LIKE many concerned Nigerians, we call on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to adjust some of its critical pre-election timelines to grant political parties, candidates and the electorate more opportunities to be part of a free, fair and credible elections in 2023.

Of particular concern to us is the deadline for the completion of registration of voters. INEC’s online registration was billed to end on Monday, May 30, 2022, while the physical registration and issuance of the Permanent Voter’s Cards, PVCs, is billed to end on June 30, 2022.  We suggest that the online and physical registration deadlines be extended by at least one month respectively.

While we commend the INEC for opening its portals for registration as far back as a year ago, we still believe that the heat of the political season exerts its extra stimulus on the prospective electorate. This applies especially to the youth, many of whom are just beginning to develop interest in the civic process. We should not just give them more time to register, we should also back it up with extra advocacy because of the watershed for our nation that the general elections of 2023 will be.

Secondly, even by INEC’s own admission, the number of people expected to have registered by now falls far below the expected target. Its  plan was to register 20 million voters at the end of June 2022, but as of  May 16, only 9,238,991 prospective voters had registered online, while 5,845,751 had completed physical registration.

We strongly believe that an extension will encourage more people to register, more so now that the voters are beginning to see the candidates they would be voting for unlike the past year when they had no such idea.

With the emergence of candidates, the various political parties will surely be heavily involved in getting their supporters registered.

We do not believe that an adjustment of the registration of voters’ programme will negatively affect INEC’s election timetable. Since the INEC is a constitutional body created to serve the public interest, it must act accordingly.

We also feel that there is too much gap between June 6, 2022 deadline for the completion of the party primaries and September 28, 2022 commencement of open campaigns. This four-month yawning gap will impose a lot of financial strain on the political parties and their candidates who will be forced to keep spending to maintain the “loyalties” of their supporters in this highly monetised process.

Apart from giving Nigerians a free, fair and acceptable general elections in 2023, the electoral umpire must do all it can to get as many voters as possible on board. High participation strengthens the legitimacy of leadership. It imbues an electoral process with higher credibility.