…Says 8,260,076 Nigerians Captured On Online Pre-Registration
Joseph Bakare
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has solicited the support of existing Political,Parties and indeed eligible Nigerian voters to support efforts of the Commission toward holding a successful general elections in 2023.
Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Commission while addressing first quarterly meeting with Political Parties in Abuja on Tuesday, said, “Undoubtedly, the year 2022 is going to be a very busy year for the Commission and the political parties. The 2023 General Election is just 396 days away.
All the critical preparations must be concluded this year. The Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) which commenced in June last year has entered the third quarter. As at yesterday Monday 17th January 2022, a total of 8,260,076 eligible Nigerians commenced the online pre-registration, completed the registration physically or applied for transfer to new voting locations, replacement of their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) or updated their voter information records as required by law.”
The Commission he hinted has been publishing weekly progress reports of the exercise adding that at the moment, the Commission is undertaking the most comprehensive cleaning up of the data to ensure that only eligible citizens are added to the voters’ register for the 2023 General Election and will share its findings with the public and the actual dates for the collection of the PVCs nationwide will be announced very soon.
“I want to request that you continue to encourage eligible voters who have not registered to do so, bearing in mind that those who had registered at any time previously need not register again. Also, encourage voters who wish to transfer from their present Polling Units to new ones created as part of the Commission’s expansion of voter access polling units to do so immediately.” Yakubu added.
He said that the Commission has released the Timetable for six bye-elections in four States of the Federation.
These elections are scheduled to hold on Saturday 26th February 2022 and the detailed Timetable is already uploaded to its website and social media platforms. Meanwhile, the Commission has also decided that the suspended Ekiti East I State Constituency bye-election will be combined with the State Governorship election holding on 18th June 2022.
The date for the Shinkafi State Constituency bye-election in Zamfara State will be announced after a thorough review of the security situation in the area, while the Commission awaits the declaration of vacancy by the Kaduna State House of Assembly in respect of Giwa West State Constituency.
The chairman said that party primaries for the Ekiti State Governorship election are scheduled for 4th – 29th January 2022, while the Osun State Governorship election, primaries will hold from 16th February to 12th March 2022.
In the case of Ekiti State, he said, all the 18 political parties have served the mandatory notices for the primaries.
Yakubu, used the opportunity to draw the attention of parties to the necessity for transparent and rancour-free primaries,stating that “Parties should also respect their chosen dates for the primaries based on the Commission’s Timetable and Schedule of Activities.”
Already, many parties have rescheduled their primaries several times, he said adding that the Commission has earmarked a period of three weeks and 4 days (i.e. 25 days) for the conduct of the Ekiti State Governorship primaries, virtually all political parties have decided to hold their primaries in the last 4 days i.e. 26th – 29th January 2022. “In fact, seven political parties have chosen the last day for their primaries. Similarly, no party has so far submitted its list of aspirants, the composition of its electoral panel, or the register of members or list of delegates depending on the chosen mode for electing its candidates.
“As at yesterday, only one party has indicated the venue for its primaries. I urge you all to do so immediately to enable us to work out the detailed plans for monitoring the primaries. All primaries for electing candidates must take place in the constituency where election will hold as required by law. In the cases of Ekiti and Osun State Governorship elections, any primaries conducted outside the two States will not be monitored by the Commission and their outcomes will not be accepted. This also applies to primaries for bye-elections conducted outside the constituencies.”
Speaking further, he said “It is now 25 days to the Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory. Major activities have already been carried out, including the conduct of primaries and nomination of candidates by political parties. Only last week, the Commission presented the register of voters to political parties while the PVCs for new registrants, requests for transfers and replacement of cards have been printed and delivered several weeks ago to our FCT office for collection by voters. In the next few weeks, the Commission will intensify stakeholder engagements, the monitoring of campaigns by political parties and preparations for Election Day activities.”
He further drew their attention to the distribution of voters to Polling Units in the FCT, particularly the fact that 593 out of 2,822 or 21% of the total, do not have voters.
This he explained is because voters failed to take advantage of the expansion of access to transfer to these new Polling Units.
“For emphasis, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) will be deployed in the FCT elections which is the second major election after the Anambra Governorship election held in November last year. The 68 constituencies in the FCT (six Chairmen and 62 Councillors) covering extensive urban and rural locations sharing border with five States in the North Central and North Western parts of the country is another opportunity to pilot the efficacy of the BVAS in a different geographical, geo-political and electoral context. The same technology will be deployed in all forthcoming bye-elections across the country. For all elections going forward, Polling Unit results will be uploaded in real-time to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.”
Commenting on the Electoral Amendment Bill currently before the National Assembly, Yakubu stated that the Commission is encouraged by the Senate President’s assurance to give priority attention to the Bill when the National Assembly reconvenes from its recess today, and the commitment by the President to assent to the Bill as soon as the issue of mode of primaries by political parties is resolved. “We look forward to a speedy passage of the Bill, which is crucial to our preparations for future elections. As soon as it is signed into law, the Commission will quickly release the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election based on the new law.” he said.