Nigeria’s registered voters, which the Independent National Electoral Commission has estimated at 93.5 million, are expected to turn out in numbers in what will be Africa’s largest election this year.
They will elect the president and members of the National Assembly on Saturday, and the governor and members of the State Council on March 11.
To vote in the election, Nigerians must be at least 18 years old and must collect their permanent voter card by February 5. The number of cards you collect determines the number of people you can choose from.
The logistical challenges for this year’s elections are many, given the 18 political parties competing, the number of contestants at various levels and the security environment.
There are 18 presidential candidates, 1 101 senate candidates and 3 122 candidates for the federal constituency in the House of Representatives. Elections will be held in 176 606 polling stations.
The presidential election, a three-horse race, could end in a runoff. The candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress, the People’s Democratic Party and the Labor Party command a large national following, as shown by several polls before the election.
The price is huge. Nigeria spends about 2% of its GDP on elections.
Logistics, security challenges and malpractices in past elections have led to a focus on electoral administration reforms.
The 2022 Elections Act has provided legal support for the voter accreditation technology used by the electoral commission. If the technical equipment used in the election does not work, and is not replaced, the election will be canceled for that polling station and another scheduled within 24 hours.
The law also allows the commission to transmit election results electronically. These steps reduce the ability to produce results, compared to manual methods.
Logistics
A total of 1 265 227 officials have been trained and will be deployed for the election. They include presiding, collective and returning officers, as well as 530 538 polling unit security officers.
The Independent National Electoral Commission will issue 1 642 386 identification tags for polling and collation officers and provide 176 846 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and 17 618 BVAS machines for backup. The device verifies a voter’s identity by electronically checking fingerprints and facial features.
In December, the electoral commission signed a memorandum of understanding with the transport union that will help deploy more than one million personnel and many electoral materials to 774 local government areas, 8 809 polling stations and 176 846 polling units across the country.
More than 100 000 vehicles and about 4 200 ships, accompanied by naval warships, will be used.
It should be distributed according to unsafe conditions and fuel shortages.
Challenge
The success of this general election will depend on the degree to which citizens can vote without hindrance. But there are challenges.
Voter apathy: Nigeria has a history of voter apathy, where many registered voters fail to turn up on election day.
For the 2019 general election, the country has 84 million registered voters. The number of voters in the presidential election was only 35.66%. In 2015 it was 43.65%.
The figure puts Nigeria among the 10 countries with the lowest voter turnout in the world. Rwanda recorded 98.15% voter turnout in 2017, the highest in the world.
Naira redesign and fuel shortage: The election environment has been disrupted by the shortage of fuel and naira notes. The shortage has led to public demonstrations and tensions that may have caused some voters to turn out on election day.
Insecurity: Fifty-two election commission offices were destroyed or burned between 2019 and 2022. Secessionist and militant movements from the south and religious extremists and bandits in the north have besieged election facilities. This can demoralize prospective voters.
Voting process
There are four steps in the voting procedure that must be followed on election day: accreditation; voting; sorting and counting; and recording and announcement of results.
Accreditation: Voters, armed with their permanent voter cards, must be at the polling unit where they are registered between 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. They have to queue up in an orderly manner for accreditation. The voter will hand the card to the assistant polling officer, who will use the BVAS device to check that the voter matches the card. If fingerprints fail to confirm a match, BVAS will be used to verify the voter’s facial identity.
Voting: After accreditation, voters will be given a ballot paper. They will go to the voting booth to make their choice on the ballot paper secretly by printing their thumb. Then they put the ballot paper in the ballot box in full view of everyone present, without telling them how to vote. Voting will be declared closed when the last voter in line has voted.
Voters can stay in the polling unit to watch the vote.
Sorting and counting: Ballots will be sorted and counted in full view of everyone in the polling unit.
Record and announcement: The result will be filled in the result sheet and announced by the election commission officer in the election unit.
The results of the polling unit will be taken to various levels of collection. The number of results will be recorded and in the final level and candidates who meet the criteria will be announced as winners.
To vote legally, voters must understand the voting process beyond being registered to vote and collecting a permanent voter card.
Invalid ballots during vote counting will be high due to inadequate civic and voter education. Thus, voter education is central to increasing voter turnout and reducing the incidence of invalid votes.
For these reasons, the Independent National Electoral Commission has developed a plan for voter education. It has a manual and frequently asked questions. Observer organizations have also tried to help prepare voters.
For peaceful, free, fair and credible elections, citizens need to stay informed, including finding polling stations before election day and maintaining peace.
This article first appeared on Conversation.