The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project -SERAP, the latest update, urged Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission -INEC, to, in their exact words:
“immediately give seven million Nigerians who have carried out their voter registration online the time and opportunity to complete the process, so that they can obtain their permanent voter cards -PVCs, and exercise their right to vote.”
This news is coming after INEC recently revealed that out of 10,487,972 Nigerians who pre-registered for PVCs online, only 3,444,378 completed the process at a physical center. This showed that just 32.8 percent of completed online registration.
In the letter dated 13 August 2022 and signed by the SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization stated: “The right to vote is not merely the right to cast a ballot but also the right to be given the time and opportunity to finish the registration process so that the right can be meaningfully and effectively exercised.”
SERAP had then added: “Closing the gates on eligible Nigerians and denying them the time and opportunity to complete the registration they already began cannot preserve trust in the electoral process.”
According to SERAP, “Denying a great number of eligible voters the time and opportunity to complete the registration for their PVCs would step on the right to vote of those affected, deny them a voice in the 2023 elections, and lead to disparate and unfair treatment of these voters. The failure of the applicants to complete their registration may be due to factors entirely outside of their control, especially given the well-documented challenges faced by many Nigerians at registration centers across the country.”
“We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within a week of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP and the affected Nigerians shall consider appropriate legal actions to prompt INEC to comply with our request in the public interest.”
