Since the return of democracy in 1999, Nigeria has witnessed an increase in the number of registered voters. However, the number of people who actually participate in voting continues to decline in every election circle, SAMSON BENJAMIN reports.
The foundation of every democracy is built on elections because it enables citizens to choose their leaders and representatives in government. While the purpose of every government is to develop and implement various policies for the benefit of its citizens, it is also the right and responsibility of the citizen to elect their leaders through the ballot.
And recently, Nigerians went to the polls to elect their leaders at the state and federal levels. While the presidential and National Assembly elections held on 23rd of February, the governorship and state assembly had theirs on 9th of March.
Although the elections have been largely won and lost, the number of Nigerians who decided the results of the election still remains a major source of concern for political watchers and analysts.
Before the elections, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, said out of the 84 million registered voters in the country, 72.7 million Nigerians collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the polls; the highest since the country returned to democracy in 1999. The 72.7 million represent 86.3 percent collection rate.
And prior to the polls, analysts predicted that the unprecedented 14.5 million voters added to the voter register in the last few years would fuel the determination of Nigerians to come out en masse and choose their political leaders. Unfortunately it did not turn out to be so.
Low voter turn out
In Nigeria, every adult is given the right to vote, irrespective of sex, class, occupation. However, statistics in the last two decades have however shown that many people do not participate in election even when they have been registered by the nation’s electoral body.
Specifically, figures from the 2019 election results released by INEC, particularly the presidential election showed that the total votes cast stood at 28,614,190 million representing only 39 percent of those that collected their PVC’s.
While President Muhammadu Buhari, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate polled 15,191,847 million votes, his main challenger, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored 11,255,978 million, with a total of 1,289,607 votes rejected.
Interestingly, the total votes garnered by the candidates of the remaining political parties were less than 1 million
Blueprint Weekend investigation, through analysis of official records obtained from the website of INEC and other sources, reveals that the 2019 figure is the lowest since the return of democracy in 1999.
In 1999, 52.3 per cent of registered voters participated in the 1999 elections. The figures rose to 69.1 percent in 2003, and then went down to 57.4 percent in 2011, 53.7 percent in 2011 and 43.6 percent in 2015.
Causes explained
Commenting on the low turnout of voters in a chat with Blueprint Weekend, national chairperson of Transition Monitoring Group, a coalition of over 40 Civil Society Organsations (CSOs), Dr Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi says it is no longer a government of the majority if minority citizens decide who emerges the nation’s leaders.
“It is not a thing of pride that less than 30 million voters are allowed to determine the fate of over 180 million Nigerians when it comes to deciding who the country’s representatives should be.
“It is no longer news that most Nigerians don’t know their right as provided in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which makes it important that INEC takes voter education a notch further to ensure that majority of its electorate participate in the electioneering process, for it is really a government of the majority when a minority number of citizens are placed with the duty of electing the country’s leaders,” Akiyode-Afolabi explains.
History of voter turnout in Nigeria
Between 1999 and 2019, Nigeria’s registered voters rose from 57,938,945 million to 84,004,084 million.
However, it has also been observed that despite the increased rate of voters’ registration owing to the rise in population and political awareness, the number of voters in Nigeria has continued to drop in every election.
For instance, in 1999, there were 57,938,945 registered voters by INEC. However, the total votes cast were 30,280,052, representing 52.3 percent.
There were 29,848,441 valid votes and 431,611 invalid votes, representing 98.6 percent and 1.4 percent of the total votes cast respectively.
However, the voter turnout rose in 2003 to 69.1 per cent. That year, INEC had 60,823,022 registered voters, out of which 42,018,735 turned out and cast their votes with 39,480,489 valid votes and 2,538,246 invalid votes. Under this period, the turnout represents an increase of 16.8 percent.
In 2007, available records show there were 61,566,648 registered voters by INEC out of which 35,419,262 voters, representing 57.4 per cent, were said to have voted. This represents a drop in the voter turnout of 11.04 percent.
The voter turnout again drops further to 53.7 percent in the 2011 presidential election when INEC had 73,528,040 registered voters, but only 39,469,484 of them turned out for the poll, with 38,209,978 valid votes and 1,259,506 invalid votes. This represents a drop of 4.36 percent.
The situation was the same in 2015 when only 29,432,083 voters, which was 43.6 percent out of the 67,422,005, registered voters cast their votes. That year, there were 28,587,564 valid votes and 844,519 invalid votes indicating a drop by 10.1 percent.
CSOs blame system
The mammoth crowd that stormed the campaign venues of the leading political parties during the campaign season raised optimism and enthusiasm that voter turnout would surpass the previous ones. However, the contrary was the case as voter turnout in the 2019 presidential elections reached its lowest ebb since the return of democracy in 1999.
Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, says although he expected 50 per cent voter turnout or more, a lot of factors could have been responsible for the decline.
Speaking to Blueprint Weekend, the CISLAC boss says he believes there were a lot of threats to the lives of voters, “especially with recent happenings around the country where violence erupted in a number of places during and after campaigns.”
