INEC began the nationwide display of the Register of Voters on 6th November, 2018, providing citizens with the final opportunity to raise claims and objections and verify their names and information on the national Voters’ Register. In addition, INEC enjoined Nigerians to look out for names of deceased persons, foreigners and underaged voters on the Register and lodge complaints for necessary action by the Commission. Alongside this, is the PVC collection at Registration Area/ ward level, which will continue until a week to the commencement of elections at the INEC LGA offices.
Situation Room visited some polling units in the Federal Capital Territory and initial findings revealed that:
- The Register of Voters contains the names of registered voters, including persons who registered between 2011 and 31st August 2018, when the last Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise was concluded.
- A good number of people had little or no understanding of the exercise and this explains the low turnout of registered voters.
- Most people seemed more interested in collecting their PVCs and had little interest in checking the Register for their details and when they did, they looked out for their names and those of relatives or friends.
- There have been very few complaints so far with regard to identifying names of dead persons or foreigners on the Register.
- A good number of people misunderstood the display of the Voters’ Register to mean that the PVCs of those whose names appear are ready for collection.
- INEC officials were informing voters who registered in the second and third quarters of 2018 to return for collection in December, as earlier announced by INEC.
- The Register of Voters was published at polling units and this differs from centres for PVC collection in the F.C.T, although in some States, PVC collection was moved to the polling units. These collection centres within the F.C.T., which are usually Registration areas (RAs) also served as points for making claims and objections arising from the display of the Voters’ Register.
Challenges
- There were no INEC officials in most of the polling units visited. However, INEC officials were available at Registration Area/ward level to attend to all the complaints in each ward. For instance, within 04 Wuse ward, INEC officials were available at G.S.S. Wuse Zone III (polling units 008 and 009) to attend to any complaints from the display of the Register in the 35 polling units within the ward. The venue also serves as the PVC collection centre for voters registered within that ward.
- The absence of INEC officials or information posters at some polling units posed a challenge, as people who were unable to find their names on the Register, those who had claims/objections or difficulties identifying their polling units, had no means of getting information on the closest place to find personnel of the Commission. However, residents and workers within the areas where these polling units are situated seemed helpful in offering directions and sharing information.
- While the Register was displayed on walls and boards at polling units, although haphazardly done in some places, in some other polling units, the Register was placed in a pile at central spots owing to inadequate resources to paste the Register in a conspicuous manner.