In preparation for the upcoming general election in 2023, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has removed 1.1 million recently registered voters from the rolls.
It was announced on Tuesday by Festus Okoye, INEC’s national commissioner and the chairman of the committee responsible for voter education and information.
Since the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) was halted on July 31, 2022, Okoye said, “as Nigerians are aware, the cleaning up of the registry of voters using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) is proceeding.”
The Commission had previously informed Nigerians that “one million, one hundred and twenty-six thousand, three hundred and fifty-nine records were found to be invalid and consequently delisted,” out of a total of 2,523,458 new registrants between June 28, 2021 and January 14, 2022.
According to Okoye, “several double, multiple, and ineligible registrants have also been detected and invalidated” as part of the ABIS from 15 January to 31 July 2022.
In this category are entries that do not adhere to the business regulations set forth by the Commission. Because a trustworthy voter registration list is essential to maintaining the validity of elections, the Commission takes this duty very seriously.
Once the “process is concluded,” he claims, INEC will make the voter list public.
In accordance with section 19 (1) of the Electoral Act 2022, “thereafter, valid registrants would be added to the current national register of voters before posting same countrywide for examination, claims, and objections by citizens,” the INEC official explained.
We guarantee the people of Nigeria that every effort is being made to rectify the registration records. Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for all eligible voters will be ready for pickup by the end of October/beginning of November, as previously announced.