Voter Registration:Another opportunity to have a say in 2019

By Omeiza Ajayi

‘WITHOUT prejudice to section 10(5) there shall be continuous registration of all persons qualified to be registered voters.”

The above is Section 10 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010 (As Amended), a legal provision that empowers the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to embark on Continuous Voter Registration CVR as a way of updating Nigeria’s register of voters.

This is one key requirement ahead of the 2019 General Elections and those who wish to exercise their franchise would do well to avail themselves of this opportunity to be captured in the register.

The exercise which begins this morning from 9.00am in all the 774 Local Government Areas of the country, would see the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, officially flag-off the CVR in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) while the National Commissioners will launch the exercise in states in their respective zones.

When INEC took the decision last week, it was after due consultations with relevant stakeholders and especially after a meeting between the Commission and its Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) or Administrative Secretaries as the case may be.

To ensure an exercise without glitches, INEC is certain about the status of its Direct Data Capture Machines (DDCMs), which it would use for the exercise, the number of staff required as well as other logistics. While this is commendable, it is worthwhile to note that the exercise is for now restricted to the commission’s offices in each of the 774 local government areas of the federation as well as the six area councils in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.

Knowing full well the difficulty some Nigerians might encounter in accessing their local government headquarters, and in order to give opportunities to such people, the commission plans to scale down the exercise to the ward level.

Exercising their franchise

The ball would then have shifted to the court of many unregistered Nigerians that compilain about everything except themselves, to get registered and duly exercise their franchise in future elections.

Aside the fact that INEC has pledged to continue the CVR up until the 2019 general elections, the commission has also concluded arrangements to cater for Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, some of who might even have lost their voter cards as a result of forced dislocation.

But this is where INEC got it wrong. Rather than continuing with the exercise till the 2019 general elections, the commission could perhaps have fixed a time-frame of three months for the exercise. Experience has shown that most people would not turn up for the exercise until maybe the last day. So, from now till January 2019, the registration officials may not really have much to do.

What is most saddening, however, is that, save for the patriotic efforts of the Nigerian media, and to some extent, INEC, at enlightening Nigerians about this exercise, some critical stakeholders like political parties, civil society organizations and religious bodies have done very little in that regard. The worst culprit, being the political parties, especially the “major” ones who often stand as major beneficiaries in the electoral process.

Preparatory to the commencement of the exercise, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) department of the Commission had carried out a three-day intensive training on Open VR software, Hardware maintenance (laptop and accessories) and CVR guidelines for Heads Of Department (HOD) ICT and Voter Registry (VR). The HOD/ICT/VR and state trainers conducted training of Registration Area Officers (RAOs) at the state offices of the Commission and the training was monitored by The Electoral Institute, the training arm of the INEC in conjunction with state offices.

To ensure its readiness for the exercise, the ICT department has selected sound and functional DDCMs for the CVR. It has also updated voter enrolment software that will enable data harmonization with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

All the DDCMs to be deployed are already purged and configured while register of voters used for the 2015 general elections is being updated with cases of voter transfers and generation of new register is also being carried out at the National Data Centre of the Commission.

Since the (CVR) is going to be continuous, the Commission will display, on quarterly basis the Preliminary Register of Voters (PRV) for public scrutiny at registration centres for seven days before PVCs are printed. The period of display is to enable registrants to cross-check their names and ensure that their details are properly captured and names are spelt correctly.

While there are currently more than 70 million registered voters, in a country of about 180 million, the number of votes on the register is set to increase with the commencement of this CVR. Unfortunately, Nigeria has never really achieved a 50 percent voter turn-out during any election, whether major or minor.

The cacophony of voices in the social media is at odd, with the obvious disinterest shown by many Nigerians during elections. Though it is a civic duty, many organizations and state governments have had to use the “amenity potential” of the cards to get some Nigerians to register. In essence, many Nigerians register so that they could have some form of identification, especially for the sake of financial transactions while others do it because their bosses  threatened to withhold their salaries if they do not possess the cards. Here lies the tragedy of a nation often hungry for change but always shying away from participating in the process of change.

Process of change

So, what are some of the other vital issues that Nigerians have to take into consideration.

*Nationwide CVR commences today, Thursday, April 27, 2017 in each of the 774 Local Government Areas of the federation;

The exercise shall take place on weekdays (Monday-Friday) from 9.00am to 3.00pm excluding public holidays;

The exercise is intended to: Enable citizens who have turned 18 years of age since the last registration as well as those who did not register during the last exercise to register as voters;

Allow those seeking transfer of their registration from one state to another or within a State from polling unit to another to do so;

Distribute uncollected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to those who could not collect them before or since the last General Elections; Enable citizens who have the Temporary Voter Cards (TVCs) but whose names are on the register to collect their PVCs.

• The Registration Centres shall be the Local Government offices of the Commission or such other suitable locations as will be made public by the State Offices of INEC.
• The Commission advises those who are already registered not to do so again as it is an offence to register more than once.

 

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