He further explains that a lot of voters may have been discouraged from coming out because political parties did not convince Nigerians about their programmes and policies if voted into power.
Similarly, Samson Itodo, head of the Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth & Advancement (YIAGA), says voting has become a very expensive venture for many ordinary Nigerians that they simply overlook the effort.
“The difficulty associated with voting is one that many Nigerians simply decide to avoid and hence, the first barrier to the exercise of the democratic franchise.
“It is difficult and expensive to be a voter in Nigeria. First, you must show up to register, then show up to collect your Permanent Voter’s Card and then show up to vote.
“We expect citizens to show up three times to exercise their franchise. Studies have shown that the more we complicate the voting process, the more we increase apathy. Voting should be simplified and interesting to encourage citizens to vote.”
Electoral Act amendment
Beside the challenges of the logistics, Rafsanjani also highlights other barriers that have worsened the apathy.
According to him, electoral fraud, violence and undemocratic processes are some other reasons for voter apathy in Nigeria.
He says, “After the 2015 elections, Nigerians expected President Buhari and his party, APC, to ensure electoral transparency and deal with electoral impunity but unfortunately, neither his party nor his government initiated any positive electoral reform that would encourage Nigerians to participate in our electoral process.
“One of such acts expected of President Buhari to promote transparency of the electoral process was the Electoral Act Amendment Bill which the president turned down four times from the National Assembly.
“The National Assembly which had initially shown enthusiasm to push forward the amendment, however, failed to do so as partisan political considerations overwhelmed the process in the last quarter of last year.”
He also cites the issue of accountability.
“Many voters don’t want to vote because of the absence of political accountability by the elected politicians,” an issue he believes was fuelled by the “imposition of candidates by political parties forcing many voters to stay away from voting.”
Complimenting the above, Itodo submits that “The decrease in the level of voter turnout during elections is largely attributed to the failure of political leadership to deliver development to the people.
“Despite going through hardships to exercise their right to vote, sometimes voters don’t get the desired outcome from their investment in election. It is discouraging when leaders are voted and they shut the same people that voted them in power out of governance.
“Secondly, the do-or-die nature of our politics and the desperation of politicians to get power is another issue. This desperation in the quest for power has led to violence, intimidation and electoral heist.
“In fact, it increased the temperament of politics in Nigeria, making elections look like war and not a civil affair. This pathology of electoral contests is a turnoff for most voters. Voters are concerned about their security and so if voting stations become hotbeds or theatre of violence, they have no option but to stay away.”
On how the apathy can be reversed, Itodo suggests “increased voter and political education. Citizens need to appreciate the value and implication of voting at elections. To do this, government, civil society, academic and media will require increased investment in voter mobilisation.
“Democratic institutions should function properly so they can deliver on their mandate. For instance, if the security agencies uphold non-partisanship, patriotism and professionalism in their management of election security operations or INEC conducts free and fair election, citizens will be confident that their votes will count and turn up to vote.”
Nigerians speak
Blueprint Weekend further samples the opinions of some Nigerians on this development.
Esther Usman , 31 , a registered voter from Edo state tells our reporter that she has never voted in her entire life because she believes “one vote can’t change anything.”
“What is my vote going to change when nothing has changed despite several elections in the past?” she asked.
On his part, Adejo Emmanuel, another registered voter says he only registered because he wants PVC for official identification.
“I only registered lately in the recent continue voter registration exercise just to get a voter card because I need it for bank transaction and as a means of identification. I don’t have drivers license and national identity card, so I use my PVC as an alternative for now. ”
Also speaking, Tochukwu Emeni says, “I have voted just once in my entire life and then I was not even eligible to vote.”
“I could recall when we were playing football in the field during one of the elections and my uncle sent someone to come take us to the field. They asked us to deep our thumb in ink and press on ballot papers. I was happy then but having grown up to understand how ‘criminal’ politicians could be, I decided to stay away from anything that has to do with voting.
Voter education
The electoral commission owes it a duty not only to conduct election but to also educate its electorate on information surrounding the process.
Speaking on the importance of voter education, Prof Jude Okoye of the department of political science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, tells our reporter that all stakeholders including INEC, political parties, Civil Society Organisation’s, political parties, media etc. must be involved in voter education.
“Ordinarily, it is the onerous duty of all the registered political parties to embark on sustained voter education running through the gamut of the four – year period of any government in power. It should not be carried out only during the period of campaigns. In fact, it should be budgeted for.
“Sadly, they hardly do so here in Nigeria because their focus is more predicated on angling for power and holding unto it , for self- serving purposes.
“The opposite situation plays itself out in advanced democracies where the voters are consistently enlightened by the community heads of their political parties, virtually on a daily basis.
“Members of the civil society should take it upon themselves to let the voters know that the Permanent Voter Card is compulsory for every Nigerian voter ; not just for banking purposes or enrolling their children in school but to freely discharge their franchise .
“Besides, the media, public affairs analysts and social commentators should assist by using their platforms (radio, television, print and social media) to reach out to the eligible voters. They should be educating them on all it takes.
