INEC: We’ll do everything humanly possible to prevent underage voter registration

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says its officials are under strict instruction not to register underage persons in the ongoing continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise.

Rotimi Oyekanmi, chief press secretary to the chairman of INEC, spoke on Sunday during a Twitter space discussion titled #TheConversationNigeria.

During the conversation, participants asked Oyekanmi several questions bordering on INEC’s level of preparedness for the 2023 polls, underage voting, use of bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS), among others.

Responding to a question on underage voting, Oyekanmi said the commission will do “everything humanly possible” to prevent persons under the age of 18 from registering to vote.

“I want to say right away that our officials are under strict instruction not to register underage individuals. Under very strict instruction,” he said.

“It is even in our regulations and guidelines. If an officer of INEC perceives or suspects that the person standing before him or her is younger than 18, he is entitled to ask for proof of age before he or she registers that person.

“If that person is not prepared to produce that proof, he or she will not be registered.

“My assurance is that from our end, we will do everything humanly possible to make sure that underage people do not register as voters.

In June 2021, the commission launched a portal where Nigerians can register or request to update their voter information before they complete the process physically at designated centres.

According to data released by the commission on January 17, the number of new registrants has risen to 5,027,204.

The data shows that Delta state is in the lead with 372,597 registrations, followed by Bayelsa with 309,385 and Edo with 244,027 registrations.