AnthoniaOrji

Anthonia Orji is a writer, mentor, web developer and a digital marketing professional focused on seo, content and social media marketing.

All articles by: AnthoniaOrji

Website: http://www.anthoniaorji.com

Get a job online for free at Jiji.ng Nigerian Top Classified Website

September 2, 2015 AnthoniaOrji Uncategorized  

jiji_nigeria_online_classified
The online job search platform Jiji.ng is a rapidly developing Nigerian classifieds, specializing on selling diverse items and providing services in different spheres. Here you can buy anything you need – from a purse or a belt to a new car or house.

All it takes is just to open the website on your computer/laptop or to start a specially developed app for your Smartphone or iPhone. Hundreds thousands of adverts posted by people from all over the country are waiting for you here. In case you have something to offer, post your advert, too.

Lately, the website keeps trying to make the scale of its activity even larger. So nowadays you can use it to find a job of your dream. Maybe, it is waiting for you right there. It is not hard to guess where you should look for it: there is Jobs Jiji category, specially devoted for this purpose.

As any other list of offers on the website, this one is pretty impressive as well. Even if you are not sure what you are going to do in the future, you’ll get some more specific categories to choose from. There are some filters indicating professions. After you open a list of jobs with salary indicated, click on those you like the most. The next page will provide you with detailed information, including future duties and contacts that can be used to reply to an ad.

All the job offers are posted by real people, and their contacts are verified. Don’t be afraid to ask for additional information or call/e-mail a person. This job may become your favorite one.

For more visit: www.Jiji.ng

This blog has been verified by Rise: Rd7f0b4723f29a30872b842b91fe6d54f

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Nigeria: Getting And Validating Your Taxpayer’s Identification Number (TIN)

July 21, 2015 AnthoniaOrji Events, Trends  

nigerian_tax_payers_indentification_numberNigeria as a country and indeed all socially responsible and law abiding individuals, groups, organizations and corporate citizens will derive valuable benefits from imbibing a culture of tax compliance. The Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) is a unique number allocated and issued to identify a person (individual or Company) as a duly registered taxpayer in Nigeria. It is to be used by that taxpayer alone. Registration for tax purposes is a legal obligation of every person who is required to pay tax in Nigeria.

The following necessary details for obtaining and updating TIN should be presented to the tax office nearest to the address of the taxpayer.

OBTAINING TIN

For a Company, Enterprise or Business registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC):

1. Duly completed application form for TIN.
2. Either Certificate of Incorporation (for a company) or Business Name Registration Certificate (for an enterprise) showing clearly the registration number in each case.
3. Documents containing the following information:

•Address of company, enterprise or business
•Principal location of business
•Date of commencement of business

For an Individual who (or whose business) is not registered with the CAC:

1. Duly completed application form for TIN.
2. Any of the following valid identification documents:

•International passport
•National Identity Card
•Staff identity card
•National Driver’s License

The following rules are important:

•All information marked * on the application form must be provided
•(ii) The characters of the name i.e. letters and other symbols constituting the name must not exceed two hundred (200)
•The characters of the address also must not exceed two hundred (200)
•Email address must be unique and active
•Mobile telephone number must be eleven (11) digits e.g. (08763201210).

UPDATING TIN

Updating TIN under the ‘National Single Window’ System is a requirement for taxpayers with incomplete records at the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

TIN may be updated at the tax office where it was initially generated by providing the following additional information:

a)Email address
b)Phone number

After updating, the system indicates that “The TIN has been successfully updated”.

The Joint Tax Board TIN (JTB TIN)

It is important for a person to note the following information about the JTB TIN:

1) The JTB TIN is designed to subsequently replace the current TIN and is already in use within FIRS and several other states of Nigeria.

2) The JTB TIN has ten (10) digits, it is uniform and general across Nigeria. It is unique for every registered taxpayer in Nigeria and not limited to FIRS taxpayers alone.

3) The JTB TIN is presently being issued at the point of registration and also updated by FIRS and the states which have so far adopted it;

4) Every taxpayer in Nigeria will ultimately be required to possess and use only the JTB TIN.

