ABUJA, NIGERIA – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced it is ready to conduct several outstanding by‑elections and will resume its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise nationwide in early 2025.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, highlighted during a recent engagement with lawmakers that by‑elections, triggered by vacancies due to deaths, resignations, or appointments, are costly and difficult to plan, prompting concern over their growing frequency.
Since June 2023, at least 23 legislative seats in the National and State assemblies have fallen vacant, resulting in nine by‑elections conducted last year, with 14 more now awaiting execution. Yakubu described the situation as “unpredictable, unbudgeted and difficult to plan in advance,” warning that some by‑elections have triggered further electoral contests. He reiterated that INEC intends to fulfil its constitutional obligation but is advocating with the National Assembly for a more cost‑effective alternative to filling vacancies.
On the CVR front, INEC had previously communicated plans to resume voter registration in the first quarter of 2025, beginning at Local Government Area (LGA) offices and later extending to Registration Areas. However, in early May 2025 the commission clarified that no fixed date has been announced for this resumption and urged the public to disregard speculative reports.
