From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that no fewer than 1,377,733 and 120,600 Nigerians have completed both their online pre-registration and physical registration, respectively, in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise across the country.
The Commission further disclosed that the number of youths between the ages of 18 and 34 still leads in both online registration (1,074,260 or 65 per cent) and completed registration (84,619 or 70 per cent).
INEC, in a statement signed by National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, has cautioned Nigerians against double registration.
‘Over the last four weeks, the Commission has been giving Nigerians weekly updates on the online registration of voters under the CVR exercise which commenced on June 28, 2021. “Last week, the in-person (or physical) registration commenced nationwide. Eligible citizens who initiated their registration online and those who prefer to register in-person ab initio had the opportunity to do so in the Commission’s State and LGA offices nationwide,’ the statement read.
‘From this week, the Commission will be giving weekly updates on both the online pre-registration and the completed physical registration. Therefore, the two-page update released in the previous weeks has been upgraded to four pages to provide Nigerians with additional information on completed registration.
‘As at 4 pm on Tuesday, August 3, 2021, the number of fresh online pre-registrants is now 1,377,733 while 120,600 citizens have completed their physical registration since the exercise commenced on Monday 26th July 2021.
‘The detailed distribution of the registrants by age, State/FCT, occupation, gender, type of registration and disability has been uploaded to the Commission’s website and social media platforms.
‘Young Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 34 are still leading in both online registration (1,074,260 or 65 per cent) and completed registration (84,619 or 70 per cent).
‘In terms of occupation, students are leading in both pre-registration (529,219 or 32 per cent) and completed registration (48,897 or 41 per cent). For gender distribution, 940,062 (or 57 per cent) are male and 717,504 (or 43 per cent) are female for online pre-registration while the figures for completed registration are 72,075 (or 60 per cent) male and 48,525 (or 40 per cent) female.
‘Once again, the Commission appeals to all Nigerians to seize the opportunity to either initiate their registration online and schedule an appointment at their convenience to complete the process or visit any of the Commission’s State/LGA office nationwide to register.
‘For emphasis, we wish to remind citizens that the ongoing registration does not include those who are already registered as voters. The current exercise is only open to Nigerians who are 18 years and above who have not registered before. It is an offence under the Electoral Act for any citizen to register more than once,’ the statement read.