CSOs decry shrinking civic space, high poverty, voter inducements
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is seeking access to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) vast voter database to improve national planning and policy implementation across Nigeria.
This came as INEC expressed readiness to collaborate with the NBS to strengthen the collection, management, and use of data for the benefit of Nigerians.
INEC and NBS have, therefore, agreed to deepen collaboration aimed at strengthening data management, accessibility and the improvement of public facilities used for electoral activities in the country.
This was disclosed, yesterday, when the Statistician-General of the Federation, Adeyemi Adeniran, paid a courtesy call on the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu in Abuja.
The INEC boss, who spoke during the visit, described the partnership as timely, noting that while the electoral body maintains the largest database of adult citizens for elections, the NBS coordinates the national statistical system, which warehouses the widest database on all aspects of national life.
Yakubu described the meeting, the first between both agencies, as a significant step towards harnessing institutional strengths for national development.
According to him, “today’s meeting focuses on how NBS can leverage the Commission’s network of locations for electoral services for the benefit of citizens beyond elections, which only happen once in four years or as the need arises. We are always willing to partner with national agencies within the confines of the law while maintaining our independence.”
Earlier, Adeniran commended INEC’s diligence and transparency in managing the electoral process, describing the Commission as indispensable to the nation’s democracy.
He, however, emphasised the critical role of statistics in governance, saying that NBS not only produces data but also coordinates the entire national statistical system.
Meanwhile, ahead of the 2027 general elections, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the country have decried Nigeria’s shrinking civic space, weak electoral trust, as well as the politicisation of poverty by politicians, saying that those three issues need to be tackled before elections.
The CSOs spoke, yesterday, in Abuja through the Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative WRAPA and the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD).
Those, who spoke at the event, were Secretary General of WRAPA, Hajia Saudatu Mahdi; Founding Executive Director of Centre LSD, Dr Otive Igbuzor; Director of Strategy at Centre LSD, Itia Otabor; Director of Programmes at WRAPA, Yemisi Nathaniel, and Mrs Eze Tracy of Centre LSD.
They opined that while as a nation, Nigeria continues to celebrate its uninterrupted democratic civil rule characterised by positive milestones, there is an urgent need to check the downsides which are capable of causing serious setbacks to the journey.
