The Independent National Electoral Commission has stated that the high level of participation by Nigerians, especially the youth, in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration, demonstrates that citizens still have confidence in the process.

Reacting to recent claims suggesting that Nigerians had lost confidence in the country’s electoral system, the chief press secretary to the INEC chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, said the assertions were  baseless and unsupported by facts.

Mr Oyekanmi said that the CVR, which began on August 18 with online pre-registration, shows that citizens still have confidence in the process.

”The CVR portal went live at 8:30 am on August 18, and by 3:30 pm, seven hours later the same day, 69,376 Nigerians had pre-registered, comprising 33,803 males (48.7 per cent) and 35,573 females (51.3 per cent). By August 24, just a week later, a total of 1,379,342 had pre-registered online. If the commission had allowed the CVR to be completed online, that figure would have subsisted.

“However, all those who pre-registered online must complete their registration by physically appearing at their preferred designated centre to have their biometrics and other details captured, in compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, specifically Sections 9(7) and 10(2).

“By September 1, two weeks after the online pre-registration began, 2,532,062 Nigerians had registered online,” he said.

Mr Oyekanmi added that within one week of the in-person registration starting on August 25, a total of 72,274 citizens had either completed their online pre-registration or registered in person.

He stated that, since the commencement of online pre-registration, by week five (September 21), 5,385,060 Nigerians had uploaded their details to the CVR portal.

”In the same manner, by week 4 on September 19, since the in-person registration began, 399,162 pre-registrants had completed the process, while 365,533 Nigerians registered physically, totalling 764,695 Nigerians that had completed the registration process in just one month. There is no African country with these types of voter registration figures within one month,” he said.

Beyond the CVR figures, Mr Oyekanmi stated that the recent elections, particularly the 2023 general election, have demonstrated significant improvements in the country’s electoral system.

He said that the election produced the most diverse National Assembly since the restoration of democracy in 1999, with multiple parties securing seats across various levels of government.

“In the Senate, seven political parties won varying numbers of seats, comprising APC-59 seats, PDP-36, LP-8, NNPP-2, SDP-2, APGA, and YPP, one each. Similarly, eight political parties won seats in the House of Representatives. They include APC-177, PDP-117, LP-35, NNPP-19, APGA-5, ADC, SDP, and YPP, with two each.

“For the governorship elections, APC won 16 states, PDP-10, LP, and NNPP, one each. In fact, nine political parties won seats in the state assemblies. They include APC-533, PDP-355, LP-38, NNPP-29, APGA-20, YPP-8, SDP-7, Accord, and ADC, one each,” he said.

Mr Oyekanmi said that the recent bye-elections also show that Nigerians had kept faith with the electoral process.

“Ironically, some of the most ardent critics of INEC are also in the forefront of calling for electoral reform to transfer local government elections to the same commission. Surely, they cannot continue to walk on both sides of the road,” Mr Oyekanmi said.

(NAN)