INEC ADMITS ERROR IN LAGOS VOTERS LIST

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Sunday, admitted that it made an error in the earlier figure of 6.1 million registered voters announced for Lagos State in 2011.
INEC said the figure was reduced to 4.6 million after the data was subjected to the Automated Fingerprints Identification System (AFIS), as well as discovery of data losses.

This was contained in a statement by the chief press secretary to the chairman of the commission, Mr Kayode Idowu, which was made available to newsmen in Abuja.
The commission, however, specifically denied allegations that it had removed the records of 1.4 million persons from the voters’ register compiled in 2011 in Lagos State.
The commission also added that it deferred the distribution of permanent voter cards (PVCs) in four other states it had earlier listed for this third phase, because the cards for those states had not been fully delivered by printers.
This came just as criticisms continue to trail the third phase of the distribution of PVCs and continuous voters registration.
The commission denied allegations of delisting voters and foul play, admitting, however, that the process faced “temporary challenges.”
The states scheduled in the phase three are Adamawa, Borno, Kaduna, Katsina, Kano, Plateau, Nasarawa, Niger, Imo, Lagos, Ogun, Edo and Rivers.
While the commission has repeatedly stated that only voters with the PVC would be allowed to vote in the 2015 general election, the phase three distribution of permanent voter cards, approved by the INEC for Kano, Edo, Plateau, Ogun and Imo states, kicked off with complaints.
A national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu and Lagos State governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola had accused INEC of foul play and improper planning, saying its excuses for postponing the distribution of the PVCs to residents were deceitful.
The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (Situation Room) has also expressed concern over the distribution of PVCs and the conduct of the continuous registration.
But reacting to the allegations, Idowu said “contrary to allegations in some quarters, no duly registered person has been delisted from the voters’ register, neither will anyone be denied his/her PVC.
“This reassurance is against the backdrop of temporary challenges that have been experienced in the third phase of the distribution of PVCs in some states, which the commission has been making vigorous efforts to remediate.
“INEC has, since Friday, November 7, been distributing PVCs to registered voters in nine states across the country under the third phase of the exercise.
“Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) is scheduled to hold in the same states from Wednesday, November 12 to Monday, November 17.
“Similar exercises have already been conducted in 24 other states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under the first and the second phases of the programme.
“The commission deferred the distribution of PVCs in four other states it had earlier listed for this third phase because the cards for those states have not been fully delivered by printers.
“It is partly for the same reason that the commission rescheduled the distribution of PVCs in limited areas of Lagos and Nasarawa states.
“The outstanding cards will, however, be certainly distributed in good time before the 2015 general election. They are currently being produced and have been scheduled for distribution under the fourth phase of the exercise from Friday, November 28 to Sunday, November 30.”
On the situation in Lagos State, the apex electoral body said “it is completely false that INEC has removed the records of 1.4 million persons from the register compiled in 2011 in Lagos State.
“It is true that at the end of the 2011 general registration exercise, the commission announced a figure of 6.1 million registrants in the state.
“But when that data was subjected to the AFIS software, 82,892 multiple registrations were eliminated. Also, there was the technical challenge of loss of data and incomplete data affecting about one million records – mostly in 1,792 polling units that were identified and made public before the present exercise.
“That was why the Post-Business Rule figure for Lagos State (on the basis of which PVCs were printed) came down to about 4.6 million registrants.
“For the avoidance of doubt, a pre-acknowledged data loss and incomplete data of some registrants is not a ‘conspiracy’ issue as has been alleged by some notable persons.
“It is a back-end technical challenge that is far from sealing the fate of affected persons, and for which INEC has already put in place measures to ensure redress.
“The commission has made provision for eligible persons for whom PVCs could not been printed due to data loss or defective data to come out from Wednesday, November 12 to Monday, November 17 for their data to be recaptured.
“In special consideration for the 1,792 polling units in Lagos State where the challenge of data loss is much pronounced, the CVR will take place at the polling unit level, as against the registration area level in other parts of the state.”