The Independent National Electoral Commission on Thursday rejected the mandatory use of National Identity Number for the Continuous Voter Registration which recommences on June 28, 2021, in the 774 Local Government Areas ahead of the 2023 general election.
The PUNCH reported that immediately after the press
conference, the INEC chairman took a dose of the Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
Others who took the vaccine
were INEC National Commissioner and chairman, Information and. Other Education
Committee, Festus Okoye and chairman of the commission’s press corps, Okey
Nnabuchi.
Yakubu said, “The NIN is not
going to be mandatory for the simple reason that we are operating on the basis
of the law establishing INEC. Section 10 of the Electoral Act lists the means
of identification to be presented by prospective registrants for the purpose of
registration.
“These includes, birth
certificate, national passport, national identity card, or any other document
that will prove the identity, age, and nationality of the applicants. The NIN
is only one of the means of identification provided for under section 10 (2) of
the Electoral Act.
“We can’t single that out and
make it mandatory. All the other requirements are requirements of the law and
we must apply the law equally. Yes, if you have your national ID card, you can
present it during registration but we will not make it mandatory means of
identification for the exercise.”
Yakubu said the registration
exercise would be carried out continuously for over a year until the third
quarter of 2022.
The commission had earlier in the year announced that the exercise would commence in the first quarter of 2021.
He said, “The CVR could not recommence in 2020 due largely to the COVID – 19 pandemic. In line with the general advice by health officials regarding events involving large groups of people, we considered it inauspicious to restart the CVR at the height of the pandemic…In the light of the pandemic, the commision promised the nation that it would recommend the CVR in the first quarter of 2021.
“The first quarter of 2021
ended yesterday (Wednesday) and obviously the commision was unable to restart
the CVR exercise…In consideration of these challenges and the measures we have
taken to overcome them, the commision is now in a position to announce Monday
June 28 2021 as the date for the recommencement of the CVR exercise nationwide.
“When it comes to voter
registration, we expect perhaps higher crowd. Between 2017 and 2018 when we did
the last voter registration, 14.2 million Nigerians registered.
“This time around, we are
projecting something much higher anywhere between 16-20 million. We will make
process safer for our staff and voters and that is why we are taking our time
to develop online registration portal so people would not have to crowd around
the polling unit for registration.
“On how it works, they will
start the process online and there is going to be locator on the portal we are
developing that will guide them to the next available registration center for
the capture of their facial and biometrics. We hope that will also help us to
deal with multiple registration. We want to completely eliminate multiple
registration.”
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, on Saturday morning, met with Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, at the Government House, Oke Ayoba, Ado Ekiti, the state capital.
Speaking after the meeting, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Yinka Oyebode, said the 79-year-old cleric paid a courtesy call on the governor.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, is currently appearing before the House of Representatives’ Ad Hoc Committee on the Need to Review the Purchase, Use and Control of Arms, Ammunition and Related Hardware by Military, Paramilitary and Other Law Enforcement Agencies.
The committee had no less than two times invited Attahiru and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, to answer questions on the procurement of arms and ammunition. On Friday, the committee, after a long wait, postponed the investigative hearing till Monday.
Earlier on March 22, 2021, the committee had, after the failure by the CBN governor and the COAS to appear before it, summoned them to appear before on April 7, 2021.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, has directed the Muslim Ummah to look out for the crescent (moon) of Ramadan 1442AH from Monday.
Abubakar gave the directive on
Sunday in a statement issued by Prof. Sambo Junaidu, Chairman, Advisory
Committee on Religious Affairs, Sultanate Council, Sokoto.
“This is to inform the Muslim
Ummah that Monday, April 12, which is equivalent to the 29th day of Sha’aban
1442AH shall be the day to look for the new moon of Ramadan 1442AH.
“Muslim are, therefore, requested to start looking for the crescent moon on Monday and report its sighting to the nearest District or Village Head for onward communication to the Sultan,’’ the statement read.
The Sultan prayed Allah to
assist Muslims in the discharge of their religious duty.
Junaidu gave telephone numbers
that could be used directly to report the sighting of the new moon to the
committee.
The numbers are 08037157100,
07067416900, 08066303077, 08036149757, 08035965322 and 08035945903.
The News Agency of Nigeria
reports that Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar observed by
Muslims worldwide as a month for fasting, prayer, reflection and assisting the
needy.