Electoral commission captures over 99,000 voters ahead of Bayelsa and Kogi elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it has captured additional 99,281 voters in Bayesla and Kogi ahead of the governorship elections in the two states.

INEC’s Deputy Director for Publicity and Voter Education, Mr Nick Dazang, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja.

Dazang explained that the figure represented voters whose data were collected at the just-concluded Continuous Voter Registration and the commission’s approval to received voters transfer requests in the two states.

The INEC official, however, did not give a separate breakdown of the figure in terms of CVR and the voter transfer for the states.

Asked if all requests for voters transfer were granted by INEC, Dazang said the commission granted approval to those that met the requirements.

``This does not mean that all those that sought transfer got the approval since the Electoral Act stipulated that voter transfer must be concluded 30 days before the election date.

``Therefore, when you are seeking for transfer at the last minute, you will not get it,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, INEC has confirmed that 663,748 voters have been registered in 1,939 polling units for the Bayelsa governorship election slated for Dec. 5.

According to the commission, 1,397,786 voters will participate in the governorship election holding in Kogi on Nov. 21.