The Peering Advocacy and Advancement Center in Africa (PAACA), has emphasised the crucial role of voter education in sustaining democracy in Nigeria, saying that an informed electorate is essential for democratic governance, as it enables citizens to make informed decisions at the polls.
PAACA Executive Director, Ezenwa Nwagwu, while speaking in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, at a one-day citizens townhall meeting on electoral reforms, also urged citizens, political parties, media and CSOs to familiarize themselves with the electoral Act, emphasizing that understanding of the provisions of Electoral Act is crucial for credible elections.
Nwagwu in his opening address, stressed the importance of equipping citizens with knowledge about electoral processes, saying that “We want to take time to put our participants through this Electoral Act and popularize it.”
He explained that voter education encompasses more than just understanding the voting process, saying that it also involves civic education, which conveys knowledge of a country’s political system and context.
“One of the things that happens is that people talk about elections as if it is an all-comers affair. But election processes must be understood,” he said.
He highlighted the need for elections to be approached from an informed perspective, noting that despite technological advancements, Nigeria’s electoral system based on the current legal regime remains broadly speaking, manual.
“The overall voting, counting, and collation processes in Nigeria remain manual. The manually collated results at polling units are entered manually into form EC8a. Form EC8A is captured as a photo, using the BVAS machine and transmitted to the INEC Electronic Result Viewing (IREV) portal after political party agents and security personnel (police) have been handed manual copies,” he said
Nwagwu criticized political parties and their agents for failing to properly utilize innovations introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to improve the credibility of the elections.
“Party agents who have polling unit election results in their hands often pocket them instead of using them to crosscheck what INEC uploads,” he explained.
He added that political parties are fully capable of participating in the process and ensuring transparency by comparing the results uploaded from polling units with the manually collated ones.
Nwagwu clarified misconceptions surrounding the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV), stating that it serves only as a viewing platform and not a collation center.
“Why are politicians not collating the results given at polling units to verify what INEC uploads? IREV is not a collation center—it is a viewing center,” he emphasized.
While acknowledging improvements in Nigeria’s electoral system, Nwagwu noted that more work is needed.
“Our elections are improving. But we are not following the improvements that are taking place,” he said.
He said there’s room for improvements, pointing to the persistent challenge of logistics.
“Every system that sees improvement also has room for further enhancement. We want citizens to identify specific areas that require more reforms. For instance, INEC’s logistics remain a challenge. Polls do not open on time—what can be done to improve this?” he asked.
Also speaking, Dr Bulila Nyahama Daniel from the National Orientation Agency (NOA) said it is important to enlighten citizens on their responsibilities to the country and also the role of government.
He tasked Nigerians to continue to engage in the electoral process and strengthen the country’s democracy.
The meeting supported by the MacArthur Foundation drew participants from Civil society organizations (CSOs), Political Parties, Security agencies, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), National Orientation Agency (NOA), Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), FIDA and the Media.
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