….. promises to punish culpable officials
Ahead of the 2023 elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission on Thursday said it would address all issues raised concerning the national register of voters.
INEC had this month made the entire register public on its website for the first time in the nation’s electoral history.
However, many Nigerians have identified numerous cases of underage voters and double registration.
Reacting to the claims by Nigerians,INEC in a statement signed by National Commissioner, Festus Okoye,said the commission is aware of some “infractions” committed by registration officials who registered ineligible persons as voters.
He added that,the Commission was committed to cleaning up the register and punish those found guilty of tampering with its integrity.
The Commission said making the register public was a sign of transparency on its part.
According to the Commission,the register is expected to be displayed physically at the Registration Area level from November 12 to 18.
At the Local Government level, it will be displayed from November 19 to 25, during which voters can make claims and objections adding that citizens can also make claims and objections online.
“So far, the commission has been harvesting the online claims and objections.We will do the same for the manual process. At the end of the exercise, all claims and objections made will be addressed,” the commission said
“In this way, citizens are contrbuting to the strengthening of our electoral process.It is therefore in the foregoing context that recent media reports on the presence of ineligible registrants in the register should be seen.
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“The full display of all registrants speaks to the commission’s commitment to transparency. The fact that these likely ineligible registrants are being identified means that the objectives of the display for claims and objections are being met.
“We implore the public to follow the procedures and report these objections for the necessary action of the commission.
“In addition, the commission cannot rule out infractions by its registration officials in allowing these ineligible persons into the register in the first place.
“Therefore, each confirmed case of infraction will be thoroughly investigated and culpable officials will be disciplined.”
“We wish to reassure Nigerians that the Commission is committed to transparency and accountability in all its activities.We hope that at the end of the exercise, the Commission, with the involvement of citizens, would have improved the quality of the Register of Voters, which is the bedrock of a successful election.”
The Commission said cleaning up the voter register, which contains all the voters dating back to the 2011 registration exercise, was a continuous and painstaking process over time.
“Nigerians should note that perfecting the register is a continuous and painstaking process over time.
“Indeed,the presently displayed register contains all the voters dating back to the registration of 2011,not just the recent exercise,” the Commission said
The Commission further stressed,”that some of these likely ineligible enteries are being found presently confirms the Commission’s position that the best way to make the voters’ register more robust is for Nigerians to continue to scrutinize it and,more importantly, make their claims and objections for it’s improvement.
“We thanked Nigerians for their sustained cooperation for the growth of our democracy.”