In preparation for the 2023 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has delisted over 1.1 million fresh registrants over double and multiple registrations.
This was contained in a statement by the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye on Tuesday.
According to him, “as Nigerians are aware, the cleaning up of the register of voters using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) is ongoing since the suspension of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) on 31st July 2022.
“Earlier, the Commission informed Nigerians that out of the 2, 523,458 (Two million, five hundred and twenty-three thousand, four hundred and fifty-eight) fresh registrants that registered between 28th June 2021 and 14th January 2022, 1,126,359 (One million, one hundred and twenty-six thousand, three hundred and fifty-nine) records were found to be invalid and consequently delisted.”
Okoye explained that the ABIS for 15th January to 31st July 2022 is almost completed, noting that “several double, multiple and ineligible registrants have also been detected and invalidated.
“These include entries that fail to meet the Commission’s business rules. The Commission takes this responsibility seriously because a credible register is at the heart of electoral integrity.”
According to him, INEC will display the voter register once the process is concluded.
“Thereafter, valid registrants will be added to the existing national register of voters before publishing same nationwide for scrutiny, claims, and objections by citizens as required by section 19 (1) of the Electoral Act 2022.
“We reassure Nigerians that a thorough process is being undertaken to clean up the registration data. Similarly, Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) for all valid registrants will be available for collection by the end of October/early November as promised,” the INEC official said.
