By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
To avoid the unhappy consequences of any breach of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Timetable or the Electoral Act, the Commission has once again admonished political parties to adhere strictly to all dates in the Timetable, including the nomination of their candidates via the INEC web portal.
INEC has also asked Nigerians who registered to vote between June and December, 2021 to collect their Permanent Voter Cards
(PVC) in person at the approved designated places just as it said the owners of the 1.8 million new PVCs will be contacted via email and telephone.
This much was contained in a text of press conference by INEC Chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu on Wednesday in Abuja on the on-going voter registration excercise.
According to the INEC boss: “The Commission wishes to reiterate that the dates for all activities in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election, including the conduct of party primaries, are firm and fixed.
“Already, ten political parties have served notices to the Commission for the conduct of their primaries. With 52 days to the last day for the conduct of primaries (i.e. 3rd June 2022), political parties are once again admonished to adhere strictly to all dates in the Timetable, including the nomination of their candidates via the INEC web portal.
“Such nominated candidates must emerge from valid primaries as provided in Section 84 of the Electoral Act 2022.
“This is necessary to avoid the unhappy consequences of any breach of the Commission’s Timetable or the Electoral Act”.
On the on-going voter registration excercise, Yakubu called on Nigerians who registered between June and December 2021
to come forward to collect their PVCs, adding that PVCs will be available for collection at designated places.
Said he: “I would like to appeal to all Nigerians who registered between June and December 2021 to collect their PVCs in person.
‘As we devolve the voter registration beyond our State and Local Government offices nationwide, the PVCs will also be available at such designated centres in our effort to make the collection easier for voters.
“In addition, we will also contact the 1.8 million registrants including by email and text messages on the availability of the cards and the places to collect them”.
Yakubu however lamented that a huge number of registrations across Nigeria are invalid due to many infractions perpetuated by registrants which includes act of double registration.
“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”, the INEC boss stated.
According to him: “this development is worrisome because of the time and resources expended in handling these cases. 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”.
