A JOINT research by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other organisations has showed that the enthusiasm of Nigerians in the electoral process waned as violence disrupted the April general elections in some northern states.

Consequently, INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, said yesterday in Abuja that the commission had taken steps to increase voters’ participation in the nation’s electoral process.

At a workshop with the theme: “Voter apathy in Nigeria,’’ organised by INEC and Friedrich Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Foundation, Jega, who was represented by Prof. Lai Olurode, the National Commissioner for Research, said voters’ turnout in the last elections provided empirical evidence of the existence of voter apathy in elections.

“We as a commission are determined to enlarge participation in the election process as well as cherish means of aggregating preferences,’’ he said.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Jega said an apathetic citizenry contributed to waste of investments.

The FES Resident Representative, Mr. Thomas Mattig, had earlier said findings from the research carried out by the foundation during the April polls showed that support for democracy and enthusiasm about elections were high.

“But people were discouraged by violence or by electoral fraud,’’ Mattig said. He argued that if violence and electoral fraud were reduced, “Nigerians will be more enthusiastic to vote, to exercise their right and democracy will be strengthened.”

Also, Mr. Adigun Agbaje, the Lead Researcher, said Nigerians in the rural areas displayed more intentions to vote than those in the urban areas.

He said emphasis was put on the poor performance by politicians for the low voters’ turnout.

Agbaje said voters’ apathy was likely to continue if politicians failed to redeem their promises when they got to office.

The research recommended that security issues and the issue of performance by elected officials be addressed.      The workshop presented findings from the field work carried out in the six geo-political zones of the country. It also served as a platform for key stakeholders and development partners to extend the frontiers of citizenship and widen the scope of participation in elections and governance process.

Meanwhile, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Election Petition Tribunal has fixed June 14 for ruling on whether to admit INEC as a necessary party in the petition by Butches Nwosu.

Nwosu was the African Liberation Party (ALP) candidate for FCT in the April National Assembly election. He is challenging INEC’s declaration of PDP candidate, Zaphaniah Jisalo as the elected member representing AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.

INEC through its counsel Abdurahman Madaki had brought an application seeking for extension of time to be admitted as a necessary party in the petition. He told the tribunal during yesterday’s session that the Electoral Act 2010 (Amended) gives INEC substantial grounds to be a party in the petition.

He prayed the tribunal to grant his application to enable him file list of witnesses and other relevant documents.

But Mary Dokpesi, counsel to the petitioner, urged the tribunal to refuse the application, arguing that INEC failed to comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2010 (Amended).

She urged the tribunal to take serious action against INEC’s failure to comply with the Act by shutting them out of the petition.

Meanwhile, Justice Michael Akoja, the tribunal chairman, has directed counsel to make available photocopies of authorities cited during the hearing to the secretary of the tribunal.

The tribunal would on June 13 continue hearing in the petition by Tanko Abari, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) candidate challenging Philip Aduda of the PDP as the FCT senator.

-Guardian

Posted by admin on Jun 10 2011. Filed under INEC Politics, Latest Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry