The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that 12.3 million fresh eligible voters completed their registration as of Monday in the just concluded nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
This is contained in the latest CVR weekly update released by the commission yesterday in Abuja.
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The update reads in part: “The number of registrants who have completed online and physical registration was 12,298,944, made up of 6,074,078 males and 6,224,866 females.”
According to the report, Lagos State has the highest number of completed registrants, with 585,629, followed by Kano with 569,103 and Delta with 523,517.
The FCT, Yobe and Ekiti have the lowest completed registration, with 211,341; 152,414 and 124,844 respectively.
Meanwhile, INEC has urged Nigerians to ignore a fake online voter registration, saying it suspended the CVR nationwide on Sunday, July 31.
INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, said this in a statement yesterday.
He said, “Barely 24 hours after the suspension of voter registration, the attention of INEC has been drawn to an online site urging Nigerians to enroll for Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) registration, claiming that the federal government had approved individual PVC registration online to avoid unnecessary crowd at NIMC centres.
“The commission states unequivocally that the site is not linked to the commission and the link/portal is spurious and from a dubious source.
“Members of the public are strongly advised not to succumb to the antics of online scammers and should avoid such fake sites.”
‘We’re yet to decide on multiple registrants’
The commission also said it was yet to decide on the action it would take against those that engaged in multiple registration.
The Board Chairman of The Electoral Institute (TEI), Prof Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, said this during the Post-Election Training Audit (PETA) for Ekiti and Osun states governorship elections on Monday in Abuja.
He said, “There are many reasons for double or multiple registration. By the time we hear from the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), a decision will be taken, and when that is done, the world will know the step we are taking.”
Meanwhile, Daily Trust learnt that double or multiple voter registration constitute electoral offence and attract N100,000 fine or one year imprisonment or both.