87.2 million Nigerians have been given the go-ahead to elect a new president, according to NASS members.

87.2 million voters in Nigeria have been given the go-ahead to cast their ballots in the important election on Saturday.

According to information made public by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday, 93.5 million Nigerians were registered to vote in the presidential, national assembly, governorship, and state assembly elections scheduled for March 11.

As of the deadline for collecting the cards on February 5th, 87.2 million voters had obtained their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs).

The PVC is a requirement that makes it possible for voters to exercise their right to vote during elections. On February 25 and March 11, respectively, the electoral authority has already stated that it will not permit any Nigerians without the card to cast a ballot.

In accordance with INEC, there are currently 6,259,229 PVCs that have not yet been collected, or 6.7% of all PVCs. So, those who have unclaimed cards cannot cast a ballot in the elections.

Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of INEC, told reporters in Abuja on Thursday that representatives from political parties will be present in 1,642,385 polling locations and collation centers for the elections.

Lagos leads the States

According to the data that was made available, Lagos had the largest number of PVCs gathered (6,214,970), followed by Kano (5,594,193). Kaduna has 4,164,473 residents, Katsina has 3,459,945, and Rivers has 3,285,785.

Ekiti, on the other side, has the fewest number of registered voters and the fewest PVCs gathered (958,052).

Geographically speaking, the North-West has gathered 21,445,000 PVCs, followed by the South-West with 15,536,213. North-Central has 14,603,621 residents, South-South has 13,284,920, North-East has 11,937,769, and South-East has 10,401,484.

buying votes
The INEC chief expressed regret that vote buying poses a threat to the nation’s democracy while also promising that the Commission will collaborate closely with security authorities to address the problem.

Yakubu, who referred to the action as unlawful and unethical, is certain that the inter-agency collaboration will lessen the problem of voter luring during elections.

Vote buying is still a serious danger to our democracy. To guarantee that this is removed from our election process, we have carefully collaborated with enforcement agencies. We are confident that our coordinated efforts leading up to and on election day will significantly lessen the possibility of voter inducement, which is not only prohibited but also unethical.

The use of mobile phones and other cameras is still prohibited in the voting booths. In recent elections, some voters snapped their marked ballot papers for vote transactions using these gadgets.

Yet as long as they don’t bring them into the voting booths, voters are allowed to bring mobile gadgets to the polling places. We continue to position the vote box close to the voting cubicle and out of reach of party officials,” he said.

18 Applicants Compete For Top Position
Analysts have anticipated that among the 18 presidential candidates, the polls will be a close contest amongst the four front-runners.

These are Peter Obi of the Labor Party, Atiku Abubakar of the dominant Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigerian Peoples Party, and Ahmed Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) (NNPP).

As coups in Mali and Burkina Faso undermined West Africa’s democracy and Islamist terrorism extended north of Nigeria’s Gulf of Guinea neighbors, the election on February 25 will be widely observed.

Regardless matter who succeeds President Muhammadu Buhari, they will take on a dizzying array of security and financial issues.