Nigerians warn INEC: Don’t make NIN compulsory for voter registration
Nigerians have asked the Independent National Electoral Commission not to make the National Identity Number one of the conditions for registering voters when the exercise begins in a few weeks.
The PUNCH had reported on Wednesday that INEC was considering the move in a bid to ‘harmonise all databases.”
This was disclosed by an INEC national commissioner, who wished to remain anonymous because he was not authorised to speak.
The INEC official explained that the permanent voter card was only supposed to be in use for a maximum of 10 years, adding that most countries rely on a national database and not the Permanent Voter Card for voting.
However, Nigerians do not want NIN to be made one of the prerequisites for voter registration.
In a poll conducted on PUNCH’s social media pages, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, Nigerians voted against the idea by 53.5 %, 60 % and 57.3 per cent respectively.
On Facebook, where 963 persons voted, 515 voted ‘No’ to the question; Should INEC make NIN compulsory for voter registration? 448 respondents supported the move.
On Instagram, the margin of respondents who voted against the idea went up to 60 per cent, while 40 per cent supported the idea. Vanguard
