The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has delisted 1.1 million newly registered voters ahead of the 2023 general elections.
BASIC FACTS
- In a cleanup exercise for voters registered, 1.1M new registered voters have been delisted by INEC.
- INEC Commissioner, Festus Okoye made this known on Tuesday, while confirming that the commission has been on cleanup exercise since end of the registration.
- The electoral umpire also says it will display the updated voters register after the cleanup.
WHAT WE KNOW
Ahead of the 2023 General elections, INEC has delisted 1.1M newly registered voters from the Commissions voters` register.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, said this in a statement on Tuesday, while giving updated on the preparation for the general elections.
Okoye said since the suspension of the continuous voter registration, INEC has been cleaning up the register.
Festus Okoye said the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), has detected several double and ineligible registrants.
Okoye also said INEC will display the voters register after the clean up.
NOTABLE QUOTE
Festus Okoye speaking on Tuesday said, “As Nigerians are aware, the cleaning up of the register of voters using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) is ongoing since the suspension of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) on 31st July 2022,”
“Earlier, the Commission informed Nigerians that out of the 2, 523,458 (Two million, five hundred and twenty-three thousand, four hundred and fifty-eight) fresh registrants that registered between 28th June 2021 and 14th January 2022, 1,126,359 (One million, one hundred and twenty-six thousand, three hundred and fifty-nine) records were found to be invalid and consequently delisted.”
“These include entries that fail to meet the Commission’s business rules. The Commission takes this responsibility seriously because a credible register is at the heart of electoral integrity.”
“Thereafter, valid registrants will be added to the existing national register of voters before publishing same nationwide for scrutiny, claims, and objections by citizens as required by section 19 (1) of the Electoral Act 2022,”
“We reassure Nigerians that a thorough process is being undertaken to clean up the registration data. Similarly, Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) for all valid registrants will be available for collection by the end of October/early November as promised.”
CATCH-UP
Recall that the INEC suspended the continuous voters registration last July.
After the registration, INEC had embarked on a cleanup of the register to eradicate double registrations in other to ensure a credible election in 2023.
TAKEAWAY
Nigeria`s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is by available indications doing things within the powers of the commission to have a credible 2023 general elections.
Using technology can in no small way contributed to credible elections, and INEC is working to deploy this relevant technology to sanitise the electoral process even before the casting of ballots.
One more thing INEC needs do for the future is to make continuous voters registration truly continuous and not a periodic activity.
Voter registration needs to be a daily event to allow people who turn 18 register same day without much protocols.
This will also apply to those who relocate from one place to another. They should be able to have access to facility to reregister or update their voter`s card immediately and seamlessly.
