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2023: Nigeria Now Has 93.5 m Registered Voters, Says INEC

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says the number of registered voters in Nigeria has risen from 84,004,084 to 93,522,272 following the addition of 9,518,188 newly registered voters.
INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, said this at the third quarterly meeting with political parties for 2022, on Wednesday, in Abuja.
Prof Yakubu said the figure was preliminary as sections 19(1) and (2) of the Electoral Act 2022 required the commission to display the hard copies of the voter register for each ward and local government area.
He added that INEC was also required to simultaneously publish the entire register on its website for two weeks for scrutiny, claims and objections by citizens not later than 90 days before a general election.
“Accordingly, in the next few days, the commission will print 9,352,228 pages of the register.
“The display of the physical register will take place at the designated centres from Saturday, November 12, to Friday, November 25.
“Further details, including the procedure for filing claims and objections, would be released by the commission next week,’’ he said.
Prof Yakubu appealed to the electorate to seize the opportunity of the display to scrutinise the list and help INEC to clean it up further so that the final register of voters for the 2023 general election can be compiled and published.
He said 12,298,944 Nigerians completed the registration as new voters during the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), which started on June 28, before its suspension on July 31.
Prof Yakubu said after a rigorous cleaning-up of the data using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), 2,780,756 (22.6 per cent) were identified as ineligible registrants and invalidated from the record.
The INEC chairman said those affected were double/multiple registrants, under-aged persons and outrightly fake registrations that failed to meet the commission’s business rules.
“Consequently, the number of valid registrations (post-ABIS) is 9,518,188.
“In terms of demographic distribution, 7.2 million new voters or 76.5 per cent, are young people between 18-34 years, while there is a slightly higher number of females (4.8 million or 50.82 per cent) than males (4.6 million or 49.18 per cent) voters.
“In terms of occupation, 3.8 million (40.8 per cent) are students. Hard copies giving the full details of the distribution of the new voters are included in your folders for this meeting.
“The soft copy has already been uploaded to the commission’s website and social media platforms,’’ he said.
He said INEC was working to ensure the completion of printing of remaining PVCs for new voters and those that applied for transfer or the replacement of their lost or damaged cards.
Prof Yakubu said in the coming days, INEC would inform Nigerians of its detailed plans to ensure a seamless collection of the PVCs.
He said INEC had successfully implemented nine of the 14 activities for the 2023 general election.
The INEC chairman added that the commission was making steady progress in other critical areas of preparations for the election.
This, according to Prof Yakubu, includes the provision of sensitive and non-sensitive materials, the recruitment of staff and planning for the movement of personnel and materials for the election.
Prof Yakubu said the incidence form would not be used in the 2023 general election, saying there was no going back on technology deployment for the election.
“On this note, let me once again reassure Nigerians that there is no going back on the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for voter accreditation.
“There is no going back on the transmission of results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in real-time on Election Day.
“We are committed to ensuring that the 2023 general election is transparent and credible, reflecting the will of the Nigerian people,’’ he said.

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Reps Constitution Review Committee Holds Zonal Hearing For Rivers, C’River, Akwa Ibom In Calabar

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In a renewed effort to deepen Nigeria’s constitutional democracy, the House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution has announced the commencement of its Zonal and National Public Hearings across the country.

A press statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Cross River State Governor, Mr Linus Obogo, disclosed that the Calabar Centre — designated as Centre B — will host representatives and stakeholders from Cross River, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom States.

The public hearing is scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 19, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at the Transcorp (Metropolitan) Hotel, Calabar.

The initiative, according to the statement, is designed to promote inclusive dialogue and capture the aspirations of Nigerians from all regions.

It aims to serve as a platform for citizens to contribute meaningfully to the ongoing national efforts to refine and strengthen the country’s legal and institutional frameworks.

“Citizens, civil society groups, professional bodies, traditional rulers, and other interest blocs are invited to participate in this landmark engagement aimed at advancing a more just, equitable, and responsive Nigerian Constitution,” the statement read.

The hearing forms part of the broader review process of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and is seen as a strategic move toward fostering national unity and addressing structural legal issues within the federation.

 

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Tinubu’s Contribution To Buhari’s Presidency Marginal – Ex-SGF

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Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, has stirred fresh political controversy by dismissing claims that President Bola Tinubu was highly instrumental to former President Muhammadu Buhari’s emergence in 2015 after the merger of political parties that formed the All Progressives Congress (APC).

For the first time since 2022, when then-presidential aspirant Alhaji Bola Tinubu declared he made former President Buhari Nigeria’s President in 2015, Mr Mustapha dismissed the claims, stressing that the merger only contributed about three million votes in addition to Buhari’s existing 12 million votes in the North.

