By: ANGO DON-BALLY
The lndependent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it delisted more than a million newly registered voters after a verification process and ”cleaning up” its voters’ register.
Those affected had registered between June last year and January this year in order to acquire permanent voters’ cards (PVCs).
The electoral umpire said during that period 2,523,458 people registered but records of 1,126,359 registrants were discovered to be ”invalid and subsequently delisted”.
This means nearly half of the registrations were invalid.
According to the commission, ”double, multiple and ineligible registrants” were detected.
It explained that it was using an automated biometric identification system in verifying the voter register.
Reports say this massive invalidation is likely to cause anxiety among would-be voters. But the commission says at the end of the process, the register will be published for “scrutiny, claims and objections by citizens”.
INEC said this process is crucial for credible elections. Nigeria is Africa’s largest democracy,
MNT
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