The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has detected 62,698 cases of multiple voter registration ahead of the November 6 Anambra State Governorship Election.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this Friday in Abuja at an emergency meeting with 18 registered political parties participating in the election.
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He said that these double or multiple registrations were invalid by law as the law prohibits double registration.
“As a testimony to the effectiveness of our new system for checking double and multiple registrations, the commission found out that some 62,698 persons who are already registered voters in Anambra State went ahead to register again,” Yakubu said.
According to him, in Anambra State, 138,802 citizens completed the registration, including applications for transfer and requests for replacement of lost, damaged or defaced PVCs as required by law.
He said that the commission had archived these registrations and would not print new PVCs for them.
“Consequently, the number of valid registrants in Anambra State at the end of the First Quarter of the CVR exercise on 5th September 2021 is 77,475.
“This figure has been added to the existing register of 2,447,996 eligible voters used for the 2019 General Election. Accordingly, the number of registered voters in Anambra State now stands at 2,525,471,” Yakubu said.
The INEC boss also warned politicians and political parties against resorting to violence and intimidation in their electioneering, saying such could worsen the insecurity situation in the state.
He said the commission had recovered from the attack on its Awka office in May by renovating the office in readiness for the election. All the non-sensitive materials have either been procured afresh or sourced from neighbouring states and our zonal stores. “We are working assiduously with security agencies to ensure that such an attack does not happen again.”
