The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, says it is not true seven million Nigerians who applied for online pre-registration as voters during the last nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) were denied the opportunity to complete their registration and consequently the collection of their Permanent Voters
Cards (PVCs).
The Commission National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, in a statement on Monday said, “For the online pre-registration, a total 10,487,972 commenced the process. However, by the deadline of the exercise, 3,444,378 Nigerians completed their pre-registration physically at the designated centres in line with the Commission’s policy.
“Some 7,043,594 applicants did not complete the registration. Again, the Commission made the information public. This is what some people are now using to say that they were denied the opportunity when in reality they failed to either complete the online enrolment or appear physically at the designated centres to complete the process.
Giving a breakdown of the 7,043,594 incomplete online pre-registrations, Okoye said, “4,161,775 citizens attempted but either did not complete online pre-registration or abandoned it and went for the physical registration instead.
“2,881,819 registrants completed the online pre-registration but did not show up to complete the physical Biometric Capture at designated centres before the deadline.”
The electoral umpire on June 28, 2021, introduced the online pre-registration of voters to enable citizens to commence the registration online and then book for an appointment at their convenience to complete the physical Biometric Capture at designated centres.
