Claims of public distrust in electoral system baseless – INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reacted to claims that Nigerians have lost confidence in the country’s electoral system, calling it baseless as it is not supported by facts.

Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, who dismissed the claims, stated that the high level of youth participation in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) shows that the confidence of the citizens in the process remains.

Oyekanmi further referenced the outcome of the 2023 general elections and the call for the transfer of the election into local governments from the state electoral commissions to INEC to buttress his point.

”The CVR portal went live at 8:30 am on August 18, and by 3:30 pm, seven hours later the same day, 69,376 Nigerians had pre-registered, comprising 33,803 males (48.7 per cent) and 35,573 females (51.3 per cent).

“By Aug. 24, just a week later, a total of 1,379,342 had pre-registered online. If the Commission had allowed the CVR to be completed online, that figure would have subsisted.
“However, all those who pre-registered online must complete their registration by physically appearing at their preferred designated centre to have their biometrics and other details captured, in compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, specifically Sections 9(7) and 10(2).
“By September 1, two weeks after the online pre-registration began, 2,532,062 Nigerians had registered online,” Oyekanmi said.

”In the same manner, by week 4 on Sept. 19, since the in-person registration began, 399,162 pre-registrants had completed the process, while 365,533 Nigerians registered physically, totalling 764,695 Nigerians that had completed the registration process in just one month.

“There is no African country with these types of voter registration figures within one month,” he added.
Source: The Sun