The Independent National Electoral Commission has not officially handed over the voter register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, according to the Resident Electoral Commissioner for the state, Dr Johnson Sinikiem. Sinikiem clarified that despite RSIEC’s requests for the register, INEC had not yet provided it due to a court order from the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Sinikiem explained that the voter register is stored in INEC’s Information Communication Technology Department in soft copy, and although RSIEC had made multiple requests for it, compliance was hindered by the court order. He emphasized that no official handover of the voter register had taken place.
Regarding the court orders, Sinikiem mentioned receiving a court order from the INEC headquarters in Abuja but was unaware of a separate state High Court order. He attributed the delay in issuing the voters register to administrative procedures and the need for RSIEC to complete certain processes.
In response to INEC’s denial, the RSIEC Commissioner for Public Affairs and Civic Education, Tamunotonye Tobins, refuted the claim, stating that RSIEC had followed due process to obtain the updated voters register for the upcoming council poll and that the necessary correspondences were in their possession.
Tobins also mentioned that election materials had arrived at the RSIEC office, reassuring the public that security measures were in place to safeguard the materials and ensure a fair election. He dismissed allegations of election result tampering and emphasized the security features of the sensitive materials.