During the 2019 general election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), announced that 84 million Nigerians were registered to vote. Analysis of the election results, however, showed that only 28.6 million people voted — a turnout of just 34%. A similar pattern held true in the 2015 general election, where 67 million people were registered to vote, but only 29.4 million people voted, a turnout of just 43.6%.

LOW VOTER TURNOUT OR INACCURATE VOTER REGISTER?

Over time, INEC has failed to clean up its voter register, and this has had implications for the accuracy of analysing voter turnout in the country’s elections.

READ ALSO: INEC Displays Voter Register on Its Website — But Only for 2 Weeks

Without adequate sanitization of the voter register, the turnout analysis from elections will continue to be questionable, yet the commission’s approach to cleaning the register has been lackadaisical.

The same loophole was apparent in the just concluded 2023 general election. INEC announced that 93,469,008 people were registered to vote, but only 24,976,147 people voted, a turnout of just 26.7%. This implies that the total number of registered voters announced by INEC might not have been accurate and did not reflect the actual percentage of voter turnout in the election.

INEC is the body responsible for conducting elections and registering new voters in Nigeria, and while it has continuously added new registrants to the existing register, it has failed to conduct regular clean-up exercises to eliminate void registrants like deceased and duplicate voter records.

READ ALSO: When Will Nigerians See the Voter Register ‘They Will Be Proud of’?

The problem with relying on such a proliferated voter register for the conduct of elections and the determination of voter turnout is that it bodes a lack of transparency and inaccurate electoral analysis.

WHAT CAN INEC DO?

This trend underscores the need for INEC to prioritize voter data sanitization and management. INEC must implement regular data cleanup exercises to identify and remove duplicate records, deceased voters, and other inconsistencies in the voter register. Furthermore, there is need for the commission to partner with civil society organizations and other stakeholders to enhance public scrutiny of the electoral process and ensure greater accountability in data management.

Also, the government needs to invest in the capacity of the National Population Commission to manage the population data of the country. This would support INEC in its data management efforts and ensure that the voter registration database is accurate and up to date.

READ ALSO: What You Can Do About Underage Voters on INEC Register

Moreover, there is a need for increased investment in advanced technology and data management infrastructure to support INEC’s efforts to maintain an accurate and reliable voter register. This can include the use of biometric technology, data analytics tools, and other advanced systems to enhance the accuracy and integrity of the voter register. INEC should also consider partnering with private sector organizations and other stakeholders with expertise in technology and data management to help build its capacity in this area.

INEC must prioritize data management and clean-up, increase transparency, and invest in advanced technology to ensure the voter register is accurate and reliable. Only by doing so can we ensure that the electoral process reflects the will of the Nigerian people, and that the analysis of voter turnout is accurate and trustworthy.

Habeeb Adewale is the team lead, YVoteNaija. You can follow him on Twitter @Habeeb_Adewale_