The Nation Newspaper

Tag: voter turnout

  • Shettima decries low voter turnout

    Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, has expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the governorship and state house of assembly elections but lamented the low turnout of voters in Maiduguri.

    According to the governor, the turnout of voters in the rural areas was more than what was witnessed in Maiduguri metropolis.

    Shettima has also praised the people of Ngom and Kubu Villages of Mafa local  government area for coming out en masse to vote for their son, the APC governorship candidate in the state, despite Friday’s attacks on their villages.

    He expressed confidence that his party, the APC, will emerge victorious at the polls, adding that, “Prof Zulum will In sha Allah emerge victorious and continue with the good work of building Borno, which we have started.”

    Shettima who spoke with journalists after casting his vote at Alhaji Kukawa polling unit in Jabbamari area  of Lawan Bukar Shehuri ward, Maiduguri, said, “Actually the election was impressive but  with low turnout within the state capital while outside the state capital, people impressively turned out en masse to vote for APC and their candidates.”

    He added that “Borno will soon regain its lost glory as home of peace and all the destroyed communities will soon bear a new look, as government  has planned and institutionalised machinery for the immediate reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement of all the remaining IDPs and rebuilding of basic infrastructural facilities ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgents in the remaining communities that are yet to return.”

    He said government will also release additional funds for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of schools, hospitals and roads to link most of the major communities displaced by the insurgents.

  • Why there was low voter turnout —Edo PDP chairman

    Edo State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Dan Orbih, has blamed the low turnout of voters in his locality on what he termed derailing of due process in the February 23rd presidential and national assembly elections.

    Orbih said people were unhappy that their votes did not count in the last general election. Speaking to newsmen shortly after voting at Unit 4 Ward 4 in Estako Central local government, Orbih said voters’ apathy should be expected across the state.

    According to him, “There is very low turnout of voters. You can see it everywhere. A lot of people are not happy with what happened in the presidential election where there was deliberate derailing of the due process. The people’s desire to elect who they want was derailed.”

    On his expectations of the election, Orbih said the electoral process, especially the militarisation of the Niger Delta, was anathema to democracy.

  • Worrisome trend in voter turnout

    SIR: The controversy that shrouded the outcome of the just concluded Osun governorship elections amidst lack of confidence in the electoral commission may just be another reason behind diminishing turnout in Nigeria’s election ahead of 2019 general elections. Since the 2015 general elections, statistics have shown that while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) may have steadily improved in deployment of materials and conduct of elections generally, this has not translated into increased voter turnout during elections. This is no doubt a worrying trend ahead of the 2019 general elections.

    With just over 29 million Nigerians coming out to vote in 2015 and just over 15 million determining the president out of 67 million registered voters, it is left to be seen if the current 84 million registered voters will translate into increased total votes cast. Unfortunately, recent off circle elections does not give a good indication.

    Since after 2015 elections, Nigeria has successfully conducted up to six governorship elections, three of which came within the last one year, with the latest one being the just concluded Osun governorship election. Interesting trends and exciting figures were recorded across all three elections.

    From all the off-circle governorship elections, available data from YIAGA AFRICA shows that INEC has consistently improved on deployment of election materials to polling units. In the just concluded elections in Osun State, as at 9:00 am on election day, 95% of polling units had commenced accreditation and voting.  This is a slight improvement on the 91% observed in the Ekiti State election.  Interestingly, during the Anambra Governorship elections, as at 10:00am only 75% of polling units were opened and by 12:00 noon 92% of polling units were opened.

    The steady increase in percentage in commencement of accreditation during elections shows appreciable improvement in the deployment of sensitive materials to polling units. More so, the creation of Registration Area Centres (RACs) at various wards has also enabled faster deployment of electoral materials to polling units.

    However, the inconsistent nature of turnout of voters for elections should be a source of worry ahead of the 2019 general elections considering what is being recorded in the off-circle elections pre and post 2015 general elections.  As a matter of fact, voter turnout in Osun dropped from 54% in 2014 to 45% in the just concluded elections. The situation in Anambra State last year was even more discouraging as less than a quarter of the total number of registered voters participated in the November 2017, governorship election. Of the total of 2,064,134 residents registered as eligible voters, only 457, 511, representing 22.16 per cent, came out on election day to be accredited.

    Similarly, with a registered voter of over 1.6 million, the Ondo State governorship elections in 2016 recorded 35 % voter turnout, while Ekiti State governorship elections recorded just over 44 percent turn out in 2018 compared to 50% turn out it recorded in 2014. Kogi State similarly presented just less than 40 percent of registered voters for its governorship election that was conducted between November and December 2015 which is relatively poor.

    This is worrisome because the electoral commission has made efforts to improve in the conduct of elections since introduction of the smart card reader and use of Registration Area Centres which has enabled early deployment of materials.

     

    • Moshood Isah,

    YIAGA AFRICA, Gwarinpa, Abuja.

  • Osun council polls: APC urges massive voter turnout

    Osun council polls: APC urges massive voter turnout

    OSUN State All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged voters to come out on Saturday to vote in the council election.

    The party advised residents, particularly its supporters, to vote for those they want to be in charge of their councils.

    It said: “It is a responsibility they should not take lightly.”

    A statement yesterday in Osogbo, the capital, by APC spokesperson Kunle Oyatomi, reads: “Participation in local government election is as important as any other election in the country, and for locals, it should perhaps be more important for residents of the locality because it is their closest interaction with governance through which they can be heard.

    “Since it is official from the state electoral commission that the election is holding on Saturday, and since no other agency is authorised by law to do so, it is imperative that voters turn up for the election.

    “Nobody should allow himself/herself to be deceived that there will be no voting on that day. Anyone who says so will be attempting to fool you. So, you have to come out and vote for the candidates of your choice.

    “Any party that is not participating in the election may be doing so either out of ignorance or fear of possible disgraceful failure at the polls, or both. However, the APC already has 280 of its candidates returned unopposed out of the 389 wards. But that’s not a reason to take victory for granted in the remaining 109 wards for grabs. Go out on Saturday and register a decisive victory by voting for the APC from the rest of the contest.

    “The local government election will give a vivid indication of what the governorship contest of September will be. The APC expects no less than a resounding victory.

    “As you read this, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which is the most vitriolic opposition party we have in Osun, is so disorganised that its centre cannot hold.

    “Besides, efforts to patch the factions together have repeatedly failed; which is an indication that the party is incapable of governing. They are falling apart even before the people of Osun show them the red card for the fourth time. The first time the PDP got the red card was in 2003, (but it took the court’s intervention in 2010 to stop PDP from stealing victory).

    “The second time was just under a year that Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola came to power in 2011. That was when Senator Iyiola Omisore and others were removed from the National Assembly. The third humiliation of Omisore and the PDP was in 2014, when, in spite of the massive deployment of Federal might in the Senator’s favour, he lost the governorship election woefully.

    “The fourth time will be a double on Saturday and in September that crushing defeats in both the council and governorship elections will nail the coffins of the PDP once and for all. That will be the crowning glory for a brilliant patriot of Osun origin who has so robustly fought a monstrosity called the PDP from stopping progress in Osun. God bless Ogbeni.”