‘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
Jonumber 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 (NIMHiC).
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.
Government offices of the Commission or such
other suitable locations as will be made public by
the State Offices of INEC.
registered not to do so again as it is an offence to
register more than once.
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
Jonumber 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 (NIMHiC).
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 theLocal
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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