THE recent disclosure by the Independent National Electoral Commission that 20 million Permanent Voter Cards, a mandatory requirement for eligibility to exercise the voting franchise during an election, have not been collected by applicants is worrisome. It is a sad pointer to the declining confidence of the electorate in Nigeria’s faltering democracy. It signposts a deep and unhealthy distrust by the citizens of the political class and associated political activities in the country. This is a disturbing reality that should be reversed to make democracy inclusive and impactful on the country.
In the run-up to the 2019 general election, there were 84 million PVCs with the electoral umpire. Of that figure, however, close to 20 million PVCs have not been collected till date, says INEC’s National Commissioner overseeing the Federal Capital Territory, Nasarawa, Kaduna and Plateau states, Mohammed Haruna, at the inauguration of a campaign to drive the collection of PVCs and increase participation in the ongoing continuous voter registration.
“It may be a small percentage, but in terms of absolute number, that’s huge,” Haruna said. “Twenty million is probably more than the voters of so many West African countries put together.” That is very troubling. The allure of democracy above all other forms of government is that supreme power is vested in the people, “exercised,” according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.” It loses its potency and its capacity to deliver beneficial outcomes when only a few participate in that ultimate demonstration of sovereignty.
Incrementally, an overwhelming number of Nigerians have been surrendering their right to choose their leaders to a narrowing minority. Many do not bother to register. Of those who do register, many never bother to collect their PVCs. A breakdown of the figures released by INEC indicated that the South-West had the highest number of uncollected PVCs with over 3.4 million, followed by the North-West with over 1.9 million, and the South-South with over 1.7 million. The North-Central had about 1.5 million uncollected cards, while the South-East recorded over 1.4 million, the North-East had over 800,000 and the FCT had about 318,000 uncollected voter cards.
In Lagos State alone, there are 1.09 million PVCs yet to be collected since 1999, INEC stated.
More worrisome is the apathy of the youth. With an entire generation that should produce the next crop of leaders uninterested in shaping their collective destiny, the future of democracy worries experts. INEC’s Deputy Director, Voter Education, Mary Nkem, bemoaned the low participation of the citizens, especially the youth in the ongoing CVR.
“If the youths could come out en masse to cast their votes, we will no longer be recording 15 or 20 per cent voter turnout in our elections, because we know that the population of the youths alone can make a difference,” she lamented. INEC had said in April that over 1.8 million new PVCs, comprising over 1.3 million cards of genuine, new registrants and 464,340 PVCs for verified applicants for transfer or replacement of cards were ready for collection; but this information had failed to attract the necessary action and enthusiasm by the owners. Every effort must be made to achieve an attitudinal change.
INEC should partner with relevant social and political groups to mobilise collection of the PVCs and mass participation in the electoral process.
Surmounting the factors that engender apathy is also crucial. Among others, the failure to claim the PVCs is partly attributable to the rising insecurity in many parts of the country and the relocation of the claimants. Some registrants might have died or suffered debilitating health challenges that would make collecting their PVCs rank the least of their immediate needs. Also, many Nigerians, especially those in the rural areas, do not know how or where to collect their PVCs; this makes it imperative for INEC to extend and step up its enlightenment programmes.
INEC should undertake an analysis of the uncollected PVCs to provide a breakdown of the 20 million unclaimed cards beyond just the location of the claimants. This should identify the length of time the cards have been outstanding, and for how long they have been carried over.
The 20 million figure is significant enough to swing the pendulum of victory in any electoral contest. In the 2019 presidential election, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) scored 15.19 million votes; his closest challenger, Atiku Abubakar, scored 11.26 million. Speculatively, the margin could potentially have been closed, or overturned, or it could have increased if many more eligible voters had collected their PVCs and voted.
INEC should clean up. It should make the process of collecting the PVCs less laborious and stress-free. There are claims that registrants are made to part with sums of money in some locations before they can collect their PVCs. This is a disincentive that will automatically discourage potential voters.
The umpire should continue to explore the commendable collaboration and partnership with civil society organisations to sensitise the electorate on the need to participate in the electoral process beginning with the collection of PVCs. Besides, it should intensify public enlightenment activities to reassure the mainly youthful and new voters on the integrity of the electoral process. Political parties too should mount voter participation drives. Not voting, or refusing to collect the PVCs in protest against bad governance is never helpful to democracy. Instead, it gives free rein to the undesirable politicians fouling up the political space and governance.
Unquestionably, voter turnout in Nigerian elections has been dwindling since 2011: 39 per cent in 2011; 30 per cent in 2015 and 28 per cent in the 2019 election. In the Anambra governorship polls last November, voter turnout was a pitiable 10 per cent. Such apathy should be reversed.
Voters inadvertently play into the hands of devious politicians when they disdain the political process, abandon their PVCs, and fail to turn out on Election Day. This attitude should change to foster inclusion and deepen democracy.
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