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Tag: Continuous Voter Registration

  • 171, 163 PVCs unclaimed in Akwa Ibom, says INEC official

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said 171,163 Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) are still uncollected in Akwa Ibom State.

    INEC Administrative Secretary Lebari Nduh made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Uyo yesterday.

    Nduh said the commission registered a total of 2, 121, 126 million persons in the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in state, lamenting that most of the PVCs were yet to be collected.

    “We registered 2, 121, 126 million people in the state in the CVR from 2016 till date.

    “But only five percent of PVCs have been collected, as 171, 163 people are yet to collect their own,’’ he said.Nduh noted that only 4, 208 people have collected their PVCs and urged the electorate to go and collect their PVCs so they can vote for candidates of their choice in the 2019 general elections.

    “PVC is very powerful, PVC is very important, with your PVC you can determine who get what, when and how,” he said.

    Nduh explained that the commission had published names of people whose PVCs were still in its custody, so they can come forward for collection across the state.

  • CVR: INEC records more male registrants than female

    More men have registered in the ongoing Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, it was learnt.

    According to INEC update, of the over 12 million new registrants, 6,856.558 million are male while 5,832,234 are female.

    There are still over seven million PVCs awaiting collection.

    Besides, INEC update also revealed that 998,993 applied for replacement of voter cards, while 640,796 requested for transfer of vote.

    The exercise which was to be suspended on the 17th August, 2018 has been extended till the last day of the month.

    Read Also: INEC right on Rivers by-election

    INEC had argued that the exercise which has been on for the past 16 months was extended due to pleas by Nigerians.

    It stated, “However, many Nigerians have appealed to the Commission to extend the exercise. Consequently, the Commission has decided to extend the CVR to 31st August 2018. The exercise will continue in all the designated registration centres every day, including weekends, but excluding public holidays, between 9am and 5pm.”

    The commission also informed the general public that the ongoing collection exercise will be on until very close to the general elections.

    “The Commission wishes to inform the public that the ongoing collection of PVCs will not end with the CVR exercise. Collection of PVCs will continue until close to the general elections,” it stated.

     

  • INEC to suspend voter registration August 17

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said on Friday it would suspend the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) on August 17 till after the 2019 general elections.

    The INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, information and Voter Education Committee, Prince Solomon Soyebi, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja.

    Soyebi, however, said the collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would continue until a week to the commencement of general elections on February 16, 2019.

    The decision, according to him, was taken following consultative meetings the Commission had with major stakeholders in Nigeria in the electoral process.

    INEC has within the week met with leaders of political parties, the media, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and security agencies.

    He said the stakeholders stressed the need to comply with statutory timelines and unanimously agreed that sufficient time be given between the capture of data, its processing and the production of the PVCs.

    “Given the activities necessary for this, the Commission, acting on the recommendation of the stakeholders has decided to suspend the ongoing CVR at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, August 17, till after the general elections.

    “The collection of PVCs will, however, continue until a week to the commencement of general elections on Feb. 16, 2019,” he added.

    NAN

     

  • INEC registers 10 million new voters

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it registered no fewer than 10 million Nigerians in the ongoing nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).

    Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this at the commission’s quarterly consultative meeting with security agencies under the auspices of Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) on Friday in Abuja.

    Yakubu said that the people were registered between April, 2017 when the CVR commenced and end of June, 2018.

    He said that total number of registered voters in the country would increase to 80 million when the figure from the CVR was added to existing 70 million voters.

    “As at June 22, 2018 fresh registration is 9,922,619, PVC Collection, 576,346; request for transfer, 489,354 and request for replacement of PVCs, 766,435.

    “What this means is that since the commencement of CVR on April 27, 2017, about 10 million Nigerians have been registered and this will be added to existing register of 70 million voters.

    “This means that as we approach 2019 general elections, Nigeria will have voter register of at least 80 million.’’

    Yakubu said that INEC was committed to transparency in the conduct of elections and the declaration of results.

    Read Also: INEC to deploy 11,000 ad-hoc staff

    He said that one of the things the commission had consistently been doing was to issue copies of elections’ result sheets to agents of political parties at that level.

    He said that following stakeholders’ demand for transparency in the electoral process, INEC responded by displaying result for each polling unit immediately after counting of ballot for public information.

    “Having found this as a useful way of enhancing citizens’ mandate protection, we took it a step further by introducing the EC60E.

    “The form is a large poster reflecting the result in each polling unit as recorded on the EC8A shared with agents of political parties.

    “The poster is pasted at each polling unit immediately after the counting of ballot papers.

    “Consequently, citizens now know the outcome of voting in each polling unit and can track the processes of collation leading to the final declaration of results.

    “These posters were effectively deployed in all elections since the Anambra State Governorship election in November, 2017. We shall deploy them in all forthcoming elections,’’ the chairman said.