He insisted that former President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to the breakthrough, not the three million votes from the merging parties, which he described as insignificant.

Speaking on the role of the merging parties, particularly President Tinubu, the leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Mr Mustapha, who was the keynote speaker at the launch of the book ‘According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesman’s Experience’ authored by Mallam Garba Shehu, described the impact of the votes from other merging parties as very insignificant.

In attendance were former Head of State Yakubu Gowon, chair of the event; immediate past Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; SGF George Akume, who represented President Tinubu; PDP’s 2023 presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar; former Chief of Staff to Buhari Ibrahim Gambari; elder statesman Babagana Kingibe; former governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Chris Ngige (Anambra), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Raji Babatunde Fashola (Lagos); former ministers Solomon Dalung and Sunday Dare; former Army Chief Tukur Buratai, and Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu’s spokesman, among others.

According to Mr Mustapha, “I do not intend to stir up any controversy. The merger in 2013 was midwifed to create a Buhari presidency. Let us look at the statistics. In the 2003 election, it was the Obasanjo-Buhari presidential contest where Buhari recorded 12.7 million votes. In 2007, it came to 6.6 million, and it went back to 12.2 million in 2011.

“When we were conceptualising the merger, what would give us a headstart? Obviously, it was at the back of our consciousness that the merger with the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), though it had only one state, the ACN had six states, ANPP three states, and when you sum up the total votes that we had as the presidency in 2015, the aggregate of the total votes was 15.4 million.

“So, basically, what we brought to the table after the merger outside the Buhari 12.5 million votes was three million. Before turning to that presidency, it is important to recognise the former President’s role in reshaping Nigeria’s political trajectory.

“In early 2013, as the leader of the CPC, Buhari formally requested and supported the creation of a CPC merger committee, part of a broader coalition-building process that brought together the ACN, ANPP, APGA faction, and elements of the ruling party through the breakaway ‘new PDP’ group. His endorsement and participation, along with other party leaders such as President Tinubu and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, lent credibility and direction to the merger, helping to unify disparate party factions under the banner of the APC. That coalition-building paved the way for the first democratic defeat of an incumbent ruling party in Nigeria’s history.

“President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to that breakthrough. No account of President Buhari’s tenure would be complete without acknowledging the extended periods he spent on medical leave. These moments, while politically delicate, were also telling of his leadership philosophy and personality,” he said.

In his remarks, President Tinubu promised to build on the legacies of former President Buhari, stressing that “nation-building is a relay. The efforts of one administration lay the foundation for the next.

“In this regard, I acknowledge the efforts of my predecessor, President Buhari, and assure all Nigerians that the reform-oriented path he initiated will be consolidated and strengthened under this administration. Our Renewed Hope Agenda is inspired by the desire to build a resilient, just, and inclusive Nigeria—a nation that delivers dividends of democracy to all its citizens”.

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Your Lies Chasing Investors From Nigeria, Omokri Slams Obi

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Former Presidential aide, Mr Reno Omokri, has accused Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, of spreading false information about Nigeria’s debt profile, claiming it is deterring foreign investors from the country.

Speaking during an appearance on live television on Wednesday, Mr Omokri alleged that Mr Obi’s statements were misleading and damaging to the country’s economic prospects.

Mr Omokri said some investors currently operating in Nigeria were considering exiting the market due to Mr Obi’s remarks.

“That is not true. He doesn’t rile me up. I rile him up. The reason why I came here is because I’m a patriot. Peter Obi lied. You know, foreign direct investors are watching your programme, who are making investment decisions not to come to Nigeria. There are foreign investors in Nigeria that are making investment decisions to leave Nigeria because of the lie he told.

“One of the lies he told is that President Tinubu has borrowed more than the administrations of Yar’Adua, Jonathan, Buhari. That is a blatant lie”, Mr Omokri said.

To buttress his claims, Mr Omokri referenced figures from the Debt Management Office (DMO), maintaining that President Tinubu had actually reduced Nigeria’s external debt burden since assuming office.

“I have here with me data from the Debt Management Office, and Nigerians who are watching can go to DMO.com and search Debt Management Office, Nigeria State of Indebtedness 2015.

“As of 2015, Nigeria was owing a total of $63 billion. When Buhari was leaving office, Nigeria was owing $113 billion. Today, from the DMO, our debt has gone from $113 billion to $97 billion, meaning that Tinubu has reduced our debt by over $14 billion.

“We should be appreciating this man. Yet Peter Obi came here and lied to the Nigerian people. He took the debts and translated them into naira to make it look like the debts have increased”, he said.

 

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