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It has emerged that after the decision of the Prof Jega-led Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria(INEC) to introduce the Permanent Voter Card, the voter register which was widely described as bloated, saw a significant reduction in the number of the supposed “ghost names”.

In the three years after Nigeria’s 2011 elections, the INEC went about cleaning the biometric voters’ register, which was believed to be bloated.

According to the then INEC Chairman, Prof.  Attahiru Jega, some 4.7 million names were deleted from the list. This brought the number down from 73.5 million to 68.8 million.

But, he still believed this was not enough. So in October 2014, a few months before this year’s general elections, Prof Jega introduced a new voter ID, called the Permanent Voter Card, which every voter had to compulsorily trade in his or her laminated voter ID (temporary Voter Card) for the PVC.

Remarkably, 10 million people, including ghosts, could not go forward for their fingerprints to be verified to exchange their old voter card for the enhanced PVC.

Giving a lecture on an Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) platform last Monday, Prof  Jega said the introduction of the PVC contributed substantially to getting a credible register for the March and April 2015 general elections.

The PVC has an embedded chip that contains all the biometrics of a legitimate holder (including fingerprints and facial image). On Election Day, it is swiped with a Smart Card Reader at the polling station to ensure 100 per cent authentication and verification of the voter before he/she is allowed to vote.

Also, only voters who had their PVC were allowed to vote in the 2015 Nigerian general elections. Those with the old IDs (TVCs) were not allowed; thus it was important for registered persons to collect their PVC before the day of the election.

Thus, even though INEC spent three years trying to de-duplicate the 2011 biometric register, it was not until the introduction of the PVC that the job of cleaning up the register was satisfactorily achieved.

With Ghana seemingly divided on the controversial issue of what to do with the current biometric register which all parties concede is not fit for purpose, but divided as to whether to simply clean it or replace it entirely, the PVC option appears to be one worth considering.

The March 2015 presidential race in Nigeria was widely acclaimed as the most credible in the country’s history. For the first time, the free and fair contest allowed the democratic transition from President Goodluck Jonathan, the PDP’s candidate, to Gen. Muhammudu Buhari, the opposition APC candidate. This was Buhari’s fourth shot at the presidency. 

Meanwhile, Parliament is considering inviting the Nigerian Presdent Muhammadu Buhari and former President Goodluck Jonathan to share their experiences on how Nigeria managed to sail through a very sensitive election that saw the transfer of political power to an opposition party for the first time since independence.

 The Speaker of Parliament Edward Doe Adjaho made that known when Prof. Jega yesterday Tuesday paid a courtesy call on the Parliamentary leadership in Accra.

He also spoke on a controversial debate on the need for a new voters’ register, advising that the discussions must not take a political dimension.

Prof. Jega after meeting the Chief Justice, Mrs. Georgina Theodora Wood, also held discussions with the Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Akufo-Addo.