PART III—NATIONAL REGISTER OF VOTERS AND VOTERS’ REGISTRATION
9.—(1) The Commission shall compile, maintain, and update, on a continuous basis, a National Register of Voters (in this Act referred to as “the Register of Voters”) which shall include the names of all persons—
(a) entitled to vote in any Federal, State, Local Government or Federal Capital Territory Area Council election ; and
(b) with disability status disaggregated by type of disability.
(2) The Commission shall keep the Register of Voters in its National Headquarters and other locations as the Commission may determine : Provided that the Commission shall keep the Register of Voters in—
(a) electronic format in its central database ; and
(b) manual, printed, paper-based record or hard copy format.
(3) The Commission shall maintain as part of the Register of Voters, a register of voters for each State of the Federation and for the Federal Capital Territory.
(4) The Commission shall maintain as part of the Register of Voters for each State and the Federal Capital Territory, a Register of Voters for each Local Government or Area Council within the State and the Federal Capital Territory.
(5) The Register of Voters shall contain, in respect of each person, the particulars required in the Form prescribed by the Commission.
(6) The registration of voters, updating and revision of the Register of Voters under this section shall stop not later than 90 days before any election covered by this Act.
(7) The registration of voters shall be at the registration centers designated for that purpose by the Commission and notified to the public.
10.—(1) Without prejudice to section 9 (6), there shall be continuous registration of all persons qualified to be registered voters.
(2) Each applicant for registration under the continuous registration system shall appear in person at the registration venue with any of the following documents—
(a) birth certificate ;
(b) national passport, identity card or driver’s licence ; or
(c) any other document that will prove the identity, age and nationality of the applicant.
(3) The Commission shall, within 60 days after each year, make available to every political party the names and address of each person registered during that year.
(4) When a general election is notified by the Commission under section 28 of this Act, the current official Register of Voters certified by the Commission in accordance with the provisions of this Act shall be the official voters’ register for those elections.
(5) In the case of every bye-election conducted under this Act, the official voters’ register for use at such elections shall be the existing current register relating to the senatorial district or the constituency concerned.
(6) As soon as claims and objections have been dealt with or the period for making claims and objections has expired, the supplementary list shall be included in the revised register, which shall be certified by the Commission as the official Register of Voters for the purpose of any election conducted under this Act and supersedes all previous registers.
11.—(1) For the purpose of maintaining and updating the Voters’ Register, the Commission shall appoint such registration, revision or update officers as it may require, provided that such officers shall not be members of any political party.
(2) Any person may raise an objection against any officer during the registration or updating exercise provided that failure to raise such objection shall not vitiate the register.
(3) The officers appointed under subsection (1) shall perform such functions and discharge such duties as may be specified by the Commission, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, and shall not be subject to the direction or control of any person or authority other than the Commission in the performance of their functions and discharge of their duties.
12.—(1) A person shall be qualified to be registered as a voter if such a person—
(a) is a citizen of Nigeria ;
(b) has attained the age of 18 years ;
(c) is ordinarily resident, works in, originates from the Local Government, Area Council or Ward covered by the registration centre ;
(d) presents himself to the registration officers of the Commission for registration as a voter ; and
(e) is not subject to any legal incapacity to vote under any law, rule or regulations in force in Nigeria.
(2) A person shall not register in more than one registration centre or register more than once in the same registration centre.
(3) A person who contravenes subsection (2) commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not more than N100,000 or imprisonment for a term not more than one year or both.
13.—(1) A person who before the election is resident in a constituency other than the one in which he or she was registered may apply to the Resident Electoral Commissioner of the State where he or she is currently resident for his or her name to be entered on the Transferred Voters List for the constituency.
(2) An application under subsection (1) shall be accompanied by a copy of the applicant’s voters’ card and shall be made not later than 90 days before the date of an election in the constituency where the applicant is resident.
(3) The Resident Electoral Commissioner to whom an application is made under this section shall cause the applicant’s name to be entered in the Transferred Voters’ List if he or she is satisfied that the applicant is resident in a polling area in the constituency and is registered in another constituency.
(4) Whenever an electoral officer on the direction of the Resident Electoral Commissioner enters the name of any person on the Transferred Voters’ List for his or her constituency, he or she shall—
(a) assign that person to a polling station or a polling area in his or her constituency and indicate in the list the polling area or polling station to which that person is assigned ;
(b) issue the person with a new voters’ card and retrieve his or her previous voter’s card ; and
(c) send a copy of the entry to the electoral officer of the constituency where the person whose name has been so entered was originally registered and upon receipt of this entry, that electoral officer shall delete the name from the voters’ list.
14. In the performance of his or her duties under this Act, a registration officer and an update officer shall—
(a) demand from any applicant the information necessary to enable him or her to ascertain whether the applicant is qualified to be registered as a voter in accordance with the provisions of this Act ; and
(b) require any voter or applicant to complete an application form for the purpose of the registration, but in the case of an illiterate or disabled person such application form may be completed by the registration officer on the applicant’s request.
