A study of previous general elections identified the process of registering voters and the quality of the voter registry as a primary source of flaws. The Commission decided early in its preparations to introduce a new and improved voter registry aimed at preventing such practices as multiple registration that had undermined past elections.

This new registry would contain, among other details, the photograph, fingerprint, and biometric data of every registered voter. The initiative was deemed a critical step in ensuring credibility in the electoral process. Indeed, the electronic voter registry was a component of the Electronic Voting System (EVS), designed to minimize human impact in the electoral process.

The law makes it clear that the Commission has the responsibility to decide the method for voter registration. However, while there were public cries for credible, free and fair elections, there were people who opposed the introduction of a new system that would close the loopholes through which past elections had been rigged. Various politicians and political parties opposed the introduction of the electronic voter registry.

Although there were many arguments put forward to discourage the Commission from going ahead, there were also those who appreciated the need for Nigeria’s electoral process to be rescued, as it were, from the grip of politicians themselves. These people gave invaluable support to go ahead with the new registry.

Nevertheless, almost every step in the process of the voter registration exercise was confronted with attempts to derail it. Gaining access to the funds that had been allocated for the creation of the registry was difficult. Three different contractors from three continents who had been chosen to supply the direct data capture equipment for the registration exercise could not deliver on time. However, the Commission was determined to surmount these unimaginable odds to conduct the elections, and it succeeded.