VALIDATING TIN

TIN validation is the process of confirming that the updated TIN meets the necessary conditions for transacting business with other organisations such as Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Central Bank of Nigeria, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, etc.

A taxpayer can validate his/her TIN directly on the FIRS Trade Portal i.e. www.trade.gov.ng/firs by following the simple procedure below:

i. Enter the TIN and the same email address that was provided to the tax office when updating.

ii. Next, enter the security word (captcha) and click on “Validate”.

iii. If the validation is successful, the following confirmation notice shall be displayed:
“Register with NCS – Done”.

iv. Then an automatic email notification from “Nigeria Single Window” with a log-in password and instruction on how to complete the registration process would be sent to the taxpayer’s email address.

v. Upon completing the validation exercise, an email will automatically be sent to the email address provided confirming successful validation. A taxpayer should therefore check the email.

AUTHENTICATING TIN

This is for the taxpayer to re-confirm his/her updated and validated TIN. A taxpayer experiencing difficulty in validating TIN (receiving error messages) should seek professional assistance from the tax office or send an email to: tinupdate@firs.gov.ng

TAX BENEFITS

The benefits derivable include but are not limited to:

* Providing sustainable finance and funding for governance, public and social services and economic development.

* Promoting civic responsibility, patriotism by citizens and social responsibility by corporate citizens.

* Stimulating priority social and economic activities and sectors while discouraging less preferred ones.

* Bringing about the redistribution of wealth and bridging sharp disparities in living standards.

* Giving taxpayers the moral and legal right to demand for (thereby engendering) a culture of accountability.

* Serving as a gauge for measuring the level, growth and health of economic units and economic activities.

* Individuals and corporate organizations are conferred with definite benefits, rights and privileges in the system based on their tax compliance status.

* Tax compliance enables law abiding citizens to avoid the consequences, penalties and sanctions of non-compliance.

TAX TYPES

For ease of reference this item will address the enabling legislation, the taxpayer, how to pay the tax and where to pay the tax.

The taxes collected by the Federal Inland Revenue are as follows:

COMPANIES INCOME TAX (CIT).

Applicable tax law- Companies Income Tax Act. Persons subject to the Companies Income Tax:

* All companies incorporated in Nigeria with the exception of companies engaged in petroleum operations.
* All non-resident (foreign) companies that earn or derive income from Nigeria.
* All organizations limited by guarantee (institutions of public character or charitable organizations) engaged in profit.
making activities other than the promotion of their primary objects.
* The liquidator, receiver, or agent of liquidator or receiver of any taxable company or organization.

Where to pay the Companies Income Tax:

Companies incorporated in Nigeria and organizations limited by guarantee pay Companies Income Tax through any of the designated banks. Once payment has been captured by the bank collecting system, an e-ticket is issued is issued the company, this e-ticket is proof of payment and when presented at the Integrated Tax Office with jurisdiction an e-receipt will be issued.

Non-resident companies make payment through remittance of tax deducted at source to the designated banks.

How to pay the Companies Income Tax

Resident companies and organizations prepare and submit annual self-assessment tax returns as specified by FIRS accompanied by the evidence of the payment of the full amount or first installment of the tax due. Payment is made to designated banks

Non-resident companies are subject to Withholding Tax (WHT) deductions on the income they earn from Nigeria. This becomes their tax upon filing returns

* PETROLEUM PROFITS TAX (PPT)

* VALUE ADDED TAX (VAT)

* PERSONAL INCOME TAX (PIT)

* WITHHOLDING TAX (WHT)

* EDUCATION TAX (EDT)

* STAMP DUTIES (STD)

* CAPITAL GAINS TAX (CGT)

* NATIONAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT FUND (NITDF) LEVY.

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Twitter to extend the 140 character limit on DM this July

June 25, 2015 AnthoniaOrji Trends  

twitter-dm-limitThe social media giant seem to be introducing new features lately. Few months back, they introduced a new feature who allows you see how many people viewed your tweet. Apparently, that helps you in tracking which of your tweets perform better and got viewed by more people alongside number of shares.

