Go Out and Register to Vote

Editorial, Allafrica

With some reported glitches which it pledged to fix, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the weekend finally lunched the much-awaited voter registration exercise nationwide, a crucial precursor to the realization of free, fair and credible elections in the country.

The registration drive became imperative when the old register, especially the current one used from the 2007 elections, was discovered to be highly inaccurate, casting doubts on the results of elections held with them.

The commission said it has distributed essential materials, including the Direct Data Capture (DDC) machines to all parts of the country, and engaged ad-hoc personnel, particularly members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and school teachers among many others in carrying out the registration exercise.

Despite the delay the voter registration exercise has faced, it is necessary that a new voter register that is credible is compiled as one way of ensuring that the pitfalls of the past which have exposed the nation's electoral process and its credibility to ridicule are addressed and public confidence in both the process and the products of the process is restored.

To this end, INEC must adhere strictly to laws guiding the conduct of the exercise and ensure early display of the list in order to allow people the opportunity to make claims and objections with a view to coming up with a register that satisfies the majority, if not all, of Nigerians, as accurate and therefore credible.

One major problem in the past has been the compromise of security agencies during such exercises by desperate politicians who see opportunity in manipulating any process for the attainment of personal gains. The security agencies must be alive to their responsibility so that the nation can at the end of the day and after such a huge expenditure realize the goal of having a credible voter register that would serve as the foundation for present and future database that is reliable and true reflection of the nation's voter configuration.

The on-going exercise is expected to formalize the voter registration process and make it a permanent and continuous affair so that it would need to be updated by including names of Nigerians who attain the voting age and deletion of the names of those who have passed away. If this is achieved, the nation would have succeeded in obtaining a functional database that would go a long way in not only facilitating credible elections but also contribute immensely in different aspects of public policy and planning.

Nigerians of voting age should go out and register en mass so as to participate in the electoral process. The voter registration exercise presents the people with another opportunity to decide who their leaders should be.

They cannot do that unless they register first and ensure their names are on the voters' list. Any one that fails to register will automatically be out of the scheme because he or she will not have any meaningful say in who represents them or complain in how the country is run. It is a civic responsibility therefore that every Nigerian should take seriously.

It is important for people to be vigilant and proactive in ensuring that a true register is produced at the end of the exercise. This will help avert the ugly incidences of the past when voter registers were filled with fictitious names just for the purposes of raising numbers to facilitate electoral irregularities. We expect the use of the DDC machines is programmed to eliminate multiple registration.

While the registration goes on, Nigerians should also be patient and persevere because the exercise may not be as fast and convenient as may be expected. Sufficient time must be created by people to get registered while the personnel handling the exercise should also be understood and appreciated given the fact that they undertook little training before the exercise.

INEC should take steps to ensure that it delivers on its pledge to produce a credible voters' register for Nigeria; however, it would be difficult to attain that goal unless Nigerians cooperate by ensuring, on their part, they go out and register today.