Ahead of the 2027 general elections, pro-democracy activists have cautioned against a repeat of the situation where nine million voters played a decisive role in the election of President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 poll.
Dr. Otive Igbuzor, who spoke yesterday in Abuja at a political dialogue on election credibility threshold in Nigeria, organised by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), decried voter apathy that characterised the 2023 presidential poll.
Igbuzor, who is the Executive Director of LSD, remarked that it was unfortunate that votes from nine million Nigerians, representing five per cent of the country’s 200 million population, determined the eventual winner of the exercise. The figure is also a far cry from the estimated 96.3 million registered voters as of August 2022.
This, he said, was in sharp contrast to international best practices, as witnessed in neighbouring Ghana, where over 50 per cent of registered voters participated in the election of President John Dramani Mahama.
Igbuzor, who insisted that democratic rule remains the best option, said it behoves stakeholders in the electoral process to reverse the situation in the upcoming 2027 poll.
For Mr Ezenwa Nwagwu of the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA), much has been achieved in the electioneering process in the country since the return to democratic rule in 1999.
He cited the deployment of BIVAS to curtail the challenges associated with vote rigging and manipulation as inroads recorded within the period under review.
Acknowledging that the adoption of Justice Uwais’ recommendation is a welcome development, he remarked that in dealing with the credibility threshold of elections, solutions to be proffered either administratively or through the legislature should recognise the contemporary nature of the challenges faced in the electoral system.
A lecturer in the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Nile University of Nigeria, Dr Iroro Izu, canvassed the development of transparency and accountability checkers to gauge the operational credibility of the key stakeholders in the election process in the country.
In his welcome address, the Director of Strategy at Centre LSD, Mr Itia Otabor, said through the policy dialogue, the centre aims to identify practical solutions to challenges facing credible elections and develop a roadmap for implementing reforms that would strengthen the integrity of electoral processes.
