Registered Voters May Hit 80m By 2019 – INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has projected that the registered voters in the country might increase by about 10 million to over 80 million by 2019.

The Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, made the prediction at a roundtable organised by the European Union Electoral Follow-up Mission to Nigeria and West Africa, held in Abuja.

A statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi on Sunday in Abuja, noted that the roundtable was also attended by civil society organisations and other stakeholders.

Yakubu, speaking on the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), said no fewer than 3.2 million Nigerians had been registered in addition to the 70 million registered for the 2015 general elections.

According to him, the credibility of an election depends on the credibility of the Voter Register.
"We are now doing it continuously. We have seen some challenges and we are responding to them.

"We started in April and as at last week, and we have registered 3.2 million Nigerians on top of the 70 million registered voters for the 2015 general elections that we had before.

"Our projection is that the Voter Register will probably be over 80 million by 2019,” Yakubu said.

He also revealed that about eight million Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) are yet to be collected by their respective owners.

"We haven’t made much progress in the last two years, but we have made elaborate arrangements with the states to ensure that the cards are collected.”