INEC: Registration Exercise Yet to Resume in Suspended Imo Centres

•Says fresh registration hits 8.56m  

•Kano now has 11,222 polling units

Chuks Okocha in Abuja and Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has denied media reports that the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise has resumed in places, where the exercise was earlier suspended in Imo State.

National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, yesterday, said the information was misleading as the Commission has yet to appoint any unofficial spokesperson on any of its activities to speak for it. 

“It will be recalled that following the unfortunate incident in Imo State in which our staff was killed by gunmen in Ihitte Uboma Local Government Area, and reports of insecurity in other parts of the state, the commission suspended the ongoing voter registration exercise in all the 54 additional centres created to facilitate the registration of voters across the State. 

“The exercise is still confined to our state and local government area offices except in Orsu, Njaba and Ihitte Uboma Local Government Areas, where it is suspended indefinitely. The position of the Commission has not changed.

“While the Commission is not unmindful of the imperative of giving every eligible Nigerian the opportunity to register and vote in future elections, the safety and security of citizens involved in the exercise is a paramount concern,” he said.

INEC, therefore, appealed to the public to discountenance the purported resumption of the CVR in the three LGAs of Orsu, Njaba and Ihitte Uboma, adding that such statements were capable of misleading the public and further jeopardising the safety of registrants and officials as well as the security of the commission’s facilities.

“At the appropriate time, the Commission will announce any new decision on the matter after consultation with the security agencies and critical stakeholders. The Commission, has an organised and official means of communication and has been upfront with providing information to the general public,” Okoye noted.

Meanwhile, the commission has said fresh registration in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) has hit 8,564,512, as at 7am, Monday, April 25.

The commission disclosed this in an CVR Update on quarter four, week two, released in Abuja on Monday night.

The commission also disclosed that 5,111,899 registrants had completed their registrations with 2,228,913 via online and 2,882,986 through physical registration.

According to the commission, the gender breakdown of the registrants that have completed their registration comprised 2,537,932 male and 2,573,967 female.

THISDAY reported that the released statistics indicated that 3,534,837 of the figure were youths, while 43,153 were Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).

The update further revealed that as at the 7am of Monday, INEC had received 15,071,668 applications for voter transfer, requests for replacement of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and update of voter information record, etc.

It added that 7,957,756 of the applications were received from male and 7,113,912 from female, of which 4,120,254 of the applications were from students and 142,807 from PWDs.

In a related development, INEC, has increased the number of polling units in Kano from 8,074 to 11,222 for the first time in the last 25 years to meet up with the growth in population with some being relocated. 

This was made known by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Professor Riskua Arabi Shehu, while delivering an address at a one-day workshop on electoral reportage organised by the Correspondents Chapel Kano on Tuesday and sponsored by INEC. 

He stated that as at January 14, 2022, only 77,255 of the 128,628 registrations were valid, leaving behind 40 per cent as invalid, which he blamed on ignorance of the process by the voters. 

He explained further that there were cases of multiple registration due to the wrong understanding about who is actually to be registered in the recent exercise that included those not registered, those changing locations and those correcting their captured details and not every voter. 

“Some people are registering more than once. I will blame that on their inability to understand that the registration is not for everyone. As at 14th of January, 2022, there were 77,255 valid registrations of all the registered figures while 40 per cent are invalid. 

“People should understand that this registration exercise is not for everybody but for those who have not registered before, those who want to change location and those who want to correct their captured details. Those who have their permanent voters card don’t need to register again unless it is lost or destroyed,” he stated.