INEC publishes voter register, urges citizens to help fish out irregularities
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Nigerians have been urged by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to help fish out any irregularities in the voter register it will display physically in wards and on its website for two weeks, beginning 12 November.
By law, citizens have to scrutinise the register and draw attention to any detail pertaining to oneself or to someone else that needs to be corrected or removed, said INEC National Commissioner and Information and Voter Education Committee Chairman Festus Okoye.
“As earlier announced by the Commission, the entire preliminary register containing 93,522,272 registrants will be published.
“The exercise will last for two weeks, from November 12 to November 25, 2022,” Okoye said in a statement.
“The physical copies of the register will be displayed in all the 8,809 Registration Areas (Wards) and 774 Local Government Areas on polling unit basis nationwide.
“For the first time, the soft copy of the entire register will also be published on the Commission’s website (visit www.inecnigeria.org/display_register and follow the instructions).
“The register will give the name, picture, date of birth and Voter Identification Number (VIN) of each registered voter.
“However, for data protection and security reasons, critical information, such as biometric details, residential addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses of voters will not be made public on both the physical and soft copies.
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Purpose of voter register display
“During the display, any person may make a claim that the name of a registered voter has been omitted, make corrections on his/her personal details on the register, raise an objection against the inclusion of any person not qualified to vote or the name of a dead person on the register,” Okoye added.
“As the exercise commences on Saturday, November 12, 2022, we appeal to Nigerians to seize the opportunity to scrutinise the register and draw the Commission’s attention to any corrections in their personal particulars and any malicious registrations, multiple registrants, non-Nigerians or any other person not qualified to be on the register.
“Detailed clarification on the processes and procedures for the exercise, including relevant forms, can be obtained from the Commission’s officials at the points of display at Registration Areas (Wards) and Local Government Areas.
“The information has also been uploaded to the Commission’s website and social media platforms.
“By the provisions of the law, cleaning up the voters’ register is a collective national responsibility.
“So far, the Commission has weeded out ineligible registrants using our Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS).
“By working together with citizens, we can clean the register further as it is the critical foundation for credible elections.”
