The immediate-past Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to link the voters card and national identification number.
According to him, doing this will go a long way in ending underage voting in Nigeria.
Aregbesola stated this on Tuesday while presenting the lead paper titled “Towards Free, Fair and Credible Elections,” at the 7th International Conference of the Professional Statisticians Society of Nigeria held at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nasarawa State.
According to a statement obtained in Osogbo by his media office, Aregbesola stated that the proposal will immediately end underage voting and duplicate registration.
He said, “I am suggesting a more seamless registration system that will be continuous and terminates only few weeks before the election, to allow for compilation and printing of cards. This registration should be synced with the National Identification Number.
“It will automatically eliminate underage voters and the possibility of multiple registration. More importantly, people should be able to do the registration online, on their own, just like most application processes we have today. They should only go to INEC office for biometric data capture and card collection only.”
Aregbesola advocated proper training for INEC officials and party agents, saying, “It appears for most part that agents of the political parties don’t know what to do on election day and at the polling units. INEC should endeavour to train them on what specific roles they will play in election.
“Fourthly, the logistics should be smooth and seamless. In many instances, voting officials will arrive late or without the materials or the machines may just start malfunctioning. Elections should start and end on schedule. Many voters are eventually disenfranchised due to late commencement of voting,” he said
