LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has revealed the number of preliminary registered voters in Nigeria ahead of the 2023 elections.
Prof. Yakubu said that preliminary registered voters in Nigeria now stand at 93.5 million.
This is as the Commission explained that 9,518,188 new voters were added to the existing register of 84,004,084 voters.
The INEC Chairman said this on Wednesday in his remark at the fourth quarterly consultative meeting with leaders of political parties in Abuja.
Yakubu said: “The 9,518,188 new voters have been added to the existing register of 84,004,084 voters. The PRELIMINARY register of voters in Nigeria now stands at 93,522,272.”
Yakubu, however, explained that the figure is preliminary because “Section 19(1) and (2) of the Electoral Act 2022 requires the Commission to display the hard copies of the register of voters for each Registration Area (Ward) and Local Government Area (and simultaneously publish the entire register on the Commission’s website) for a period of two weeks for scrutiny, claims and objections by citizens not later than 90 days to a General Election.”
He also added that the Commission will display the physical register at designated centres from 12-25 November 2022.
He said: “Accordingly, in the next few days, the Commission will print 9,352,228 pages of the register. The hard copy will be displayed for each of the 8,809 Registration Areas (Wards) and 774 Local Government Areas nationwide while the entire register will be published on our website for claims and objections as required by law.
“The display of the physical register will take place at the designated centers from Saturday 12th – Friday 25th November 2022. Further details, including the procedure for filing claims and objections, will be released by the Commission next week.”
He, however, appealed to Nigerians to seize the opportunity of the display to scrutinize the list and help to clean it up further so that the final register of voters for the 2023 General Election can be compiled and published.
