Registration process will be halted by July 2022
In a couple of hours, we will be 9 months from our next general elections.
Voter apathy is at an all-time high with the impending 2023 General Elections on the horizon. With statistics as damning as the popular opinion regarding the exercise, it is tough to make a case for why citizens should care about the electoral process or its potential results. In 2019, President Buhari had 56 per cent of the total votes cast. For comparison, Nigeria possesses a population of close to 200 million people, including more than 84 million registered voters. This puts the 15.2 million votes he won under scrutiny due to their marginal difference over his closest competitor in Atiku who had 11.4 million votes. The 35 per cent voter turnout was down from 44 per cent in the 2015 general election and down from the 54 per cent turnout in 2011.
PVCs are expected to be ready by the end of the year and the registration process will be halted by July 2022. While PVC collection is not yet in full swing, resources have been made available to sensitise the public on their duties regarding the exercise.
Some of the resources made available by the EIE include programmes like RSVP – Register to vote; Select credible candidates; Vote not fight and Protect your vote on election day – OOTC, an acronym for Office of The Citizen, an initiative geared at reminding Nigerians of the power their civic liberties and duty both grant and require of them.
Public affairs analyst, Obiukwu Agwu shared his point of view regarding the disinterest of many young Nigerian adults in the forthcoming elections. “At 18, most teens are not registered to vote. I do not have the most recent figures but there is a tendency that there is apathy in that group. Their political views are more out of sentiment rather than an understanding of the prevailing issues that might cause a shift in their votes. A PVC is as important as you having a reason to participate in the process of electing the president. But today most 18-year-olds grab the PVC as another legal document for identification. It does not cost money, just the time to queue up to get it. It is cheaper than a driver’s licence or a traveller’s passport.”
Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu shared in January; “our hope is that unlike the 14.2 million we registered in the previous exercise, we are targeting a minimum of 20 million registrants this time. It will take the number of registered voters to about 100 million.”
A good number of the new registrants are expected to come from the demographic of young adults who have recently turned 18 and are now eligible to vote. The Independent National Electoral Commission began an online continuous voter registration process across Nigeria in June 2021 to improve the voter registration process and give eligible Nigerians the opportunity to have their PVCs ahead of 2023.
The INEC’s registration initiative is being led through its registration portal at https://cvr.inecnigeria.org. Paired with a physical registration that must be completed at an INEC centre, the commission is not only working to eliminate challenges and constraints surrounding voter fraud but also in reaching the 811 designated centres nationwide to register.
The INEC is accordingly working to activate an additional 1,862 centres nationwide to make it easier for citizens to exercise their right to register as voters.
Regardless of political, religious or personal sentiment, the importance of obtaining and using a PVC cannot be overstated at what many consider some of the most pivotal times in Nigeria’s history. The following steps can aid in obtaining the document;
Step 1: Visit the Portal
Unlike in previous years, INEC has launched an online portal where eligible voters can register for their PVC, and this is how it works.
For new voters who do not already have a PVC, the first step is to log in to https://cvr.inecnigeria.org/, then click on the “sign in/register” button.
You can create an account either by just signing in with your Google account or you fill out the form provided to create an account using a valid email address.
It is advised that a valid email address is used because that is where you will receive the link to verify your account.
After you click on the link to verify your account, you will be redirected to the registration page with a message like the one below.
Type in your email address and the password you have created then click on the login button.
After you do that, you will see a page like the one below.
Click on “start registration’ if it is your first time getting a PVC. When you do that, a declaration page will pop up.
Ensure to click on “yes”.
Step 2: Provide Accurate Data
After you have responded yes to the declaration section, you are required to provide accurate information, the requested information includes:
Biodata: Such as your name, occupation, date of birth, home address, etc.
Additional information. This includes your level of education, disability if any.
Residence: This is the state and Local Government of Area (LGA)/City where you live in.
Birth information: The country, state, and LGA/City where you were born.
Origin information: The country, state, LGA, and village where you hail from.
Polling/Voting Unit: This is where you will want to vote.
At the end of the page, after you fill in all your information, you will also be asked to upload supporting documents like your National I.D card.
Although not marked as compulsory, you can take a snapshot of your national identity card and upload it, then click on the save and continue button. After you do this, you proceed to upload your photograph.
To upload your photograph, you will click on the “start camera” button to take a snapshot of yourself. Two photographs are to be uploaded. One with a clear face and natural expression/straight look (i.e not smiling). The second photograph will also be a clear face but this time a smile is required. INEC wants to know what you look like angry and/or happy.
Samples of both are attached below with the specifications and instructions to follow.
Step 3: Schedule an INEC Centre Location and Appointment Date that is Convenient for you
Once the photographs have been successfully uploaded, you then proceed to schedule an appointment, choosing a date and time that is most convenient for you to do your biometric capturing, and a location that is close enough to you. Once this is done, you submit your application.
It is on this date and in this place that you will do your biometric capturing. Biometrics are biological measurements or physical characteristics that can be used to identify individuals, examples are your fingerprints, picture, etc.
