THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reacted to allegations that underaged persons were discovered in its preliminary national voters’ register.
INEC had on Saturday announced the display and publication of the register across polling units in the country and on the Commission’s website.
The Commission said it is displaying the register between November 12 and November 25 for eligible voters to confirm their details, as well as for members of the public to report ineligible persons who have been captured in the register.
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“The Commission will print and display the Preliminary Register of Voters (2011 till date) at the Registration Areas (Wards) and the headquarters of Local Government and Area Councils nationwide,” it said.
“To view the displayed preliminary register of voters of a Polling Unit (PU) on the website, select the State, the Ward and the Polling Unit and click “DISPLAY”. The list of voters in that PU will be displayed for scrutiny.
“The display exercise at the Registration Areas (Wards) will be undertaken by the staff of the Commission and supported by National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members in the locality.”
However, Nigerians on social media have expressed concerns about the alarming numbers of underage voters found in the preliminary register in parts of the country since it was published on the Commission’s website.
While some wondered how the names got into the register, some of them called on INEC to carry out due diligence in ridding the register of ineligible voters to restore public confidence before the 2023 polls.
🔺🔺Hello @inecnigeria are we going into 2023 election with underage voting from the North!????
People, please look at the faces of these kids and check the DOB. How can these kids be born in 1992!? How were they don’t deemed invalid registrations!?
This is UNACCEPTABLE! pic.twitter.com/Wws3ffWLtm
— FS Yusuf (@FS_Yusuf_) November 13, 2022
Bauchi #underagevoters pic.twitter.com/yuWRpVnglR
— Mr. Chidi AFC 🇳🇬 (@mcstevens007) November 13, 2022
But in a statement made available to The ICIR on Monday, INEC spokesperson Festus Okoye said the displayed national register is still a preliminary one, noting that it is still being cleaned up.
He called on Nigerians to help the Commission in its quest to thoroughly clean the register of foreign names and underage voters by using all available channels on the portals to lodge their complaints.
“What the Commission is displaying is called the “Preliminary National Register of Voters”. In the press statement that we issued to announce the display, we appealed to Nigerians to take a look at it and help us to clean it up,” he said.
“What this means is that, if you find any person on the preliminary register that is under-age, a foreigner, deceased or not qualified to be there, you can raise an objection through a procedure that is well spelt out on the same portal.”
Okoye asked Nigerians to commend the Commission for its transparency in displaying the preliminary register for public scrutiny.
“Therefore, INEC should be commended for our transparency in coming up with this initiative.
“This is the first time in history that the preliminary national register of voters is being displayed online in this manner. And the register contains the entire gamut of all those registered since 2011.”
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