2015: Day UNDP, youth group train youths on voter registration

With less than six months to the 2015 general elections, political activities in the country have begun to gather momentum. Political parties and groups have begun strategiz­ing on how to woo voters and win elections. On this basis, the United Nations Development Project (UNDP), in collabora­tion with the Youth initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advance­ment (YIAGA) and Youth Alliance on Constitution and Electoral Reforms (YACORE) organized a workshop to educate youths on the procedure required to register for a voter’s card and the need to vote for quality leadership. The workshop which took place in Port Harcourt was entitled; “Voter Education training on the 2015 elections, Continuous Voters Reg­istration/permanent Voter Card Distribution.”
For many politicians, the favour of the electorate towards any candidate is an assurance of victory. Against this background, many aspirants fall over one another to curry the favour of voters especially before elections by doling out different types of gifts to ensure that they win. The need therefore, for voters to register and obtain voters cards and the need to be educated on the impor­tance of voting during the elections has become imperative. The project manager of YIAGA, Cynthia Mbamalu who spoke on the topic, “Principles of Community mobilization for Elections”, said that if people are more educated, there would be less electoral violence. According to her, several reports on elections and electoral reforms indentify voter apathy as one of the challenges to citizen’s right to democratic participa­tion and credible elections. “Election results also reveal that while a large number of people register to vote, only a small percentage of actually vote. In Ekiti for instance, 732,116 people reg­istered to vote. 371,419 were females and 366,747 were males. Only 413,708 collected their permanent voters card and at the end, only 350,256 voted.
“Community mobilisation, which is an act targeted at bringing together resources whether human or non human to undertake developmental activity in order to achieve sustainable develop­ment should be facilitated. We should mobilise for elections because without the people, there can’t be any election. When you come into office through a credible process, you automatically be­come accountable for your actions. We need to better Nigeria and that is why we want people to participate. How we can ensure that democracy is sustained is by getting more people involved. Good governance will not come if people are not held accountable.”
Anne Ikpeme, a project director with the UNDP spoke on the topic; “Introduction to INEC Guidelines for Observation.” She said the UNDP has other bodies that contribute to fund its programmes and it has different com­ponents that work with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the National Assembly, political parties, the media and Civil Society Organisa­tions (CSO). She said UNDP is also interested in the development of women and youths and it carries out its activi­ties with the government, women in politics and female-based CSO’s to en­sure that women participate in elections.
“We want women to be actively involved in politics and occupy leader­ship positions and that is why we are supporting the affirmative action for women. We want people to register to vote to avoid fraud because the purpose of voter registration is to ensure that people who are not qualified are not al­lowed to vote. If you do not vote, do not complain later about the type of leaders we have and why they make the deci­sions that they do. The situation would not get better overnight, but one day, we would get there. We should not say that politics is a dirty game. Let us do our best to get involved.”
Another facilitator, Jide Ojo, a news­paper columnist who spoke on the topic, “An overview of Nigeria’s electoral and governance system” said that the worst illiterate is the political illiterate. She/he sees nothing, does nothing and takes no part in political life. He doesn’t know that the cost of living, the price of beans, flour, rent, medicines, all depend on political decisions. He even prides himself on his political ignorance, sticks out his chest and says he hates politics. He doesn’t know that his lack of political non-participation comes the prostitute, the abandoned child, the rob­ber and worst of all, corrupt officials. Ojo therefore advised that youths must discover their mission as young people, saying they can either fulfill or destroy it.
“Why vote: The imperative of citizens’ participation” was the topic handled by the chairman, Partners for electoral reforms, Ezenwa Nwagu. He said Nigerians must engage political office seekers on issues and votes must interrogate these critical fundamental issues. He maintained that religion should not be considered when voting and votes should have no connection to nepotic considerations. He said, “If it does not translate to a better life for people, then it is not worth it. If young people would come out and register and use their vote effectively without sell­ing, then our country would be better. We should ensure that the government that we want is what is in place and the government that we don’t want is driven out, that is the importance of citizens’ participation. We need to know how to apply our votes for a change. The politi­cians want us to believe that it is what they give the voters that influence their votes. They prefer giving people what they want rather than focusing on the development of the economy.”
Paul Anyeze, the assistant director in the Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC), voters registry, spoke on the topic, “Guidelines for the continuous registration and PVC distribution.” He explained that to have a voter’s card, that the data capturing machine has to capture two fingers on both hands and used the oppoutunity to advise that those that do not have voters card can register to vote because voters registration is ongoing. “If your temporary voter’s card (TVC) is miss­ing, you can fill in an attestation form to be given another one, but you must be physically present. After that, you can collect your permanent voters card (PVC). There is no collection by proxy. Those that cannot come to the polling units can go to their local governments. In the case of movement, an applicant may apply to the resident electoral com­missioner in the state where the resident resides. It should be done through the registration officer and the voter should ask to be transferred to their new constituency provided that it is done not later than 30 days.”
On the issue of election monitoring and observation, Abiodun Ajibola, an election monitor spoke on, “Being an effective observer.” He said that elec­tion monitors and observers play very important roles in any election. Howev­er, he said that observers should respect the sovereignty of the Nigerian people to establish their own government as well as their fundamental human rights. He said that observers should respect the country’s laws and should report to the leadership of their organisation on any conflict. “Election observers should not prejudge the election outcome and they should restrain from making any personal comments to the media on what they observed during the elections before the election observation mis­sion makes their won statement. “They should not accept any gift or favors that might influence their work. They should not attempt to take part in the actual administration of the election. They are responsible for their safety and security. They should use words moderately. Observers must exhibit sensitivity for host country’s culture and customs and they should study the terrain before the election day.”
Source: The Sun