TECHDIGEST – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that 4.5 million Nigerian youths completed the online registration for fresh voters’ cards as of May 30, 2022.

The youths, who are between the ages of 18 and 34, according to INEC’s data accounted for 69.5% of the total registrations completed online since the beginning of the continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise. INEC disclosed that while a total of 10.2million fresh applications were received, only 6.5 million applicants completed their registration, out of which the youths accounted for 4.5 million.

The youth’s interest in registering for voters’ cards this year may have been aroused by various advocacy campaigns by influencers on various social media platforms, especially, Twitter.

Out of the 6.5 million, who completed the online registration, INEC says 1.3 million were middle-aged Nigerians between the age of 35 to 49, while 556,572 were elderly people between the ages of 50 to 69.

Older people between the ages of 70 and above also used the online platform to register for voters’ card as 76,186 of them completed their registration.

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In terms of gender, 3.25 million of the applicants were male while 3.29 million were female.

What you should know

The electoral umpire had announced that the online registration would close by Monday 30th May 2022, while the continuous voters registration exercise would end by June 30, 2022. However, Nairametrics checks show that the portal is still open today as of the time of filing this report.

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has urged the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu to extend the deadline for voter registration to give more time for eligible Nigerians to exercise their right to participate in the same way the electoral body has extended the deadline for party primaries.

According to SERAP, “Extending the voter registration deadline would provide more time for eligible voters, including young people, the elderly, people living with disability, as well as those resident in states facing security challenges and living in IDP camps to participate in the 2023 elections.”

Source: Nairametric

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TECH DIGEST – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says a total of 542, 576 Nigerians had completed their online pre-registration in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) as at 7 am of, Monday, July 12, exactly two weeks since the exercise began.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this on Tuesday at a meeting he held with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), in Abuja.

Yakubu said that INEC was pleased with the progress made so far on the online pre-registration of voters nationwide, which commenced on Monday, June 28.

“At the beginning, we gave Nigerians daily updates on the progress of the exercise. We also promised to make available more detailed weekly updates, which we started from Monday last week.

“As at 7 am yesterday, Monday, July 12, exactly two weeks since the exercise began, a total of 542,576 Nigerians have completed the online pre-registration.

“Out of this figure, 456,909 are fresh registrants while 85,667 have applied for voter transfer, replacement of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), update of voter information record.

“The Commission is also able to provide Nigerians with information on the distribution of registrants across the States of the Federation by age, occupation, gender and disability.

“Out of 542,576 online registrants so far, 356,777 (or 66 per cent) are young people between the ages of 18 and 34 years. This is followed by 134,719 middle-aged registrants who fall between 35 and 49 years.

“The third category is elderly persons aged between 50 and 69 years of which 44,896 Nigerians have registered. Interestingly, some 6,184 senior citizens, aged 70 years and above, have taken advantage of the new online opportunity to also register.

“On the occupational distribution of registrants, 156,446 are students; 38,217 artisans; 24,421 farmers and fishermen; 150,145 businessmen and traders; 35,831 employed as civil and public servants and 8,334 housewives. The remaining 129,182 registrants did not specify their occupations.

“On gender, 321,781 are male, while 220,795 are female. In our effort to serve all Nigerians better, the Commission has requested registrants to indicate their disability (if any).

“This will enable us to optimally and efficiently deploy assistive voting devices such as Braille ballot guide and magnifying glasses for persons with special needs at polling units on election day.

“So far, we have data for 6,558 registrants who have clearly indicated their type of disability”.

Yakubu said that details of the information, including State and occupational distribution, had been uploaded on the Commission’s website and social media platforms.

He also disclosed that the commission has approved 811 physical registration centres, starting from July 19, as the commission was aware that not all Nigerians had access to computers, smartphones or internet connectivity, to register online.

“Our aim is to activate some 2,673 centres to which we intend to deploy 5,346 officials for in-person registration.

“However, after consultation with stakeholders, the Commission is proceeding systematically as we review the security situation across the country.

“We agreed with stakeholders, including the security agencies, to start from our state and local government offices.

“This means an initial 811 locations nationwide made up of 37 State and FCT offices and 774 Local Government Areas.

