Guber Elections: INEC To Display Voters’ Register For Claims and Objections

Nigeria’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), will display the voters’ register for claims and objections by citizens in Edo and Ondo states for a period of seven days from Wednesday 12th June 2024.

INEC arrived at the decision after reviewing the preparations for the Edo and Ondo governorship elections, particularly the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) which was suspended on Sunday 9th June 2024.

In a press release by the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, stated that as provided by Section 19 of the Electoral Act 2022 “The display will take place in all the 395 Wards across the two States. The register will also be available on our website”.

Mr. Olumekun said the purpose of the display is for the public to identify any ineligible persons on the register, draw the Commission’s attention to it, and file an objection to the appearance of the name on the register by completing Forms EC2 and EC3 available from the commission’s officials in all the centres. The Forms can also be downloaded from the INEC website.

He added that fresh registrants and applicants for transfer, correction of personal details and replacement of lost or damaged PVCs can draw the Commission’s attention to errors or wrong entries for further action.

“At the end of the period for claims and objections, the Commission will further clean up the register using the Automated Biometric Identification System, ABIS, before the list of new voters is added to the existing register for the two States”.

Statistics

Sam Olumekun gave the breakdown of registered voters from the Continuous Voters’ Registration, CVR, exercise in the two states as follows “As at Sunday 9th June 2024 when the registration was suspended indicates a total of 269,992 new voters in the two States. Of this figure, 129,246 (47.87%) are male while 140,756 (52.13%) are female. The majority of the registered voters (182,541 or 67.61%) are youths (18-34 years). In terms of occupation, 95,463 (35.36%) are students while 1,588 (0.59%) are Persons with Disability (PWDs). In addition, 24,454 requests for replacement of PVCs, 74,493 applications for voter transfer, and 8,314 for information update were received”.

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The National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee emphasised that these are preliminary figures. The final figures will be published on a State-by-State basis after the period for claims/objections, and Automated Biometric Identification System ABIS. The date for the commencement of the collection of new PVCs will be announced thereafter.

The Commission is appealing to the public to seize the opportunity of the display of the register to help it clean up the voters’ register as provided by law.

Professionalism and competence

Meanwhile, the Edo and Ondo states’ off-cycle governorship elections scheduled for 21 September and 16 November 2024, respectively, will see staff of the Independent National Commission, INEC, display the utmost sense of professionalism and competence amongst electoral personnel to guarantee the success of the elections.

The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, during a lecture in honor of the former director general of the Electoral Institute, TEI, the Late Prof. Abubakar Momoh, highlighted the need for electoral personnel to be knowledgeable, skilled, and equipped to handle the complexities of the electoral process without prejudice.

This year’s lecture had as its theme “The 2024 off-cycle elections: Achieving professionalism among election personnel through effective training in preparation for Edo and Ondo states governorship elections.”

Prof. Yakubu, represented by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Electoral Institute, Prof. Abdullahi Zuru, stressed: “Effective training is crucial to fostering a high level of professionalism amongst election officials as the success of any election largely depends on the professionalism and competence of those responsible for conducting it”.

He noted that the lecture, in memory of the former Director General of TEI, the late Prof Momoh, came at the right time considering that the Edo and Ondo off-cycle governorship elections are around the corner.

Emmanuel Ukoh