After #EndSARS, thousands sign petition asking INEC to commence voter registration

At least 14,000 individuals have signed a petition asking the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to commence voter registration ahead of the 2023 elections.

The petition, created on Friday, seeks to compel INEC to resume the exercise “immediately”, on the basis that there are just about 20 months left before the next general election.

The electoral umpire stopped the continuous voter registration in August 2018, about six months before the last elections and 26 months till date.

As of then, the total number of registered voters in Nigeria stood at 84 million which translates to just 42 percent of the country’s population of 198 million.

When the commission stopped distributing permanent voter cards (PVCs) weeks before the election, at least 11 million voters were yet to collect theirs.

The petition argued that the usual commencement of voter registration months to an election creates “enormous logistical challenge”.

“Voter registration in Nigeria should be a continuous exercise and must begin immediately in preparation for the 2023 General Elections,” the petition read.

The call on INEC to commence the voter registration comes in the wake of the #EndSARS protests, which some have argued have made more Nigerians, particularly young people, become more interested in governance.

As the curtain draws on the two-week long protests, many people have spoken of the need for the youth to be actively involved in the process leading to the next election.