“We have configured enough machines and commenced deployment nationwide for further training of officials in readiness for the commencement of the physical registration.”

He added that the list of the 811 centres, including their locations and dedicated telephone numbers for each State office nationwide, had been uploaded on INEC’s website and social media platforms for enquiries.

“The Commission is not unaware that we have scheduled the commencement of the physical registration for Monday, July 19. Already, there are indications that this date or immediately thereafter may be a public holiday.

“We are also aware that some of the online registrants have scheduled their appointments for the completion of their registrations on the dates that are likely to be public holidays.

“The Commission will meet on Thursday this week to review the situation and provide clarity on the matter.”

Yakubu also disclosed that the commission had approved the timetable and schedule of activities for the CVR exercise, which would continue for the next year.

The timetable, according to him, includes the display of the register of new voters for claims and objections by citizens at various stages of the process, as required by law.

He said that the timetable will cover four quarters, stating that the first quarter would be a registration of voters from June 28 to Sept. 1, while the display of register would be from Sept. 4 to Sept. 30.

The second quarter, according to him, would be from Oct. 4 to Dec. 20 for the registration of voters, while a display of registered voters would be from Dec. 24 to Dec. 30.

He added that for the third quarter, registration of voters would start from Jan. 3, 2022, to March 22, 2022; while the display of register for claims and objections would hold from March 26, 2022, to April 1, 2022.

For the fourth quarter, Yakubu said that voter registration had been scheduled for April 11, 2022, to June 30, 2022, while a display of register for claims and objections would hold from July 4, 2022, to July 11, 2022.

Yakubu appreciated the overwhelming support of Nigerians to the CVR exercise so far, while pledging that INEC would spare no effort in deepening the use of technology to ensure electoral transparency and credibility.

“The voters’ register is at the heart of any credible election. This makes this meeting with our RECs crucial.

“We are working hard to ensure that just as we had a smooth take-off of the online pre-registration, the commencement of the physical registration will similarly be hitch-free”, Yakubu said. (NAN)

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TECH DIGEST – INEC testing the state of readiness and the integrity of the new technology. In addition to the in-house tests, members of the INEC Press Corps participated in a mock registration exercise at INEC Media Centre.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has received 42,211 online applications nationwide within 24 hours of the resumption of its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).

Mr Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said that INEC met on Tuesday and, among other things, reviewed the CVR exercise, which commenced on June 28 nationwide.

Okoye said that 331 accounts were created by intended registrants on the CVR online pre-registration portal which was launched at 7 am on Monday.

“By 7 am, June 29, 24 hours after the launch, 59,331 accounts were created.

“Within the same period, 42,211 applications were received out of which 27,759 individuals applied for new voter pre-registration services.

“Also 11, 177 requested for voter review record; 1, 669 applied for voter transfer; 853 asked for information update; 335 applied for replacement of lost or damaged PVCs; while 418 applicants requested for uncollected PVCs.

“These statistics have been uploaded to the Commission’s website and social media platforms,” Okoye said.

He said that the Commission would provide Nigerians with weekly updates on the activities on the portal and the online registration status.

Okoye encouraged those that could register online to do so, while all other Nigerians would commence their registration on July 19.

He reminded Nigerians that physical CVR would commence on July 19 at INEC State and Local Government Offices nationwide.

“Those that are unable to register online will be attended to from the scheduled date.

“Every eligible Nigerian will have an opportunity to register. The CVR process will continue for at least one year.

“Scheduled appointments for online registrants will also begin on July 19.

“The commencement date for physical CVR in all the 2, 673 registration centres nationwide will be determined based on the evaluation of the security situation in the country.”

Okoye said that the Commission launched the online pre-registration services for the following categories of Nigerians:

“Those who are 18 years and above and have never registered.

“Registered voters who have had any problem during the accreditation for past elections, with either their Permanent Voters’ Cards or fingerprints not being read by the Smart Card Reader (SCR).

“Registered voters who want to transfer their voting location from one place to another.

“Registered voters who want to correct issues with their data, such as misspelt names, dates of birth, etc.

“Registered voters whose Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) are lost or damaged.”

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