Link Voter Registration With NIN to stop underage voting – Aregbesola tells INEC

Former Interior Minister, Rauf Aregbesola has called upon Nigeria’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to integrate the voters’ registers with the National Identification Number (NIN) database. This integration, according to Aregbesola, would ensure the transparency and integrity of the country’s elections by putting an end to issues like underage voting and multiple registrations.

Aregbesola made these remarks on Tuesday, July 11, during his presentation of the lead paper titled “Towards Free, Fair, and Credible Elections” at the 7th International Conference of the Professional Statisticians Society of Nigeria (PSSN) held at Nasarawa State University, Keffi.

“I am suggesting a more seamless registration system that will be continuous and terminate only a few weeks before the election, to allow for compilation and printing of cards. This registration should be synced with the National Identification Number (NIN).

“It will automatically eliminate underage voters and the possibility of multiple registrations. More importantly, people should be able to do the registration online, on their own, just like most application processes we have today. They should only go to the INEC office for biometric data capture and card collection only. The second factor in the electoral process is the delineation of voting constituencies and polling units. This should be population-based. There is also always chaos on election day as voters will be running helter-skelter, trying to find their polling units. There should be a system of notification or personal checks to avoid this confusion,” he said.