Ahead of the forthcoming Edo and Ondo governorship elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has invited 246 new applicants for voter registration whose quality of biometric details did not meet the threshold for seamless accreditation using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), which is a mandatory requirement for accreditation under Section 47(2) of the Electoral Act 2022.
INEC national commissioner and chairman of the information and voter education committee, Sam Olumekun, disclosed this in a statement yesterday. He said validation would take place in the exact locations where the applicants registered during the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) between next week Monday and Sunday.
He said though the number (246) constituted 0.1 percent of the 269,992 new registrants (pre-ABIS) in the two states, the commission is determined to allow every Nigerian to exercise their right to vote seamlessly during elections, hence the validation.
Olumekun said before the end of this week, the affected registrants will be contacted using the mobile phones and other contact details they provided during the CVR and urged them to come forward for the validation exercise.
He said, “Following the conclusion of the exercise, the commission displayed the register for one week (12-19 June 2024) in the 395 wards across the two states for claims and objections by Nigerians as provided in Section 19 of the Electoral Act 2022.
“This manual process was followed by a further clean-up of the register using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) at the end of which the commission discovered that the quality of biometric details for 246 applicants (82 in Edo State and 164 in Ondo State) did not meet the threshold for seamless accreditation using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) which is a mandatory requirement for certification under Section 47(2) of the Electoral Act 2022.
“The distribution of the 82 registrants in Edo State shows that they come from four LGAs. Ten are from Uwessan Ward 1 in Essan Central LGA, 2 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 State are from three LGAs. Eleven are from Ofosu/Onisere Ward in Idanre LGA, one voter is in Ugbo Ward V in Ilaje LGA, while the rest are from Ose LGA (eight in Imoru/Arimogija Ward and 144 in Okeluse Ward).
“Meanwhile, a comprehensive list, including their Polling Units, has been uploaded to our website and social media platforms for immediate action by the affected registrants and public information.
“At the end of the exercise next week, the commission will provide the final detailed breakdown of the new registrants in the two states, followed by the timetable for collecting PVCs.“