Partners for Electoral Reforms (PER), a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to commence early voters education and registration to ensure credible elections in 2019.
Ezenwa Nwagwu, the Chairman of PER made the call during a roundtable meeting with the theme; “INEC and Voters Education: Preparation for 2019 General Elections’’ in Abuja on Tuesday.
The meeting was organised by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS).
According to Nwagwu, the 2019 general elections are a few months away and the success of an election depends on how much members of the public understood democratic principles and processes.
“The Commission has few months to the 2019 general elections and has near inerasable reputation of late start. To forestall tension, the commission needs to make available to stakeholders its design and implementation plan for 2019 general election voter education activities.
“A lot of Nigerians are ignorant of the electoral processes and act which hinders them from exercising their franchise.
“INEC should carry out intense awareness to the grassroots and also simplify the electoral act for easy understanding,’’ he said.
Nwagwu called on the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to also embark on early education of voters.
According to him, INEC should also scale up its partnership with telecom giants like MTN, GLO and Etisalat as well as CSOs to enhance our electoral system.
“INEC allocated one per cent of its budget to voter education in 2015 yet the impact is not felt as knowledge of voters remains unclear.’’
He advised the electoral commission to develop a clear and comprehensive voter education strategy that articulates it’s activities throughout the electoral circle in preparation for the 2019 elections.
Hildegard Behrendt-Kigozi, the Country Representative of KAS in her address said that early voter education was essential for success of the 2019 elections.
She noted that the early education would create a platform for identifying existing gaps in electoral processes and bridging them.
Kigozi stressed the need for Nigerians to always fight for their rights.
“I often ask why people keep quiet when things are not really working well in a country, like no light and water for instance. I was happy when I heard demonstrations about the state of the country, as citizens you have to come out and speak for yourself.
“Every Nigerian should have the right to an identity card to show you are a citizen and voter registration should be done where you live for easy election.’’
In her remarks, Ngozi Ekeoba, the Representative of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), said that early voter education was imperative to the enhancement and improving the electoral system and process.
She added that there was the need for continuous voter registration education to create an impact and deep awareness on the citizens.
Ekeoba also said that the continuity in voter education and registration would make the information become part of their lives.
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