    He urged the security agencies to help and ensure that the Form was pasted at polling units after the declaration of election result in the units.

    He appealed to the agencies to remind the polling officers to paste the result at each polling unit “where there is an inadvertent omission to paste it’’.

    Yakubu also urged agencies to continue to provide peaceful environment for conduct of elections across the country.

    “As we approach the 2019 general elections, we also need your support, especially in securing the environment for us to conduct elections.

    “I will like to thank the security agency for the things that you have done to secure the environment.

    “I will like to appeal to the security agencies to continue to exploit the same neutrality to see that our elections are getting better.

    “We want Ekiti to surpass Anambra and I believe we can do it and I am confident in the security agencies that we can do it.’’

    In his response, National Security Adviser (NSA), Major-Gen. Mohammed Monguno (retd), pledged that necessary security support would be given to ensure success of Ekiti governorship election and 2019 general elections.

    Monguno, who was represented by Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Mrs Peace Abdallah, expressed confidence that INEC would continue to conduct credible elections.

    “It is not in doubt that INEC has always shown not just by words but action, that as we look forward to Ekiti and future elections, especially 2019 that Nigeria elections will continue to be commendable.’’

    NAN

  • INEC decries low participation of women in politics

    …Women occupy 5.8percent of political offices

     

    The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has decried low participation of women in political processes.

    The Commission said despite the fact that women constitute 48 percent of the population, only 5.8 percent  of them hold political offices.

    The Commission also revealed that since the commencement of CVR in 2017, only 1,362,293 women have registered compared to men who have 1,560,823 registration.

    This was disclosed in Abuja yesterday at the North Central zonal workshop on enhancing women’s participation in the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) and Collection of  Permanent Voters Cards  (PVC).

    Giving details of women participation, INEC National Commissioner, Prof. Antonia Okoosi-Simbine said: “Despite the fact that women constitute 48 percent of Nigeria voting population, they occupy only 5.8percent of the political offices in the country.

    “In 2015, eight female senators and 20 House of Representatives members were elected and six female Deputy governors who had joint ticket with male gubernatorial candidates were elected.

    “Similarly, only one female contested for the office of President while four presidential candidates had females as their vice.”

    Read Also: 563, 051 PVCs collected in Ekiti, says INEC

    She further said: “Contenders for the upcoming Ekiti State governorship election shows that ten of the 35 political parties fielding candidates have females as Deputy governorship candidates while none of the parties put a female forward as governorship candidates.

    “Globally too, statistics for gender parity indicate that 2015,  out of 188 countries,  Nigeria was 152 in the Human Development Index in Gender inequality and 118 out of 192 countries in 2017.

    “Going by this statistics therefore, a lot still needs to be done by all stakeholders to ensure that the situation improves during the 2019 general elections.”

    On factors responsible for the low participation, Prof Okoosi-Simbine said: “Be it politics, education and other sector; women generally lag. Some of them are affected by domestic duties,  some are affected by poverty, while some are concerned about taking care of their children, health issues and others.”

    Also speaking, the Project Director of European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES), David Le Notre said Civil Society Organisations need to do more to improve the level of participation.

    Le Notre who was represented by Cathy Latiwa said: “Women constitute about half of the population and an important segment that must be carried along in every facet of development.

    “Women participation enriches democracy and makes it more responsive to the aspirations of the people. It is however unfortunate that women participation in the political process has been limited.

    “Fewer women than men have been voted into political offices despite the fact that majority of voters are women.

    “Nigerian women have the lowest representation of 5.9 percent in the National Assembly when compared to most other African Countries like Uganda with 34.6percent, South Africa 43.2 percent, Ethiopia 27.7percent and Cameroon 20.1 percent.”

    Le Notre while encouraging women to be more active said the ongoing CVR provides women with the opportunity to participate actively in the political process.

    Speaking on the importance of getting the PVC, the Commission’s Deputy Director in charge of Gender, Mrs. Blessing Obidegwu said report available to Commission shows that since the commencement of the CVR in April 2017, men have registered more than women.

    She said: “The last three quarters of 2017 indicates that women are trailing behind their male counterparts with only marginal improvement.

    “Gender distribution for 2017  CVR was 57 percent for men and 43 for women in the first quarter of 2018, women improved marginally by 4.6percent to attain a ratio of 46.6percent against men’s 53.4percent.”

  • INEC begins distribution of PVCs for new registrants

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would on Monday start distributing Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) to newly registered eligible voters in Lagos State, its spokesman, Femi Akinbiyi, has said.

    He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that INEC had concluded arrangements for the distribution of PVC in the 20 local government areas of the state.

    “Definitely on Monday, we are going to start the distribution of PVCs at the offices in the 20 local government areas of the state.

    “The available cards now are only for those who registered in 2017 and that is from the inception of the exercise in April 2017 to December 2017.

