Party Harps On Voter Education

The Progressive Action Congress (PAC) on Thursday called on
politicians and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to give
priority attention to voter education for the betterment of the nation’s
electoral process.

The National Chairman, Chief Charles Nwodo, who made the
call in an interview with The Tide’s source in Abuja, said voter education was
a critical area that must be given a priority in the process of electoral reform.

He regretted that it was the negligence of the importance of
voter education that had been responsible for violence and bulk voided votes
during elections.

“ It is unfortunate that Nigeria operates fire brigade
approach in some of our undertakings, especially as regards to voter education.

“ Instead of encouraging the electorate with voter education
within the four years of interregnum, we waited until elections are about to
start,” he said.

He said it was not the responsibilities of INEC alone, but
collaborative efforts among the stakeholders, like the political parties, civil
societies, NOA, churches and mosques and even the traditional institutions.

Nwodo said the government should accommodate in its plans
the stakeholders in the budgetary allocation to voter education for vast
campaign down to the grass roots.

According to him, the campaign should be holistic ranging
from logo identification to the right fingers to be used during elections.

“ The process of complaints where one’s name is omitted, the
dangers of violence and rigging, how to protect their votes and how to make
votes count generally will be avoided.

“ All information related to the elections should be made
known in advance for the betterment of the exercise.

“ People who have relocated from their original homes are
expected to know where to vote in subsequent elections,” he added.

The chairman said it must also be followed with honesty,
transparency and accountability in all resources to be used for the elections.

He added that the electoral officers were also expected to
be conversant with the functions of each form used during elections in order to
avoid confusion and anarchy.

He urged the Federal Government to put every measure in
place in order to ensure smooth running of the entire exercise and to also
serve as basis to punish electoral offenders.

He also tasked the National Assembly in the interest of the
nation to create Electoral Offences Commission (EOC) with defined
responsibilities in order to check mate electoral fraud.

“ It is high time we practiced rule of law to avoid the
jamboree experienced in the previous elections where people keep registration
machines in their homes and nothing comes out of it at the end of the day.

“ When people are fully educated, it will go a long way in
curtailing violence and bring about credible elections, ‘’ he said.

He said voter education should be taken as part of civic
education in primary and secondary schools with the intentions of, “ catching
them young and avoiding the repeat of the past.”