Nigeria tests voter accreditation ahead of polls

LAGOS: Nigeria´s electoral commission on Saturday staged mock biometric accreditation for voters ahead of this month´s presidential and parliamentary elections.

Nigerians go to the polls on February 25 to elect a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari who steps down after the maximum constitutionally-permissible two terms in office.

State governors and lawmakers will be elected two weeks later.

Nigeria, Africa´s most populous nation and biggest economy, has a long history of electoral malpractice, fraud and violence.

Buhari, a 79-year-old former general, has promised free and fair elections.

To promote fairness, credibility and transparency of the electoral process, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) introduced a voter accreditation system at 2015 and 2019 polls.