Nigeria's voters register to pass credibility test: official

Chairman of Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Attahiru Jega said the commission had set to work to ensure that the voters register for the forthcoming election pass the credibility test.

Speaking at an interactive session with reporters in Abuja on Wednesday, Jega said there were favorable indications from the executive and legislature of their willingness to assist INEC in its task.

"We have very tight schedule for both producing a credible voters' roll and conducting the 2011 elections in January. It is a Herculean task to achieve both goals with the available time," he said.

"If the law changes to give us more time, it would be better, but let me assure you that we are determined to succeed if we have the necessary funds on time," Jega added.

The commission proposed to conclude anything to do with the voters register on Nov. 9, he said, adding that there should be time to do the budgeting, identify equipment and manufacturers, procure materials as well as train personnel.

"The last week of October and first week of November should be for registration while Dec. 9 should be for the necessary clean up, " he said.

"We need the time and resources for a successful exercise because with time without resources time is wasted," the INEC chief added.

Jega said the 120,000 polling units would not be tampered with as such a move would be politically volatile, adding that the number would be verified.

He said constituency delimitation could only be embarked upon after the 2011 general election.

Source: Xinhua