Several voter registrations done in 2022 invalidated – INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission has said it has detected several invalid registrations during the clean-up of the register from the recently-concluded voter registration exercise.

The continuous voter registration exercise (CVR) ended on July 31 — thirteen months after it began.

In April, the commission had said 45 per cent of registrations done in 2021 were invalid.

The commission has previously given reasons for invalid registrations as multiple registrations and incomplete data.

In a statement on Monday by its commissioner for information and voter education, Festus Okoye, INEC said it would provide the public with details after the clean-up exercise has been concluded.

“As Nigerians are aware, the cleaning up of the register of voters using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) is ongoing since the suspension of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) on 31st July 2022.

“Earlier, the Commission informed Nigerians that out of the 2,523,458 (Two million, five hundred and twenty-three thousand, four hundred and fifty-eight) fresh registrants that registered between 28th June 2021 and 14th January 2022, 1,126,359 (One million, one hundred and twenty-six thousand, three hundred and fifty-nine) records were found to be invalid and consequently delisted.

“The ABIS for the period — 15th January to 31st July 2022 — is almost completed. Several double, multiple and ineligible registrants have also been detected and invalidated. These include entries that fail to meet the Commission’s business rules. The Commission takes this responsibility seriously because a credible register is at the heart of electoral integrity.

“As soon as the process is concluded, the Commission will provide the public with full information as usual. Thereafter, valid registrants will be added to the existing national register of voters before publishing same nationwide for scrutiny, claims and objections by citizens as required by section 19 (1) of the Electoral Act 2022.

“We reassure Nigerians that a thorough process is being undertaken to clean up the registration data. Similarly, Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) for all valid registrants will be available for collection by the end of October/early November as promised,” the statement reads.