INEC Delists 1.1m Voters Over Double Registration, Ineligibility

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that out of the 2, 523,458 fresh registrants that registered between 28th June 2021 and 14th January 2022, 1,126,359 records were found to be invalid and consequently delisted.

The commission claimed that several double, multiple, and ineligible registrants have also been detected and invalidated, adding that these include entries that fail to meet the commission’s business rules.

The national commissioner and chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye who disclosed this in Abuja yesterday in a statement made available to newsmen insisted that a thorough process was being undertaken to clean up the registration data.

Similarly, he said Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) for all valid registrants will be available for collection by the end of October/early November as promised.

Okoye said 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.

The statement reads in part: “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, he said 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.