A roll that will collect information from individuals that were unable to vote in the 2023 Presidential & National Assembly elections of Saturday, February 25th, 2023 has been launched by PROMAD Foundation in partnership with ADVOKC.
The Civil Society Organisation noted that the essence of launching the roll is a result of the fact that the election showed the promise of what Nigeria’s democracy can become: citizen-driven, participatory, and energetic. However, this enthusiasm was dampened by widespread voter suppression, either deliberate or not, experienced across polling units in the country.
It said several reports reveal several incidents of intimidation, logistical inefficiencies of INEC, and outright violence. “We are personally aware of a polling unit with about 750 ready voters, of which only 72 had the chance to vote,” it said.
It believes that the impact of this is dangerous, emphasizing that when citizens lose trust in the process, their motivation to participate as active citizens is eroded, which in turn weakens democracy.
“As organisations that have actively advocated for more young people to become more civically active and participate in the democratic process. Promad Foundation and Advokc Foundation have collaborated to launch this online database to gain a data-driven perspective on the depth of the impact of this suppression.
“We are deploying an online form using social and traditional media channels to actively gather the data of Nigerians who could not vote because of the inefficiencies of INEC logistics, breakouts of violence, the inability of BVAS to accredit them, or other realities that disenfranchised them.
“We, therefore, enjoin other Civil Society partners, development organisations, media organisations across the country and the general public to share this form with every individual that could not vote despite coming out to.
“It is important that we acknowledge and applaud the sacrifice of these voters, and even if they cannot be restituted. With their help, all of us can use the findings to work with INEC and other critical stakeholders to ensure that incidences like this become scarcer,” the statement reads.
This form would lapse from today 28th of February till the 10th of March.
Link: bit.ly/PADVoterRoll