File copy: Voting exercise at ward 03, Eri Primary school, Unit 004, Otuocha 1, Aguleri, Anambra East.
Photos: Saheed OlugbonThe paradox in the message contained in the worrying statistics from Nigeria’s electoral management body, the Independent National Electoral Commission, after the just-concluded general elections is difficult to miss: the more it seems Nigerians have embraced democracy as the most preferred mode of governance and system of effecting leadership change, the more they distance themselves from the very activity that gives expression to that singular reality: voting.
During the week, two experts on elections and democracy, Dr Cyril Obi of the US-based African Peacebuilding Network and Dayo Olaide, a development specialist based in Abuja, in separate telephone discussions, offered interesting perspectives and insights that propelled this discourse. Those poignant insights are reflected herein.
Data released by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance on the 2019 elections indicated that “the rate of voter turnout in the 2019 elections in Nigeria is the lowest of all recent elections held on the African continent.” The group further notes that “the turnout…happens to be the second lowest in the history of elections held in African countries — the lowest being 32.3 per cent in the 1996 Zimbabwean presidential election.
Conversely, the least 10 include Cote d’Ivoire, 52.9 per cent; Algeria, 49.4 per cent; Mozambique, 48.6 per cent; Sudan, 46.4 per cent; Sao Tome and Principe, 46.1 per cent, Democratic Republic of Congo, 45.4 per cent; Mali, 42.7 per cent; Egypt, 41.1 per cent; Cape Verde, 35.5 per cent and Nigeria, 34.8 per cent as the last.
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