    Also read : Buhari’s wife to women: go back to school

     “We are still expecting more cards; other cards will be made available later, especially for those who registered in the first quarter of 2018 and those currently registering,” Akinbiyi said.

    He said that the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Mr Sam Olumekun, had on Thursday met with local  officials on modality for distribution of the PVCs in their respective council areas.

    At the meeting, Olumekun had urged the INEC officials to treat the people with love and courtesy, Akinbiyi said.

    The INEC spokesman enjoined the new registrants to visit INEC offices in their council areas to claim their cards.

    He said that INEC office in the state would monitor the distribution exercise across the councils, saying that ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise would continue across the designated centres.

    The ongoing Continuous Voters Registration exercise started nationwide on

  • Ekiti 2018: YIAGA deploys 24 observers to monitor CVR

    Ekiti 2018: YIAGA deploys 24 observers to monitor CVR

    Youth Initiative for Advocacy Growth and Advancement ( YIAGA ) said it had deployed 24 personnel to Ekiti to monitor the Continuous Voter Registration ( CVR ) ahead of the July 14 governorship poll.

    The group’s Executive Director, Mr Samson Itodo, said in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja that the objective of the mission was to assess the processes of the CVR.

    Itodo said that the observers would also verify the functionality of the Direct Data Capturing ( DDC ) machine, and check the level of compliance with Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) guidelines.

    He recalled that INEC had announced that it would decentralise the CVR to the 177 Wards in Ekiti from Tuesday to April 18.

    Itodo said that the exercise was designed to update the voter register with the registration of citizens who turned 18 years after the last voter registration or those who couldn’t register before.

    “Uncollected Permanent Voter Cards ( PVCs ) will also be distributed during the exercise and issues relating to transfer of registered voters, lost, damaged or omitted PVCs will be addressed during the exercise.

    “YIAGA Africa will be deploying its “Watching the Vote ( WTV )’’ citizen-observers to observe the continuous voter registration.

    Read Also: Ekiti 2018: Britain warns politicians against violence

    “For the CVR in Ekiti, YIAGA WTV is deploying 24 accredited citizen-observers to rotationally observe the process in each of the 16 local government areas.

    “This is to cover at least 72 wards out of the 177 wards in the state where the CVR will be conducted,’’ he said.

    Itodo said that the observers would send reports via coded text message on their mobile phones.

    He explained that the reports would be received directly into a sophisticated database located at the YIAGA Africa’s WTV Data Centre in Abuja “for review, verification and analysis’’.

    Itodo said that the group would issue interim reports on the process based on reports from its observers, which would be shared with the public, INEC, political parties, civic society organizations and other stakeholders.

    He said that YIAGA would also provide timely and accurate information on the conduct of the CVR, PVC distribution and transfer of registered voters.

    He said that WTV was a citizen-led election observation initiative aimed at enhancing the integrity of elections using technology and evidence-based research methodology for election observation.

    NAN

  • APC chieftains in Ebonyi back Buhari’s second term bid

    Two chieftains of the All Progressives Congress ( APC ) in Ebonyi state, have applauded the declaration of President Muhammadu Buhari to run for second term saying that the decision would benefit all Nigerians.

    The chieftains noted that the outstanding performance of the President qualified him to run for re-election to consolidate on the achievements recorded in his first term.

    The chieftains spoke in separate interviews with the News men on Monday in Abakaliki.

    Dr Paul Okorie,  a governorship aspirant in the 2019 election said  the decision was  welcome.

    He hailed Buhari for his courage and decision to present himself for a second term and urged party faithful and Nigerians to support the President for the reelection bid.

    Okorie who served at various times as Commissioner for Works and Transportation and Environment said the re-election of Buhari would deepen democracy and enhance economic growth and development.

    He listed among the achievements of the president, the growth of the foreign reserve from $30 billion to about $47 billion, road infrastructure, anti-graft campaign, job creation, youth empowerment, defeat of Boko Haram and  fiscal discipline.

    “Though he has performed creditably well in his first term, more needed to be done and four years obviously is not enough for him to fully accomplish his programmes and policies.

    “Again the South-East will have brighter opportunity to produce the next Nigerian President by 2023.

    “The decision is a wise decision and I commend Mr President for taking the selfless and patriotic decision, ” Okorie said.

    Another chieftain and Acting chairman of the party in Ebonyi, Mr Eze Nwachukwu said that the declaration has put an end to uncertainties  on whether the President would offer himself for a second term.

    Read Also: Tinubu has capacity to unite APC, says Kano lawmaker

    He praised the President for taking the bold decision, saying that the second term of Buhari would stabilise security concerns, enhance political, economic and industrial growth in the country.

    He said that the government had fought corruption and had redeemed the country’s image previously battered by corruption.

    “Corruption in public service has reduced while fiscal discipline and responsibility are strictly adhered to in public procurement.

