By Joseph Erunke

ABUJA—THE Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has said it will formally present copies of Voters’ Register to be used in the 2015 general elections to political parties today.

This came just as the commission mandated Resident Electoral Commissioners, RECs, to set up effective monitoring strategies in the distribution of Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs.

INEC, which in its daily bulletin, said the ceremony would take place at its headquarters, in Abuja, noted that the development “is a crucial milestone on the journey to the 2015 General Elections.”

Section 20 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), provides that the Register of Voters for an election shall be published at least thirty (30) days before the elections.

The 2015 general elections will take place on February 14 and 28, 2015 respectively.

The Timetable And Schedule of Activities for the 2015 general elections, released to the public on January 24, 2014, showed under item 10 that the commission ”shall release or publish the official Register of Voters for the election on January 13, 2015.”

The release also showed that the commission ”shall publish the list of nominated candidates contesting for the Presidency and National Assembly on January 13, 2015.”

The list of those contesting for the offices of governor and House of Assembly will be published on January 27, 2015.

In a related development, the commission has ordered the decentralisation of on-going distribution of Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, to the ward level, to enhance access by persons yet to collect their cards.