According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigeria’s voter register totals 94 million, and no fewer than 87.2 million of them have obtained their permanent voter cards (PVCs) in anticipation of the nationwide vote today as well as on March 11 for the governorship and state houses of assembly elections.
The top three states in collected PVCs are Lagos (6,214,970), Kano (5,594,193) and Kaduna (4,335,208).
On the flipside, the lowest card collections by state are Ekiti (958,052), Bayelsa (1,009,895) and Yobe (1,437,851).
4,241 Gladiators, 470 Seats
No fewer than 4,241 contenders are slugging it out at the polls for the only 470 federal elective offices on the ballot.
The presidential race is populated by 18 hopefuls and their running mates. On the legislative side, INEC listed 1,101 candidates in the running for 109 senatorial seats, while 3,122 candidates would vie for 360 House of Representatives seats.
In total, 4,223 candidates were initially expected to contest 469 federal legislative offices.
However, that number will see a slight drop with INEC’s suspension of the poll in the Enugu East senatorial district over the gruesome murder of the Labour Party candidate, Oyibo Chukwu, three days ago.
The Enugu East election has been postponed to March 11.
The Road To BVAS
The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) is considered by some to be an unsung hero of the 2023 elections.
INEC has made giant strides in the technological advancement of the electoral process such that the Commission’s efforts have led to BVAS’ use this year, for the first time in any general elections.
It represents a significant upgrade from the Smart Card Reader which held sway in the 2015 and 2019 general elections, and proved susceptible to compromise by election riggers.
How To Vote
Gone are the days when voters are made to line up for hours to get accredited and then head home briefly, only to return moments later to join yet another long queue to ultimately fingerprint their ballots and cast their votes.
With countless hours saved, the electoral process has been made much less cumbersome.