INEC enlists 3.6m new voters as 120 associations seek registration as political parties

The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, has said the commission has commenced preparations towards the conduct of hitch-free polls in 2019.

Speaking on Friday, at an Induction Retreat for INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC) in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, Yakubu disclosed that so far, over 3.6 million new voters have been registered, adding that the processes would continue in order to accommodate every eligible electorate, many of whom would turn 18 before the exercise in 2019.

Aside from the 46 political parties already registered for the contest, Yakubu said over 120 associations have indicated interest to be registered and recognized as political parties for the contest, adding that those associations qualified to be enlisted as political parties including independent candidates would be registered before end of year.

He maintained that barring last minutes change in dates, the timetable for the polls remain sacrosanct with the Presidential and National elections to hold on February 16, 2019, while the governorship and State Assemblies’ elections take place on March 2, 2019.

According to Yakubu, the implementation of the action plan for the polls which is expected cover up to 2021, begins on January 1, 2018, assuring that the Commission would leave no stone unturned in the conduct and delivery of free, fair and credible polls.

He assured that INEC was fine-tuning its operations and processes in order to eliminate incidences of malpractices and attendant violence that usually characterized previous polls, citing some recent elections including Anambra, where he noted improvement in the conduct of the exercise.

Yakubu, who noted that only credible and acceptable polls remain the only antidote to violence, said the Commission would deploy every machinery to ensure the exercise flows in line with internationally acceptable best practices and standards.

“The Commission has taken important decisions with regards to two critical activities- Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) and the 2019 general elections. As you are aware, the Commission rolled out, for the first time in its history, the continuous voters’ registration nationwide on April 27, 2017.

“This is an important development in our efforts to ensure that electoral services offered to Nigerians are better, more frequent and easier to access than ever before”, he explained.

He, therefore, charged the newly inducted RECs, to live up to their expectations in the conduct and delivery of elections that would be widely accepted by most Nigerians.

In the same vein, the Akwa Ibom State REC, Mr. Mike Igini, in his remarks, noted that “there are global normative benchmarks on the expected quality of all democratic elections”, and expressed optimism that with the calibre of officials for the exercise, credible polls would be conducted and delivered to Nigerians.