As part of efforts to address voter apathy for the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State, stakeholders have urged the political class to mobilise their supporters and party members to actively participate in the voting process.
The Nigerian Tribune reports that this call was made during a one-day policy dialogue on the Edo State Governorship Election 2024, organised by the Electoral Institute, Abuja, held in Benin City on Wednesday. The event was themed “Enhancing Voter Participation and Inclusivity in the Edo State Governorship Election.”
In their remarks, Dr Anugbum Onuoha, Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Edo State, Prof. Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, Chairman of the Board of the Electoral Institute, and Prof. Hassan Saliu, Lecturer of Political Science at the University of Ilorin, emphasised the critical role of political parties and leaders in tackling voter apathy.
Prof. Abdullahi Abdu Zuru highlighted that the turnout of voters in recent elections has been discouraging for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), despite innovations and efforts aimed at making the electoral process more accessible to voters.
“In spite of all these innovations to ensure that elections are made easier for everyone, the level of voter participation and apathy remains worrisome to us,” Zuru said.
“We expect that with improvements in the conduct of elections, more people will participate, leading to higher voter turnout.”
He assured that INEC will continue to play a key role in enhancing voter participation and inclusivity through voter education and advocacy efforts.
Zuru also appealed to all stakeholders, particularly political actors, to adhere to the rules and regulations governing the electoral process.
“We, as an electoral umpire, assure the people of Edo State and political actors that we will abide by the provisions of the electoral legal frameworks, including the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Electoral Act 2022, INEC regulations and guidelines, and the manual for election officials approved by the commission,” he said.
“Only eligible voters of Edo State will decide the next governor of the state. Your votes will definitely count,” he concluded.
Earlier, Dr. Anugbum Onuoha, Edo REC, stated that the dialogue aimed to address voter apathy in the forthcoming governorship election and explore the reasons behind the low voter turnout.
Onuoha assured that the commission was fully prepared to conduct credible and free elections, emphasising that they would not fail the people of Edo State and that every vote would count.
He highlighted that the commission had undertaken various advocacy and training programmes to ensure that the election process was well-accepted by all stakeholders.
Prof. Hassan Saliu, the guest lecturer, delivered a lead paper titled “Enhancing Voter Participation and Inclusivity.”
He explained that the purpose of the policy dialogue was to enlighten and mobilise the electorate and residents of Edo State to actively participate in the election by casting their votes for their preferred candidates and political parties.
Saliu, who is also the President of the Nigeria Political Science Association (NPSA), argued that globally, an election with low participation would not be considered credible or successful.
He stressed that mobilising stakeholders and encouraging voter participation is crucial for the legitimacy of the election.
“Credibility leads to legitimacy. If people do not feel able to participate in an election, whatever the outcome, it will suffer from a legitimacy crisis,” Saliu stated.
“So, in order for the forthcoming governorship election in Edo State not to have any form of question mark hanging around it, we need to mobilise everybody around to come out and vote because coming out to vote by the people will go a long way of making the election to be credible.”
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