By Ayo Jones
A coalition of civil society organisations has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the continuous Voter registration exercise in the interest of the polity.
The coalition is made up of Kenneth Eze, Executive Director, Speak Out Africa Initiative, Kabibeeb Adewale, Team Lead, YVoteNaija, Daisi Omokungbe, Executive Director, PROMAD Foundation, Eme Lekuwa, Team Lead, Civily, Ebenizar Wikina, Founder, Policy Shapers, Ephraim Okenwa, Executive Director, LEAD Africa and Omowumi Ogunrotimi, Executive Director, Gender Mobile Initiative
In a joint statement, the coalition appealed to INEC to review the extension of the deadline for continuous voter registration earlier slated for June 30, 2022, and online pre-registration for May 30, 2022, to enable eligible voters to be accommodated democratically.
‘’ In addition, it will also allow those who want to move/transfer their PVC, correct names, and date of birth, to do so’’, the coalition stated.
‘’In what many people see as having played to the gallery of political parties cum politicians regarding INEC’s one-week extension of party primaries, the more widely acceptable option would have been an extension for the continuous voter registration cum online pre-registration deadline to give room for more Nigerians to exercise their franchise.
‘’To date, the larger society still finds it difficult to come to terms with the rationale why the INEC suddenly rescinded her earlier position of not going to yield to the political party’s pressure on party primary extension even when there was no convincing basis for doing such. A more worrying part is the reactions from many quarters casting aspersions on INEC’s image as not truly “independent” (which is not good for the institution), especially from the leading opposition party who were in the wee of their presidential primary while the announcement was made – a scenario many view as changing the goal post while the match had already started,’’ it added.
“INEC must not only be independent and impartial in the exercise of its constitutional and statutory responsibilities but must also be seen to be independent and impartial as public perception from citizens also matters in deepening our democracy, ‘’ the statement concluded.