Electorate Integrity: Stakeholders Urge INEC To Synergise With Public

Stakeholders, yesterday urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to synergise with other public and non-governmental institutions to enhance the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral process.
This is contained in the communique of a one-day Focus Group Discussion (FGD), organised by INEC under the auspices of The Electoral Institute (TEI) and the University of Ibadan Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis (UI-Lisa) on “Voter Apathy Towards Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) and Elections in Nigeria”, held in Abuja.
The Forum participants were drawn from carefully selected stakeholder groups including registered political parties, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), religious bodies, academia, press, INEC officials and others.
The forum identified loss of confidence in the political class, lack of democratic dividend, insecurity, threat of violence; and Lack of voters’ confidence in the election process and outcomes.
Other reasons they identified include threat of violence; and Lack of voters’ confidence in the election process and outcomes as well as “doubt of whether their votes will count or not”,
They also  noted that a “Large number of people were unintentionally excluded from voting.
“These include security personnel, Nigerians in diaspora, prisoners, INEC ad hoc and regular staff, patients in hospitals, workers on essential duties.”
They therefore recommended Increased Civic Education by political parties, CSOs and INEC, and “synergy between INEC and the National Assembly to provide a comprehensive framework that would enhance the integrity of electoral processes”.