Guber Polls: INEC Registers 269,992 New Voters in Edo, Ondo

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has revealed that  statistics from the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) showed that a total of 269,992 new voters were registered 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 yesterday also revealed that of this figure, 129,246 (47.87 per cent) are male,  while 140,756 (52.13 per cent) are female.

He added that the commission at its meeting yesterday reviewed preparations for the Edo and Ondo governorship elections, particularly the CVR in the two States which was suspended on Sunday 9th June 2024.

Olumekun added that the next step as provided by Section 19 of the Electoral Act 2022 is the display of the register for claims and objections by citizens for a period of seven days (one week) from Wednesday 12 June, 2024.

He 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.

The National Commissioner 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.

He said  the forms could also be downloaded from its website – https://inecnigeria.org/?page_id=13655  – and handed over to its officials as provided in Section 9(4) of the Electoral Act 2022.

Olumekun 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.

He 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 June 9, 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 per cent) are male while 140,756 (52.13 per cent) are female. Still, the majority of the registered voters (182,541 or 67.61 per cent) are youths (18-34 years).

“In terms of occupation, 95,463 or 35.36 per cent are students while 1,588 (0.59 per cent) 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.”

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 appealed to the public to seize the opportunity of the display of the register to help clean it up as provided by law.