Twitter says it will extend the character limit on Direct Messages (DM) to more than 140 characters on July 15, 2015. This was announced via the twitter community developers page. It’s not yet clear how many characters it will be extended to but let’s just keep our fingers crossed.

Please note, this change will only affect DMs on Twitter while tweets still remains at 140 characters. We are hoping something better comes in that regards too.

Twitter is really getting to implement the fact that we need more than 140 words to express a little of our mind and that sounds pretty cool and encouraging.

Following this development, developers are urged to update their apps with the new APIs, Update their GET requests so they will be able to receive the full length of DM text and also adjust their app UI to accommodate longer DM text so that the new feature can work as expected on every platform.

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Easily download Facebook videos on your PC, Laptop or Mobile Phone

June 15, 2015 AnthoniaOrji Trends  

how-to-download-facebook-videosFacebook is still undeniably the most engaged social network in this present era. Considering the fact that thousands of people sign up for an account on fb daily, people tend to use the social network as a fast means to share Information, pictures, videos, music and more.

If using a computer, there are some extensions you could use in downloading videos directly on Facebook. Some software programs like IDM even work for this but then, since am not the type who enjoys installing different programs on my laptop for some simple task, I’d rather choose the manual and easiest method to downloading a video uploaded on Facebook since the process is possible.

Steps To Downloading Facebook Videos Using Computer Via Mobile version

Let’s use a computer here. Hence, access the Facebook video using a computer

When you are on the fb video you’ve like to download, instead of clicking directly on the video, right click on it and Click on ‘Open link in new tab‘.

As directed, the link will be opened in a new tab. Navigate to the address bar and change the www to m. For example, change https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=592047845207303&id=123456441872392&_rdr to https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=592047845207303&id=123456441872392&_rdr

Changing the www to m will allow the page to display the mobile version of Facebook for that page. Now right click on the video thumbnail and click on ‘save link as…‘

Depending on your browser settings, You should probably get a prompt to download the video to a folder or the download commences automatically. Choose to download and you have successfully downloaded the Facebook video.

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How to Use Social Media for Online Advocacy

June 14, 2015 AnthoniaOrji Trends  

anthonia_orji_socialmedia_advocateTalk to others about what they’re doing, and see how your efforts can fit into or shape what’s already happening. Social media is a conversation, not a monologue.

Creating Social Media Strategy

The first step in utilizing social media is to create a strategy. Creating a strategy includes:

  1. Setting your objectives. Is your goal narrow (publicizing an event) or broad (building and engaging with a community or coalition)?
  2. Identifying the audience you would like to reach. Are you primarily communicating with people who are already familiar with you and your work, such as your members and volunteers? Or are you reaching out to women you’ve identified as potential members and supporters?
  3. electing the social media platforms you plan to focus on. This decision should be guided by your objectives and intended audience. The most well-known and easy-to-use are Facebook and Twitter, so if you only plan to utilize one or two platforms, we recommend focusing on those.
  4. Gathering resources and materials to share through social media.
  5. Appointing someone or a team of people to manage your social media presence. Although there are no prerequisites for using social media, individuals with backgrounds in communications, marketing, or public relations can be great assets. You’ll also want to select someone who is comfortable and familiar with technology.

 

Below are some tips for using Facebook and Twitter for advocacy, followed by some general principles for using any social media site:
Facebook

  • Keep Facebook posts short and conversational, and include an image whenever possible.
  • The most effective way to utilize your Facebook account is to post regularly. A general rule to follow could be to post at least one Facebook post a day, but the more you engage your audience, the better off you will be.
  • Ask people to share your content through Facebook. Make sure the content is branded with a logo so that we are credited when it is shared.
  • Include links on Facebook to direct people back to the state and national  websites.
  • Share content from the Facebook page and  Action Fund Facebook page.
  • You can easily create events on your Facebook page and invite your Facebook friends, who can then invite their friends, and so on. Consider creating a Facebook event to advertise events such as your branch meetings, rallies, and lobby days.

