The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has invited 246 applicants in the last Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in Edo and Ondo to come and validate their biometric details.
Mr Sam Olumekun, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, said the applicants comprised 82 in Edo and 164 in Ondo.
Olumekun said that the commission, at its regular weekly meeting on Thursday, considered among other issues, matters arising from the last CVR in the two states held from May 27 to June 9.
He said that following the conclusion of the exercise, INEC displayed the register for one week in the 395 wards across the two states for claims and objections by Nigerians.
He said it was in line with the provision of Section 19 of the Electoral Act 2022.
Olumekun said that after the manual process, INEC subjected the register to a further clean-up using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS).
He said that at the end of the exercise INEC discovered that the quality of biometric details for the 246 applicants did not meet the threshold for seamless accreditation using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
The national commissioner said that although the number constituted 0.1 per cent of the 269,992 new registrants (pre-ABIS) in the two states, INEC was determined to give every Nigerian the opportunity to exercise his/her right to vote seamlessly during elections.
“Consequently, the commission is inviting the new registrants to come forward for validation of their biometric details in the same locations where they registered during the CVR.
“The exercise will take place from Monday July 22nd to July 28.
“The distribution of the 82 registrants in Edo shows that they come from four Local Government Areas (LGAs).
“Ten are from Uwessan Ward 1 in Essan Central LGA, two in Emu Ward in Essan South LGA, 69 in Ofunama Ward in Ovia South West LGA and one voter in Irhue Ward in Uhunmwonde LGA.
“The 164 voters in Ondo are from three LGAs.
“Eleven are from Ofosu/Onisere Ward in Idanre LGA, one voter in Ugbo Ward V in Ilaje LGA while the rest are from Ose LGA (eight in Imoru/Arimogija Ward and 144 in Okeluse Ward),’’ he said.
Olumekun said that before the end of the week, the affected registrants would be contacted using the mobile phones and/or other contact details provided by them during the CVR.
He, however, said that a comprehensive list, including their polling units, had been uploaded to INEC website and social media platforms for immediate action by the affected registrants and for public information.
Olumekun added that at the end of the exercise next week, INEC would provide the final detailed breakdown of the new registrants in the two states, followed by the timetable for the collection of PVCs.
He urged the affected registrants to come forward for the validation exercise. (NAN
