2023 general elections: INEC presents new voter register to political parties, douses tension on February 25, March 11 dates

 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Wednesday restated its readiness for the February and March 2023 general elections, saying there is no contemplating any adjustment to the election timetable, let alone the postponement of the exercise.

INEC Chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu gave the assurance at a meeting with political parties in Abuja.

He said the assurance by the security agencies for adequate protection of its personnel, materials and processes also reinforced the commission’s determination to proceed.

Tension rose among Nigerians when the  INEC chair was reported  as saying elections may be postponed or cancelled in “sufficient constituencies” if the rising security challenge does not abate.

Yakubu reportedly said this in a message to the validation of election security training resources in Abuja.

The message was delivered by Chairman Board of Electoral Institute Professor Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, who however, called on the security personnel in particular and all election officials in general to be security conscious and alert to unusual activities in their environment, and must be fully equipped to deal with any challenge at all times.

“Consequently, in preparations for the 2023 general elections, the Commission is not leaving anything to chance in ensuring that intensive and extensive security are provided for election personnel, materials and processes.

“This is particularly significant to the Commission given the current insecurity challenges in various parts the country and the fact that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members constitute the core of the polling unit election officials.

“Moreover, if the insecurity is not monitored and dealt with decisively, it could ultimately culminate in the cancellation and/or postponement of elections in sufficient constituencies to hinder declaration of elections results and precipitate constitutional crisis.

“This must not be allowed to happen and shall not be allowed to happen. Therefore, security personnel in particular and all election officials in general must be security conscious and alert to unusual activities in their environment and must be fully equipped to deal with any challenge at all time,” he had said.

Yakubu douses tension

But dismissing the report at a meeting with political parties in Abuja, Yakubu said: “The 2023 general election will hold as scheduled. Any report to the contrary is not the official position of the commission.

“Therefore, the commission is not contemplating any adjustment to the election timetable, let alone the postponement of the General Election. For the avoidance of doubt, the presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on Saturday 25th February 2023 while Governorship and State Assembly elections will hold two weeks later on Saturday 11th March 2023.

“The repeated assurance by the security agencies for the adequate protection of our personnel, materials and processes also reinforces our determination to proceed,”  Yakubu said.

Speaking on the compiled new national register of voters, he said at no time in the recent history of the Commission had so much of the forward planning and implementation been accomplished 44 days ahead of a general election.

On preparation for polls

On the preparations for the polls, he said: “With the presentation of the register of voters to political parties at this meeting, the Commission has now successfully implemented 11 out of the 14 activities on schedule. Furthermore, the implementation of other activities has proceeded in earnest.

“Already, substantial quantities of sensitive and non-sensitive materials have been deployed to various locations across the country. The last batch of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) has been received while the ongoing configuration of the critical technology in readiness for elections will soon be completed.

“In the last two days, we commenced the airlifting of other sensitive materials to states across the country. Already, some of the materials for 17 states in three geo-political zones have been delivered.

“Furthermore, 13,868,441 Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) have been printed, delivered to states and are being collected by citizens as new voters or by existing voters who applied for transfer or replacement of cards as provided by law.

“Similarly, following the display of the voters’ register nationwide and the conclusion of claims and objections by citizens, a new national register of voters has been compiled. In short, at no time in the recent history of the Commission has so much of the forward planning and implementation been accomplished 44 days ahead of a general election.

“As a further affirmation of the Commission’s readiness to conduct the 2023 General Election as scheduled, the final register of voters has been compiled.”

“You would recall that for the 2019 general elections, Nigeria had a voter population of 84,004,084. After the cleaning up of the data from the last Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise (June 2021 – July 2022), 9,518,188 new voters were added to the previous register resulting in the preliminary register of 93,522,272 which was presented to Nigerians for claims and objections as required by law.

“At the end of the period for claims and objections by citizens, the Commission received 53,264 objections from Nigerians to the prevalence of ineligible persons on the register by virtue of age, citizenship or death. These names have been verified and removed from the register.

“Consequently, the register of voters for the 2023 general election stands at 93,469,008. Of this cumulative figure, 49,054,162 (52.5%) are male while 44,414,846 (47.5%) are female.

“The distribution by age group shows that 37,060,399 (39.65%) are youth between the ages of 18 and 34; 33,413,591 (35.75%) are middle aged persons between the ages of 35 and 49; 17,700,270 (18.94%) are elderly voters between the ages of 50 and 69 while 5,294,748 (5.66%) are senior citizens aged 70 and above. In terms of occupational distribution, students constitute the largest category with 26,027,481 (27.8%) of all voters, followed by 14,742,554 (15.8%) Farmers/Fishermen and 13,006,939 (13.9%) housewives. The data on disability was not collected for previous registration.”

On CVR 

The INEC boss also spoke on the new figure of the registered voters to participate in the polls.

He said: “However, the cumulative figure of 85,362 persons from the recent CVR indicates that there are 21,150 (24.5%) persons with Albinism; 13,387 (15.7%) with physical impediment and 8,103 (9.5%) are blind.

“The soft copy of the complete register will be presented to each political party shortly. It is organised by State, Local Government, Ward and Polling Unit. It is also the same register that will be used on Election Day.

“Hard copies of the breakdown of the register by states of the federation and analysis by gender, age group, occupation and disability are enclosed in your folders for this meeting. The soft copy of the breakdown and analysis will be uploaded to our website and social media platforms shortly.

“I would like to reiterate our commitment to transparent, credible and inclusive 2023 General Election. We will continue to take every step to protect the sanctity of the votes cast by citizens and to deal with infractions, including the arrest and prosecution of persons that attempt to perpetuate illegality at polling units on election day, be they underage voters or vote buyers.

“Once again, the Commission appreciates the patience of Nigerians who have been queuing up at the designated centres to collect the PVCs. To make it easier, we devolved the collection to the 8,809 Registration Areas/Wards nationwide.

“We have also uploaded the comprehensive list of the Ward collection centres nationwide to our website. The locations can also be identified by sending a short text message to any of the two dedicated telephone lines. The details are also available on the Commission’s website.

“On this note, the commission would like to appreciate the political parties, the leadership of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), civil society organisations, development partners, traditional, religious and community leaders for their partnership and support in encouraging Nigerians to register and to collect their PVCs.

“The best way to reciprocate this support and the dogged determination of Nigerians to vote is to ensure a transparent election next month. This remains our avowed commitment to the people of Nigeria.”