SIR: The Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) which INEC has concluded could have shortchanged the voting strength of some parts of Nigeria, especially northern parts of the country. All the states in the northern part of the country were on the bottom rung of the ladder.
Zamfara and Yobe states had the lowest number of newly registered voters in the whole country. Katsina State has additional polling units (PUs) of 1,750, most of them empty with less than 50 registered voters.
The political leaders who benefit most from the national cake were snoring, citing ridiculous factors why they were not worried about the changing trend of voter apathy in a region that claims to be more politically conscious than other regions.
Ibrahim Shekarau, a former governor of Kano State, told the BBC Hausa that since only those who were not captured or not eligible to vote during the 2019 poll are affected, we had nothing to worry about. This mindset shows lack of vision and myopia on the part of our leaders. We have every reason to show concern, because we have the percentage of voter turn-out in the region.
If the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) had not obtained the order of mandamus, the history would have been told differently.
I must thank the Katsina State government for heeding our calls and setting up committees that comprised all stakeholders from state to ward to mobilise people to come out and register. That single historic action has saved the newly created polling units from being scrapped.
However, it is not yet uhuru! To get registered is one thing, and collecting the Permanent Voters Card (PVC) is another thing. It is pointless if in the end one will not go and collect the voter’s card. People should know that in the 2023 general elections, INEC will only use actual collected PVCs, not mere registered voters. This has implications when it comes to tallying, etc.
I feel it amounts to laziness, betrayal and unpatriotic acts regarding those who refuse to go and collect their PVCs. Huge investment has been made to print the PVCs; therefore, people with conscience should appreciate this and go and collect their PVCs. The committees set up by the Katsina State government should continue to mobilise the people to get their PVCs.
- Bishir Dauda,
daudabishir5@gmail.com