Voter participation certificate, VPC panacea to voter apathy, says CODER

Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms (CODER), a group involved in the monitoring of the 2019 General Elections, on Monday decried voter apathy across the country in the recently concluded exercise, saying there was instant need for introduction of what it called a Voter Participation Certificate (VPC) to be owned by every eligible voter in order to address such problem in future.

This was just as CODER enjoined President Muhammadu Buhari to formally put in motion every arrangement necessary for the country to use the occasion of May 29, 2019, not just for swearing in of elected officials but to deliberately and wholeheartedly celebrate the joyous occasion of the 20th anniversary of the uninterrupted democracy in Nigeria.

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Executive Director/Chair Transition Committee of CODER, Dr Wunmi Bewaji, gave these views at a press briefing in Ogba, Lagos, describing the level of voter apathy throughout the country in the last election as alarming, “especially in urban centres particularly amongst the elites.”

According to Bewaji, a legal practitioner, records showed that 18per cent turnout was recorded in Lagos, while it was 56per cent in Jigawa.

“CODER notes a very high level of voter apathy throughout the country. The data is alarming. Millions of PVCs remain uncollected till date. Data suggests acute apathy especially in urban centres, particularly amongst the elites.

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“To safeguard our democracy, there is the instant need to explore voters preregistration and incentivization of franchise with the introduction of a Voters Participation Certificate (VPC) with attendant benefits and consequences.

“For example, possession of a valid VPC could be made a criterion for employment/promotion in the civil service, for postgraduate admissions, participation in the NYSC, to obtain a drivers licence, international passports, for registration of companies, etc,” he said.

Bewaji, while saying that CODER observed Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s failure to develop and enhance it’s human capital, with it’s personnel appearing poorly trained not to fully appreciate the gravity of the task assigned to them by law, declared that there was need for the electoral body to retrain, retool and reinvent itself to be able to meet the growing challenge posed by population explosion for it to be able to perform it’s task as the 21st century electoral body.

“CODER observes INEC’s lack of attention to the provision of voting access to voters especially the weak. Poor location of polling stations, haphazard placement of voting materials, self-accreditation, and so on, all add up to disenfranchise many especially the aged, the sick, disabled and illiterates,” Bewaji said.

CODER Executive Director/Chair Transition Committee said to addressed the numerous problems cited in the last poll exercise, the electoral umpire must move from its archaic culture to technology-based operations.

According to him, electronic voting is imperative to cope with the growing population and the huge challenges such is likely to pose to future elections in the country.

Speaking further, Bewaji expressed CODER’s concern with what it termed reckless and rampant use of fake news by political gladiators in the 2019 polls, saying this was deliberately done top destroy the very institutions of democracy, namely the INEC, Army, police and other security agencies in such manner that could “undermine our democracy and people’s faith in the ballot box.”

“Adequate security arrangements made for the protection of lives and property were demonized as militarization. Few cases of the f security breach were exaggerated to horiffic proportions to portray the entire elections as being marred by violence,” he said.

“There is an urgent need for persons and organizations involved in the creation and distribution of fake news to be punished according to law. The social media needs immediate regulation to tackle the problem of hate and extremism.

“We appreciate the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform: The Army, the police and all our security agencies. We are eternally grateful to them for the work they do to keep us safe and sustain our democracy,” the CODER chief added, even he urged the few bad eggs among who were caught during the poll exercise should be investigated and brought to book.

While urging Mr. President to utilise the coming May 29 not just for swearing in of elected officials but to also celebrate the 20th anniversary of uninterrupted democracy in Nigeria, Bewaji declared that the occasion should be be considered a milestone even though not perfect yet.

“Let us celebrate ourselves. The voters, the Army, the police, our security agencies, INEC and all who have contributed to the success story so far. Though not perfect yet, 20 years is a milestone. Let’s roll out the drums and celebrate our democracy with Mr. President cutting a giant 20 years anniversary cake!” he said.