Victor EzejaThe Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said the current display of voter register nationwide shows its commitment to transparency and accountability in all activities.
The commission said 2.7 million unqualified voter registrants were discovered at the end of its Automated Biometric Identification System exercise.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Kano State, Zango Abdu, made this known during a meeting with members of election stakeholders in the state on Thursday, November 17, 2022.
The commission had embarked on cleaning up its voter registration database after it suspended Continuous Voter Registration exercise on July 31, 2022, to determine the number of valid registrations. The ones discarded were due to double registrations, and incorrect details.
A document containing the INEC data of voter registration from June 28 to July 31, 2022, sighted by Prime Business Africa shows that the commission recorded 12,298,944, out which 9,528,188 were declared as valid and 2,780,756 invalid registrants.
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The record shows that Kano has 569,103 completed registration, 469,818 as valid and 99,285 as invalid.
Abdu also disclosed that preliminary registered voters in Kano currently stand at 5,927,565.
Explaining what he means by preliminary register, Abdul said “It is preliminary because Section 19 (1) and (2) of the Electoral Act 2022 requires the Commission to display the hard copies of the register of voters for each registration area (Ward) and Local Government Area (and simultaneously publish the entire register on the Commission’s website) for a period of two weeks for scrutiny, claims and objections, by citizens not later than 90 days to a general election.”
The REC also reiterated that the commission, as mandated by law, would continue to monitor the activities of political parties, as well as track the campaign finances of all political parties as provided by Sections 83, 85, 87, 88, 90, 91,92 and 95 of the Electoral Act of 2022.
He called on politicians to critically study and pay attention to the provisions of the constitution, the Electoral Act, The Police Act and Public Order Act for the proper and peaceful conduct of political party campaigns, rallies and processions, adding that the commission would continue to track the campaign finances and its activities, as mandated by the law.
The REC further reassured that there would be no going back on deployment of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS) for voter accreditation and the real-time transmission of results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) on Election Day.
The electoral body had on Saturday, November 12, published preliminary national register of voters in its 8,809 Registration Areas (Wards) and 774 Local Government Area offices nationwide and on the commission’s website.
It said the display of physical copies of the register for claims and objections would be in two levels. First would be at Registration Area level that lasts till Friday, November 18, 2022 (today) and secondly, at the Local government area offices from 19th to November 25th, 2022.
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According to a statement signed by Festus Okoye, National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, INEC, “The purpose of the display is to enable Nigerians to scrutinise the preliminary register and make claims about misspellings of names, personal details or missing names on the register so that the errors can be corrected.”
Okoye added that citizens can raise objections about the presence of ineligible persons, “for example, those below the age of 18 years, dead persons, foreigners, or those making false claims so that they can be deleted from the register in line with the Commission’s established rules.”
“As earlier announced, the Commission will display the physical copies of the register for claims and objections at two levels. First, at the Registration Area level from 12th to 18th November 2022, which comes to an end tomorrow, and thereafter, at the Local government area offices from 19th to November 25th, 2022. The display will be followed by hearing of claims and objections by citizens for disposal action,” Okoye added.
He disclosed that the commission is also harvesting claims and objections by the citizens online, adding that all claims and objecctions made will be addressed at the end of the exercise.
Okoye noted that by displaying the full voter register for public scrutiny, the commission is showing commitment to transparency and accountability.
“The full display of all registrants speaks to the Commission’s commitment to transparency. The fact that these likely
ineligible registrants are being identified means that the objectives of the display for claims and objections are being met.”
“We implore the public to follow the procedures and report these objections for the necessary action of the Commission. In addition, the Commission cannot rule out infractions by its registration officials in allowing these ineligible persons into the register in the first place. Therefore, each confirmed case of infraction will be thoroughly investigated and culpable officials will be disciplined.
“We wish to reassure Nigerians that the Commission is committed to transparency and accountability in all its activities. We hope that at the end of the exercise, the Commission, with the involvement of citizens, would have improved the quality of the register of voters, which is the bedrock of a successful election.
“Nigerians should note that Perfecting the register is a continuous and painstaking process over time.
He further explained that the voter register currently being displayed contains all the voters dating back to the registration of 2011, not just the recent exercise.
“That some of these likely ineligible entries are being found presently confirms the commission’s position that the best way to make the voters register more robust is for Nigerians to continue to scrutinise it and, more importantly, make their claims and objections for its improvement,” Okoye stated.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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