By David Lawani, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said a new set of Permanent Voter Cards will be ready for collection by November.

INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, made this disclosure at a National Endowment for Democracy event in Washington DC, United States.

Yakubu said 2.7 million double registrations were deleted out of the last Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) exercise conducted by the commission.

He stressed that about 50 per cent of the new PVCs are ready, yet to be distributed to collection centres.

However, it would be recalled that the Commission had earlier explained the breakdown of the PVCs distribution to reflect the state of preparation for the 2023 polls.

According to INEC, “Completed registrations now stand at 1,081,947 voters. Youths between the ages of 18 and 34 still constitute the majority with 771,770 (71.33 per cent) completed registration. In terms of occupation, students form the largest category with 439,608 (40.63 per cent).

On gender distribution, 555,872 (51.38 per cent) are male and 526,075 (48.62 per cent) are female.”

As provided by Section 19 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010 (As Amended), the commission is mandated to publish the register of voters for not less than five days and not more than 14 days for public scrutiny during which citizens may make claims and objections.

INEC charges political parties on compliance to Electoral Ac

“In compliance with the law, the register of new voters will be displayed in the Local Government offices of the Commission nationwide from the 24th to the 30th of September 2022. The aim is to enable citizens to assist the Commission by identifying ineligible registrants on the list ahead of the cleaning up of the register before adding fresh registrants to the current register and printing their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) for future elections.

“For clarity, ineligible registrants include foreigners and Nigerians below the age of 18. Nigerians should also assist the Commission to identify multiple registrants and deceased persons so that they can be removed from the register.

“The Commission appeals to Nigerians for sustained cooperation and support in our determination to conduct free and fair elections of which a credible register of voters is the foundation,” it stated.