Section 12
Qualification for registration(1) A person shall be qualified to be registered as a voter if such a person—
(a) is a citizen of Nigeria;
(b) has attained the age of 18 years;
(c) is ordinarily resident, works in, originates from the Local Government, Area Council or Ward covered by the registration centre;
(d) presents himself to the registration officers of the Commission for registration as a voter; and
(e) is not subject to any legal incapacity to vote under any law, rule or regulations in force in Nigeria.
(2) A person shall not register in more than one registration centre or register more than once in the same registration centre.
(3) A person who contravenes subsection (2) commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not more than N100,000 or imprisonment for a term not more than one year or both.
This section outlines persons who can register to vote in Nigeria in line with Constitutional requirements.
Sections 77 and 117 of the Constitution provides that every citizen of Nigeria, who has attained the age of eighteen years, residing in Nigeria at the time of the registration of voters for purposes of election to a legislative house, shall be entitled to be registered as a voter for that election.
There is a mandatory requirement that one has to either live in, originate from or work in the local government, Area Council or Ward where they are registering to vote and this registration must be done in person.
This section also mandates that a voter must have legal capacity to vote. While this section lists age as a legal capacity, it does not fully explain what other legal incapacities are applicable to this section.
This section clearly states that no one is permitted to register more than once for a PVC. Here is an example of what constitutes duplicate or multiple registration and what does not.
a. Person A registers in XYZ ward. S/he changes residence and moves to ABC ward and registers again there. This is duplicate or multiple registration.
b. Person A registers in XYZ ward. S/he changes residence and moves to ABC ward. S/he applies to transfer their PVC from XYZ to ABC ward. This is not duplicate or multiple registration.
In both cases, a person’s name may appear on the register twice but only Option A is a duplicate or multiple registration. It is an offence which is subject to 1 year imprisonment or a fine of N100,000 or both.
See GUOBADIA V. THE STATE (2004) ALL FWLR (PT. 205) 191, (2004)