Twitter

  • Share links to press releases, images from events, and other information in 140 characters or less.
  • Tweet directly to members of the media and bloggers to encourage them to cover your efforts.
  • Tweet directly to local organizations that you want to partner with in your efforts or that might be able to help you spread the word.
  • Tweet directly to members of Congress with the action you want them to take.
  • Use hashtags, such as #Business #Quotes etc., related to what you are trying to publicize.
  • Include links to your positions on priority issues and to your state website.

General Principles for Using Social Media

  • Be genuine: Let your personality show, use humor, and be transparent about who is posting content. Try not to simply broadcast; rather, when possible, speak as an individual, to individuals. This will help grant you credibility as a trusted source.
  • Stay focused:  The people and organizations that follow you on social media have certain expectations about the type of content you post and the way in which you engage with them. If you stray too far from your objectives, you will lose the trust and attention of your community.
  • Be reliable: Share quality content from trusted sources, and avoid amplifying erroneous messages from unreliable sources. Reliability also means posting to your social media services regularly. Frequently sharing reliable, meaningful content helps establish you as an important source of information and ideas for your community.
  • Get social: Above all else, social media is about conversation. Share and comment on other people’s or organizations’ posts to start new conversations, and join in the conversations that are occurring on your social media pages. The more you engage with your followers, the more they will understand that your priorities are their priorities too.

Key Points

  • Social media is a conversation, not a monologue.
  • Create a strategy for using social media as part of your advocacy efforts.
  • The most effective way to utilize your social media accounts is to post regularly.
  • Be genuine. Let the personality of show when posting something on social media.
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Nigeria: 5 Things To Know About INEC’s Smart Card Reader

March 25, 2015 AnthoniaOrji Trends  

imageThe smart card readers that would be used in the general election had been configured for specific polling units, a strategy it had adopted to guard against attempts by individuals to rig the election.

The smart card readers would confirm the authentic owners of voter cards and the commission would ensure that voters were adequately enlightened on how to vote. The card readers would be deployed to each polling units to authenticate voter’s card before any voter is allowed to vote by verifying by thumbprint and picture on the card.

The smart card has certain features and benefits that will deter another person from using somebody else’s card.

  • When you insert your card, it will authenticate to be sure it is an INEC’s card and whether the owner of the card is the person bearing it.
  • The individual will put his thumb on the smart card reader and it will bring out the individual’s features.
  • The card reader is configured to be used in one particular polling unit. It cannot be used in two places.

image

Here are 5 things you probably didn’t know about the Smart Card Readers (SCR’s) that INEC will be deploying that day:

1.  The card readers make use of sim cards and have built in memories.

2. They are deliberately programmed to work between time frames and would not work after that set time.

3. The card readers are pre-configured by INEC staff for polling units before polling officials arrive.

4. Accreditation lasts only 5 hours but card readers are designed to last for 12 hours if the battery is fully charged.

5. Smart card reader send data of people accredited to INEC’s central server ahead of counting of the ballot papers.

The card reader, which is newly introduced, will also assist INEC to authenticate the finger print on the voter card among other information to curb rigging and manipulation in the election.

For more information, please visit www.inecnigeria.org

 

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3 Most Commonly Asked Twitter Questions in Nigeria

March 25, 2015 AnthoniaOrji Uncategorized  

imageSome Nigerians still have no clue of what Twitter is all about, asking questions like, “What is Twitter?”

But for those who have a basic understanding of Twitter and are trying to utilize their Twitter account to its fullest potential, these are the three most common questions I’m asked.

1. Who should I follow on Twitter?

That is an important question. We often focus so much on growing our own followers that we don’t think about who we should be following. I break this down into three categories:

* Follow people you enjoy interacting with. As an individual, this might be your friends and family. As a brand or business this might be some of your best clients, industry leaders or networking partners.

* People you want to follow you. This can be targeted followers, prospective clients or anyone that you want to form a relationship with. Over 25% of the people you follow will follow you back, and if you are targeted in who you follow, you can get that to be over 50%. If you want someone to follow you, follow them first and send a tweet to interact with them.  Note though that following people to get them to follow you is not a strategy you can apply in bulk. I suggest following no more than 50 people in a given day, and always make sure there are more people following you than people you are following.

