PVCS
Eight months to the 2019 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has registered 79.42 million voters that will decide that fate of candidates in 119,973 polling units across Nigeria.
Speaking at the INEC Private Sector Forum organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) in Lagos on Tuesday, Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, said 9.7 million new voters were registered between April and June 14, most of whom were young Nigerians.
“Since the Continuous Voter Registration is ongoing, clearly the number of voters will rise above 80 million,” Yakubu said, adding that 7 million permanent voters’ cards (PVCs) were lying on the tables of INEC without being collected, urging those that had registered to ensure they collect PVCs to exercise their voting right.
Nigeria is preparing for general elections that will be held on February 16 (presidential and National Assembly) and March 2 (governorship and state assembly). The presidential election will likely be torn between conservative Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC), a candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party and a more progressive candidate from the Olusegun Obasanjo-backed African Democratic Party (ADP).
Yakubu recognises that the major challenge ahead of the election is trust on his electoral body and pledges that INEC will conduct a free and fair election.
He lamented that two bye-elections conducted in Lagos witnessed voter apathy as only 2.9 percent of registered voters participated at Ifako-Ijaye Federal Constituency in December 2016 while 3.4 percent took part in Eti-Osa in September 2017.
He charged the private sector to participate more in the electoral process rather than isolate themselves.
“The business community has seamlessly delivered goods and services to customers. You have, over time, perfected the capacity to deliver products to the remotest locations nationwide,” he said, adding that INEC needs such experience to deliver materials to the remotest parts of the country.
Yakubu said a bill has been sent to the National Assembly to ensure that Diaspora Nigerians participate in the electoral process.
Frank Aigbogun, publisher and CEO of BusinessDay, said he has observed that many of those that are critical of elections in Nigeria have nothing to do with such elections, urging the media to ensure that some of the misconceptions among the populace are properly dissected and explained.
Aigbogun pointed out that the media sometimes attacks issues based on lack of information, urging INEC to engage the media the more, while calling on the Fourth Estate of the Realm to promote free and fair elections and hold elected representatives to account.
He announced that BusinessDay, as part of its contributions to free and fair elections, has published list of registration areas three times free of charge, asking other media organisations to follow suit.
Babatunde Paul Ruwase, president of LCCI, said the private sector must participate in elections the more as the future of generations to come depends on it. Ruwase said the private sector has a duty to ensure good governance.
Abubakar Suleiman, executive director in charge of finance and strategy for Sterling Bank, said the private sector has created a wrong dichotomy, urging the OPS to participate actively in elections as decisions taken thereafter can make or mar their enterprises.
Sulieman urged political office holders to pay more attention to wealth creation than wealth distribution, stating that the private sector has more capacity to disseminate information and should be taken more seriously in political decision-making process.
