EKITI ELECTIONS: VOTER READINESS
Ahead of the 2019 presidential general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will oversee two gubernatorial elections in 2018. The elections will hold in Ekiti and Osun states on 14th of July and 22nd September respectively.
With hours left to the Ekiti state elections, all eyes are on the land of honour and fountain of knowledge to see the outcome of the elections and for a glimpse of what to expect in the Osun state and 2019 general elections. Although there are over 30 political parties taking part in the election as reported by INEC, the major contenders are candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Kolapo Olusola, All Progressives Congress (APC), Kayode Fayemi, Action Democratic Party (ADP), Segun Adewale, and Social Democratic Party (SDP), Akinloye Ayegbusi.
Preparations for the elections are in top gear as stakeholders such as INEC, political parties and their candidates, civil society and security agencies work assiduously to achieve their individual goals and a successful election process. INEC is reported to have worked to make the permanent voter cards (PVCs) available, trained staff on the election process and put systems in place to prevent election malpractices and violence. With a budget of about 600 million Naira and over 11,000 officials, one can argue that INEC is indeed prepared for this election.
Political parties in the State are not left out. The major political parties have organised mega rallies in support of their candidates and to gauge the support they are likely to receive from the electorates. In addition to their rallies and other campaign efforts, candidates are also cooperating with civil societies to ensure that the process is smooth.
Civil societies and security agencies are also very important to the process. They monitor the process and guarantee the safety of everyone participating. Considering the usual reports of ballot box snatching and other kinds of violence at polling stations on election day, having 30,000 security personnel including the Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and Department of State Services (DSS) deployed for the July 14 election is reassuring to voters.
With all these in place, a major stakeholder in the process that cannot be overlooked is the electorate. Without voters, there will be no election even if other stakeholders do everything they are supposed to do. This then begs the question; are the voters ready for the election?
There are a couple of factors that can be used to determine readiness on the part of the electorate, topmost on the list of these factors is the proportion of voters who have collected their PVCs. To be eligible to vote, a voter must have registered to vote in line with the requirements set out by the Electoral Act 2010. After registration, it is the responsibility of INEC to issue them a temporary voter’s card and when ready, a PVC. The PVC confirms that a voter is eligible to vote at a polling unit and confirms the identity of the said voter. Voters who do not have their voter’s cards in their possession, either because they failed to register or they failed to pick them up, cannot vote, therefore, this is arguably the most important factor that determines the readiness of a voter to participate in an election.
According to INEC, of the 913,334 registered voters in Ekiti State, about 280,000 voters are yet to collect their PVCs. The implication of this is that only about 630,000 (70%) voters are currently ready for the election scheduled for July 14 in Ekiti State.
However, a pre-election opinion poll conducted by CrowdForce (a data crowdsourcing platform in Nigeria, crowdforce.io), indicates that 94% of the 4970 respondents interviewed who reside across all 16 Local governments have registered and obtained their PVCs.
In the same polling results by CrowdForce, respondents who have collected their PVCs were asked whether they intended to participate in the upcoming election and 97% of them affirmed that they would. This is a significant pointer to the readiness of the electorate in Ekiti for the election.
In addition to having their PVCs and a willingness to participate in the process, another determinant of voter readiness is a knowledge of the candidates on the ballot and their manifestos, and choice of candidate.
While there are opinion polls by CrowdForce and other polling platforms that confirm that majority of Ekiti voters know who they will be voting for in a few days, there is not enough data to prove that these voters are fully aware of the manifestos of these candidates and/or their parties.
In conclusion, the major stakeholders in the upcoming Ekiti State elections seem prepared for the process and all we can do at the moment is hope that their efforts translate to a peaceful, free and fair election.
