2023: INEC Begins CVR Today, Projects 20 Million New Voters

The electoral body had noted that the registration which will span through the third quarter of 2022, will be targeting at least 20 million new voters.

With the creation of 56, 872 additional polling units across the nation, the Nigerian electoral body had also accredited 31 organisations to observe the CVR, while 20 more applications were being processed.

INEC has, however, warned and threatened to prosecute any citizens who provided false information during the exercise, noting that it would be deploying 5346 officials to 2673 registration centres.

The chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, also said the security of the personnel was very paramount.

He had said, “We are concerned about the security issues in some parts of the country. The commission would be deploying 5346 officials to 2673 registration centres. What happens if any of these staff is abducted?

“Our responsibility is to conduct a credible election and also protect our staff. The security agencies are also facing challenges and there have been concerns that INEC officials might be the target of criminals.”

Yakubu said the commission had also made robust provisions for Internally Displaced Persons who might have misplaced their Permanent Voter Cards due to insecurity.

The INEC boss stressed the need for massive advocacy and publicity to ensure that citizens are familiar with the new polling units ahead of the 2023 general elections.

“The success of the exercise depends to a considerable extent on citizens’ awareness through voter education. There will be new registrants, requests for intra-State and inter-State transfers as well as the replacement of voters’ cards as provided by law.

Meanwhile, a northern political group, the Tinubu Peoples Network (TPN) has declared Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as their chosen candidate for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket for 2023 polls.

The group which stated that there is no better person to lead Nigeria at the moment also picked current Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje as their preferred running mate for Tinubu.

Announcing the Tinubu/Ganduje ticket, TPN emphasized the importance of having the right people as leaders of the country come 2023, TrackNews Online reports.