Section 9-15 Nigerian Electoral Act 2022
Section 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 of the Nigerian Electoral Act 2022, among others, are under Part III of the Act. Part III is titled NATIONAL REGISTER OF VOTERS AND VOTERS’ REGISTRATION.
Section 9 Nigeria Electoral Act 2022
National register of voters and voters’ registration
(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.
Section 10 Nigeria Electoral Act 2022
Continuous registration
(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.
Section 11 Nigeria Electoral Act 2022
Appointment of officers
(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.
Section 12 Nigeria Electoral Act 2022
Qualification for registration
(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 N 100,000 or imprisonment for a term not more
than one year or both.
Section 13 Nigeria Electoral Act 2022
Transfer of registered voters
(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.
Section 14 Nigeria Electoral Act 2022
Demand for information regarding registration
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.
Section 15 Nigeria Electoral Act 2022
Power to print or issue register of voters
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.
See also:
Section 8 Nigeria Electoral Act 2022 (Secretary and other staff of the Commission)
