In preparation for the 2023 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has delisted 1.1 million newly registered voters in a cleaning-up exercise.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr Festus Okoye who confirmed this in a statement said Nigerians were aware that the cleaning up of the voter register using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) has been ongoing since the suspension of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) on July 31, 2022.

Okoye noted that the Automated Biometric Identification System for the period from January 15 to July 31, 2022, is nearly complete, adding that “several double, multiple, and ineligible registrants have also been detected and invalidated.”

Once the “process is completed,” INEC will display the voter register, and valid registrants will be added to the existing national register of voters before the same is published nationwide for scrutiny, claims, and objections by citizens as required by section 19 (1) of the Electoral Act 2022, the Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee said.

Mr Okoye added that all valid registrants’ Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) will be available for collection by the end of October/early November, as promised.

Marian Benjamin

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