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It is a good development that the ongoing voter registration exercise has witnessed an unprecedented turnout of people, especially youths, at the various registration centres across the country. The upsurge in the number of those coming out to register at the registration centres is an indication that our democracy is evolving so well.
It is also a sign that many Nigerians want to participate in the 2023 general election. They want to be involved in the election of their future leaders. That right for them to be part of the 2023 election process should not be circumscribed by the June 30 registration deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
It was perhaps in a bid to stop the disenfranchisement of unregistered Nigerians that Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court recently ordered INEC not to stop the voter registration exercise on June 30 following a lawsuit instituted against INEC by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 185 concerned Nigerians.
SERAP and others had earlier instituted a lawsuit against INEC and asked the court to “declare unconstitutional, illegal, and incompatible with international standards the failure of the electoral body to extend the deadline for voter registration to allow eligible Nigerians to exercise their rights.”
The rights group also asked the court for “an order restraining INEC, its agents… from discontinuing the continuous voters’ registration exercise from the June 30, 2022 or any other date pending the hearing and determination of motion on notice.”
SERAP, among others, asked the court for “an order of mandamus to direct and compel INEC to extend voter registration by a minimum of three months and take effective measures to ensure that eligible Nigerians are able to register to exercise their right to vote in the 2023 general election.”
Now that the court has ordered INEC not to stop the registration exercise on June 30, the electoral umpire should either vacate the order or obey it as part of moves to deepen our democracy. Rather than dissipate unnecessary energy over the matter, INEC should obey the court’s ruling and strive to register all eligible Nigerians so that they can vote.
Despite the Abuja court’s ruling, INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner for Abuja, Yahaya Bello, who spoke during the Continuous Voter Registration campaign in Abuja, insisted that there was no going back on its June 30 deadline. Even the purported media report that INEC had extended the continuous voter registration exercise by 60 days was promptly denied by the Chief Press Secretary to the chairman of INEC, Rotimi Oyekanmi. He maintained that the commission did not announce the extension of the deadline of the continuous voter registration.
Since the general election is scheduled for February next year, the electoral agency can still extend the voter registration exercise by 60 days to enable all eligible Nigerians get registered. Doing so will be in the best interest of the nation and its growing democracy. The great enthusiasm many Nigerians youths have demonstrated to part of the electoral process must not be dampened by INEC’s resolve to stick to the June 30 deadline.
Instead of being rigid, let INEC see reason and be flexible in going about the preparations for the 2023 elections. Moreover, our voter turnout has not been impressive in recent times. There is need for more voters. With the help of technology, what INEC should do is to deploy more men to the job. The mounting complaints at the various centres over lack of network coverage, forms and personnel show that the electoral umpire should do more to ensure that all eligible Nigerians are registered before the general election.
If INEC could shift the deadline for the conduct of party primaries by six days from June 3 to June 9, it could as well extend voter registration by at least three months or even more until all eligible Nigerians are registered. And since the court order has not been vacated, it is likely that the continuous voter registration will continue beyond the June 30 deadline. That is the only way all eligible Nigerians can be registered. At the same time, we enjoin INEC to take a definite position on the exercise.
