Number of registered voters as released by INEC compared to population of eligible voters is an indication that there is insufficient voters’ participation.
Chinelo Obogo
The Progressive Impact Organisation for Community Development (PRIMORG) is advocating for more voter participation in the ongoing voters card collection and the 2019 general elections.
PRIMOG released a comprehensive report on the just concluded Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and called for a more comprehensive approach to improve popular participation in the nation’s democratic process.
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In its report, which was supervised by the group’s Executive Director, Okhiria Agbonsuremi, it incorporated findings from field observation and a survey in the six North Central states of Nigeria and Abuja, and says the number of registered voters as released by INEC compared to the population of eligible voters is an indication that there is insufficient voters’ participation.
Findings by PRIMOG showed that the schedule for the release of PVCs after registration was not good enough to promote the encouragement of eligible voters as over 74 percent of participants who were surveyed were not satisfied that it takes months for INEC to deliver PVCs after registration.
The report also reveals that nearly 80 percent of the participants who were surveyed were willing to vote in the 2019 elections, a clear indication that all the efforts by INEC and the stakeholders to mobilise Nigerians to be interested in voting may resonate positively in a relatively larger number of voters in the coming elections compared to previous elections. Also, the survey showed that 81.4 percent of respondents have registered to vote in the forthcoming elections, 17 percent were yet to register while a little above 1.6 percent was indifferent. This showed that majority of Nigerians are willing to take part in the forthcoming 2019 general election.
However, some of the impending challenges likely to be faced by a prospective registrant may be reasons for the remaining 18 percent who were yet to register as voters.
Similarly, 79 percent of respondents agreed to vote in the forthcoming elections while two percent had no plan to vote and are sure would not vote. Four percent have not decided if they would vote or not, in 2019.
