Voters Guide

1. A Voter must first have his/her PVC and appear in person on Election day at the Polling Unit where he/she is registered at the stipulated time; between 8:00am and 2:00pm
2. Voting in Nigeria is in accordance with the Continuous Accreditation and Voting System (CAVS) procedures.
3. Accreditation and voting commences at 8:00am. Voters are therefore expected to queue up in an orderly manner,
4. The Smart Card Reader is used to verify and authenticate the PVCs presented by Voter seeking to be accredited to confirm that his/her name is in the register of voters in that unit and that he/she is the rightful owner of the card
5. The official then crosschecks the name in the register and ticked on the left side of the register after the confirmation
6. Indelible ink is applied on the appropriate finger of the voter’s left hand
7. The Voter is issued with a ballot paper and directed to a cubicle to make his/her choice by thumb/finger printing against their preferred Party/ Candidate on the Ballot paper in secret and thereafter drop the ballot into the ballot box in the full view of all present.
8. Accreditation and voting closes at 2:00pm. A security Personnel is expected to stand before the last person on the queue to prevent any other person joining. However, everyone present on the queue as at 2:00pm will be attended to
9. When the last voter on the queue has voted, the ballots are sorted, counted and the votes scored by each contesting Party/Candidate as well as the rejected/ spoilt ballots are announced and filled into the result sheet
10. The result is also entered into the Form EC 60 E and pasted at the Polling Unit
11. The result is then taken to the various level of collation for computation

Your Polling Unit is the Polling Unit you choose during Voter’s registration. It is advisable to select a Polling Unit close to your area of residence due to the restricted movement on election days. The details of your Polling Unit are contained on your Permanent Voter’s Card.

You can get Polling Unit Information from the INEC Website on www.inecnigeria.org, INEC offices and INEC Officials.

1. A Voter must first have his/her PVC and appear in person on Election day at the Polling Unit where he/she is registered at the stipulated time; between 8:00am and 2:00pm
2. Voting in Nigeria is in accordance with the Continuous Accreditation and Voting System (CAVS) procedures.
3. Accreditation and voting commence at 8:00 am. Voters are therefore expected to queue up in an orderly manner,
4. The Smart Card Reader is used to verify and authenticate the PVCs presented by Voter seeking to be accredited to confirm that his/her name is in the register of voters in that unit and that he/she is the rightful owner of the card
5. The official then crosschecks the name in the register and ticks on the left side of the register after the confirmation
6. Indelible ink is applied on the appropriate finger of the voter’s left hand
7. The Voter is issued with a ballot paper and directed to a cubicle to make his/her choice by thumb/fingerprinting against their preferred Party/ Candidate on the Ballot paper in secret and thereafter drop the ballot into the ballot box in the full view of all present.
8. Accreditation and voting closes at 2:00pm. A security Personnel is expected to stand before the last person on the queue to prevent any other person joining. However, everyone present on the queue as at 2:00pm will be attended to
9. When the last voter on the queue has voted, the ballots are sorted, counted and the votes scored by each contesting Party/Candidate as well as the rejected/ spoilt ballots are announced and filled into the result sheet
10. The result is also entered into the Form EC 60 E and pasted at the Polling Unit
11. The result is then taken to the various level of collation for computation

The person who intends to transfer his/her registration can apply at any time during the ongoing Continuous Voters Registration in person or online through the Electoral Officer of the Local Government Area/Area Council where he/she is currently residing to the Resident Electoral Commissioner of the State provided that this is done not later than 45 days before the next election.

The transfer of voter via the online Voter Registration System can be done by logging on to the voter registration website at https://cvr.inecnigeria.org

Non-possession of a Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC).

Accreditation is the process of identifying voters who are qualified to vote.