* People that provide value to you. For an individual, this can be a wide range of news accounts, humorous accounts, or anything that interests you. For a businesses, this can be accounts that tweet industry information, news about your local community, or your competitors accounts so that you can see what content they are broadcasting.

* These are all the accounts that may add some fun or education to your day, but that you may not actually engage with outside of occasionally retweeting their content.  For most people that follow me, they’d put me in this third category. They follow me for my tweets about social media. I would say roughly half of my followers are people I follow who fit into this category because of their content value, but not necessarily people I engage with or seek to build a relationship with.

2. What Should I Tweet About?

You are what you Tweet. What you tweet sets the tone for who you are, whether you’re an individual or a brand.  People will often follow you and engage with you based off of your content.  I basically suggest the 80/20 rule with 20-25% of your content being about yourself, and 75-80% being about others.

Here is a rough guide of what I would suggest tweeting about:

* 20-25% of your Tweets should be about yourself or your brand. These can be self-promoting. If you’re a brand or company, don’t be afraid to sell a little. Share your blog. Share links to your website. Talk about your specials or company news. The rest of your content will be about other things or people, this is your 20-25% to talk about yourself.

* 20-25% should be about your industry. This is your chance to do two things: Present yourself as an authority in your field of expertise.  And second, attract a targeted and engaging audience by tweeting about your industry.

* 20-30% should be retweeting and replying to other tweets. The reality is that most the relationships and engaging that happens via Twitter will have to be initiated by you. Reply to tweets. Retweet tweets. This is how relationships start to form.

* 20-25% Tweet about what you and your target audience are interested in. This can be similar to section two, tweeting about your industry. But try to add some humor, local news, and fun.  You only have so many people who are interested or looking for tweets about your field of expertise. When you open up to tweeting about more subjects, you open up to a larger potential audience.

3. How Often Should I Tweet:

Whether you are an individual or a business, you need to be tweeting 5+ times per day, and I suggest 15 per day.  As a Social Media Marketer, I see no exceptions to this. You simply can’t get out of Twitter when you want to unless you Tweet a minimum of 5 tweets per day.

There are only two objections I typically get to people fighting back on the 5+ tweets per day suggestion.

* One, is from people who tell me they fear that their audience will unfollow or tune them out if they tweet too often.  The stats just don’t show this to be a valid concern. This is not Facebook.  If you happen to lose a follower or two because you are tweeting 5+ times per day, I assure you that you’ll gain way more than you lose, and the one or two you might lose will not be followers that add value anyway.

* The other objection is that people do not think they can come up with 5 things to tweet every day.  This is a valid concern. You don’t want to tweet bad content just for the sake of getting content out. You also don’t want to tweet the same content on too frequent of a basis.

This is where you will want to look for tools to help you create content, like utilizing Google Alerts, or signing up for a content aggregator like Bundle Post. If you’re a business, and you don’t have someone dedicated to taking time each day to create 5+ tweets per day, it is time to consider bringing on a third-party to help.
What questions do you have about Twitter? What confuses you? What is your business struggling with on Twitter?

Leave a comment with your questions and we will do our best to help.

 

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How to Use #Hashtags to Grow Your Business on Twitter

March 3, 2015 AnthoniaOrji Uncategorized  
twitter_harshtagsHashtags make your tweets more searchable within Twitter, which leads to more followers.  However, using hashtags and learning how to use them effectively is important for building your business, growing your targeted followers, and increasing the reach and lifespan of your tweets.

* Using Hashtags makes your tweets more searchable online, which leads to new followers.

It grab the attention of your followers, which leads to more engagement. They are are vital to growing your Twitter audience. People search for various topics using hashtags, and if you have value to add to that topic, your usage of hashtags will attract new followers.

* Using hashtags grabs the attention of your followers.

Using hashtags is vital to making sure your followers see your tweets.  When people log into Twitter, or whatever app they use for Twitter, they will have hundreds or thousands of tweets to scroll through. A follower only has a fraction of a second to decide whether to pause and read your tweet, or to continue scrolling through their Twitter feed. Using a hashtag can ensure your tweet will grab their attention and lead to more followers reading your tweets; more followers reading your tweets will lead to more engagement, and engagement is a key to success on twitter.