15. The Commission shall cause a voters’ register for each State to be printed, reproduced, copied, duplicated or saved in electronic format and any person or political party may obtain from the Commission, on payment of such fees as may be determined by the Commission, a certified true copy of any voters’ register for the State or for a Local Government or Area Council polling units or registration area within it.
16.—(1) The Commission shall design, cause to be printed and control the issuance of voters’ cards to voters whose names appear in the register.
(2) No voter shall hold more than one valid voters’ card.
(3) Any person who contravenes subsection (2) commits an offence and is liable on conviction, to a fine not more than N500,000 or imprisonment for a term not more than one year or both.
(4) The Commission may, whenever it considers it necessary, replace all or any voters’ cards for the time being held by voters.
17. Each electoral officer shall take custody of the voters register for his or her Local Government Area or Area Council under the general supervision of the Resident Electoral Commissioner.
18.—(1) Whenever a voter’s card is lost, destroyed, defaced, torn or otherwise damaged, the owner of such card shall, not less than 90 days before polling day, apply in person to the electoral officer or any other officer duly authorised for that purpose by the Resident Electoral Commissioner, stating the circumstances of the loss, destruction, defacement or damage.
(2) Where the electoral officer or any other officer is satisfied as to the circumstances of loss, destruction, defacement or damage of the voter’s card, he or she shall issue to the voter a replacement permanent voter’s card.
(3) No person shall issue a replacement permanent voter’s card to any voter less than 90 days before polling day.
(4) Where the electoral officer or any other officer is satisfied as to the circumstances of the loss, destruction, defacement or damage of the voter’s card, he or she shall issue to the voter another copy of the voter’s original voter’s card with the word “REPLACEMENT” clearly marked or printed on it, showing the date of issue.
(5) Any person who contravenes subsection (3) commits an offence and is liable on conviction, to a fine not more than N200,000 or imprisonment for a term not more than two years or both.
19.—(1) Subject to the provisions of section 9 (5) of this Act, the Commission shall, not later than 90 days to a general election, appoint a period of seven days during which a copy of the voters’ register for each Local Government, Area Council or Ward shall be displayed or published for public scrutiny at every registration area and on its official website or any website established by the Commission for that purpose.
(2) Upon displaying or publishing the voters register in accordance with this section, the Commission shall accept and consider objections and complaints in relation to the names omitted or included in the voters’ register or in relation to any necessary correction, within 14 days after displaying the voters register in accordance with this section.
(3) During the period of the display of the voters’ list under this Act, any person may—
(a) raise an objection on the form prescribed by the Commission against the inclusion in the supplementary voters’ register of the name of a person on grounds that the person is not qualified to be registered as a voter in the
State, Local Government or Area Council, Ward or registration area or that the name of a deceased person is included in the register ; or
(b) make a claim on the form prescribed by the Commission that the name of a person registered to vote has been omitted.
(4) Any objection or claim under subsection (2) shall be addressed to the Resident Electoral Commissioner through the electoral officer in charge of the Local Government or Area Council
(5) An official or staff of the Commission, who fails to display or publish the voters’ register as provided under subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N100,000 or imprisonment for a term of six months or both.
20.—(1) The Commission may appoint as a Revision Officer any person to hear and determine claims for and objection to any entry in or omission from the preliminary list of voters and may appoint such number of other persons as it deems necessary to assist the Revision Officer.
(2) Any person dissatisfied with the determination by a Revision Officer or person or persons assisting a Revision Officer of his or her claims or objection as mentioned in subsection (1), shall within seven days, appeal against the decision to the Resident Electoral Commissioner in charge of that State whose decision shall be final.
21. The proprietary rights in any voters’ card issued to any voter shall vest in the Commission.
22. Any person who—
(a) is in unlawful possession of any voter’s card whether issued in the name of any voter or not ; or
(b) sells or attempts to sell or offers to sell any voter’s card whether issued in the name of any voter or not ; or
(c) buys or offers to buy any voters’ card whether on his own behalf or on behalf of any other person, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not more than N500,000 or imprisonment not more than two years or both.
23.—(1) Any person who—
(a) after demand or requisition made of him or her under this Act without just cause, fails to give any such information as he or she possesses or does not give the information within the time specified ;
(b) in the name of any other person, whether living, dead or fictitious, signs an application form for registration as a voter to have that other person registered as a voter ;
(c) transmits or is involved in transmitting to any person as genuine a declaration relating to registration which is false in any material particular, knowing it to be false ;
(d) intentionally procures the inclusion in the Register of Voters of his or herself or any other person with the knowledge that he or she or that other person ought not to have been registered ; or
(e) by his or herself or any other person procures the registration of a fictitious person, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not more than N100,000 or imprisonment for a term not more than one year or both.
(2) Any person who—
(a) by duress, including threats of any kind causes or induces any person or persons generally to refrain from registering as a voter or voters ; or
(b) in any way hinders another person from registering as a voter; commits an offence and is liable on conviction, to a fine not more than N500,000or imprisonment for a term not more than five years.