    “The President may have his short coming as a human being but his administration’s programme and policies indicate that he is committed to building more virile and strong Nigeria.

    .“As a party, we commend the decision and pledge to mobilise Ebonyi and the whole of South-East to vote the President for second term in 2019,” Nwachukwu said.

    He urged all eligible voters in the state, who have  not yet registered in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration ( CVR ),  to ensure they register to avoid  disenfranchisement during the election.

    NAN

  • APC sets up committee to mobilise eligible voters on CVR

    APC sets up committee to mobilise eligible voters on CVR

    The All Progressives Congress ( APC ) in Ebonyi State has set up a six-man committee on voter education to mobilize eligible voters to participate in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration ( CVR ).

    The six-man committee comprised Mr Okenwa Uka as Chairman and Gibson Nnachi as secretary.

    The State Chairman of the party, Mr Eze Nwachukwu inaugurated the committee on Monday in Edda, Afikpo South Local Government Area of Ebonyi at a sensitisation to mobilize the people to participate in the exercise.

    Nwachukwu charged the committee to liaise with community leaders, traditional rulers, women groups to mobilize eligible electorate at wards, villages and communities.

    Read also: Ondo APC urges Buhari to dissolve NDDC board

    The chairman urged the committee to report difficulties that might be encountered to the state secretariat for prompt action.

    “Report issues of breakdown of INEC registration machines or any other difficulties you may encounter promptly to our office.

    “We count on you for the success of the exercise in Afikpo South and you must live up to the confidence reposed on you,” he said.

    Nwachukwu also appealed to community leaders, traditional rulers, youth organizations and political stakeholders in the state to effectively mobilise eligible voters to participate in the CVR.

    He advised the people against selling their PVCs or exchanging it for whatever reason, as the voter card remained the only power and right available to them to choose leaders of their choice.

    “Do not sell or exchange your voter card. The card is the only legal right and power you have to participate in the election.

    “Report any person or persons engaging in buying, selling or hoarding of the PVCs to the police or any law enforcement agency.

    He assured that the APC was committed to conducting free, fair and credible general elections in 2019.

    “The era of election malpractices, forceful snatching and stuffing of ballot boxes during elections in Ebonyi are over.

    “We are here in Edda today to appeal to every eligible voter, especially those who are yet to register and obtain their voter card, to go and register and collect their Permanent Voter Card ( PVC ).

    “Any eligible voter without his or her PVC is in error and not a good indigene of Edda. It is your civic right to vote and you cannot vote without being first registered and obtain the PVC which is your authority to vote.

    “The system being put in place by the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) to conduct, regulate and monitor the 2019 general elections will make rigging impossibile.

    “As party in control of the Federal Government, we want to reassure the electorate that votes will count and that only leaders freely elected by the people in a free, fair and credible process will emerge.

    “The FG and INEC have demonstrated this commitment in the governorship and senatorial elections held recently in Anambara and same will be replicated in Ebonyi in 2019,” Nwachukwu said.

    The chairman on behalf of other committee members assured the party of commitment to the task, pledging not to leave any stone unturned in effective mobilisation.

    NAN

  • CVR: Ebonyi APC cautions voters against selling PVC

    CVR: Ebonyi APC cautions voters against selling PVC

    Chairman of All Progressives Congress ( APC ) in Ebonyi, Mr Eze Nwachukwu , on Saturday cautioned voters against selling their cards or exchanging them for employment.

    Speaking in Isiaka while inaugurating an 8-man Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) mobilisation committee for Ivo local government area of the state, the chairman said he had received reports of some people luring voters to part with their cards.

    “We hear that some people are going round, allegedly collecting Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) from unsuspecting owners, in exchange for employment in the state civil service, or to give them government sponsored empowerment.

    “Please do not exchange, sell or give out PVC for any reason because that is the only power and right available to you as a citizen, to freely participate in choosing your leaders.

    “Selling and buying of voter cards is a crime; if you give up your PVC; you have surrendered the power, right and privileges conferred on you by the constitution to exercise your franchise,’’ Nwachukwu said.

    He urge the people to report anybody that indulged in the act of collecting, buying, selling or hoarding the voter cards, to the police.

    He also called on members of the committee to communicate with the leadership of the party in all the wards to ensure that members were mobilised to register and collect their cards.

    “We want make sure that no one is left unregistered, hence the mandate of this committee is to move round the wards, communities and villages in the council and mobilise people to register for their PVC.

    “You are to report to the state secretariat on daily basis, the number of registered voters per polling booth, as well as number of voters registered at the ward level.

    “You should report to us any action that will undermine effective registration of prospective voters in any part of the Council, for prompt action.

    “We are very passionate about the success of the exercise because our victory in 2019 elections is tied to number of registered voters who are our members,” Nwachukwu said

     

    NAN