Most people have these three questions about Twitter hashtags:

1. How many hashtags should I use, and how often should I use hashtags?

The first thing I want to stress is to not go buck wild with your hashtag usage. Twitter is not Instagram. Using more than three hashtags will have diminishing returns.   Never use more than three hashtags. Not every tweet needs a hashtag, but I would encourage you to try and use between one and three hashtags with most of your tweets.

2. What should I hashtag?

This is where most people go wrong.  Don’t think about which words within your tweet stand out to you or are most important to you. Instead, think about your target audience.  What words might they search for? Hashtag those words.  What words might grab your targeted followers attention? Hashtag those words. I also encourage you to research what words are most searched within your industry and hashtag those words several times per day.  Occasionally, it is okay to hashtag something just to add humor.

3. Where, within a tweet, should I put a hashtag?

There are two ways to implement tweets into a tweet. One way is to hashtag words that are within your content. The second way is to add hashtags at the end of a tweet. It is acceptable and effective to do either, or to do both.

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Nigeria: How to check your voting status and Permanent Voters Card #PVC Pickup Locations

February 5, 2015 AnthoniaOrji Trends  

INEC-PVC-Vote-STATUS

How to find out if you are eligible to vote in 2015 elections. INEC has decentralized PVC pickups. Now you can pickup your PVC at your ward. Use the form below to find where you can pickup your PVC. Pickups for Ekiti & Osun state remain at their respective LGAs. To check the location of your Local Government Secretariat where you can pick up your Permanent Voters Card, click here.

Check your status

Before you go to your local polling unit to get your Permanent Voters Card know your status. This will give you information on the right steps to take to ensure you are included in the 2015 electoral process.

SMS

Send an SMS to 08171646879 in this format – INEC, Name of State, Surname, last five digits of your Voters Identification Number on the Temporary Voters Card, e.g. “INEC, Ogun, Kayode, 06782”. You should receive a response within 15 minutes.

OR

Send an SMS to 08171646879 in this format – Name of State, Surname, last five digits of your Voters Identification Number on the Temporary Voters Card, e.g. “Ogun, Kayode, 06782”. You should receive a response within 15 minutes.

Voters Identification Number can be found on the top hand right hand of the Temporary Voters Card

If your status is OKAY go and pick up your Permanent Voters Card at your Local Government Secretariat before January 31st, 2015

To check the location of your Local Government Secretariat where you can pick up your Permanent Voters Card, click here.

Online

Find out your status of your registration at http://voters.inecnigeria.org

If your status is OKAY go and pick up your Permanent Voters Card at your Local Government Secretariat before January 31st, 2015

To check the location of your Local Government Secretariat where you can pick up your Permanent Voters Card, click here.

If your Temporary Voters Card is lost or damaged, take a photo ID and a passport photograph to the same polling unit where you registered/voted in 2011. Your Permanent Voters Card should be printed and ready for pick up.

Lost/Damaged Voter Card

How you can still pickup your permanent voters card.

If your Permanent Voters Card is not printed this means you are not registered.

Go to www.eie.ng to see the dates for registration (CVR) in your state and the location of your local Polling Unit where you can register and pick up your Permanent Voters Card.

To find the location of your Local Polling Unit where you can pick up your Permanent Voters Card click here

 

Moved Locations

How to transfer your registration

Have you moved locations since the 2011 election? Here’s how you can transfer your existing registration to your current area.

Before doing anything do not forget to check your status. This will give you the most accurate information on your voting status and save you time at your local INEC office or polling unit.

  1. Write a letter to INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner of the State where you currently reside.
  2. Attach your voter’s card to the letter
  3. Take the letter to the INEC office in your current Local Government Area
  4. This needs to happen no later than 30 days before the date of an election in your constituency
  5. Your application will be transferred to the Resident Electoral Commissioner, who will direct the Electoral Officer of the applicants Local Government Area who will action your query.
  6. The Electoral Officer will assign you to a polling unit in your constituency and issue you with a new voters card.

