The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said that the number of new registered voters in Anambra now stood at 168,187.
National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, disclosed this in a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja after the commission’s weekly meeting.
Olumekun said that as part of continued preparations for Anambra governorship election, the commission received the final report on the Continuous Registration of Voters (CVR), followed by a presentation by the ICT Department on the portal for party registration.
Olumekun recalled that INEC had earlier extended the deadline for its CVR exercise in the state from July 17 to July 20 following appeals by citizens.
“The final figure of new registrants is 168,187 which is the highest number recorded in two weeks in Anambra since the introduction of the CVR ahead of the governorship election in 2017.
“Although these are preliminary figures pending data clean-up, the detailed breakdown shows that 97,832 (58 per cent) are female while 70,355 (42 per cent) are male.
“In terms of age, 90,763 (53.97 per cent) are young people aged 18-34 while the occupational distribution shows that 62,157 (36.92 per cent) are businessmen/women while 44,243 (26.31 per cent) are students.
“In terms of Persons with Disability (PWDs), 303 (24.92 per cent) have physical impediment, followed by 207 (17.02 per cent) with albinism,” he said
Olumekun said that the detailed breakdown of the new registrants had been uploaded to INEC website and other platforms for public information.
He said that the immediate next step would be to display the preliminary register of new voters for claims and objections by citizens who were the ultimate owners of the register.
Olumekun said that the display would take place in all the 326 Wards in Anambra from Saturday, July 26 to Friday, Augt. 1.
He noted that once the process was concluded, including the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), the new registrants would be added to the existing register and published on polling unit basis ahead of the election.
“Thereafter, the Commission will announce the dates and locations for the collection of the Permnt Voters’ Cards (PVCs) for new registrants and those who applied for transfer or replacement of their lost or damaged cards.
“The PVCs from previous registration will also be available for collection.
“With 105 days to the election, the Commission is aware of the tight timelines but we wish to reassure all new registrants in Anambra State that their PVCs will be available for collection ahead of the election,” Olumekun said.
Providing update on party registration, Olumekun said that the commission had received additional 10 requests from associations seeking to be registered, bringing the total request to 144.
”In our last press release, we assured Nigerians that we are finalising the necessary tests on the party registration portal designed and built in-house by our ICT officials.
“As is the case with all our IT innovations, the new portal has been demonstrated before the Commission and approved for deployment.
“The Commission is evaluating all numerous letters of intent received so far to determine the associations that meet the requirements to proceed to the application stage. A report is expected at our next regular meeting.
He added that the details of the new associations, including their names, acronyms, logos, addresses and interim leaderships had been published on INEC website and other platforms for public information.
