Stakeholders Decry Voter Apathy To Nigeria’s Electoral Process

The Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has expressed deep concerns over the growing voter apathy which it says is not healthy for Nigeria’s democracy.

The national chairman of IPAC, Alhaji Yusuf Mamman Dantelle, stated this at the multi-stakeholders’ dialogue on “Rebuilding Trust in the Electoral Process, Institutions and Elections”, organised by the International Press Centre (IPC) and funded by the European Union (EU) in Lagos.

He wondered why Nigeria recorded such voter apathy in the crucial 2023 presidential election that would redefine the destiny of the nation despite impressive voter education, voter registration, vibrant campaigns by political parties and INEC deployment of new technology, Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) that would guarantee the credibility and transparency of the exercise.

Dantelle recalled that in the 2023 general election, 93.3 million Nigerians registered to vote, 87.3 million collected their permanent voters cards, 24 million voted in the presidential election which was about 27 per cent turnout and the lowest in the history of presidential elections in Nigeria.

Also in the 2011 presidential election, voter turnout was at 53.7 per cent, in the 2015 presidential election voter turnout was at 43 per cent, while voter turnout in the 2019 presidential election was at 34.75 per cent.

Dantelle expressed worries that in a nation where there is deficit of trust the people lose confidence in elections as they may register and obtain their voter cards as some of state governments require them as a condition to receive social amenities but will not vote on election day.