The Independent National Electoral Commission has dismissed reports suggesting that Nigerians no longer trust the country’s electoral system, describing such claims as unfounded.
Civil society groups and some religious organisations had in recent weeks raised concerns over what they described as growing disillusionment with the process.
However, INEC’s Chief Press Secretary, Rotimi Oyekanmi, in an interview with the PUNCH, stated that evidence from the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration exercise shows the opposite.
“The notion that Nigerians have lost confidence in the electoral process is more of a myth than reality, as those who proclaim it lack convincing evidence,” Oyekanmi said.
According to him, the massive turnout of mostly young Nigerians in the registration drive proves that citizens still believe in the process.
“The high level of participation by Nigerians, especially the youths, in the ongoing CVR, which began on August 18 with online pre-registration, shows that citizens still have confidence,” he added.
INEC said within the first seven hours of opening the portal, over 69,000 Nigerians had pre-registered. By September 21, more than 5.3 million had uploaded their details.
Oyekanmi stressed that physical verification remained mandatory, in line with the Electoral Act 2022, which requires biometric capture at designated centres.
He also pointed to the 2023 general election as evidence of progress, noting that it produced the most diverse National Assembly since 1999, with seven parties winning Senate seats and eight securing positions in the House of Representatives.
At the state level, nine parties won seats across State Assemblies, while four parties secured governorship victories.
Oyekanmi further argued that even bye-elections held after the general polls showed continued voter participation.
He criticised some INEC critics, saying, “Ironically, some of those who accuse INEC of inefficiency are the same voices pushing for the commission to take over Local Government elections. Surely, they cannot walk on both sides of the road.”
