Oluwafunbi Bello 
ABUJA, Nigeria – Nigeria’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission, will reopen its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) portal on April 13, marking what officials describe as the final phase ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In an exclusive interview with Africa Health Report on Wednesday, INEC Administrative Officer, Yusuf Abdulkareem, confirms the date, signalling the start of the third quarter of the nationwide exercise.
“The third quarter of the Continuous Voter Registration will begin on April 13, 2026,” Abdulkareem says. “This phase is part of the commission’s final preparations to ensure that eligible Nigerians are not left out ahead of the 2027 elections.”
The CVR exercise, which began in August 2025, has recorded mixed turnout. INEC data show that the first phase logged 2,685,725 new registrants, while more than 1.2 million additional voters enrolled during the second phase, which ended March 5.
Despite these figures, participation remains significantly lower than the 2021–2022 cycle, which recorded over 12 million registrations nationwide.
Abdulkareem urges eligible Nigerians yet to register to take advantage of what he describes as a closing window.
“This is the last opportunity for Nigerians who have not registered. There may not be an extension beyond the scheduled timeline,” he says.
The announcement comes amid concerns over INEC’s digital infrastructure after its official website homepage went offline on March 5, displaying a 404 error, even as subpages and the CVR portal remained functional.
The commission has not publicly addressed the outage, drawing criticism from electoral observers who stress the legal requirement for transparency.
With the CVR exercise set to end on August 30, the April reopening is widely seen as a critical push to boost voter enrolment before the 2027 polls.
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Mirian Gom 
