A civil society organization, Enough is Enough Nigeria, EiE, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to strengthen transparency, accountability and public engagement as the Continuous Voter Registration, CVR, exercise concludes nationwide, saying public confidence will be critical to the credibility of the 2027 general elections.
The organization stressed that while the recently concluded voter registration exercise recorded encouraging participation, particularly among young Nigerians, the commission must now focus on addressing concerns about the integrity and efficiency of the electoral process.
The Executive Director of EiE, Ufoma Nnamdi-Udeh, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, urging the electoral umpire to adopt more open and verifiable procedures that would reassure Nigerians that every vote would count.
According to her, restoring confidence in Nigeria’s electoral system requires more than successful voter registration exercises. She said INEC must demonstrate transparency throughout every stage of the electoral process, from accreditation and voting to the electronic transmission and collation of results.
Nnamdi-Udeh urged the commission to organize publicly observable mock accreditation and electronic result transmission exercises ahead of the 2027 elections, arguing that such demonstrations would allow political parties, election observers, civil society organizations and citizens to evaluate the effectiveness of the technology before election day.
She also called on INEC to publish details of its procurement processes, technology audits and system stress-test results to improve public confidence and provide sufficient time to address any operational or technical weaknesses before the polls.
According to her, Nigerians are increasingly willing to participate in elections, but trust in the institutions responsible for conducting those elections remains fragile.
“Trust in the electoral process will be earned through consistent performance and transparency rather than assurances alone,” she said.
The EiE boss noted that the organization has continued to promote civic participation through its RSVP (Register, Select, Vote and Protect) campaign, an initiative launched in 2010 to encourage greater citizen involvement in Nigeria’s democratic process.
She explained that as part of the campaign, the organization collaborated with INEC to take voter registration awareness directly to locations frequently visited by young people, including universities, cultural festivals, entertainment events, places of worship and community gatherings across Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states.
According to Nnamdi-Udeh, the initiative reached more than 700,000 young Nigerians through physical outreach programmes, digital campaigns, a dedicated RSVP Call Centre and an interactive WhatsApp community designed to provide voter education and registration support.
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She added that EiE also maintained regular consultations with INEC during the exercise to ensure that citizens’ concerns and recommendations were reflected in the commission’s planning and implementation strategies.
Assessing the exercise, she distinguished between the enthusiasm shown by prospective voters and the institutional challenges experienced during registration.
While commending Nigerians, especially young people, for embracing the exercise, she said operational shortcomings affected the overall experience in several registration centres.
Among the challenges identified were inadequate registration equipment, intermittent server failures, limited accessibility of some registration centres, long waiting times and technical glitches experienced by users of the online self-service registration portal.
She specifically noted that some iPhone users encountered difficulties completing biometric capture through the portal, creating additional frustration for prospective registrants.
Although she acknowledged INEC’s introduction of innovations such as the online self-service registration platform and weekend registration to accommodate more eligible voters, she argued that many of the measures were introduced too late to maximize their impact.
Nnamdi-Udeh also cautioned against judging the success of the CVR exercise solely by the number of registered voters, saying meaningful electoral participation depends on citizens ultimately collecting their Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, and turning out to vote.
She observed that many young Nigerians demonstrated growing political awareness and a genuine desire to participate in the democratic process, adding that their frustrations were largely directed at institutional barriers rather than democracy itself.
“The frustration we observed was not with democracy but with the obstacles preventing citizens from participating effectively. Once young people saw their peers registering, many were encouraged to join,” she said.
She further urged Nigerians not to see voter registration as the final stage of civic participation, encouraging eligible voters to collect their PVCs, verify their polling units, study candidates and party manifestos, and participate responsibly during elections.
According to her, greater public understanding of the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC’s electoral guidelines would also help reduce misinformation and post-election disputes.
“Our RSVP Call Centre and WhatsApp community will remain active through the 2027 elections because democratic participation is a continuous process,” she added.
Meanwhile, prospective voters who participated in the exercise expressed mixed reactions.
A first-time registrant, Tayo Adedeji, described the opportunity to register as an important civic responsibility and expressed optimism about participating in future elections.
Similarly, trader Bolarinwa Idris said he endured long queues to complete his registration but remained hopeful that future elections would reflect the true will of the electorate.
Reaffirming the commission’s commitment to credible elections, INEC said preparations for the 2027 general elections remain focused on improving transparency and protecting the sanctity of the ballot.
Speaking at a democracy roundtable organized by the NAN Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, the commission’s Deputy Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Magdalene Aku, said INEC remains committed to ensuring that every valid vote counts.
She highlighted the deployment of technological innovations such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and the INEC Result Viewing Portal, noting that both platforms are designed to strengthen transparency, reduce electoral malpractice and improve confidence in election outcomes.
Aku also urged Nigerians to reject vote-buying and other forms of electoral inducement, stressing that voters remain the ultimate custodians of Nigeria’s democracy.
“If your vote doesn’t matter, why does somebody want to buy it?” she asked.
The calls by both civil society groups and the electoral commission underscore the growing expectation that the lessons from previous elections and the recently concluded voter registration exercise should translate into more transparent, inclusive and credible polls in 2027.
NAN
