Nigerians urged to avoid last-minute rush for biometric voter registration

The Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has implored Nigerians who are yet to enroll in the biometric voter’s register to do so as quickly as they can because the exercise could be suspended in July, per The Whistler.

The ongoing Continuous Voter Registration in Nigeria resumed in June last year and was initially scheduled to end in August 2022 in time for the 2023 general elections in the country.

The report quotes the INEC official Rotimi Oyekanmi as calling on those Nigerians who are yet to register their biometrics to do so because the election umpire expects to put an end to the exercise six or seven months to the start of the 2023 polls. The elections are programed in principle for February 25 and March 11, 2023.

“My advice to Nigerians, especially those who are qualified but have never registered before, is to do so because we are likely to round off the exercise about six to seven months before the 2023 General Elections,” said Oyekanmi, as cited by The Whistler, during a recent capacity-building workshop for INEC public affairs officers.

He added: “The commission has not decided yet but normally, from what we know, we will suspend the CVR between six to seven months before the general elections to enable us clean up the voter register and print the PVCs of those who have registered so far. So, it is extremely important that Nigerians should not wait until June or July before they register.”

Liberia NEC Chairperson faces prosecution

The Chairperson of Liberia’s National Elections Commission (NEC) is in court for prosecution after she was indicted for corruption, conflict of interest, and money-laundering by the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) over the exorbitant rental cost of fever-scanning devices with biometric features in 2020.

Davidetta Browne Lansanah has been embroiled in a lingering saga involving US$182,320 which the NEC spent to rent 20 facial recognition thermometers used during a by-election in the country.

According to a report by Daily Observer, the case against her was due to begin on March 4 with the filing of evidence by the prosecution team, before full hearing commences on March 7.

Article Topics

Africa  |  biometric enrollment  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  elections  |  identity management  |  Liberia  |  Nigeria  |  voter registration