Chairman, Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa, Ezenwa Nwangwu, has urged Nigerians to embrace their civic responsibilities, warning that voter apathy, logistical inefficiencies, and political complacency threaten the integrity of the country’s democratic process, regarding the recent area council elections, he stressed that while the polls were largely peaceful, low turnout and administrative challenges exposed persistent weaknesses in Nigeria’s electoral system.
Speaking In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday, Nwangwu provided an in-depth analysis of voter behavior, election management, and the lessons that should guide the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of future elections, Emphasising that elections are more than single-day events they are complex processes requiring citizen participation, robust institutional preparedness, and multi-stakeholder engagement to ensure democracy functions effectively.
,”Citizens must understand that if we don’t take our civic responsibility seriously, if we do not vote, in some way, we have voted and voted for what we don’t want. We can continue to lament about how votes don’t count and all of that. But anytime you see vote buying, anytime you see that politicians are interested in purchasing their seats, put value on the vote.”
“Observers across the board have agreed that the elections went on peacefully in the six area councils. So, it was a peaceful city.”
Noting the challenges with voter turnout, he explained that, “Quite a lot of people who are not in the city centre may have also registered in the city centre and did not come out from their satellite towns to come and vote due to the restriction that was placed on election day. That could be a reason. But generally speaking, we’ve continued to see no voter turnout, and that should be of concern.”
Highlighting the importance of confidence in the electoral system, he stated, “For the FCT particularly, if you have an opposition senator in the Senate, that tells you that your votes counted the last time. So, I’m more interested in looking at perhaps how we can begin to inspire much more confidence in our civic responsibility.”
Nwangwu explained INEC’s operational challenges, stating “For the INEC, the logistics challenges were rife in terms of their officials. In many places, we saw officials placing electoral materials on the floor. And the people who have the responsibility to provide the news and chairs for those officials, many of them were reluctant in their duty. And some of the officials that were also sent to conduct the elections did not show up in some of the places that they were supposed to.”
He outlined steps to improve election efficiency, “I think we can do better than that next time. Voters should have at least 48 hours notice if you are going to be splitting the polling units. And then, people need also to be patient in terms of taking the time.”
On the broader state of Nigeria’s democracy, Nwangwu observed, “The alternative is more problematic. That is, we have to work this democracy, and the only way we work it is to continue to engage, participate, continue to push. We know that sometimes the leadership has not lived up to power. They may have been completely irresponsible in delivering democracy to what the people want. What is our responsibility? To keep working at it, getting it better, and participating.”
He also addressed voter attitudes and engagement, “Participation is not just in voting. You have to also understand that election is a process, it’s not an event. So where did you come from to get to the voting day? The first thing is that 95% of voters collected their PVCs. So if 95% of voters collected their PVCs, that is participation, that is an indication that they are interested.”
On the importance of infrastructure and collaboration, Nwangwu said, “The quality of the infrastructure that you have, where these elections are conducted, the quality, your attitude to elections, the way we behave is also very important in determining whether we have good outcomes or not. So it’s a multi-stakeholder engagement. The voters themselves who are participating in voting, and the politicians who are buying the votes, needs to also come to a point in which they begin to think whether this contributes to diminish the quality of elections or not.”
Addressing security concerns and electoral violence, he explained, “During elections, studies have shown that the guns go silent. So the proof is that during elections is a festival. It’s a festival in which people determine who governs them. And there’s a budget to it. Somebody will control the budget after elections, whether it is the sub-national elections, state elections. Those who want to have access to that budget have some way in ensuring that there is peace for that election to happen. At the end of the election, when they lose or win, their reaction to winning or losing is what then brings back the violence.”
Nwangwu concluded by underscoring the lessons for 2027, “In 2027, there has to be a lot of civic political education that needs to go in to be able to get the kind of outcome that we’re looking for. The lessons are already known. INEC needs to help its game in terms of logistics. The quality of elections depends not just on the institution, but on the voters, the politicians, and the security agencies working responsibly to ensure that the process is credible.”
Erizia Rubyjeana
Follow us on:
