Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC)
Chairmen and other Leaders of Political Parties
National Commissioners
The Secretary to the Commission
Other Senior Officials of the Commission
Members of the INEC Press Corps
Ladies and Gentlemen
1. I welcome you all to our second regular quarterly consultative meeting for the year 2025. You may recall that our first quarterly meeting was held on Wednesday 22nd January 2025. The Commission is not unaware that this is a busy time for you with the commencement of campaigns for the Anambra State Governorship election as well as the conduct of party primaries for the Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Let me therefore express the Commission’s appreciation to you for always responding to our invitation to these important consultative meetings in spite of the busy schedules of elections and electoral activities.
2. Going by the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the FCT Area Council elections, party primaries end on Monday 30th June 2025. You have the next three weeks to tidy up your documentation and upload the list of your candidates to the dedicated portal from 21st July to 11th August 2025. I wish to remind you that the portal will automatically shut down at 6.00pm on 11th August 2025. I urge you to adhere strictly to the procedure and timelines for candidate nomination, particularly considering the legal requirement for the Commission to publish the personal particulars of candidates in the various constituencies for claims and objections by citizens within one week from the deadline for submission of nominations.
3. The second ongoing electoral activity is the forthcoming Anambra State Governorship election. The Commission has already published the final list of 16 candidates and their running mates for the election. Campaign in public by political parties commenced two weeks ago on 11th June 2025 and will continue until midnight of Thursday 6th November 2025 i.e. 24 hours prior to Election Day. During this period, we expect Political Parties to adhere to our Regulations and Guidelines for meetings, rallies and processions already available on our website. However, considering the importance of the matter to the forthcoming elections, hard copies of the document are included in your folders for this meeting.
4. As campaign activities commence in Anambra State, I wish to draw attention to the perennial complaint by especially opposition parties about the denial of access to public facilities for electioneering activities. These include the state media, public buildings for meetings and open spaces for rallies and processions. In some cases, prohibitive amounts are charged for outdoor advertising. These actions are a violation of the Electoral Act 2022 which prohibits the use of incumbency to the advantage or disadvantage of any Political Party or candidate. Going forward, the Commission will work with the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) and intensify our collaboration with the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) for a possible legal action in the face of prima facie evidence of the violation of the law.
5. At our consultative meetings with Civil Society Organisations and the Media yesterday, we assured Nigerians that the Commission was finalising arrangements for two pending activities, the details of which will be made public within 24 hours. First, the outstanding bye-elections and, secondly, the resumption of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).
6. On the bye-elections, let me first give you a brief update. In the last two years since the inauguration of the National and State Assemblies in June 2023, vacancies requiring bye-elections have occurred nationwide. You may recall that in February last year, the Commission conducted nine bye-elections to fill vacancies resulting from the death or resignation of members of the National and State Houses of Assembly. Since then, more vacancies have been declared across the country. The outstanding bye-elections involve two Senatorial Districts ̶ Anambra South and Edo Central; five Federal Constituencies ̶ Ovia South West/Ovia South East in Edo State, Babura/Garki in Jigawa State, Chikun/Kajuru in Kaduna State, Ikenne/Shagamu/Remo North in Ogun State and Ibadan North in Oyo State; as well as nine State constituencies ̶ Ganye in Adamawa State, Onitsha North I in Anambra State, Dekina/Okura in Kogi State, Zaria Kewaye and Basawa in Kaduna State, Bagwai/Shanono in Kano State, Mariga in Niger State, Karim Lamido I in Taraba State and Kauran Namoda South in Zamfara State).
7. Consequently, Commission has fixed Saturday 16th August 2025 for bye-elections in 16 constituencies across 12 States of the country involving a total of 3,553,659 registered voters spread across 32 Local Government Areas, 356 Wards and 6,987 Polling Units. The Commission will deploy 30,451 officials. However, in spite of the declaration of vacancies, bye-elections will not hold in two State constituencies for the time being. These are Khana II State Constituency in Rivers State as a result of the current state of emergency and Talata Mafara South State Constituency in Zamfara State following a legal challenge to the declaration of the seat vacant by the State Assembly.
8. Unlike the General Election or Off-cycle Governorship elections, there is a tight timeframe for the conduct of bye-elections. Party primaries will be held between 17th and 21st July 2025 while the online portal for submission of nomination forms will open at 9.00am on 22nd July and end at 6.00pm on 26th July 2025. Campaign in public will commence on 2nd August 2025 and end at midnight on 14th August 2025 i.e. 24 hours before Election Day. The hardcopies of the detailed Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the bye-elections, including delimitation details of the 16 constituencies and their locations on the map of Nigeria are included in your folders for this meeting. The same information will be uploaded to our website and other platforms for public information shortly.
9. In addition to the bye-elections, the Commission will also conduct the two outstanding Court-ordered re-run elections in Enugu South I State Constituency of Enugu State and the Ghari/Tsanyawa State Constituency in Kano State. These elections were severally disrupted by thuggery and violence. They will now be combined with the bye-elections upon assurances from the security agencies to adequately secure the process. The two elections will be held along with the bye-elections on Saturday 16th August 2025.
10. Turning to the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), the Commission has approved the resumption of the exercise which will be held at two levels. In view of the forthcoming Governorship election, the CVR in Anambra State will commence in the 326 Wards across the State on 8th July 2025 and end on 17th July 2025 from 9.00am to 3.00pm daily, including the weekend.
11. During the registration period, new voters as well as those who wish to transfer their registration to Anambra State from other States of the Federation or from one location to another within the State will have the opportunity to do so. Similarly, registered voters whose Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) are lost or damaged will have the opportunity to apply for a replacement. Uncollected PVCs from previous registrations will also be available for collection at the registration centres. Interested eligible Nigerian citizens are encouraged to appear in person to register. The online pre-registration option is not available for the time being. Voter registration and the compilation of the voters’ register must be completed not later than 90 days before the date fixed for the election as provided by law. Detailed information, including the locations of the 326 registration centres in Anambra State, is included in your folders for this meeting. The same information will uploaded to our website and other platforms for public information.
12. For the nationwide CVR, the Commission has approved the resumption of the online and in-person registration of voters in all the States of the Federation. The online pre-registration will start on 18th August 2025 while the in-person registration will follow on 25th August 2025. The exercise will be held simultaneously in all our 37 State and FCT offices as well as our 774 Local Government offices nationwide. Detailed schedule of activities will be released shortly.
13. The Commission wishes to place on record its continuing appreciation to all Nigerians that have supported our activities in various ways. We continue to count on the same support.
14. On this note, I welcome you once again to this meeting. I thank you and God bless.
LIST OF CVR REGISTRATION CENTRES