1. To check unauthorised and multiple voting
2. To stop impersonation as only the owners of a PVC can vote
3. To ascertain if a voter has previously voted in the election
4. To ensure that only those who are registered in that unit actually vote there

1. The voters queue up in an orderly Manner
2. The Poll Official uses the SCR to read (verify and authenticate) the PVC presented by the voter seeking to be accredited to confirm that his/her name is in the register of voters in that unit and that he/she is the rightful owner of the card
3. The official then crosschecks the name in the register and ticked on the left side of the register after the confirmation
4. Indelible ink is applied on the appropriate finger of the voter’s left hand
5. If the voters fingerprint is not authenticated, the voter may still be accredited if the Presiding Officer is satisfied that his/her name is in the register and that he/she is the rightful owner of the card

Accreditation of a voter is done on Election day at 8:00am and ends at 2:00pm provided that any voter already on the queue at 2:00pm shall be granted access to accreditation and voting in the prescribed manner.

The following factors may prevent a prospective Voter from being accredited:

1. The voter does not have a PVC
2. The voter has previously voted
3. The voter presents another person’s PVC
4. The Voter is not registered in that Polling Unit.

Registration is done at any INEC designated centre nearest to his/her LGA during the Continuous Voter Registration exercise.

Any person who has a Permanent Voters Card (PVC).

The requirements for getting a Voters Card in Nigeria are:

1. You must be a Citizen of Nigeria,
2. You must be 18 years and above,
3. You must ordinarily be resident in, work in, originate from the Local Government Area Council or Ward covered by the registration centre,
4. You must not be subject to any legal incapacity to vote under any law, rule or regulation in force in Nigeria
5. You must present yourself to the Registration Officer for registration/ biometrics capturing,
6. You must be able to provide proof of identity, age and nationality if requested,
7. You may also register for a new voter’s card if you have a PVC but your name is not on the Register of Voters.

At a designated INEC Centre in the Ward/LGA/Polling Unit of registration.

Any candidate of your choice.

1. Councillor, LGA: 25 years
2. Chairman and Vice Chairman, LGA: 30 years
3. Member, House of Assembly: 25 years
4. Member of the Senate: 35 years
5. Member of the House of Representatives: 30 years
6. Governor of a State: 35 years
7. President of Nigeria: 35 years

1. INEC Publication of nomination which is displayed at the relevant offices of the Commission and on the Commission’s website containing a statement of the full names and addresses of all candidates standing nominated.
2. Apply for Certified True Copy (CTC) of Forms from INEC
3. From INEC website; inecnigeria.org
4. Other sources of information include: Campaign websites and social media, Campaign literature, Press releases, Radio and television ads, Candidates speeches, Candidates debates etc.

INEC Publication of nomination which is displayed at the relevant offices of the Commission and on the Commission’s website containing a statement of the full names and addresses of all candidates standing nominated. Other sources of information include: Campaign websites and social media, Campaign literature, Press releases, Radio and television ads, Candidates speeches, Candidates debates etc.

No, vote buying is not allowed and is an electoral offence punishable by the Electoral Act.

• Vote buying obstructs the democratic process by interfering with the rights of the Citizens to freely decide who will represent them and their interests;
• It diminishes the legitimacy of the electoral outcomes by giving opposition parties a reason to believe that the result was fraudulent;
• It enables poor governance and limits the ability of voters to hold elected officials accountable;
• It deters economic disadvantaged candidates from running for office because of the huge expenses incurred with vote buying;
• It entrenches corruption; and
• It enables the election of candidates who may be unfit for public service

Only accredited Party Agents who are appointed by each Political party are allowed to witness and protect the interest of their Party during the election at each polling unit/collation centre. The Party Agents must at all times wear their identification tags.

Political parties may by notice in writing addressed to the Electoral Officer of the Local Government or Area Council, appoint a person to attend at each polling unit and collation centre in the Local Government or Area Council for which it has candidate and the notice shall set out the name and address of the polling agent and be given to the Electoral Officer at least 7 days before the date fixed for the election.

The term ‘false vote count’ is not provided for in the Electoral laws or Guidelines. However, the Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections allows for are count of votes on demand by a Polling Agent, provided that such a recount shall only be allowed once.

Electoral fraud can be avoided by voter education, auditing the Election process after each election, prosecution of Electoral offenders and challenging the result of an election at the appropriate Election Petition Tribunal.

1. Information of Registered Voters can be gotten from the National Register of Voters. The Commission also maintains as part of the National Register of Voters, a register for each State of the Federation, the Federal Capital Territory and a Register of Voters for each Local Government/Area Council within the State and the FCT; and
2. The Commission can also cause a Voters Register for each State to be printed 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 copy of any voters register for the State or for a LGA OR Area Council within it.

