The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has registered 96,085 new voters in nine days and extended the exercise by three days in Anambra.

The commission disclosed this in a statement by Sam Olumekun, the national commissioner and chairman, information and voter education committee, on Thursday in Abuja, after its weekly meeting.

He said the preliminary stage of the CVR shows that 56,017, representing 58 per cent of new registrants, were female, while 50,429, representing 48 per cent, were young people between the ages of 18 and 34.

“The commission is pleased with the turnout of registrants in Anambra and the peaceful conduct of the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) in all the 326 registration centres in the state.

“As of yesterday, Wednesday, 96,085 new voters have successfully registered in nine days. On average, the Commission registered over 10,600 voters per day.

“In addition, 12,595 voters applied for transfer of their registration both within and outside the state, while 7,061 persons applied for the update of their records or the replacement of their damaged or lost Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs).

“The CVR in Anambra ends today. However, in response to appeals from citizens, the commission hereby extends the exercise for three more days. It will now end on Sunday, July 20,” he said.

Mr Olumekun said the commission would thereafter display the register for claims and objections by citizens as provided by law.

According to him, this will be followed by a further data cleanup using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS).

“Subsequently, the detailed breakdown of the new registrants by age, gender, occupation, and disability will be published for public information,” he said.

Mr Olumekun also disclosed that INEC had received five more letters of intent from associations seeking registration as political parties.

According to him, the new applications bring the total number received by the commission so far to 134.

Mr Olumekun stated that the details of the new associations, including their proposed names, acronyms, logos, addresses, and interim leadership, had already been published on the INEC website and other platforms for public information.

He said that INEC would continue to keep citizens up to date on all its activities.

(NAN)