Help Us Identify Underaged Voters, INEC Urges Nigerians
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has urged Nigerians to help identify underaged voters in the preliminary voters register it just issued.
Since voters register was issued, many Nigerians have been pointing at pictures of persons on the register perceived to be underaged.
Speaking during an interview with Channels Television’s Politics Today programme, INEC Commissioner, Festus Okoye, said of the voters register, “The essence of putting out this is for Nigerians to help the commission further clean up the voters’ register,” Okoye said.
“We want people to look at the register and assist the commission to check whether their names have been properly spelt; whether their personal particulars have been properly captured; whether some pictures are not upside down; whether there are still names of deceased persons on the register; whether there are obviously underage persons on the register, so that we can correct them.”
Asked if Nigerians can trust the INEC list of voters, the spokesperson said the commission cannot claim that the register is free of “errors or challenges”.
“We cannot claim, in all honesty, that the register does not have errors. If the lawmakers believe that the register should not have errors or challenges, they won’t have provided in section 19, subsection 1-3 that such a register should be displayed for people to make claims, objections or lay complaints,” he added
“We agree that the register is not perfect; because it is not perfect, that is why we have this display for claims and objections. We use our automated biometrics identification system to remove multiple and double registrations and then we did what we called manual adjudication to remove obviously underage persons.
“Apparently, there are still obviously underage persons on the voters’ register and we expect Nigerians to take a look at the voters’ register, both the ones we displayed at the various registration centres and LGAs and also on the website, and assist the commission to point out these things so that the commission can further clean up the register.”
