“When Wind Blows”: INEC versus Nigerians

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) can be said to be independent of the three arms of government, which is greatly in doubt by very many Nigerians, but can never be independent of the Nigerian People.

The current practice where INEC unilaterally generates its own voter’s register, and Nigerians cannot confirm or verify the CITIZENSHIP, AGE and other biometrics, owing to the non-availability of a verifiable CITIZENS Identity database, which is not the responsibility of INEC Nigeria.

The Biometrics Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) domiciled at INEC, ought to be at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), which may render those at INEC obsolete. And every election circle, INEC calls on any registered and verified citizen to signify interest if they wish to vote.

Same as the American government is currently calling on her diaspora citizens that are interested in voting in their upcoming election across the world, to request for their ballots. Whoever makes the request, must be verified an American citizen, before the ballots will be sent to him/her, let alone letting him/her to vote.

But in our own case here in Nigeria, INEC is solely responsible for the voters register they use in conducting our elections. That’s why we hear cases of underage/foreigners participating in our elections, and many other malpractices, as demonstrated in the last elections, and all INEC could tell Nigerians is, “GO TO COURT”.

Any voters register that is not generated, or lifted from a verifiable CITIZENS identity database, is fraudulent. Someone can say they are tying the National Identity Number (NIN) with the voters register, but even the NIN is being compromised as we speak, resulting in NIMC recently making media denial of not having a hand in the selling of people’s NIN.

Though the fact remains that NIMC has not done the needful, nobody would have, or can sell/buy another person’s NIN.

Our findings reveal that NIMC’s reluctance to tighten the lapses around Identity Management is deliberate. As about N70B was taken by the last regime, in the name of National Identity Management, without the desired and anticipated results.

The absence of a reliable citizens identity database is not only raising questions of authenticity of our elections alone.

The insecurity starring at all of us in our faces can be greatly prevented through an effective and efficient National Identity Management, and a well-regulated Telecommunications sector, which is equally lacking, resulting in the recent back and forth between MTN, and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) over blocking of SIM cards not linked to any NIN, and the other to unblock such UNLINKED lines.

Taking us back to same spot, when the same NCC was slamming the Telecoms operators that refused to remove UNREGISTERED SIM cards from their platform.

That same back and forth has exposed the very sad fact that, despite all the stress and more, they have subjected Nigerians to, both the NCC and Telecoms operators are yet to get common SIM registration process right. Raising the question again of, since they are yet to get SIM registration process right, and the NIN compromised, what purpose will the NIN-SIM link serve?

I want to conclude by leaving us with a question to ponder on, since NIMC is talking about issuing us a new Identify Card, that we can use for our bank transactions, are we still going to be needing a voter’s card, separate from the new NIN card?

Who determines who qualify to vote?

It is because we allow INEC Nigeria, to unilaterally determine who qualify to vote, when CITIZENS are the voters, and it is beyond INEC, to determine who qualify as a Citizen.

Reason they can conspire with any contestant of their choice in any election, or the highest bidder, to rig election in their favour, and ask us to “Go to Court”. And we all see how the outcome of the last election was and continue to be between INEC and the Judiciary.

A solution to this is, to replicate the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System at NIMC, this time, we can call it Biomodal CITIZENS Accreditation System (BCAS) when we have an authentic and verifiable Citizens Register, all INEC can do during elections, is to verify the citizens that are willing and signify their interest to vote, and not other voters/citizens register.

As the political class are already strategizing for the 2027 elections, if we don’t want a repeat of the last election, in the area of the outcome, we need to address the matter before the next election.

INEC and the docility of Nigerians

The process leading to the emergence of those occupying our governance space, from the gateman to Mr President, is as important, if not more, as the mandate and responsibility of the office they will occupy, and discharge.

Our docile attitude for a long time, towards people buying their way into our political offices, has given birth to people, buying their way into employed jobs in the civil service, Military, police, paramilitary etc. That is what has brought us where we find ourselves as Nigerians today.

I have unraveled their means of bringing whoever they want, into our governance space. The game between Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Judiciary, as it has to do with our elections, has been busted.

The fake voters register/registration which gives INEC as an organization, the upper hand over the CITIZENS of Nigeria, has been uncovered. A bit of it is, why is voter registration and verification, ahead of CITIZENS’ registration and verification? Is it not citizens that ought to be the voters?

This current practice where voter’s registration is the focus, ahead of citizens registration, is what is making foreigners/underage voting and many other sharp practices in our electoral process possible.

If we have an authentic and verifiable citizens database, we don’t need a voter’s registration, but just voters verification for the records.

America is currently calling on their citizens in diaspora, interested in voting, to request for their ballots. They are not going to do any voters registration, but voters verification. Since they already have their citizens’ effective and efficient identity management database.

That’s the much I can say here.

Micah Ugala is a public affairs analyst.

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