The Independent National Electoral Commission has revealed that over 45 per cent of the total number of registered voters have been found to be invalid as of January 14, 2022.
The commission however said 1,390,519 Permanent Voter Cards are valid.
While describing the situation as challenging, the commission said it would continue to clean up the voters’ register.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, also raised fears about security challenges on the election.
He said, “We are all concerned about the security challenges. But the environment must be secured for INEC to conduct the election. We are liaising with the security agencies to secure the environment for us to Conduct the 2023 elections.”
Lamenting the invalid registration, the INEC boss regretted, “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.”
He said the development was due either to 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.
He said, “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. Presently, nearly 45% of completed registrations nationwide are invalid, rising to as high as 60% 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. In our commitment to transparency, the distribution of the registration figures, including the percentages of valid and invalid registrations on State-by-State basis, will be made available to you at this press conference. The same information will be uploaded to the Commission’s website and social media platforms immediately.”
Saying that the development was worrisome, Mahmood said this was because of the time and resources expended in handling these cases.
He added, “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.”