Otive Igbuzor: Nigerians don’t vote — only 26% of the population voted for Tinubu in 2023

Otive Igbuzor, executive director of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), says it does not speak well of Nigeria’s democracy that nine million of the country’s 200 million population played the decisive role in electing President Bola Tinubu in 2023.

According to the final tallies of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from all 36 states and Abuja, Tinubu garnered about 36.6 percent or 8.79 million valid votes, while Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), trailed behind with 29.1 percent or 6.98 million of valid votes.

Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) received 25.4 percent or about 6.1 million votes.

Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday at a political dialogue on election credibility threshold in Nigeria, organised by the LSD, Igbuzor said more Nigerians need to be involved in the electioneering process.

“It doesn’t speak well of the country’s democracy that nine million Nigerians, representing 26 percent of the country’s 200 million population, played the decisive role in the election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the polls,” he said.

“So, that pillar of our work is very important for us. Why is it that people don’t vote in Nigeria, and what can we do to make them vote?

“And then the last pillar, pillar four, is monitoring key stakeholders in the electoral process. And this, what we are doing today, is dealing with the credibility of elections.

“So, we want to have indices to measure credibility. And our aspiration is that we will create an index, just like we have a poverty index, so if there is an election in the US, we go to the US and use the index to measure it.

“If there is an election in Ghana, we go to Ghana and use the index to measure it. That is our aspiration.”

He said notwithstanding the challenges associated with democratic rule in the polity, it is still better than military rule.

On his part, Iroro Izu, a lecturer in the department of political science and international relations at Nile University, recommended that transparency and accountability checkers should be developed and used to gauge the operational credibility of the key stakeholders in future elections.

Izu also called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to create more polling units to make voting centers easier, more convenient, and more accessible.

“As recommended by the Mohammed Uwais electoral reform commission, INEC should be unbundled to several independent entities for purposes of efficiency and effectiveness to the end that one of such entities will deal with election offences,” he said.

“Another will deal with political parties’ conduct, especially in the area of primary elections; also, a third entity could be in charge of massive re-orientation of citizens, politicians, security personnel, and other stakeholders.

“Civil society organisations with vast experience in election matters should be engaged in the training and retraining of election workers and in election monitoring.

“INEC, as an impartial player in the election enterprise, could use any legal measure to execute and achieve its mandate.

“Traditional rulers and religious leaders should be co-opted in sensitisation campaigns and appeals to the consciences of all stakeholders involved in the election business.

“The law should be guaranteed to ensure the conduct of all elections in one day to avoid continued subtle disenfranchisement of many as a result of lethargy or voter fatigue.

“INEC should make it an official policy to prioritise the use of political science and statistics graduates in election duties.

“This is because most times INEC staffers who engage in questionable dealings during elections do so out of ignorance of how the process should work. It is true that they are trained, but most times the training period is too short, abrupt, and inconclusive.”