MORE than six months after the Independent National Electoral Commission began its Continuous Voter Registration programme, many Nigerians have still not registered to vote. According to INEC Chairman, Mahmoud Yakubu, the commission is expected to register at least 20 million Nigerians, mostly youths who turned 18 after the registration exercise was suspended in late 2018. Every measure should be taken by INEC to make this a success; all eligible voters should consider it a national duty to register to vote.

To make the registration as seamless as possible, considering the COVID-19 pandemic, INEC introduced a two-step process that would require fresh applicants to register partially online and then complete the remaining process – which entails biometric data capturing – at a designated INEC office.

However, the Third Quarter, Week Four CVR statistics released by INEC showed that only 2.8 million people had completed their online and physical registration, representing about 14 percent of INEC’s target. This is too low, especially since the exercise is expected to end within the next five months. Eligible Nigerians should register in time rather than wait until the last minute.

Nigeria has consistently witnessed low voter turnouts even during general elections and this could be worse in the critical 2023 general election if enough people do not register. In the last governorship election in Anambra State, the voter turnout was about 10 per cent. The situation is worse during by-elections, where the turnout is sometimes as low as five per cent, as witnessed in the 2017 Eti-Osa Constituency I by-election in Lagos State, where only 3.4 per cent of voters cast their ballot. In contrast, turnout in the December 4, 2021 presidential election in the Gambia was 89.34 per cent. Ghana’s general election of 2020 witnessed a turnout of 78.89 per cent.

The lackadaisical attitude of Nigeria’s educated elite towards elections has hampered the growth of democracy in the country. They often refuse to come out to vote on polling day, abandoning this vital aspect of democracy to the less educated, or uneducated masses who then elect leaders on behalf of the entire country. Education, according to a paper in the Journal of Economic Growth, is a “crucial determinant of ‘civic culture’ and participation in democratic politics.”

A modern democracy needs the active participation of its most enlightened citizens who can make informed decisions. The minimum civic duty of a citizen is to register as a voter. Low voter turnout allows the wrong leaders to emerge. Stakeholders, including civil society organisations, political parties, and faith-based groups must therefore galvanise their people into action. The 2020 United States election, which saw the defeat of President Donald Trump, revealed the power of crowdfunding and voter turnout advocacy. Nigeria sorely needs this sort of engagement.

But there are also factors inhibiting the seamless registration of applicants. In Kaduna State for instance, INEC lamented poor voter registration, saying that the state has dropped from No.3 in 2019 to the 15th position. At an event to sensitise Islamic leaders on the need to take the voter registration exercise more seriously, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Kaduna, Asmau Maikudi, blamed insecurity, inadequate sensitisation, poor Internet service among the reasons for the low registration in the state. Evidently, there is a desperate need to ensure that voters are protected. The security of lives and properties remains the most basic function of the government; any government that cannot protect its people has failed.

INEC needs to improve public education. Till now, many Nigerians do not know about the current exercise. The commission must do more public engagements like the COVID-19 awareness campaign, which was taken to every part of the country. Nigerians must be informed of the fact that voter registration is free, while INEC must put in place a mechanism to report errant officers who demand gratification from applicants.

The commission needs to print the Permanent Voter Cards as quickly as possible rather than waiting till the elections are near before distributing them. Registering voters without making PVCs available to those who have registered them defeats the essence of the entire exercise. Also imperative is the need to clean up the voter register and make it more accurate. It is true that Nigeria’s poor record keeping of registration of deaths has made it difficult to provide an accurate register, but it is ridiculous that many persons, including some governors who died as far back as seven years ago, are still on the voter register.

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), should quickly sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, which has been resubmitted to him by the National Assembly after it was rejected in December. The bill, which also legalises the electronic transmission of results, can boost the confidence of Nigerians in the system and encourage many to register to vote, political experts say.

Sadly, Buhari has rejected bills seeking to promote electoral reforms a record five times. Buhari must therefore redeem himself by bequeathing a legacy of free and fair elections. Activists have repeatedly pointed out that the lack of faith by people in the electoral system is partly responsible for the low voter turnout. Buhari can change this trend by signing the bill quickly.

Nigeria’s voter turnout in the 2019 general election was less than 35 per cent due to many factors, including a lack of confidence in the electoral process and woeful governance. Yakubu argues that the failure of politicians to fulfil campaign promises contributes to the low turnout of voters. While it is true that the political class has failed Nigeria, the citizens cannot give up. They must continue to play their part by voting for the right people.

But when they refuse to register, they give up their opportunity of having a say in who manages the affairs of the country. This is at variance with the spirit of democracy, which thrives on participation and not spectatorship. With the critical elections less than a year away, the fate of Nigeria will be determined by those who vote.

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