INEC yesterday
released a statement in Abuja denying the allegation of delisting Lagos voters
from the registration list and also from any kind of political foul play. They however
admitted that the process was facing temporary challenges.
INEC PVC exercise
which took place this weekend was cancelled in 9LGs in Lagos State, and those
who went out to collect their Permanent Votes Card experienced issues such as
erased data from INEC system.
Below is the INEC
statement as reported by Nigeria Tribune.
THE
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Sunday, admitted that it
made an error in the earlier figure of 6.1 million registered voters announced
for Lagos State in 2011.
INEC
said the figure was reduced to 4.6 million after the data was subjected to the
Automated Fingerprints Identification System (AFIS), as well as discovery of
data losses.
This
was contained in a statement by the chief press secretary to the chairman of
the commission, Mr Kayode Idowu, which was made available to newsmen in Abuja.
The
commission, however, specifically denied allegations that it had removed the
records of 1.4 million persons from the voters’ register compiled in 2011 in
Lagos State.
The
commission also added that it deferred the distribution of permanent voter
cards (PVCs) in four other states it had earlier listed for this third phase,
because the cards for those states had not been fully delivered by printers.
This
came just as criticisms continue to trail the third phase of the distribution
of PVCs and continuous voters registration.
The
commission denied allegations of delisting voters and foul play, admitting,
however, that the process faced “temporary challenges.”
The
states scheduled in the phase three are Adamawa, Borno, Kaduna, Katsina, Kano,
Plateau, Nasarawa, Niger, Imo, Lagos, Ogun, Edo and Rivers.
While
the commission has repeatedly stated that only voters with the PVC would be
allowed to vote in the 2015 general election, the phase three distribution of
permanent voter cards, approved by the INEC for Kano, Edo, Plateau, Ogun and
Imo states, kicked off with complaints.
A
national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former governor of
Lagos State, Bola Tinubu and Lagos State governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola had
accused INEC of foul play and improper planning, saying its excuses for
postponing the distribution of the PVCs to residents were deceitful.
The
Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (Situation Room) has also expressed
concern over the distribution of PVCs and the conduct of the continuous
registration.
But
reacting to the allegations, Idowu said “contrary to allegations in some
quarters, no duly registered person has been delisted from the voters’ register,
neither will anyone be denied his/her PVC.
“This
reassurance is against the backdrop of temporary challenges that have been
experienced in the third phase of the distribution of PVCs in some states,
which the commission has been making vigorous efforts to remediate.
“INEC
has, since Friday, November 7, been distributing PVCs to registered voters in
nine states across the country under the third phase of the exercise.
“Continuous
Voter Registration (CVR) is scheduled to hold in the same states from Wednesday,
November 12 to Monday, November 17.
“Similar
exercises have already been conducted in 24 other states and the Federal
Capital Territory (FCT) under the first and the second phases of the programme.
“The
commission deferred the distribution of PVCs in four other states it had
earlier listed for this third phase because the cards for those states have not
been fully delivered by printers.
“It
is partly for the same reason that the commission rescheduled the distribution
of PVCs in limited areas of Lagos and Nasarawa states.
“The
outstanding cards will, however, be certainly distributed in good time before
the 2015 general election. They are currently being produced and have been
scheduled for distribution under the fourth phase of the exercise from Friday,
November 28 to Sunday, November 30.”
On
the situation in Lagos State, the apex electoral body said “it is completely
false that INEC has removed the records of 1.4 million persons from the
register compiled in 2011 in Lagos State.
“It
is true that at the end of the 2011 general registration exercise, the
commission announced a figure of 6.1 million registrants in the state.
“But
when that data was subjected to the AFIS software, 82,892 multiple
registrations were eliminated. Also, there was the technical challenge of loss
of data and incomplete data affecting about one million records – mostly in
1,792 polling units that were identified and made public before the present
exercise.
“That
was why the Post-Business Rule figure for Lagos State (on the basis of which
PVCs were printed) came down to about 4.6 million registrants.
“For
the avoidance of doubt, a pre-acknowledged data loss and incomplete data of
some registrants is not a ‘conspiracy’ issue as has been alleged by some
notable persons.
“It
is a back-end technical challenge that is far from sealing the fate of affected
persons, and for which INEC has already put in place measures to ensure
redress.
“The
commission has made provision for eligible persons for whom PVCs could not been
printed due to data loss or defective data to come out from Wednesday, November
12 to Monday, November 17 for their data to be recaptured.
“In
special consideration for the 1,792 polling units in Lagos State where the
challenge of data loss is much pronounced, the CVR will take place at the
polling unit level, as against the registration area level in other parts of
the state.”
This INEC guys re been manipulated by PDP. APC should be on the alert oh. 1.4m is not a small figure.
ReplyDeleteThere was nothing in my area o, guess surulere was affected.
ReplyDelete