The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that the National Identification Number (NIN) is not mandatory for voter registration.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made the clarification to journalists in Abuja on Thursday.
Yakubu said that NIN was only a means of identification for registration as listed in the Electoral Act.
“I want to make this important clarification. NIN is not going to be made mandatory for voter registration.
“This is for a simple reason that we are operating on basis of the law establishing INEC.
“Section 10 of the Electoral Act lists identifications to be presented by prospective registrants for the purpose of voter registration to includes birth certificate, national passport, national identity card.
“We cannot single NIN out and make it mandatory. All the other requirements are of the law and we must apply the law appropriately.
“If you have your national ID card we will register you on presentation of the card, but we will not make it a mandatory means of identification for the exercise.
“Since the law, the electoral act does not make it mandatory, it is only one of the many means of identification required,” Yakubu said.
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