Yiaga Africa, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that
the Preliminary Register of Voters’is permanently displayed in locations that are easily accessible to citizens during the ongoing Display, Claims and
Objection Exercise.
The group which made the call in its initial report on the ongoing nationwide display of preliminary register of voters also advice INEC to provide information to voters in communities affected by floods on where their display exercise will be conducted.
The display of the Preliminary Register of Voters (PRV) for public scrutiny by INEC commenced on Saturday, November 12 and will end on Saturday, November
25 .
The display, claims and objection is a nationwide exercise with the Register of voters being displayed in all 8,809 registration areas (wards) as required by law.
In line with its core mandate, Yiaga Africa, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of democratic governance under its Watching The Votes said it deployed 822 citizen observers to monitor the nationwide display of the preliminary register of
voters across the 774 LGAs in the 36 states and the FCT.
The group in its initial report on the exercise acknowledged
that INEC has introduced the online process but said that ” it is important to note there
are a large number of voters who are not tech savvy to leverage the
online process.
“INEC and other stakeholders especially political parties should intensify the publicity of the Display, Claims and Objections exercise and also increase voter education on the importance of scrutinising voters’ review of the temporary voters’ register.
“Security agencies should
ensure effective distribution and adequate presence of their personnel in all registration areas to neutralize threats and increase citizens’ confidence, especially in locations where there is a higher likelihood of intimidation and violence.
“Citizens should continue to
engage in the electoral process,
especially by checking their details in the published voters’ register to ensure they can vote in the 2023 elections,” the report said.
Aside the recommendations, Yiaga Africa said it also received
reports of irregularities in the “Preliminary Voter Register published on INEC’s website, and we fear this may impact citizens’ confidence in the
process.
“As confirmed by Yiaga
Africa #WatchingTheVote Citizen
observers, the reports include
duplicates, underage registered voters,and deceased persons on the register.
“This validates our consistent call and that of other CSOs for the comprehensive audit of the voter
register.
“We call on the Commission to,
as a matter of urgent importance,
address some of the concerns that
have been raised, to boost
confidence in the exercise and ensure that legitimately registered voters are not disenfranchised.”
Yiaga Africa then urged citizens to utilize official channels provided in the Electoral Act2022 and INEC ” guidelines to report complaints and objections to irregularities in the voter register.
“On our part, we have
drawn INEC’s attention to these disturbing reports. We will continue to aggregate evidence of these irregularities to ensure INEC responds accordingly by cleaning the voter register.” (vitalnewsngr.com)
