Elections: Nigerians should vote based on issues, not parties ― Don

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6 years ago

A university lecturer and first Nigerian female professor of mathematics, Olabisi Ugbebor, has urged Nigerians to vote in the forthcoming general elections according to socio-economic issues put forward by candidates and not parties.

She gave the advice on Thursday in Lagos as a guest speaker at the 2019 mathematics conference and exhibition organised by the Mathematics for Life Foundation.

She spoke on “The mathematics of election choices, voting and outcomes.”

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According to him, it’s disheartening that Nigeria’s voting patterns in general elections over the years since political independence in 1960 up till now are similar.

The electorate, she said, are always boxed into a corner by making fixated choice of who to vote for only between two major dominant political parties irrespective of their performance or what they could do to better the lives of the generality of the people.

Prof Ugbebor, who teaches mathematics at the University of Ibadan said electorate should put sentiment apart and vote for candidates who can lift health, power, education and agriculture as well as other sectors of the economy to appreciable level and not a particular party.

While expressing worry over figures manipulation by politicians and electoral bodies in the previous elections, she said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)should this time around not allow total votes cast t a particular polling booth higher than numbers of registered voters.

“It is absurd when the number of votes cast is higher than the registered voters, it should either be lesser or at worst the same,” she said, noting that whatever the outcomes of the forthcoming election will shape the future of Nigeria.

Speaking about the importance of the theme for the conference, Mr Omoniyi Osuntunyi, President of Mathematics for Life Foundations, said elections is a game of number and that it is important that electorates are well educated about electoral process and mechanisms so as to have credible elections that will make life meaningful to the people.