The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says it has registered a total of 269,992 new voters in Edo and Ondo States ahead of the forthcoming governorship polls.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun in a statement issued Tuesday said as provided by Section 19 of the Electoral Act 2022, the commission would display register for claims and objections by citizens for a period of seven days (one week) from Wednesday 12th June, 2024.
He stressed that the purpose of the display was 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 our officials in all the centres.
Olumekun noted that the display would take place in all the 395 Wards across the two States. The register will also be available on our website: https://cvr.inecnigeria.org/register.
He added that the commission at its meeting on Tuesday also reviewed preparations for the Edo and Ondo governorship elections, particularly the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in the two States which were suspended on Sunday 9th June 2024.
Olumekun added: “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.
“Meanwhile, statistics from the CVR 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. Still, the majority of the registered voters (182,541 or 67.61%) are youths (18-34 years).
“In terms of occupation, 95,463 or 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.”
Olumekun said the Forms could also be downloaded from its website – https://inecnigeria.org/?page_id=13655 – and handed over to our officials as provided in Section 9(4) of the Electoral Act 2022.
He stressed that fresh registrants and applicants for transfer, correction of personal details and replacement of lost or damaged PVCs could draw the Commission’s attention to errors or wrong entries for further action.
The Commission emphasised that statistics of new registered voters given are preliminary figures, adding that the final figures would be published on State by State basis after the period for claims/objections and ABIS.
It said that the date for the commencement of collection of new PVCs would be announced thereafter.
The Commission appeals to the public to seize the opportunity of the display of the register to help us clean it up as provided by law.