The Executive Director of AidAfrica, James Ugochukwu, has expressed his concerns about voter indifference and the legitimacy of the political process in light of the dismal voter participation.
On September 22, 2024, Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was proclaimed the victor of the Edo State governorship election by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC). Okpebholo received 291,667 votes, which was more than enough to defeat Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Ugochukwu discussed the concerning turnout for the Edo state governor’s race in 2024 in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday.
He said that, “Out of 2.2 million people that collected their PVC, out of the 2.6 that actually registered, we have only 24.49%.”
Liborous Oshoma, a lawyer and human rights activist, stated in the same interview that it is impossible to claim that voters used their free will because they were “impoverished” and induced.
“In Nigeria of today, you dangle N20,000 before somebody looking for urgent N2000, certainly, he will sell his conscience,” he added.
Oshoma went on to highlight how clear it was that the votes were bought and weren’t generated naturally.
He said, “It was obvious that they shared money. They bought votes right in the presence of security agencies that looked the other way.
“In Edo North, for example, some party agents abandoned their party because of money. You see where politicians will weaponize poverty.”
Ugochukwu further mentioned how the poor voter participation was exacerbated by the time wasted opening the polling unit. He questioned why INEC couldn’t provide proof of the money spent on them.
“So the question we will be asking is that, why is it that INEC, on election day, where everywhere is locked down and no movement at all and with all the preparations and arrangement with road transport workers, cannot move materials from one point to another?” He questioned.
Additionally, he stated that individuals suffer from this apathy as a result of the belief that their ballots are insignificant l
He stated that “We should be looking at Nigerians leveraging the Supreme Court ruling of local government autonomy and ensure that we start redefining our democracy from bottom-up.”
Frances Ibiefo
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