The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has officially presented the voter register for the 2015 general elections to the public as mandated by the Electoral Act.

The list of nominated candidates contesting for the Presidency and National Assembly was also presented.

Presenting the voter register to political parties in Abuja on Tuesday, the Director of Information Communication Technology at INEC, Chidi Nwafor, said that about 68,833,476 Nigerians would be expected to vote in the February general election.

The figure, according to Mr Nwafor, was arrived at after the commission removed more than 4 million people who did double registration from the initial list of 73.5 million Nigerians who had registered to vote.

The commission noted that ordinarily people who deliberately register twice should have been prosecuted but this would be impossible with over 4 million people having committed the offence.

The Chairman of INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, stated that the commission had put a lot of efforts into ensuring that they capture the actual figure of eligible voters in the country.

He then presented the list of nominated candidates contesting for the Presidency and National Assembly.

“For the presidential election, there are 14 candidates duly nominated by political parties. For the senatorial election, there are 739 candidates, and for the House of Representatives election, there are 1,780 candidates,” he said.

Jega also dismissed reports that the commission could consider the use of temporary voter cards, insisting that only permanent voter cards would be used in the general election.

He added that the decentralisation ‎ of the distribution of the PVCs was aimed at ensuring all eligible registered voters were not disenfranchised.

The INEC boss again reiterated the commission’s readiness for the polls.

“The commission is happy to say that it has received from government all the funds required to conduct the 2015 general election. We can say in effect that funding is no longer a challenge to the forthcoming elections," he said, adding:

“INEC has always said it is preparing to conduct elections in all the 36 states and the federal capital, including the three north-eastern states experiencing the challenge of insurgency.”

Jega, however, added that close working arrangement with the security agencies who have the “responsibility for securing the election environment” was the way to achieve this.

Section 20 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) provides that the voter register for an election be published at least thirty (30) days before the elections.

While the list of candidates for the February 14 presidential and National Assembly elections had been published on the commission’s website, January 27, 2015 has been fixed for the presentation of the list of governorship and House of Assembly candidates.

•Adapted from a Channels TV report. Photo shows Jega.

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