The Independent National Electoral Commission has said that over 45 per cent of the total number of registered voters have been found to be invalid as of January 14, 2022.
INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this while briefing reporters on the ongoing voter registration exercise on Wednesday at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
“Presently, nearly 45 per cent of completed registrations nationwide are invalid, rising to as high as 60 per cent 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. This development is worrisome because of the time and resources expended in handling these cases.”
He lamented that the troubling issue of invalid registrations still persists as they were detected while cleaning up the latest registration data. Yakubu explained that the commission introduced the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) – a more comprehensive and robust system, involving not just fingerprint identification but also facial biometric recognition. He warned against the re-registration of eligible voters by INEC staff, stressing that any official aiding the process would be prosecuted.
The INEC boss revealed that after completing the data clean-up, the electoral umpire has printed 1,390,519 Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) for genuine new registrants. In addition, he stated that 464,340 PVCs for verified applicants for transfer or replacement of cards have also been printed. Yakubu put the total number of PVCs ready for collection at 1,854,859, saying they would be delivered to INEC state offices across the country over the Easter holiday.
