By Chimezie Godfrey
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has said that nearly 45% of completed registrations in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise nationwide are invalid.
The chairman of the INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu made this known during a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, stating that the invalid registrations emanated from voters’ re-registration as well as incomplete date of registrants which did not meet the commission’s Business Rule for inclusion in the register.
Professor Mahmood expressed satisfaction in the turnout of registrants across the country which he said shows the readiness to vote come 2023. He however stated that the commission owned the duty to ensure that only eligible persons are registered.
He said that investigations into the worrisome development are going on and indicted persons from both the Commission and among the public may face prosecution in line with the electoral act.
He said, “ As you may know, the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise is now into the Fourth quarter nationwide. We restarted the CVR on 28th June 2021 after it was suspended for the 2019 General Election. Although the exercise was scheduled to restart earlier, it was delayed by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and various security challenges, including the persistent attacks on our offices and facilities in various parts of the country, mainly between October 2020 and May 2021.
“While the number of new registrants is very impressive and demonstrates the eagerness of Nigerians to vote in the forthcoming elections, the Commission has a duty to clean up the data to ensure that only eligible Nigerians are registered. As you are aware, the foundation for any credible election rests on the credibility of the Register of Voters. The introduction of the biometric registration of voters in 2011 has helped to sanitise the Register.
“You may recall that initially, 73,528,040 Nigerians were registered in 2011. Using the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), the Commission was able to remove 4,239,923 invalid registrations. Consequently, the Register of Voters for the 2015 General Election stood at 69,288,117 voters. Subsequently, some 432,173 new voters were added to the Register during the CVR exercises ahead of the off-cycle Governorship elections in five States (Bayelsa, Kogi, Edo, Ondo and Anambra) from late 2015 to early 2017, bringing the total number of registered voters in Nigeria to 69,720,350.
“You may also recall that preparatory to the 2019 General Election, the Commission, for the first time, embarked on a nationwide CVR exercise on a continuous basis as provided by law. From 27th April 2017 to 31st August 2018, 15,317,872 new voters were registered. Out of this figure, 1,034,141 ineligible registrants were detected and removed from the register to arrive at the figure of 84,004,084 voters for that election.
“Unfortunately, the troubling issue of invalid registration still persists which we detected while cleaning up the latest registration data. As against the AFIS used in previous exercises, the Commission introduced the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) which is a more comprehensive and robust system, involving not just fingerprint identification but also the facial biometric recognition.
“Sadly, it seems that many registrants, either out of ignorance that they do not need to re-register if they had done so before, or a belief that our systems will not detect this infraction, have gone out to register again. This is despite repeated warnings by the Commission against this illegal action. In addition, there are also registrants whose data were incomplete and did not meet our Business Rules for inclusion in the register. Both categories i.e. the failure of ABIS and incomplete data constitute invalid registrations. Presently, nearly 45% of completed registrations nationwide are invalid, rising to as high as 60% or more in some States.
“This infraction happened in all States of the Federation. No State is immune from it. These invalid registrations will not be included in the Register of Voters. In our commitment to transparency, the distribution of the registration figures, including the percentages of valid and invalid registrations on State-by-State basis, will be made available to you at this press conference. The same information will be uploaded to the Commission’s website and social media platforms immediately.
“This development is worrisome because of the time and resources expended in handling these cases. Even more disturbing are the strong indications that some of our staff may be complicit in facilitating these infractions, notwithstanding stern warnings. Consequently, the Commission is reviewing reports on such staff and has commenced a detailed investigation which may include the prosecution of those found culpable. Specific registrants associated with these infractions by our staff may also face prosecution in line with Sections 22 and 23 of the Electoral Act 2022.”
He further gave a brief on the outcome of the First and Second Quarters of the CVR exercise. “During the period from 28th June to 20th December 2021, millions of Nigerians commenced their registration online and thereafter scheduled appointments to complete the process physically. Millions more visited our State and Local Government offices to register in person without the option of going through the online procedure.
“For the pre-registration option, 1,014,382 registrants completed the process while 1,509,076 Nigerians registered in-person at our designated registration centres nationwide. Furthermore, 671,106 Nigerians submitted requests to update their records, transfer their registration from where they are currently registered to other locations or the replacement of their lost or damaged PVCs.” he added.
The Chairman further urged political parties, Civil Society Organisation, CSO, the media and the general public to assist in educating Nigerians on the problem of invalid registration, assuring that with the improvement to the ABIS, the Commision will continue with its cleanup to ensure that only eligible persons have their data on the voters register.
He advised the general public to use the commission’s help desk to ascertain their status; whether or not to register before engaging in the exercise. He also urged Nigerians whk do not have access to internet to find out from the Registration Officer at the Registration Centre before registering to avoid invalid registration.
On the availability of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs), he said, “After completing the data clean up, the Commission has printed 1,390,519 PVCs for genuine new registrants. In addition, 464,340 PVCs for verified applicants for transfer or replacement of cards have also been printed. Consequently, a total of 1,854,859 PVCs are now ready.
“They will be delivered to our State offices across the country over the Easter holiday. They will be available for collection by the actual owners in person immediately after the holiday. No PVC will be collected by proxy. I must reiterate that the available cards only cover those who registered in the First and Second Quarters of the exercise.
“The Commission wishes to assure those who registered between January and March 2022 as well as those who are doing so right now that their PVCs will be ready for collection long before the 2023 General Election.
“I would like to appeal to all Nigerians who registered between June and December 2021 to collect their PVCs in person. As we devolve the voter registration beyond our State and Local Government offices nationwide, the PVCs will also be available at such designated centres in our effort to make the collection easier for voters. In addition, we will also contact the 1.8 million registrants by email and text messages on the availability of the cards and the places to collect them.”
He further urged political parties to adhere strictly to the dates and schedule already set to the conduct of party primaries, including the nomination of their candidates via the INEC web portal.
“Party Primaries for the 2023 General Election The Commission wishes to reiterate that the dates for all activities in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election, including the conduct of party primaries, are firm and fixed. Already, ten political parties have served notices to the Commission for the conduct of their primaries.
“With 52 days to the last day for the conduct of primaries (i.e. 3rd June 2022), political parties are once again admonished to adhere strictly to all dates in the Timetable, including the nomination of their candidates via the INEC web portal. Such nominated candidates must emerge from valid primaries as provided in Section 84 of the Electoral Act 2022. This is necessary to avoid the unhappy consequences of any breach of the Commission’s Timetable or the Electoral Act.”
