The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, says there would be over 80 million registered voters for the 2019 general elections.
He made this disclosure at the INEC/Private Sector Forum organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), held in Lagos on Tuesday.
Lamenting the low rate of collection of the newly printed PVCs of new registrants across the country, the INEC boss disclosed that over 7 million PVCs from 2015 were yet to be collected by the owners.
According to him, though the Commission was doing its best to ensure registrants collect their cards, many still remained unclaimed.
Concerning the on-going Continuous Voter Registration exercise, Prof. Yakubu, revealed that about 9.7 million Nigerians had so far registered, expressing optimism that the number would increase.
If the new figures were added to the existing 69. 7 million registered voters, he said, INEC would have a register of over 80 million in the 2019 General Elections.
INEC boss disclosed further that the commission had received over 400, 000 applications for transfer across all the states, assuring that all would get their PVCs before the elections.
“For those who applied for transfers as well as those who registered newly in 2017, we have printed the cards for 2.9 million new registrants. We have delivered them to the states for collection by those who registered, which include those who applied for transfers, new registrants and those who asked for replacement of cards,” he said.
For those who registered this year, he said, the commission would make sure the cards were available for collection before next year’s election.
“The assurance I am giving on behalf of the commission is that all citizens who have registered in 2017 and those registering in the ongoing CVR in 2018, will get their cards before the 2019 general elections,” he stressed.
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The INEC boss also disclosed that the number of political parties would increase for the 2019 elections.
Currently, he said, there were 68 political parties while the commission was processing applications for 138 groups seeking registration as political parties.
He revealed further that elections would take place in 119, 973 polling units and 8, 809 wards nationwide, adding that after next year’s elections, the commission would immediately address the issue of creating more polling units, to address the demands of new settlements.
Speaking on the issue of campaign expenditure monitoring, Prof. Yakubu noted that it was difficult to monitor such.
According to him, parties were supposed to report to INEC their expenditure during campaigns six months after the elections, apart from the annual auditing of parties’ accounts.
He revealed that over 200 staff of the commission had been indicted.
According to him, it was the largest number of staff to be so indicted in the history of the commission for financial inducement from the 2015 general elections.
