In just 9 days INEC registers 120,600 Voters

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says 120,600 Nigerians have completed their physical registration in the ongoing nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise between July 26 and August 3.

An update provided by INEC on Wednesday in Abuja indicated that out of 120,600 Nigerians, who had completed their physical registration, 72,075 were male, while 48,525 were female. Also, 1,274 of the figure were people living with disabilities.

The distribution of the complete registration by states indicated that Anambra had the highest number with 8,624 and followed by Osun with 8,114.

Ebonyi had the lowest number of persons who had completed their registration with 959, followed by FCT with 1,134.

INEC said it has received 1,657,566 applications from Nigerians. The figure of the total applications received included those for voter transfer, requests for replacement of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), and updates of voter information records.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, in a statement on the update disclosed that as of the same August 3, the number of fresh online pre-registrants stood at 1,377,733.

While INEC started the online registration of voters on June 28, the commission started the in-person (or physical) registration about a month later on July 26.

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.

“As of 4 pm on August 3, 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 July 26.”

He added that young Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 34 were still leading in both online registration (1,074,260 or 65 percent) and completed registration (84,619 or 70 percent).

“In terms of occupation, students are leading in both pre-registration (529,219 or 32 percent) and completed registration (48,897 or 41 percent).

“For gender distribution, 940,062 (or 57 per cent) are male and 717,504 (or 43 per cent) are female for online pre-registration.

”The figures for completed registration are 72,075 (or 60 percent) male and 48,525 (or 40 percent) female,” Mr. Okoye said.

He noted that 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.

Mr. Okoye appealed 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 offices nationwide to register.

“For emphasis, we wish to remind citizens that the ongoing registration does not include those who are already registered as voters.

“This current exercise is only open to Nigerians who are 18 years and above who have not registered before.

“It is an offense under the Electoral Act for any citizen to register more than once,” he said.