Do you have any question? 0709-811-7563

 

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INEC Nigeria: Voters Education, What You Need To Know

January 24, 2015 AnthoniaOrji Trends  

Voters_education1

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was established by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to among other things organize elections into various political offices in the country.

Steps On How To Vote

VOTING
• Voting will take place on a date to be determined by the INEC.

ACCREDITATION
• Polling units will be open from 8 am.
• Polling units will open at 8 am for Accreditation and close at 12 noon.
• Voting starts 12:30 pm.
• You must vote in the same Polling Unit you completed your Voter Registration.

THE VOTER- WHO IS HE/SHE?
• S/He is a Nigerian citizen.
• S/He is 18 years and above.
• S/He has registered in the constituency where he intends to vote.
• S/He possesses a registration card obtained during voters’ registration.

HOW VOTER CAN VERIFY REGISTRATION
• A voter is expected to check the register of voters to ascertain that his name is included.
• That his name was correctly spelt and written.
• This is done when the register is displayed for inspection.

PERSONS WHO CANNOT VOTE
• The following persons cannot vote at election.
• All persons below the age of 18 years.
• All non-Nigerians.
• All persons who did not register as voters.
• All persons who do not hold a voter registration card.
• All persons whose names are not in the voters register.

WHERE TO VOTE
• Voting takes place at polling stations/units.
• A voter is expected to cast his vote at the polling unit where his name is on the voter  register.
• A voter is expected to identfy his polling station where his name is on the voter register.
• A polling unit nearest to the residence of the voter.

HOW TO VOTE:
• Voting will be by Open Secret Ballot System.
• Your vote is secret because no one will see which candidate you choose.
• You will mark your ballot behind a polling screen secretly.
• Apply your finger print only in one circle/space which corresponds to the candidate of your choice.

PROCEDURE: PREPARING FOR VOTING:
• The Presiding Officer (PO) shall:
• Explain the voting procedure to the voters.
• Invite all voters accreditated to form a single queue.
• Where culture does not allow men and women to mingle in a queue, separate queues are created for men and women.
• The PO shall count loudly the number of accredited voters in the queue, and record the number.

COMMENCEMENT OF VOTING:
• At the commencement of voting, the PO shall:
• Invite the voters on queue to approach the poll clerk (PC) in an orderly manner.
• On presentation of voter’s card, the PC shall:
• Check appropriate cuticle thumbnail of voter and when he is satisfied that the person has been duly accredited.
• Tick the voters’ register on the right hand side of voter’s name.
• Indicating that he has voted.
• Apply indelible ink on the cuticle of the voter’s appropriate thumbnail.
• The Poll Assistant (PA) shall apply ink to the next finger of the respective hand
• Voters who have no Right/Left hand, the PA shall:
• Apply the ink to the corresponding toes of the voter’s Right/Left foot.
• Voters have neither fingers nor toes:
• Ink shall be applied on the corresponding toes of the persons assisting them.

ISSUANCE OF BALLOT PAPER AND VOTING:
• The voter shall present himself to the Polling official (PO).
• The PO  shall stamp and sign the back of ballot paper.
• Fold the ballot paper vertically with the printed side inwards.
• Issue the signed, stamped ballot paper to the voter.
• The voter moves to the voting cuticle.
• Mark the ballot paper in the space provided beside the party logo of the voters’ choice
• Fold the ballot paper.
• Deposit the marked ballot paper into the ballot box.
• Marking of ballot paper by voter must be done in secret.
• Depositing the ballot paper in the ballot box in open view of all persons present.
• Only one voter at a time to the voting cubicle.

OFFENCES ON ELECTION DAY:
PART VIII SC. 129 (1) states that:
1. No person shall on the date an election is held do any of the following acts or things in a polling unit or within a distance of 300 metres of a polling unit-
(a) Canvass for votes;
(b) Solicit for the vote of any voter
(c) Persuade any voter not to vote for any particular candidate;
(d) Persuade any voter not to vote at any election;
(e) Shout slogans concerning the election;
(f) Be in possession of any offensive weapon or wear any dress or have any facial or other decoration which in any event is calculated to intimidate voters;
(g) Exhibit, wear or tender any notice, symbol photograph or party card referring to the election;
(h) Use any vehicle bearing the colour or symbol of a political party by any means whatever;
(i) Loiter without lawful excuse after voting or after being refused to vote;
(j) Snatch or destroy any election materials; and
(k) Blare siren
“Any person who contravens any of the provisions of this section commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of N100,000 or imprisonment for 6 months for every such offence”.

