The Executive Director of the Centre for Responsive Governance, Ayodeji Ologun, has said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s Closure of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise is illegal, arguing that what is described as continuous should not have a closing date.
Ologun stated this while reviewing the just-concluded Continuous Voter Registration exercise, shortly after the INEC brought the nationwide exercise to a close on Sunday.
Speaking on Monday during an interview on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State, Ologun called for a complete overhaul of Nigeria’s voter registration system.
This is as he insisted that voter registration should be available throughout the year without opening or closing dates, allowing Nigerians who attain voting age to register immediately.
“It is illegal. It is unfair that you call something continuous voter registration and then you put a peg on it; you say it has closed. What does that justify the grammatical use of the word continuous?”
INEC had earlier extended the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise by two weeks, moving the final deadline from July 10, 2026, to Sunday, July 26, 2026.
The initial extension was granted to accommodate a massive surge of last-minute applicants and to appease civil society groups demanding more time for citizens to register ahead of the 2027 general elections.
However, following the expiration of this grace period, INEC officially closed the registration portal and physical collection centres nationwide, firmly ruling out any subsequent extensions.
The electoral umpire justified the final closure by citing Section 17 of the Electoral Act 2022, which mandates the suspension of registration at least 90 days before a general election. INEC further emphasised that the hard cutoff is operationally necessary to clean the voter database, eliminate double registrations, and allow sufficient time for the printing and distribution of physical Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) before the country goes to the polls in early 2027.
However, Ologun argued that Nigeria’s voter registration process remains outdated, saying a genuinely continuous voter registration exercise should not have a fixed closing date. According to him, INEC imposes a deadline because the officials responsible for voter registration are the same personnel the commission deploys to conduct elections.
“We are living an archaic life in Nigeria. Voter registration should not have an opening day or a closing day.
“The reason why they tell you it is continuous and then they tell you it is closing on one particular day is that the same people who are responsible for that registration across all the wards and the local government are the same people that INEC wants to use for election,” he added.
The governance advocate argued that the recently concluded registration exercise, despite lasting almost a year and becoming the longest voter registration period since the return to democracy in 1999, failed to address voter apathy.
“It is very important to note that the continuous voter registration that ended yesterday, July 26th, as we witnessed two extensions, and that made it the longest that we’ve had in our democratic dispensation since 1999 till now.
“That lasted almost a year, from August 2025 till about August 2026…Well, the question would be, was it able to achieve the needed intention? The answer would be a capital no,” he said.
According to him, repeated extensions of the exercise reflected the reluctance of many Nigerians to register. “Nigerians are reluctant.
“Nigerians are showing a willingness to come out to register, and this further proves the call or the claim by a lot of people, as civil society organisations and political watchers, that there seems to be rising apathy in voters’ participation in the electoral process.
“And in a process where voters are having apathy, where voters are showing unwillingness to participate in the process, it’s certain it will end up making the worst of us rule the rest of us, because only a minority will determine who leads the nation”
Ologun further proposed a fully digital registration process where eligible citizens can register online, indicate their preferred collection centres or even receive their Permanent Voter Cards at their residences.
“Voters’ registration should be something that you can do in the comfort of your home, just like the new international passport has become.
“Once you’ve clocked the age of 18, you should be able to log into the INEC website, upload your data, get registered, and on your portal, you will indicate where you want to pick up your permanent voter’s card and when the card is ready, it is sent to that place, then you pick it up, or even the permanent voter’s card is delivered to your doorstep, just like it has become possible with the international passport” he explained.
