From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed deep concerns over the whopping number of 1.126 million invalid registrants out of the total number of 2.523 million new registrants.
It announced that Bayelsa with 67.1 per cent, Ebonyi with 60.1 per cent and Rivers with 53.2 per cent invalid registrants came first, second and third States in the with the highest number invalids.
INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, who made the disclosure at a media conference held in Abuja on Wednesday, also warned of the commission’s readiness to prosecute the commission’s staff that facilitated the infractions, in spite of the stern warnings issued to them.
The commission’s boss also revealed that only a total number of 10 political parties have notified the commission of their readiness to conduct the primaries ahead of the 2023 general elections.
He equally admitted serious concerns over the security situation of the country ahead of the 2023 elections, declaring that the commission can only depend on the security report from the relevant authorities to decide the fate of next year’s election.
“While the number of new registrants is very impressive and demonstrates the eagerness of Nigerians to vote in the forthcoming elections, the commission has a duty to clean up the data to ensure that only eligible Nigerians are registered. As you are aware, the foundation for any credible election rests on the credibility of the Register of Voters. The introduction of the biometric registration of voters in 2011 has helped to sanitise the Register.
“You may recall that initially, 73,528,040 Nigerians were registered in 2011. Using the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), the Commission was able to remove 4,239,923 invalid registrations. Consequently, the Register of Voters for the 2015 General Election stood at 69,288,117 voters.
“Subsequently, some 432,173 new voters were added to the Register during the CVR exercises ahead of the off-cycle Governorship elections in five States (Bayelsa, Kogi, Edo, Ondo and Anambra) from late 2015 to early 2017, bringing the total number of registered voters in Nigeria to 69,720,350.
“Unfortunately, the troubling issue of invalid registration still persists which we detected while cleaning up the latest registration data. As against the AFIS used in previous exercises, the Commission introduced the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) which is a more comprehensive and robust system, involving not just fingerprint identification but also the facial biometric recognition.
“Sadly, it seems that many registrants, either out of ignorance that they do not need to re-register if they had done so before, or a belief that our systems will not detect this infraction, have gone out to register again. This is despite repeated warnings by the commission against this illegal action. In addition, there are also registrants whose data were incomplete and did not meet our Business Rules for inclusion in the register. Both categories i.e. the failure of ABIS and incomplete data constitute invalid registrations,” he explained.
Reacting further to the invalid number of registrants, the INEC boss said: “Presently, nearly 45 per cent of completed registrations nationwide are invalid, rising to as high as 60 per cent or more in some States. This infraction happened in all States of the federation. No State is immune from it. These invalid registrations will not be included in the Register of Voters.
“This development is worrisome because of the time and resources expended in handling these cases. Even more disturbing are the strong indications that some of our staff may be complicit in facilitating these infractions, notwithstanding stern warnings.
“Consequently, the commission is reviewing reports on such staff and has commenced a detailed investigation which may include the prosecution of those found culpable. Specific registrants associated with these infractions by our staff may also face prosecution in line with Sections 22 and 23 of the Electoral Act 2022,” he said.
Although he did not reveal the identities of the 10 political parties that have notified the commission to conduct their primaries, he however admonished to adhere strictly to all dates in the timetable, including the nomination of their candidates via the INEC web portal.
“The commission wishes to reiterate that the dates for all activities in the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2023 General Election, including the conduct of party primaries, are firm and fixed. Already, 10 political parties have served notices to the commission for the conduct of their primaries.
“With 52 days to the last day for the conduct of primaries (i.e. 3rd June 2022), political parties are once again admonished to adhere strictly to all dates in the timetable, including the nomination of their candidates via the INEC web portal. Such nominated candidates must emerge from valid primaries as provided in Section 84 of the Electoral Act 2022. This is necessary to avoid the unhappy consequences of any breach of the commission’s timetable or the Electoral Act,” he warned.