The Hon. Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has appealed to the Chairman of the National Population Commission, NPC, in his capacity as the registrar of births and deaths in Nigeria, to periodically avail them of the data of deceased Nigerians.
Yakubu made this call on Friday when he received Chairman of the NPC Alh. Nasir Isa Kwara who paid him a courtesy visit at the INEC headquarters in Abuja.
The INEC Chairman said the call was made so that the they can use the official information from NPC to ensure that the register of voters is up to date.
He told NPC Chairman, “Perhaps you may wish to start by availing us with the list of prominent Nigerians who have passed on, civil and public servants compiled from the official records of Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies and other Nigerians from hospital and funeral records across the country.
"We appreciate that this is a Herculean task but that is partly why we have a National Population Commission. We are confident that NPC has the capacity to do so.
"This information is critical for INEC to enhance the credibility of the National Register of Voters."prof.Yakubu stressed.
"Let me begin by welcoming the Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC) and his team to the Commission. Both NPC and INEC are constitutional bodies established under Section 153 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). Over the years, we have established collaboration and strategic partnership with the Population Commission. The duties and responsibilities of the two Commissions under the Constitution make such partnership necessary. "In carrying out our statutory duty to organise, undertake and supervise elections, INEC is charged with the responsibility of reviewing the division of the States of the Federation into Senatorial Districts, Federal and State constituencies as well as Wards in the Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory. The Commission is mandated to do so at an interval of not less than ten years or by reason of creation of States, pursuant to an Act of the National Assembly or in consequence of a population census in Nigeria. On the other hand, NPC is required, among its many responsibilities, to undertake the enumeration of the people of Nigeria periodically through census and to provide information and data on the country’s population to facilitate national planning and economic development. "I am glad to report that over the years, the two Commissions have embarked on one of the most imaginative and extensive inter-agency collaborations in Nigeria, in the area of delimitation of boundaries of electoral constituencies. Over the years, officials of the two Commissions undertook a joint project to demarcate the boundaries of INEC’s Registration Areas (RAs)/Wards with NPC’s Enumeration Areas (EAs). This initiative is known as the RA/EAD Project. "The idea is to enable INEC to easily delimit and periodically review Electoral Constituencies based on NPC’s figures whenever there is a new population census. This cannot be achieved without accurate population data. This is partly why no constituencies have been delimited in Nigeria since the last exercise was carried out 25 years ago in 1996 by the defunct National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NECON).
"Working together with the Population Commission, we are determined to make a difference this time around, just as we solved the problem of voter access to Polling Units in Nigeria. We have already prepared and produced a Discussion Paper on Electoral Constituencies in Nigeria looking at the issues more broadly, including the imperative of a new population census. We will share copies of the Paper with the NPC at this meeting. "So far, within the framework of the RA/EAD project, we have jointly covered 261 LGAs nationwide. I am aware that NPC has covered more LGAs. Going forward, we are finalising a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which will be signed very soon. In the MoU, we have more clearly defined the scope and duration of our collaboration as well as the responsibilities of the two Commissions. I want to reassure the NPC that we shall continue to strengthen our existing collaboration. Afterall, we are both public bodies funded by the treasury to work for Nigeria and Nigerians. "We will also explore other areas of cooperation to enable us serve Nigerians better. Of immediate interest to INEC is how the NPC can provide data that will assist us in further enhancing the credibility of the National Register of Voters. We are happy that today, INEC has the largest biometric register of citizens in Nigeria complete with photographs and fingerprint information for voter authentication. We have also introduced facial biometric authentication of voters which was successfully piloted in the recent bye-election in Isoko South 1 State Constituency in Delta State. " In order to make the voters’ register more robust, we have been periodically cleaning it up by removing ineligible persons or multiple registrants from it using a combination of technology i.e. the Automatic Biometric Identification System (ABIS) and information provided by citizens during the display of the register for claims and objections as required by law. However, we need to do more. At present, technology cannot help us to identify and remove dead persons from the voters’ register. "Therefore, I wish to once more appeal to the Chairman of the NPC, in your capacity as the registrar of births and deaths in Nigeria, to periodically avail us of the data of deceased Nigerians so that we can use the official information from your Commission to further clean up the voters’ register. Perhaps you may wish to start by availing us with the list of prominent Nigerians who have passed on, civil and public servants compiled from the official records of Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies and other Nigerians from hospital and funeral records across the country. We appreciate that this is a Herculean task but that is partly why we have a National Population Commission. We are confident that NPC has the capacity to do so. This information is critical for INEC to enhance the credibility of the National Register of Voters"INEC National Chairman concluded.
