INEC seeks stronger partnership with media

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has solicited stronger partnership with the media in Nigeria in the preparations for the 2023 general elections and others. The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, at the first quarterly meeting on Friday with media organisations in 2022 at the INEC Conference Room, Abuja, acknowledged the existing strong partnership between the Commission and the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), saying that the Commission looks forward to strengthening such partnership, as INEC continues to conduct more off-cycle and bye-elections in 2022 and implement critical activities towards the 2023 general elections which is just 393 days away.

Prod. Yakubu revealed that some of the critical preparations for the 2023 general elections must be concluded this year. He stated that the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) which commenced in June 2021 has entered the third quarter. He highlighted: “as at Monday, 17th January 2022, a total of 8,260,076 eligible Nigerians commenced the online pre-registration; completed the registration physically; applied for transfer to new voting locations; requested for replacement of their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs); and updated their voter information records.” Yakubu said that the Commission has been publishing weekly progress reports of the exercise, including analysis of the distribution of online and completed registration by age group, occupation, gender, and disability.

He stated that since the exercise commenced last June, the Commission has so far published 36 weekly reports which show a consistent pattern of young Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 34, constituting the largest majority of registrants. He added that in terms of occupation, students constitute the largest majority of registrants which is consistent with the dominance of young Nigerians as voters.

The INEC chairman said that there is a lot of information for public enlightenment and sensitization, seeking the support of media organizations in the sensitization process.

The INEC chairman admitted that the is aware that Nigerians want to know when their PVCs will be available for collection after completing the voter registration process.

The INEC chairman also acknowledged the role of media organisations in encouraging and mobilizing eligible Nigerians who have not registered to do so. He added that the commission is also committed to sensitising those citizens who have register at any time previously need not register again. He stated that the Commission is currently undertaking the most comprehensive cleaning up of the data to ensure that only eligible citizens are added to the voters’ register for the 2023 general elections. He promised that INEC will soon make public the findings very soon. The INEC chairman disclosed that actual dates for the collection of the PVCs nationwide will be announced very soon.

Prof. Yakubu disclosed that elections into the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to elect sic Area Council Chairmen and 62 Councilors will hold in the next 23 days, 12th February 2022. Thereafter, the commission will conduct two governorship elections in Ekiti State on 18th June 2022, and Osun State on 16th July 2022.

He said that party primaries for the Ekiti State Governorship election are scheduled for 4th – 29th January 2022. For the Osun State Governorship election, primaries will hold from 16th February to 12th March 2022.

The INEC chairman stated that all the 18 political parties in Ekiti State,  have indicated their intention to participate in the election and have already served the mandatory notices for their primaries to elect their candidates as required by law.

Yakubu further said that besides end of tenure elections, six bye-elections are scheduled to hold on Saturday 26th February 2022 in Cross River, Imo, Ondo and Plateau States. The detailed, he said, Timetable is already uploaded on INEC website and social media platforms.

He noted that three bye-elections are still pending. He recalled that the Commission suspended Ekiti East I State Constituency bye-election in March 2020 following violent disruption by thugs. He said that the election will now be combined with the State Governorship election holding on 18th June 2022.

Yakubu said that the date for the Shinkafi State Constituency bye-election in Zamfara State will be announced after a thorough review of the security situation in the area, while the Commission awaits the declaration of vacancy by the Kaduna State House of Assembly in respect of Giwa West State Constituency.

The INEC chairman revealed the distribution of voters to Polling Units in the FCT, particularly the fact that 593 out of 2,822 (or 21%) of the total, do not have voters. He clarified that the action was taken because voters failed to take advantage of the expansion of access to transfer to these new Polling Units.

The Commission reiterated INEC’s curiosity for the support of media organisations to encourage voters who wish to transfer from their present Polling Units to new ones created as part of the Commission’s expansion of access polling units across the country. He noted media your support was crucial to the success of the recent expansion of voter access to polling units for the first time in 25 years since the initial delimitation in 1996.

Prof. Yakubu affirmed that INEC will adopt the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in the FCT elections, which he said, is the second major election after the Anambra Governorship election held in November 2021.

“The 68 constituencies cover extensive urban and rural locations sharing border with five States in the North Central and North Western parts of the country.

“This is yet another opportunity to pilot the efficacy of the BVAS in a different geographical, geo-political and electoral context.

“The same technology will be deployed in all forthcoming elections across the country. Similarly, for all elections going forward, Polling Unit results will be uploaded in real-time on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal,” Yakubu said.