The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, says Kaduna State came tops in the northern part of Nigeria in the on-going online voters registration with 486, 589 registrants.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Asma’u Maikudi, said on Wednesday in Kaduna that the state also placed third in the region in the number of those who completed their registration physically.
She was addressing a stakeholders meeting when she made the declarations.
“As of Monday, May 16, Kaduna State recorded the highest number of registrants online in the northern part of Nigeria and third largest in physical registration,’’ she said.
Mrs Maikudi attributed the stride to the combined efforts of stakeholders including; religious leaders, NGOs, Civil Society Organisations and the media.
She noted, however, that while the feat was commendable, INEC discovered that about 37.4 per cent of the new registration in Kaduna State was invalid.
“The Commission is therefore calling on all stakeholders to assist in educating Nigerians about the problems of multiple registration,’’ Mrs Maikudi stressed.
She said INEC had created additional 2,910 polling units in the state to ease election process and make it convenient for voters to cast their votes.
She said Kaduna State now had a total of 8,012 polling units, as against the initial 5,102 units, which could not cater to the increased number of registered voters.
Mrs Maikudi also told the meeting that the INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED) would replace the Smart Card Reader at the 2023 general elections to eliminate the possibility of voting by identity theft.
Identity theft is possible by a voter using another person’s Permanent Voters Card (PVC) to vote.
“This technology combines both facial and finger print identification of the voter and will drastically curb the issue of multiple voting.
“Kaduna State has received its consignment of 31,688 printed PVCs and we have started distribution already,’’ Mrs Maikudi also said.
The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that the meeting, attended by representatives of political parties, NGOs, CSOs, security agencies, the media, religious and traditional heads, witnessed a questions and answers session.
NAN
