By Providence Ayanfeoluwa

Blue Lagos has commenced monitoring of ongoing Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC Continuous Voter Registration, CVR exercise in selected hard-to-reach riverine and coastal communities across Lagos State.

Blue Lagos is a non-profit advocacy and community development organisation dedicated to advancing inclusion, sustainable development, and citizen participation across riverine and coastal communities in Lagos State.
The team visited the Etegbin Registration Centre in Oto-Awori Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Ojo Local Government Area, where officials of INEC were conducting voter registration for eligible residents.

The team also undertook community mobilisation efforts in the remote riverine communities of Esofin and Egan facilitating their easy access to the registration centre.

To ensure that geographical barriers did not prevent eligible residents from participating in the exercise, Blue Lagos coordinated the transportation of prospective registrants from the hard-to-reach riverine communities to the registration point using local boats.

This intervention enabled residents who would otherwise face significant transportation challenges to access voter registration services at the Etegbin centre.

In a similar effort, Blue Lagos representatives monitored the exercise at Local Government Primary School, Ilege, serving the Abomiti riverine axis of Epe Local Government Area.

However, the visit provided an opportunity to assess turnout, interact with registrants and INEC officials, and observe the accessibility of the registration process for residents of the riverine communities within the area.

The CVR exercise is being conducted by INEC across Lagos State as part of its ongoing nationwide voter registration programme. Blue Lagos’ involvement is specifically focused on ensuring that residents of remote riverine and coastal communities are not excluded from accessing this important democratic opportunity due to geographical and transportation challenges.

The organisation noted that voter registration remains a critical component of inclusive governance and encouraged all eligible citizens in riverine and coastal communities to register, transfer their registration where necessary, update their records, and prepare to participate in future elections.