83m to vote, says INEC

More than 84 million Nigerians are eligible to vote in next year’s general election, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu said yesterday.

He spoke when he received a delegation of the   African Union (AU).

The continental organisation promised to provide full support to INEC during the 2019 general election. The team was led by Musa Faki Mahamad.

Prof Yakubu, said the commission had carried out the observations and recommendations the Union made after the 2015 elections.

“Your visit is coming exactly 113 days to the elections in Nigeria scheduled for Saturday February 16, 2019.

“In response, and for the first time in the history of elections in Nigeria, INEC conducted the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) from April 27, 2017 to  August 31, 2018 during which some 14.5 million new voters were registered in addition to about 70 million voters registered before the 2015 General Elections.

“This brings the total number of registered voters in Nigeria today to well over 84 million. We have also systematically printed and made available the PVCs for collection by citizens in batches well ahead of the 2019 General Election.

“The last batch of the PVC will be available for collection in early December and collection will continue until at least one week to the 2019 General Elections.