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By Henry Uche
As the 2023 general elections draw near, Yiaga Africa and other some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have charged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rethink its current strategy and adopt the “Push Strategy” to ensure that every eligible voters get their Permanent Voter Card (PVC).
At a roundtable Session in Lagos, the Executive Director of Yiaga, Samson Itodo, said the outcome of the coming elections is a source of worry to them, particularly the low rate of PVC collection and poor awareness level of relevant information among most Nigerians.
“Asking people to come to INEC office to collect their PVCs is not yielding desired results, that’s pull strategy, we need to adopt the “The Push Strategy” by decentralizing the distribution process. People at the grassroots need to have their PVCs”
Itodo urged INEC to extend the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) process by two or three weeks to enable voters register, saying that the extension would not affect INEC timetable in the negative.
He decried the low level of youth participation in vote casting, saying, “It’s not enough to complain, cry or protest, the youth must be involved. This election is about them. They must decide what happen to them in the future using their PVCs, if we don’t vote, we lose because this election is about the soul of the country,”
He advised Nigerians to pay equal attention to other elections like the governorship, National Assembly and local government elections stressing that they are every important to our national Life.
“We must not relegate other elections. Nigerians must shun every form of sentiments, mundane gratifications and freebies from any agent. We should go by competence, electorate must look forward beyond rhetorics,”
Other CSOs urged INEC to remove every bottlenecks and hitches people encounter in the process of getting ready for the elections. They also implored INEC to let everyone vote from any part of the country.
“INEC should upgrade and remove obstacles unnecessary hitches people encounter both in the virtual space and physical, and people should be able to cast their votes from anywhere they’re in the country. The government should use State- owned Media Houses to do more sensitization programs, people need to be informed,” they implored.
They suggested that while INEC goes digital in its operations, it should program its online operations to accommodate indigenous languages for obvious reasons, as part of its transformation plan. They also hope that 2027 general elections would be fully digitised.
They wish young people (who are primarily affected by maladministration and mismanagement of public resources would redirect their energies which they put into BBNaija into the forth coming general elections.
Responding, the desk officer, CSO Liaison Lagos office, Buba Luka, said INEC has been taking note of the observations by CSOs and is working round the clock to ensure elections results meet people’s desire.
Luka reiterated that INEC is putting modalities and machineries in place to accommodate people living with disabilities and other persons with special cases. “We have taken notes of all your observations and suggestions, we have been working with CSOs and would still work with you, be assured that we improving and nobody would be disenfranchised. INEC has promised to deliver more transparent and hitch-free elections,” affirmed.
