By JOHN ONAH, Abuja –
The independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday said it would deploy 5,346 staff to the 2,673 registration centres nationwide even as it also unveiled INEC Enrollment Device (IVED) to the public.
The INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, who disclosed this in Abuja at press conference on the launching of online registration portal, said that the date of commencement of the continuous Voter Registration (CVR) remains sacrosanct.
Among the equipment for the exercise is a new registration machine called the INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED). This device is built around the concept of a Tablet computer and will replace the lap-top based old Direct Data Capture Machine (DDCM).
“We are now ready to resume the CVR on Monday next week. We have acquired all the equipment for the exercise, updated our registration software and planned for the deployment of 5,346 staff to the 2,673 registration centres nationwide”.
“I am glad to say that our engineers designed the IVED in-house before it was fabricated abroad. It is more mobile and efficient than the DDCM and could also be deployed to other activities, particularly the accreditation of voters during elections. The new machine will be unveiled at this press conference”.
“As you are aware, the Register of Voters is at the heart of democratic elections. A good register of voters is a precursor to a good election. For this reason, the registration of voters is a major function of the Independent National Electoral Commission under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended)”, he added.
According to him, in exercising its powers under the law, the Commission undertook a fresh registration of eligible voters with every General Election until 2011 when the first reliable biometric register of voters was compiled.
“Thereafter, the Commission embarked on intermittent registration of voters on the eve of major elections. However, in April 2017, this Commission for the first time began the implementation of registration of voters on a continuous basis as provided in the Electoral Act. As a result, 14,283,734 new voters were added to the register by the time the process was suspended in August 2018 in order to prepare for the 2019 general election”.
He disclosed that the intention of the commission was to resume the CVR early in 2020, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which necessitated a fundamental review of the commission’[s processes, it was not possible to do so.
“Subsequently, the commission fixed the first quarter of 2021 for the resumption of the exercise. However, some of the activities that the Commission planned to implement in 2020, which would precede the resumption of the CVR, could not be concluded due to the pandemic. One of them is the expansion of voter access to Polling Units. The idea is to make new polling units available to voters during the CVR”.
He however noted that work has been completed and all the 176,846 polling units can now be viewed in a searchable database on the INEC website (https://www.inecnigeria.org/elections/polling-units/). Consequently, the earlier announced date for the resumption of the CVR i.e. Monday 28th June 2021 remains sacrosanct.
