The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has recorded 456,909 fresh registrations in the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu who made this known at a meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) in Abuja on Monday, revealed that exactly two weeks since the exercise began, a total of 542,576 Nigerians have completed the online pre-registration.
He further noted that 85,667 have applied for voter transfer, replacement of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), update of voter information record etc.
On the distribution of registrants across the States of the Federation and by age, occupation, gender and disability, he stated that out of 542,576 online registrants so far, 356,777 (or 66%) are young people between the ages of 18 and 34 years. This is followed by 134,719 middle aged registrants who fall between 35 and 49 years.
The third category he said, is elderly persons aged between 50 and 69 years of which 44,896 Nigerians have registered, adding also that some 6,184 senior citizens (aged 70 years and above) have taken advantage of the new online opportunity to register.
On occupational distribution of registrants, he said that 156,446 are students; 38,217 artisans; 24,421 farmers and fishermen; 150,145 businessmen and traders; 35,831 employed as civil and public servants and 8,334 housewives, while the remaining 129,182 registrants did not specify their occupations.
On gender, Prof. Yakubu noted that 321,781 are male while 220,795 are female.
According to him, “In our effort to serve all Nigerians better, the Commission has requested registrants to indicate their disability (if any). This will enable us to optimally and efficiently deploy assistive voting devices such as Braille ballot guide and magnifying glasses for persons with special needs at polling units on election day.
“So far, we have data for 6,558 registrants who have clearly indicated their type of disability”, he stated.
He further stated that due to the security situation across the country and after consultation with stakeholders and security agencies, they agreed to start from State and Local Government offices.
