The Executive Director, Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa, Ezenwa Nwagwu, has said that Nigerian electorate are major contributing factors in abetting politicians’ disregard and violation of the nation’s electoral system and legislation.
Nwagwu said politicians depend on the people to manipulate the electoral system and unleash violence to destroy the electoral process to usurp their way into leadership positions.
According to him, many citizens who clamour for fair, free, and credible elections do not read or own a copy of the electoral act to effectively challenge the electoral umpire.
He said this in Bauchi on Thursday during a one-day citizens’ town hall meeting on electoral reform. “There is no way anyone can accurately challenge what he has no knowledge about. We need to know what is written and study what is in there and see whether it is in line with our proportional representation. Come 2027, we want to have a well-informed electorate. We have done this in 18 states and we are still moving to preach more on this.”
The town hall was attended by stakeholders including security agencies, traditional institutions, media, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), National Orientation Agency, and civil society organisations.
While speaking, the Representative of INEC, Aliyu Hassan Chaba, who is also the Voter Education Officer for the Bauchi Office of the Commission, said that some innovative ideas contributed to the successful conduct of the last election. These include the Collation Support and Results Verification System (CSRVS) that led to hitch-free collation of election results.
“Customisation of sensitive election materials eased distribution and checked diversion and ballot stuffing. Assistive devices by which the visually impaired voted with ease strengthened inclusivity.
Voter education outreach at markets, motor parks, and football viewing centres assisted in reducing the incidences of rejected ballot papers,” Chaba said.
The stakeholders advocated for electoral integrity, transparency, more voter education, and more participation in the electoral system. Also, the gathering called for electoral system reform to reflect and enhance fair representation and accountability of elected officials.