Information of vote count can be gotten from the Form EC 60E pasted at the Polling Units, from the Commissions website and from Form EC 8 series after an application has been made to the REC in a State who shall cause such a certified true copy of such documents to be issued thereof after payment of a prescribed fee.

You should report this and all other forms of electoral violence to the relevant authorities

You can contact INEC on: 0700-CALL-INEC, 0700-2255-4632

You may also contact the INEC CITIZENS CONTACT CENTRE (ICCC) on

Facebook: www.facebook.com/inecnigeria

Twitter: www.twitter.com/inecnigeria

Instagram: @inecnigeria

Email: iccc@inec.gov.ng

Hotlines: 07098115357, 07098117563, 07098110916

Glo: 09050858629, 09060868675, 09060868649

Etisalat: 08180958725, 08180958717, 08180968709

Airtel: 09036038466, 07086945927, 08120183663

MTN: 07062896047, 08105119010, 08146697603

You should report this and all other forms of electoral violence to the relevant authorities.

You can contact INEC on: 0700-CALL-INEC, 0700-2255-4632

You may also contact the INEC CITIZENS CONTACT CENTRE (ICCC) on

Facebook: www.facebook.com/inecnigeria

Twitter: www.twitter.com/inecnigeria

Instagram: @inecnigeria

Email: iccc@inec.gov.ng

Hotlines: 07098115357, 07098117563, 07098110916

Glo: 09050858629, 09060868675, 09060868649

Etisalat: 08180958725, 08180958717, 08180968709

Airtel: 09036038466, 07086945927, 08120183663

MTN: 07062896047, 08105119010, 08146697603

You should report this and all other forms of electoral violence to the relevant authorities.

You can contact INEC on: 0700-CALL-INEC, 0700-2255-4632

You may also contact the INEC CITIZENS CONTACT CENTRE (ICCC) on

Facebook: www.facebook.com/inecnigeria

Twitter: www.twitter.com/inecnigeria

Instagram: @inecnigeria

Email: iccc@inec.gov.ng

Hotlines: 07098115357, 07098117563, 07098110916

Glo: 09050858629, 09060868675, 09060868649

Etisalat: 08180958725, 08180958717, 08180968709

Airtel: 09036038466, 07086945927, 08120183663

MTN: 07062896047, 08105119010, 08146697603

You should report this and all other forms of electoral violence to the relevant authorities.

You can contact INEC on: 0700-CALL-INEC, 0700-2255-4632

You may also contact the INEC CITIZENS CONTACT CENTRE (ICCC) on

Facebook: www.facebook.com/inecnigeria

Twitter: www.twitter.com/inecnigeria

Instagram: @inecnigeria

Email: iccc@inec.gov.ng

Hotlines: 07098115357, 07098117563, 07098110916

Glo: 09050858629, 09060868675, 09060868649

Etisalat: 08180958725, 08180958717, 08180968709

Airtel: 09036038466, 07086945927, 08120183663

MTN: 07062896047, 08105119010, 08146697603

You may leave the Polling Unit or wait patiently if you so choose in an orderly and peaceful manner while noting that accreditation and voting starts from 8:00 am to 2:00pm. Only Voters on the queue before the close of poll at 2:00pm will be accredited and allowed to vote.

At the moment, a voter machine is not used during elections in Nigeria. However, INEC deploys the use of the Smart Card Reader (SCR) for the accreditation of Voters. INEC also deploys technical Support Staff to Polling Units to resolve challenges resulting from the use of the SCR.

• Remain calm and wait for the Officials to arrive;
• You may also contact the INEC Citizens Contact Centre (ICCC) For enquiries and complaints;
• The ICCC may be contacted via email (iccc@inec.gov.ng) or the Commissions website at www.inecnigeria.org.

• Remain calm and wait for the Officials to arrive;
• You may also contact the INEC Citizens Contact Centre (ICCC) For enquiries and complaints;
• The ICCC may be contacted via email (iccc@inec.gov.ng) or the Commissions website at inecnigeria.org.