The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday said it has suspended physical registration of voters in Anambra ahead of the November 6 Governorship election in the state.
The Commission said the suspension was done two days ago which is 60 days to the election as required by law, adding that, the online pre-registration option will however, continue to be available but no appointment for completion of registration can be scheduled until after the election.
INEC Chairman, professor Mahmood Yakubu made the disclosure while speaking at the third quarterly meeting with Civil Society Organisations in Abuja.
The INEC boss also assured that every newly registered in Anambra State will get their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) printed and ready for collection before the November 6 governorship election in the state.
Prof Yakubu allayed fears of those who have applied for transfer from within and outside the State or for the replacement of damaged or lost PVCs that their cards will be printed and made available to them for collection before the election.
He disclosed that in the next two days, the Commission will compile the register of new voters and publish same throughout the State for claims and objections.
He said, “Thereafter, we will clean up the data, print the PVCs for collection by registrants and compile the actual register of voters to be used in each of the 5,720 polling units in the State. I want to assure every newly registered voter in Anambra State, including those who applied to transfer from within and outside the State or for the replacement of damaged or lost PVCs that their cards will be printed and made available to them for collection before the election.”
He said further that, “While working on the register of voters, the Commission has also been continuously innovating on how to strengthen the credibility of voter accreditation and result management process during elections in Nigeria. As always, the deployment of appropriate technology is crucial and desirable. The introduction of the machine-readable PVC combined with the Smart Card Reader (SCR) were important innovations. So too is the uploading of polling unit results in real-time on Election Day. However, the Commission is aware that technology always advances with the passage of time and the Commission must keep pace with that reality.”
