By John Ikani
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says over 1.3 million Nigerians have registered online in its ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).
INEC’s Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Festus Okoye, made this known on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to him: “Last week, the in-person (or physical) registration commenced nationwide. Eligible citizens who initiated their registration online and those who prefer to register in-person ab initio had the opportunity to do so in the commission’s state and LGA offices nationwide.
“As at 4pm on Tuesday 3rd August 2021, the number of fresh online pre-registrants is now 1,377,733 while 120,600 citizens have completed their physical registration since the exercise commenced on Monday 26th July 2021.
“Young Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 34 are still leading in both online registration (1,074,260 or 65 percent) and completed registration (84,619 or 70 percent). In terms of occupation, students are leading in both pre-registration (529,219 or 32 percent) and completed registration (48,897 or 41percent).
“For gender distribution, 940,062 (or 57 percent) are male and 717,504 (or 43 percent) are female for online pre-registration while the figures for completed registration are 72,075 (or 60 percent) male and 48,525 (or 40 percent) female”.
Okoye urged all Nigerians to seize the opportunity to either initiate their registration online and schedule an appointment at their convenience to complete the process, or visit any of the commission’s state/LGA office nationwide to register.
He said, “We wish to remind citizens that the ongoing registration does not include those who are already registered as voters. The current exercise is only open to Nigerians who are 18 years and above who have not registered before. It is an offence under the Electoral Act for any citizen to register more than once.”
What you should know
Detailed distribution of the registrants by age, State/FCT, occupation, gender, type of registration and disability have been uploaded to the Commission’s website and social media platforms.
The distribution reveals that Young Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 34 are still leading in both online registration (1,074,260 or 65%) and completed registration (84,619 or 70%).
In terms of occupation, students are leading in both pre-registration (529,219 or 32%) and completed registration (48,897 or 41%).
For gender distribution, 940,062 (or 57%) are male and 717,504 (or 43%) are female for online pre-registration while the figures for completed registration are 72,075 (or 60%) male and 48,525 (or 40%) female.
