By Myke Uzendu, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commissioner (INEC) on Tuesday disclosed that Youths, Females and Students from Edo and Ondo States recorded about 67.61 percent in the just concluded exercise ahead of Edo and Ondo States governorship election.
The commission said that the next phase is the display of the register for claims and objections.
A statement on Tuesday signed by Sam Olumekun, National Commissioner & Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, reported that The Commission made the disclosure after its regular weekly meeting on Tuesday where it reviewed preparations for the Edo and Ondo governorship elections, particularly the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in the two States which was suspended on Sunday 9th June 2024.
According to the Commission, “statistics from the CVR as at Sunday 9th June 2024 when the registration was suspended, indicates a total of 269,992 new voters in the two States. Of this figure, 129,246 (47.87%) are male while 140,756 (52.13%) are female. Still, the majority of the registered voters (182,541 or 67.61%) are youths (18-34 years). In terms of occupation, 95,463 or 35.36%) are students while 1,588 (0.59%) are Persons with Disability (PWDs). In addition, 24,454 requests for replacement of PVCs, 74,493 applications for voter transfer and 8,314 for information update were received”.
It further disclosed that the next step as provided by Section 19 of the Electoral Act 2022 is the display of the register for claims and objections by citizens for a period of seven days (one week) from Wednesday 12th June 2024.
“The display will take place in all the 395 Wards across the two States. The register will also be available on our website: https://cvr.inecnigeria.org/register.
“The purpose of the display is for the public to identify any ineligible persons on the register, draw the Commission’s attention to it and file an objection to the appearance of the name on the register by completing Forms EC2 and EC3 available from our officials in all the centres. The Forms can also be downloaded from our website – https://inecnigeria.org/?page_id=13655 – and handed over to our officials as provided in Section 9(4) of the Electoral Act 2022” it stated.
It further stated that fresh registrants and applicants for transfer, correction of personal details and replacement of lost or damaged PVCs can draw the Commission’s attention to errors or wrong entries for further action.
It added that the end of the period for claims and objections, the Commission will further clean up the register using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) before the list of new voters is added to the existing register for the two States.
The Commission emphasised that these are preliminary figures while the final figures will be published on State by State basis after the period for claims/objections and ABIS just as the date for the commencement of collection of new PVCs will be announced thereafter.
The Commission appealed to the public to seize the opportunity of the display of the register to help us clean it up as provided by law.
The Edo State governorship election will hold on 21st September 2024, while that of Ondo State will be hold on Saturday 16 November 2024.
