CMPA hosts Policy Round Table on Voter Apathy

By Liman Abdullahi Usman

On Thursday, 24th October 2024, the Centre for Media, Policy & Accountability (CMPA) held a policy round table to discuss “Voter Apathy and Democratic Consolidation In Nigeria” Which Way Forward?

Discussing this issue has become necessary on the backdrop of official figures leading to and after the election the 2023 general elections, i.e. our population as a nation, eligible voters, Number of registered voters Vis-a-vis number of PVCs collected and the cumulative number of people who casted their votes on elections day, especially for the presidential election which is less than 30% of registered Voters. Where are the 70% of registered voters and why are they not voting? Why do we have to shut down the economy for elections? Why can we only vote where we registered? How has technology influenced the process. It is this worrying numbers and questions that has influenced the topic of the round table

Speaking in an interview after the event, the Executive Director, Centre for Media Policy, and accountability, Dr. Suleiman A. Suleiman, says the Centre will interface with INEC and other critical stakeholders on the outcome of this discussions so that together we can make democracy interesting for Nigerians. “ The issues that have come up is that INEC needs to improve ways in which Nigerians can vote easily, for example, early voting systems or at least increase the amount of time that voting can happen we particularly at the Centre For Media Policy and Accountability, what we aim to do is, we will put together all of the ideas and all of the policy suggestions that have been made and we will engage with INEC directly to say, we held this meeting and these are what people are thinking because it is not just right that out of 87 million Nigerians who collected their PVCs, only about 28-30 million voted during the elections. Where are the remaining 60 million Nigerians”, He said.

Key resolutions and recommendations of experts will be developed into a policy document and presented to INEC, the legislators and all relevant stakeholders in order to enhance and turn the tide of Voter apathy and consolidate on our democratic gains for a prosperous and more accountable future.