Guidelines for Transfer of Registered Voters

A Nigerian has the right to live in any part of the country. An important part of voter registration is that an eligible person is advised to register at a centre nearest to him or her within the Ward  in which he or she resides. This is to make it easy for the voter to access the polling unit and vote on election day.

However, a person who relocated to another place, outside the constituency in which he registered cannot vote in his new location unless he transfers his registration. Section 13 of the Electoral Act 2010 as Amended provides for Transfer of Registered Voters.

Procedure for Transfer:

Step 1- The person who intends to transfer his registration will write an application to  INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner of the State  where he is currently residing.

Step 2- The applicant will attach his voters card to the application.

Step 3- The applicant must apply to the Resident Electoral Commissioner not later than 30 days before the date of an election in the constituency where he is residing.

Step 4- The Resident Electoral Commissioner will direct the Electoral Officer of the applicants Local Government Area to enter his name  in the transferred voters list.

Step 5- The Electoral Officer will assign the applicant to a polling unit in his constituency.

Step 6- The Electoral Officer will issue the applicant with a new voters card

Step 7- The Electoral officer will retrieve the applicants previous voters card.

Step 8- He will then send a copy of the entry to the Electoral officer of the constituency where the person whose name has been so entered was originally registered.

Step 9- Upon receipt of this entry, that Electoral Officer shall delete the name from his voters list.

Note- Apart from  State Headquarters Offices of INEC, applicants can also submit their applications at the INEC Office in their Local Government Areas. The applications will be forwarded to the Resident Electoral Commissioner for necessary action.

Replacement of lost or Damaged Voters Cards

A valid voters register with each voter having a voters card is a must to ensure that elections are free and fair.A person must possess a voters card in order to be accredited and allowed to vote during an election. The card identifies the voter. Thus the voters name can be checked easily by the Presiding Officer or his Assistant.

It is therefore important that a person keeps his voters card safely, to prevent loss or damage.

However, if a person losses his card or if it is damaged, the Independent National Electoral Commission can replace them.

The procedure for replacement of lost or damaged voters cards is as follows:-

  •  The voter shall apply in person to the Electoral Officer or any other officer duly authorized for that purpose by the Resident Electoral Commissioner.
  •  The application shall be at least 30 days before an election
  •  The applicant shall state the circumstances of the loss or damage
  •  The, he shall be issued with another copy of his original voters card.
  •   The word “DUPLICATE” will be marked or printed on it clearly.
  •  The date of issue will also be printed on the new  voters card.

Election Offenses and Penalties

  • Election is a process in which people vote to choose a person or group of people to hold an official position.
  • Election offence is a crime that breaks electoral laws and requires a particular punishment.
  • Penalty is a punishment that is given to someone for doing something which is against a law or rule.
  • Every registrant with a valid voter’s card is eligible to vote.
  • However, there are rules guiding the electoral process and anyone who violates these rules is liable on conviction to be penalized. For a full listing of penalty please click here >> ELECTION OFFENCES AND PENALTIES

INEC Citizens Contact Center (ICCC)

The INEC Citizens Contact Centre (ICCC) is a Situation Room that operates daily. For now, it will open between 9am and 5pm. Later on, the Centre will scale up to round-the-clock (i.e. 24-hour) service.

The Centre can be accessed through telephone lines, Facebook, Twitter and INEC’s website.

INEC HOTLINES

GLO: 09050858629, 09050858675, 09050858649

ETISALAT:  08180958715, 08180958717, 08180958709

AIRTEL:  09025038466, 07086945927, 08120183063

MTN: 07062896047, 08105119010, 08146697603

TWITTER: @InecNigeria

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/InecNigeria

WEBSTE: www.inecnigeria.org

 

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