By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The February 25, 2023, presidential election in Nigeria may have come and gone, with Mr Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) declared the winner, the irregularities witnessed in the exercise conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would continue to dent its credibility for a long time.
Several persons, including observers, opposition parties and others, have questioned the credibility of the election because of issues ranging from voter suppression, non-adherence to the guidelines, and the inability of voters to exercise their civic rights, among others.
For Promad Foundation and Advokc, the last part of the problem noted above is very dangerous, which is why they are collating data of disenfranchised Nigerian voters.
The groups are currently collecting information on individuals that were unable to vote in the 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections last Saturday.
In a statement, they pointed out that “when citizens lose trust in the process, their motivation to participate as active citizens is eroded, which in turn weakens our democracy.”
Before the polls, many Nigerians were eager to partake in the elections, but “this enthusiasm was dampened by widespread voter suppression, either deliberate or not, experienced across polling units in the country.”
Reports revealed several incidents of intimidation, logistical inefficiencies of INEC, and outright violence.
“We are personally aware of a polling unit with about 750 ready voters, of which only 72 had the chance to vote.
“As organisations that have actively advocated for more young people to become more civically active and participate in the democratic process. Promad Foundation and Advokc Foundation have collaborated to launch this online database to gain a data-driven perspective on the depth of the impact of this suppression.
“We are deploying an online form using social and traditional media channels to actively gather the data of Nigerians who could not vote because of the inefficiencies of INEC logistics, breakouts of violence, the inability of BVAS to accredit them, or other realities that disenfranchised them.
“We, therefore, enjoin other civil society partners, development organisations, media organisations across the country and the general public to share this form with every individual that could not vote despite coming out to,” it said.
Those affected have been urged to provide information via bit.ly/PADVoterRoll, noting that “this form would lapse from February 28 to March 10, 2023.
Adedapo Adesanya