The Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) has assured that it will immediately deploy additional voter registration machines to areas where they are needed.
Chairman of the Commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu gave the assurance on Thursday at a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners, in Abuja.
The deployment of additional machines according to the INEC Chairman, is to give more Nigerians the opportunity to register ahead of forthcoming elections.
While assuring that no citizen will be deprived of registering, Prof. Mahmood appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the Commission as it strives for improved service delivery.
“However, as the deadline for the suspension of the current exercise approaches, the Commission has received reports of a surge in the number of prospective registrants that daily throng our State and Local Government Area offices as well as designated centres in many States across the country.
“I wish to reassure Nigerians that the Commission remains committed to ensuring that all citizens who wish to register are given the opportunity to do so. This is one of the reasons why this meeting has been convened. Already, some of the Resident Electoral Commissioners have requested for more voter registration machines to ease the congestion.
“The Commission will deploy additional machines to areas of need immediately. Thereafter, the Commission will meet to review the progress of the exercise and take further decisions.
“We will always respond positively to the needs of Nigerians and therefore appeal to all citizens to be patient with the Commission as we strive to serve them better.
“We appreciate the desire of Nigerians to register as voters. Let me reassure all eligible registrants that no one will be left out” the INEC Chairman said.
Meanwhile, INEC has restated 17th June, 2022 as deadline for Political parties in the country to submit lists of their presidential candidates as well as their running mates.
The Commission’s Chairman warned that only the names of candidates that emerged from democratic primaries will be submitted as stipulated in Section. 84 of the tElectoral Act 2022.
Yakubu consequently warned that the dedicated portal for the submission of list of candidates for national elections is expected to shut down automatically at 6.00pm on Friday 17th June 2022.
“Turning to the nomination of candidates by Political Parties for the 2023 General Election, all primaries end today Thursday 9th June 2022.
“For the next one week from tomorrow 10th June 2022, all Political Parties are required to submit their list of candidates for national elections (Presidential/Vice Presidential, Senatorial and House of Representatives) latest by Friday 17th June 2022. For State elections (Governorship/Deputy Governorship and State Houses of Assembly),the list of candidates shall be uploaded from 1st to 15th July 2022 as already provided in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election already released by the Commission.
“All Political Parties are required to upload the details of their candidates for each constituency to the INEC Candidate Nomination Portal (ICNP). To achieve this objective, four officials recommended by each of the 18 political parties were trained on the procedure for uploading the nomination forms to the dedicated web portal. Confidential Access Codes to the portal have already been given to each Political Party to facilitate the uploading of its nominations.
“For emphasis, the Commission wishes to remind Political Parties that only the names of candidates that emerged from democratic primaries as provided by Sec. 84 of the Electoral Act 2022 shall be submitted to the Commission.
“Similarly, the list of all Presidential and Governorship candidates must be accompanied by the names of their running mates (i.e. Vice Presidential and Deputy Governorship candidates) without which the nomination is invalid.
“All nominations must be uploaded to the portal on/or before the deadlines. The portal will automatically shut down at 6.00pm (1800hrs) on Friday 17th June 2022 for national elections and 6.00pm (1800hrs) on Friday 15th July 2022 for State elections” Prof. Mahmood said.
Also, the Commission disclosed that a Nomination Centre has been set up at its Headquarters to receive and process all nominations by political parties, including dedicated telephone lines to serve as Help Desk for any Party that is need of assistance.
