There is a list that determines who has power in Nigeria. It is called the Voter Register. It contains the names of every Nigerian who has registered to vote. If your name is on it, you can choose who governs you. If your name is not on it, you are a spectator in your own country.

The list is maintained by INEC — the Independent National Electoral Commission. They have offices in every state, in every local government area. They have computers, they have staff, they have procedures. And they have a website where you can check, right now, whether your name is on the list.

Go to voter.inecnigeria.org. Enter your details. Your name will appear, or it will not. If it appears, you will see your polling unit — the specific location where you must go on election day to cast your vote. You will see your Voter Identification Number (VIN). You will see your status: active, or inactive, or something else.

If your name does not appear, you need to register. This is your right. Section 12 of the Electoral Act 2022 says that every citizen of Nigeria who has attained the age of eighteen years shall be entitled to be registered as a voter for any election. Not may be entitled. Shall be entitled. It is not a privilege. It is a right.

How do you register? You go to an INEC office. You bring proof of identity — your national identity card, your international passport, your driver's license. You fill out a form. They take your photograph, your fingerprints, your signature. They enter you into the system. And then they print you a card — the Permanent Voter Card, the PVC — that you must bring on election day.

The process is supposed to be continuous. Continuous Voter Registration, they call it. You should be able to register at any time, not just in the months before an election. In practice, INEC opens and closes registration windows. They cite budget constraints, logistical challenges, security concerns. But the law does not say you can register when it is convenient for INEC. The law says you have the right to register. You should demand that right.

Once you are registered, you must verify your details. Check the website. Check that your name is spelled correctly. Check that your polling unit is the place you expect. Check that your status is active. If anything is wrong, you can correct it. INEC allows for corrections — for transfer of polling units if you have moved, for updates of personal details, for replacement of lost cards.

Why does this matter? Because elections are stolen in the registration. Not on election day, when everyone is watching, but before, when names are quietly removed from the list, when polling units are moved without notice, when multiple registrations are created for ghost voters. The integrity of the voter register is the foundation of electoral integrity. If the list is corrupted, the election is corrupted before the first ballot is cast.

In 2023, there were reports of voter suppression — of polling units being relocated to inaccessible places, of machines failing to accredit voters who were present, of registered voters arriving to find that their names were not in the register at their polling unit. Some of this was technical failure. Some of it was deliberate manipulation. The line between the two is often unclear.

The Electoral Act 2022 introduced new technology — the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS). It is supposed to verify voters using both fingerprints and facial recognition. It is supposed to prevent the old frauds: voting multiple times, impersonating another voter, ballot stuffing. Whether it works depends on whether the technology functions, whether the network is stable, whether the staff are trained, whether the will to conduct a credible election exists.

Your role in this is verification. You must check that you are registered. You must check where your polling unit is. You must go there on election day with your PVC and another form of identification. You must insist on being accredited. You must watch the process. You must collect your ballot and cast your vote.

If your name is not on the register when you arrive, you should demand an explanation. You should ask for the incident form. You should document what happened. You should report it to election observers, to civil society organizations, to the media. You should make it known that your right was denied.

The list is power. The list determines who can participate in the choice of leaders. The list is the threshold of democracy — step across it, and you are a citizen with a voice; remain outside it, and you are subject to decisions you had no part in making.

Too many Nigerians are not on the list. Young people who turned eighteen after the last registration window. People who moved and never transferred their registration. People who registered but never collected their PVC. People who tried to register but were turned away by overwhelmed offices or malfunctioning machines. The gaps in the register are gaps in representation.

The Electoral Act says INEC must make the register available for inspection. Before every election, the voter register is supposed to be displayed at all INEC offices and online, so that citizens can verify their details and challenge any errors. This inspection period is your opportunity to correct mistakes, to ensure that your name is there and that your details are correct.

Democracy is not a spectator sport. It requires participation. And participation begins with registration. With the tedious, bureaucratic, often frustrating process of getting your name on the list. It is not exciting. It does not feel like resistance or revolution. It feels like paperwork.

But it is the paperwork that makes everything else possible. The protests, the advocacy, the demands for accountability — all of it depends on the ability to choose who governs. And that ability depends on being on the list.

Check now. While there is time. While there is still a window to correct errors, to register if you have not, to collect your PVC if you have not. Do not wait until election day, when the line is long and the pressure is high and the system is overwhelmed. Do it now.

Your name on the list is your voice in the room where decisions are made. Do not give it up. Do not let it be taken from you. Do not let bureaucratic friction silence you. The list is yours. The right is yours. The choice is yours. Make sure the system knows you are there.