The Independent National Electoral Commission has disclosed that it has cancelled 62,698 voters card requests in Anambra State for double or multiple registrations.
Chairman of the Commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, made this known in his remarks during an emergency meeting of political parties in Abuja on Friday.
The discovery of double or multiple registrants was made during the process of cleaning up the registration data for the Anambra elections.
He said, “In Anambra State, a total of 138,802 citizens completed the registration, including applications for transfer and requests for replacement of lost, damaged or defaced PVCs as required by law. However, in the process of cleaning up the registration data, we discovered that many previously registered persons re-registered afresh.
“As a testimony to the effectiveness of our new system for checking double and multiple registrations, the commission found out that some 62,698 persons who are already registered voters in Anambra State went ahead to register again. These double or multiple registrations are invalid by law.
Yakubu, however, said the commission would not be printing new voters’ cards for those found as double or multiple registrants reiterating that their old cards are still valid.
He said, “We have archived these registrations and will not print new PVCs for them. Their old PVCs remain valid and they can use them to vote at the Polling Units where they registered and probably voted in previous elections.”
He also announced that the Commission plans to deploy about 26,000 election duty staff while lamenting the shortfalls in the required number ahead of the commencement of their training, scheduled for next week.
