The commission also issued a warning that voters' improper marking of the boxes or spaces on the ballot papers could have an impact on the final results of the election.
As a result, the commission warned voters to correctly cast their ballots for their favourite candidate or party or risk having their votes void.
The issue was brought up by Dorathy Inyang, INEC Assistant Director (Planning and Programming) in the Department of Voter Education, during the final round of the Voter Education Innovative Dragons' Den Competition, which was held in Abuja and was sponsored by the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.
The project was designed to give Nigerian civil society organisations a chance to present creative ideas for successful and inclusive voter education efforts leading up to the general elections in 2023.
She claimed that INEC was making a concerted effort to inform and educate the electorates on how to take part in the voting process successfully.
In order for Nigerians to make educated selections, Inyang emphasised the importance of paying attention to political party and candidate manifestos.
"We have announced the election guidelines, and even the candidate lists for the Presidential and National Assembly elections," she stated. As you are aware, the election campaign will begin on Wednesday, September 28, and we are urging Nigerians to carefully read the platforms of political parties and what each candidate has to offer before casting their votes.
"Since the country is so large, all hands should be on deck to conduct voter education. Registered civil society organisations that are passionate about educating the public about their civic duties to be aware of their responsibilities to issues like voting are at the top of the list of persons who should be participating in these.
She also responded to inquiries on the consequences of improper voting by Nigerians on election day.
According to Inyang, "It will have a setback on the outcome of the election because if a voter has a decision to make but is unable to properly mark the ballot paper while at the polling place, something drastic would happen since that voter may lose their vote for their favourite candidate.
This indicates that they might most likely let another candidate succeed their chosen one. Therefore, it is crucial that voters mark their ballots accurately.
According to her, the Permanent Voters Cards for those who were registered to vote continuously would be ready between October and November.
According to Inyang, the commission will encourage increased electoral participation from people with impairments.
PVCs are currently being issued at all INEC Local Government offices, and a schedule is actually in place. Voters who registered between 2011 and January 19, 2021, can now access their PVCs because collection for them began in August.
According to her, "those who registered between June 2021 and January 2022 would have their PVCs available in October next month, and those who registered in July 2022 will have their PVCs ready in November 2022."
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