In preparation for the upcoming presidential election in February, Nigeria has added more than 10 million new voters to its electoral rolls, the majority of whom are young people.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says 84% the 10.49 million new voters were registered during the year-long exercise that finished on Sunday, were under the age of 34.
The North-West geopolitical zone, which includes the seven states of Sokoto, Zamfara, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, and Jigawa, has the highest number of registered voters, according to INEC, with a total of 22.67 million voters.
According to INEC data, 84 million voters were registered for 2019 general elections.
There may now be 96.2 million registered voters in Nigeria, up from the previous total of 84 million.
Similarly, The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has announced that the Continuous Voter Registration, CVR, program is still on hold.
According to a statement issued by the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr Festus Okoye, the Commission’s attention was drawn to an online site urging Nigerians to enroll for “VOTER CARD (PVC)” registration.
He says the site claim that Federal Government approved individual VOTER CARD (PVC) registration online to avoid unnecessary crowding in the “NIMC” CENTERS.
According to the statement, the Commission says that the site is unrelated to the Commission and that the link/portal comes from an untrustworthy source.
It emphasized that INEC was the only body constitutionally and legally mandated to conduct the registration of persons qualified to vote in any election in Nigeria and to update and revise the register when the need arises.
It also stated that the Commission was solely responsible for organizing, undertaking, and supervising national elections in the country and does not share this responsibility with anybody or organization.
Members of the public are advised not to succumb to the antics of online scammers.
The statement added that the Commission had concluded the Continuous Voter Registration nationwide and does not need to open an additional site or portal for the purposes of registration of voters.
RN