Abuja: A new report on “Addressing Voter Apathy in Nigeria” has identified insecurity and socio-economic challenges as key drivers of low voter turnout during elections.
Prof. Freedom Onouha, Department of Political Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, presented the report findings on Friday in Abuja and said the study addressed voters’ apathy in Nigeria.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) and the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) conducted the research.
Onouha identified electoral violence, distrust in the electoral process and voter suspicion as key drivers of apathy that stifle the electoral process in Nigeria.
He called for reforms to restore citizens’ trust in the electoral process.
“There are structural and systemic factors responsible for voter apathy, but the most important one is the growing distrust in the electoral system.
“People are beginning to feel that the electoral body is not conducting elections that enable their votes to count.
“The loss of faith in those electoral bodies and electoral process is the number one reason we have low voter turnout,” he said.
He said that insecurity was also a significant cause of voters’ apathy.
“Increasingly, we are seeing our politicians mobilise violence on a large scale, on a disposed scale, to win an election.
“That, in itself, is causing a lot of discomfort. People are not prepared to risk their lives to vote in an election.
“There is always this conclusion that the outcome of the election tends not to reflect in terms of the outcome,” Onouha said.
According to him, there is also the issue of bad governance.
He said those who eventually won the election failed to run the kind of governance that delivered basic services.
“These tend to make them lose hope or disengage from the electoral process and the government of the nation, which is a major problem for the country,” he said.
He said that addressing these challenges was crucial to restoring the integrity of the electoral system and ensuring that citizens’ voices were heard.
He said meaningful reforms were essential to restoring public trust and ensuring the integrity of future elections.
“The current administration needs to raise the bar regarding security, not just now, but also during the elections, because insecurity is the major disincentive for people not voting.
“The second point is that we need to have a clear-eyed approach to reforming our electoral processes and institutions,” he said.
“In this regard, if we say we want to transition to electronic voting and we are going to transmit results, we need to do it so that it is seamless and smooth so that people will have confidence in the government.
Also, Dr Fatima Adamu, Executive Director of Nana Girls and Women Empowerment Initiative, an NGO, stressed the need to tackle insecurity, which has affected women’s participation in electoral processes.
“Women complain bitterly about the violence during campaigns, and the same thing during the election. So that needs to be addressed.
“Another issue women raise is the lack of voter education and representation of quality leaders, especially women.
“They feel that they are not giving quality women to contest, and they want the political parties to do so,” she said.
Mr Lennart Oestergaard, FES’s Resident Representative, said: “If people do not use their right to vote, then that is a challenge, and it has to be addressed.
“These research findings are open to everyone interested, civil society, actors, academia, and also the government, to take a look at it, and maybe if it’s helpful, take some learnings.”
Dr Joseph Ochogwu, Director-General, IPCR, represented by Dr Ayuba Caleb, said that the institute remained committed to supporting efforts that deepen democratic values and foster a culture of active, peaceful citizenship.”