By Ismail Shuaib
ABUJA: The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has fired back at critics of its handling of the nation’s electoral system, dismissing claims of a trust deficit and attendant voter participation in the process.
Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi said on Sunday night that the notion that Nigerians have lost confidence in the electoral process is more of a myth than a reality.
Noting that those who proclaim such notion lack convincing evidence to support it, Oyekanmi said on the contrary, the high level of participation by Nigerians, especially the youths, in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration CVR, which began on August 18 this year with online pre-registration, shows that citizens still have confidence in the electoral system.
He said; “Recall that the CVR portal went live at 8:30 am on August 18 this year. By 3:30 pm, seven hours later the same day, 69,376 Nigerians had pre-registered, comprising 33,803 males (48.7%) and 35,573 females (51.3%).
“By August 24, just a week later, a total of 1,379,342 had pre-registered online. If the Commission had allowed the CVR to be completed online, that figure would have subsisted.
“However, all those who pre-registered online must complete their registration by physically appearing at their preferred designated centre to have their biometrics and other details captured, in compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, specifically Sections 9(7) and 10(2).
“By September 1, two weeks after the online pre-registration began, 2,532,062 Nigerians had registered online. Within one week of the in-person registration starting on August 25, 72,274 citizens had either completed their online pre-registration or registered in person.
“By week five, on September 21, 2025, since the commencement of online pre-registration, a staggering 5,385,060 Nigerians had uploaded their details to the CVR portal.
“In the same manner, by week 4 on September 19, since the in-person registration began, 399,162 pre-registrants had completed the process, while 365,533 Nigerians registered physically, totalling 764,695 Nigerians that had completed the registration process in just one month. There is no African country with these types of voter registration figures within one month.
“The Commission has made significant improvements to the electoral system. The 2023 general election, more than any other election, demonstrates this fact. The election produced the most diverse National Assembly since the restoration of democracy in 1999. In the Senate, seven political parties won varying numbers of seats, comprising APC-59 seats, PDP-36, LP-8, NNPP-2, SDP-2, APGA-1 and YPP-1.
“Similarly, eight political parties won seats in the House of Representatives. They include APC-177, PDP-117, LP-35, NNPP-19, APGA-5, ADC – 2, SDP-2 and YPP-2
“For the Governorship elections, APC won 16 States, PDP-10, LP-1 and NNPP–1. In fact, nine political parties won seats in the State Assemblies. They include APC-533, PDP-355, LP-38, NNPP-29, APGA-20, YPP-8, SDP-7, A-1, and ADC – 1.
“The recent bye-elections also show that Nigerians have kept faith with the electoral process.
“Ironically, some of the most ardent critics of INEC are also in the forefront of calling for electoral reforms to transfer Local Government elections to the same Commission. Surely, they cannot continue to walk on both sides of the road”.
