Former Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola believes that combining the Voters Card and the National Identification Number will help to decrease underage voting in Nigerian elections.
Underage voting remains a concern that influences the outcome of elections in the country, and in recent elections, southern neighbours have been motivated to call the legitimacy of election results into question due to accounts of underage voting in the North.
Mr Aregbesola maintained in a presentation titled “Towards Free, Fair, and Credible Elections” on Tuesday at Nasarawa State University that his approach if accepted by the Independent National Electoral Commission, has the ability to prevent underage voting and multiple registrations.
“I am suggesting a more seamless registration system that will be continuous and terminates only few weeks before the election, to allow for compilation and printing of cards. This registration should be synced with the National Identification Number,” he said.
According to Aregbesola, such seamless registration would imply that citizens could register or link their NIN on their own using online services.
“They should only go to INEC office for biometric data capture and card collection only.”
Mr Aregbesola remarked on the behaviour of INEC officials and party agents during elections, saying that “it appears for the most part that agents of political parties don’t know what to do on election day and at polling units.”
He cautioned that the activities of INEC officials during elections were leading to voter disenfranchisement.
“In many instances, voting officials will arrive late or without the materials or the machines may just start malfunctioning. Elections should start and end on schedule,” he said.
