Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) on Thursday rejected the compulsory use of National Identity Number for the Continuous Voter Registration, which will recommence on June 28, 2021 ahead of the 2023 general election.
The electoral body also said the indefinite suspension of the bye-election in Ekiti East following electoral violence would stay.
INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, stated these during his maiden press conference in Abuja for the year 2021.
Ourworldgist gathered that immediately after the press conference, the INEC chairman took a dose of the Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccine along with other senior staff of the commission.
Yakubu said, “The NIN is not going to be mandatory for the simple reason that we are operating on the basis of the law establishing INEC. Section 10 of the Electoral Act lists the means of identification to be presented by prospective registrants for the purpose of registration.
“These include birth certificate, passport, national identity card, or any other document that will prove the identity, age, and nationality of the applicants. The NIN is only one of the means of identification provided for under section 10 (2) of the Electoral Act.
“We can’t single that out and make it mandatory. All the other requirements are requirements of the law and we must apply the law equally”.
Yakubu said the registration would be carried out continuously for over a year until the third quarter of 2022.
He said, “The CVR could not recommence in 2020 due largely to the COVID – 19 pandemic. In line with the general advice by health officials regarding events involving large groups of people, we considered it inauspicious to restart the CVR at the height of the pandemic… The commission promised the nation that it would recommend the CVR in the first quarter of 2021.
“The first quarter of 2021 ended yesterday (Wednesday) and obviously the commission was unable to restart the CVR exercise. In consideration of these challenges and the measures we have taken to overcome them, the commission is now in a position to announce Monday June 28 2021 as the date for the recommencement of the CVR exercise nationwide.
“When it comes to voter registration, we expect perhaps higher crowd. Between 2017 and 2018 when we did the last voter registration, 14.2 million Nigerians registered.
“This time around, we are projecting something much higher anywhere between 16 and 20 million. We will make process safer for our staff and voters and that is why we are taking our time to develop online registration portal so people would not have to crowd around the polling unit for registration”.
He said emphasis would be on Anambra State where more centres would be established in view of the governorship elections scheduled Saturday, November 6, 2021.
Yakubu said, “In order to complete preparations for the governorship election, the CVR exercise in the state will be temporarily suspended in August 2021.
“This will enable the commission to clean up the data for the state and print the PVCs for registrants. As time goes on, the commission will provide more details on the CVR exercise, particularly the innovations that will ensure a safe and stress-free experience for registrants.”
