The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has called on Resident Electoral Commissioners across the country to intensify preparations ahead of several upcoming elections.

Speaking at the second quarterly consultative meeting with RECs in Abuja, Professor Yakubu welcomed new National Commissioners and six recently sworn-in RECs, four of whom were attending the meeting for the first time.

The INEC Chairman emphasized that preparations for elections are a full-time responsibility, not a task to be ramped up only during general election periods.

He urged the RECs to fully implement Commission policies at state levels and to prioritize training of staff, voter access, cleaning of the voter register, logistics, and election security.

On voter registration, Yakubu announced that the Continuous Voter Registration exercise will resume nationwide on August 18 for online pre-registration and August 25 for in-person registration. However, in Anambra State, the CVR exercise is scheduled to begin next week across all 326 wards, ahead of the November governorship poll.