FIJ
For much of June through November 2022, there was a kind of citizen fight for democracy in Nigeria as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) began voter registration. Conversation around the integrity of the process is an ongoing one. The public display of the voter register by the election management body in compliance with the Electoral Act 2022 widened the conversations on child voters. During the two-week period of the display, the register witnessed an unprecedented level of scrutiny and screening to cleanse it of such voters. SODEEQ ATANDA reports his findings in Kaduna State.
From Amira Pharmacy in Zaria on December 14, 2022 , the journey to Anchau took about two hours in a 5-passenger capacity Golf car carrying nine passengers, including this reporter. Passing through Ahmadu Bello University, Kongo campus, and Federal College of Education, Zaria, the trip to an unfamiliar territory continued on the New Jos road. Except this reporter, every passenger was either a resident or a regular visitor to Anchau, the headquarters of the Kubau Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
This reporter was out to go in-depth and discover real identity and faces of some Nigerians of voting and non-voting ages who should not validly be in possession of permanent voter cards, the only legitimate credential to vote in any election.
It goes without saying that this investigation was done in Zaria, Anchau and Kaduna, the capital of Kaduna State.
CONSTITUTIONAL CRITERIA TO VOTE
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN) clearly sets out the criteria to vote and be voted for as a citizen of the country. It stipulates in Section 77 (2) that “every citizen of Nigeria, who has attained the age of eighteen years residing in Nigeria at the time of the registration of voters for the purposes of election to any legislative house, shall be entitled to be registered as a voter for that election”.
The CFRN, therefore, vests the power to register voters in INEC when it states in Section 78 that “The registration of voters and the conduct of elections shall be subject to the direction and supervision of the Independent National Electoral Commission”.
In defining what makes someone a voter in the context of the law, INEC says a voter is a citizen who is 18 years old and above and is duly registered, whose names and details are in the register of voters. Among other requirements, the commission reinforces the position of the constitution when it stated on its website that a voter must have attained the age of 18.
LIES, FACIAL LOOK AND HEIGHTS QUALIFY VOTERS
Sources who spoke with FIJ revealed that the process was easy and without any challenge or evidential requirement to confirm their eligibility. According to them, all the INEC did was ask for their dates of birth.
