The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has planned to begin the continuous voter registration exercise on Thursday, April 27, 2017 to enable those without their voter’s cards to do so in order to partake in the forthcoming general elections.

It says it has finalised preparations for the nationwide continuous voter registration exercise, which will begin at the local council level.

Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, told journalists on Wednesday in Abuja during a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) that the commission was committed to ensuring that every eligible voter is not denied their franchise right hence the period given for the exercise.

Prof. Yakubu said the RECs are to furnish the commission with the relevant information, including challenges of logistics to enable it succeed in its quest of ensuring a hitch-free exercise. He said the methodology for the exercise was in two phases with one aimed at voter education and the other on public enlightenment.

According to the chairman of the electoral umpire, the voter registration exercise will continue at the local council level till few months to the conduct of the 2019 general elections and will be later scaled down to wards and polling units to ensure an all-inclusive exercise.

The continuous voter registration exercise, according to Yakubu, is mainly targeted at those seeking transfer to other places, those who were under-age during the last exercise, Internally-Displaced Persons (IDPs) and those who lost their cards.

He urged the RECs to ensure the availability of hard copy of the previous exercise in the case of the IDPs so as to avoid multiple registration.