The City Boy Movement (CBM) has dismissed stories suggesting that its ongoing membership registration train is linked to or interferes with Nigeria’s electoral course of, insisting that the train is totally voluntary and separate from the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) statutory voter registration.
The Movement mentioned its registration was strictly for constructing its membership database, strengthening its organisational buildings and coordinating actions, stressing that its membership kinds and playing cards might neither confer voting rights nor function substitutes for official INEC voter registration paperwork.
In a press release by its Deputy Director-General, Media, Communication and Public Affairs, O’tega Ogra, CBM mentioned registration was open to present members and Nigerians prepared to affix the organisation voluntarily.
It disclosed that people might register bodily or by way of its official web site, www.cbmnigeria.org.
The Movement burdened that its membership registration and INEC’s voter registration served totally different functions, noting that the electoral fee remained constitutionally liable for registering eligible voters and sustaining the nationwide register of voters.
According to CBM, registration with the organisation doesn’t confer voting eligibility, amend anybody’s particulars in INEC’s register or change any requirement prescribed by the electoral fee.
It additionally defined that its membership kinds and playing cards weren’t electoral registration paperwork or substitutes for Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
“The existence of a membership register does not, by itself, establish interference with or manipulation of the electoral register,” the assertion mentioned.
CBM additional maintained that participation in its actions was totally voluntary, including that people remained free to say no membership, withdraw from the organisation or train unbiased political and electoral decisions.
It mentioned no Nigerian was being coerced or compelled to register with the Movement, insisting that it neither impersonated INEC nor misrepresented the aim of its registration train.
The organisation additionally rejected strategies that its actions interfered with the electoral rights of Nigerians, sustaining that its operations had been carried out inside the framework of relevant legal guidelines.
On issues surrounding the gathering of private data throughout registration, CBM mentioned defending members’ knowledge remained an vital obligation of the organisation.
It assured Nigerians that non-public data collected through the train could be processed pretty, lawfully and transparently, with applicable safeguards towards unauthorised entry, use or disclosure.
The Movement added that members of the general public collaborating within the train would obtain data from its officers relating to how their private knowledge had been processed and their relevant privateness rights.
It additionally maintained that any consent required underneath the legislation could be freely given, particular and knowledgeable.
CBM mentioned it welcomed reliable enquiries, lawful criticism and evidence-based scrutiny of its actions, urging anybody with particular issues or proof of misconduct to report by way of its verified official communication channels.
It pledged to overview complaints pretty and cooperate with lawful investigations whereas respecting the rights of complainants and people towards whom allegations is perhaps made.