The Hon. Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has appealed to the Chairman of the National Population Commission, NPC, in his capacity as the registrar of births and deaths in Nigeria, to periodically avail them of the data of deceased Nigerians.
Yakubu made this call on Friday when he received Chairman of the NPC Alh. Nasir Isa Kwara who paid him a courtesy visit at the INEC headquarters in Abuja.
The INEC Chairman said the call was made so that the they can use the official information from NPC to ensure that the register of voters is up to date.
He told NPC Chairman, “Perhaps you may wish to start by availing us with the list of prominent Nigerians who have passed on, civil and public servants compiled from the official records of Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies and other Nigerians from hospital and funeral records across the country.
"We appreciate that this is a Herculean task but that is partly why we have a National Population Commission. We are confident that NPC has the capacity to do so.
"This information is critical for INEC to enhance the credibility of the National Register of Voters."prof.Yakubu stressed.
"Let me begin by welcoming the Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC) and his team to the Commission. Both NPC and INEC are constitutional bodies established under Section 153 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). Over the years, we have established collaboration and strategic partnership with the Population Commission. The duties and responsibilities of the two Commissions under the Constitution make such partnership necessary.
"In carrying out our statutory duty to organise, undertake and supervise elections, INEC is charged with the responsibility of reviewing the division of the States of the Federation into Senatorial Districts, Federal and State constituencies as well as Wards in the Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory. The Commission is mandated to do so at an interval of not less than ten years or by reason of creation of States, pursuant to an Act of the National Assembly or in consequence of a population census in Nigeria. On the other hand, NPC is required, among its many responsibilities, to undertake the enumeration of the people of Nigeria periodically through census and to provide information and data on the country’s population to facilitate national planning and economic development.
"I am glad to report that over the years, the two Commissions have embarked on one of the most imaginative and extensive inter-agency collaborations in Nigeria, in the area of delimitation of boundaries of electoral constituencies. Over the years, officials of the two Commissions undertook a joint project to demarcate the boundaries of INEC’s Registration Areas (RAs)/Wards with NPC’s Enumeration Areas (EAs). This initiative is known as the RA/EAD Project.
"The idea is to enable INEC to easily delimit and periodically review Electoral Constituencies based on NPC’s figures whenever there is a new population census. This cannot be achieved without accurate population data. This is partly why no constituencies have been delimited in Nigeria since the last exercise was carried out 25 years ago in 1996 by the defunct National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NECON).
"Working together with the Population Commission, we are determined to make a difference this time around, just as we solved the problem of voter access to Polling Units in Nigeria. We have already prepared and produced a Discussion Paper on Electoral Constituencies in Nigeria looking at the issues more broadly, including the imperative of a new population census. We will share copies of the Paper with the NPC at this meeting.
"So far, within the framework of the RA/EAD project, we have jointly covered 261 LGAs nationwide. I am aware that NPC has covered more LGAs. Going forward, we are finalising a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which will be signed very soon. In the MoU, we have more clearly defined the scope and duration of our collaboration as well as the responsibilities of the two Commissions. I want to reassure the NPC that we shall continue to strengthen our existing collaboration. Afterall, we are both public bodies funded by the treasury to work for Nigeria and Nigerians.
"We will also explore other areas of cooperation to enable us serve Nigerians better. Of immediate interest to INEC is how the NPC can provide data that will assist us in further enhancing the credibility of the National Register of Voters. We are happy that today, INEC has the largest biometric register of citizens in Nigeria complete with photographs and fingerprint information for voter authentication. We have also introduced facial biometric authentication of voters which was successfully piloted in the recent bye-election in Isoko South 1 State Constituency in Delta State.
" In order to make the voters’ register more robust, we have been periodically cleaning it up by removing ineligible persons or multiple registrants from it using a combination of technology i.e. the Automatic Biometric Identification System (ABIS) and information provided by citizens during the display of the register for claims and objections as required by law. However, we need to do more. At present, technology cannot help us to identify and remove dead persons from the voters’ register.
"Therefore, I wish to once more appeal to the Chairman of the NPC, in your capacity as the registrar of births and deaths in Nigeria, to periodically avail us of the data of deceased Nigerians so that we can use the official information from your Commission to further clean up the voters’ register. Perhaps you may wish to start by availing us with the list of prominent Nigerians who have passed on, civil and public servants compiled from the official records of Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies and other Nigerians from hospital and funeral records across the country. We appreciate that this is a Herculean task but that is partly why we have a National Population Commission. We are confident that NPC has the capacity to do so. This information is critical for INEC to enhance the credibility of the National Register of Voters"INEC National Chairman concluded.
No comments:
Post a Comment