Wards), Local Governments or States.

“All these are within what we call intra- and inter-state transfers,” he said.

He added that other eligible residents are  those willing to update their details due to cases such as spelling errors, change of address, omissions and marital status.

“Let me use this medium to reiterate to the public that the commission frowns at underage registration as well as multiple registration because, such acts run foul of the provisions of the enabling instruments.

“Offenders will be handed over to  law enforcement agencies,” he added.

Salami said that residents with claims of lost cards,  requesting new cards  must present police report or court affidavit for such claims to be accepted.

Salami said that INEC was counting on the media for a successful CVR in the area of public awareness, education, sensitisations, monitoring and reporting as well as promotion of transparency.

According to him, the CVR exercise is open to all eligible citizens and the registration remains a crucial step in ensuring that citizens’ voices are heard.

The  REC also called for collaboration of  other  stakeholders to ensure the success of the exercise.

“I look forward to a robust and fruitful collaboration with the media to ensure that the CVR exercise is hitch-free.

“On our part, I want to assure that we are committed to providing regular updates,” he said.

NAN