This is the third time I have written about the equally great power of the little voter card called PVC. I must return to the same subject this time because in the next five weeks we will surely face the consequences of our electoral choices. After the election, we can go back to reading from another lament book. We may have complained about the 16 years we were eaten by locusts through the PDP from 1999-2015. We may be concerned when the last eight years under the ruling APC have been untold.
We may wonder why democracy has not given us any good except some form of freedom in the last 24 years. We can rightly claim that democracy has become less participatory over the past 24 years with poor turnout even in off-season elections. This is not the time for questions. It is indeed a time for action and reflection. This is the time to check our voter cards and where we can vote if we want democracy to work for the common good. Lest we forget, this is not the time to ask why sections of the country are not crying about PVC collection when these sections are suffering from registration and collection difficulties. We may not want to ask now why political leaders and politicians in the south are not mobilizing people to register to vote and keep their cards for elections.
It is not yet time to deconstruct the power of the North to organize its people to register and collect their cards on time. And before we rush to the media at the end of March after the election to shake the tables on how the mysterious colonial masters handed Nigeria to the North through the ‘deceived’ population figures and allied matters, let people pay attention to the (new) assurances. ) INEC that the elections next month and March will be held with BVAS and the results will be sent electronically and the process will be transparently participatory.
Let us defeat the innate Election riggers who have brought reproach to our country through a rigged leadership recruitment process. Let us defeat the government and the power, the buyers vote by conquering the apathy of the voters. This is not the time to mourn the media. It’s time for participation. Please, do not sell your PVC. It is bad and remember that the buyers in your area know that they only want to turn off their support for the candidate they like. They cannot use your PVC to vote. Let’s consider the following data to encourage ourselves to act on the power that PVCs can give or lose.
More than 6.7 million PVCs were not collected in 17 states and state capitals as of January 4, 2023. About five weeks before the presidential/National Assembly elections on February 25, this is a very large number. As at December 29, about 1,693,963 PVCs remained uncollected in Lagos State. PVC collections suffered a similar fate in other countries. It is gratifying to know that some people even pay to collect their belongings in the moment to overcome self-disenfranchisement. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) opened the collection window on December 12. The exercise will now conclude on January 29. As INEC has reiterated, anyone without a PVC will not be allowed to vote in the 2023 polls, as only the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) will be used.
For 2023, the INEC registration contains 93.4 million names, up from 82.3 million in 2019. Many of them did not collect PVC. The result is that only 28.6 million or 35 percent voted in the 2019 presidential election. Interpretation: The percentage (35%) means that the winner of the 2019 presidential election is not representative of all voters.
Researchers have established that apart from Zimbabwe’s 1996 presidential ballot which recorded a voter turnout of 32.3 percent, Nigeria’s 2019 presidential election is the second lowest in recent elections in Africa. This trend extends to the National Assembly and Governorship elections. Among others, the Lagos East senatorial election is expected to have a 10 percent turnout in 2020.
This bad trend is also present in the governorship election in Edo State in 2020, which recorded a turnout of 24.22 percent; the Ondo governorship poll (2020) had 31.6 percent voters; Anambra in November 2021 recorded 10.38 percent; Ekiti State in June 2022 has 36.5 percent; and Osun State in July 2022 recorded 42.16 percent. This undermines democracy in Nigeria where voter apathy has taken away the steam from popular participation.
That is why, as I have done twice here, I will join the citizens who are concerned to support the youth, who are angry with the current rulers and the ruling elite in the country to discuss. I have read some views of some young Nigerians who organize daily and insulted some elders who dared to accuse them of being empty and lacking in organizational ability in their pursuit of change. Therefore, I would like to ask for help from the elders who are angry about having to spare our trunks to the youth at this time due to some specific reasons.
One, I believe that the youth have also been greatly inspired by many of the unethical behaviors found in us, (elders). There are young people who find wealth without working in many parents and relationships. As I have noted here in the same construction, not a few young students know that they did not pass the post-primary final exam used to enter some universities and polytechnics. He knew the elders who organized the reception. He knows how much some parents pay for his dissertation as well. Some old lawyers have been caught helping some young lawyers to sit for the final Bar Exam.
In this country, we punish young people for too many unethical actions, there are many elders and even unethical professors who help candidates to register for doctorates and organize theses to be artfully ‘defended’ in some strange university . Many youths and political leaders know how fathers pay some unethical senior ministers in the temple of courts (lawyers) to appoint judges for governorship mandates. I know so many (retired) directors and permanent secretaries who know how some colleagues paid some cabals in the federal bureaucracy to pass the promotion exam to become directors and permanent secretaries. They know us. So curious, how can we expect them to be better than us, ethically. It is also hypocritical to expect them to be ready to take over and do better when we have also failed to organize significant succession arrangements on various beats.
Instead of treating young people as ‘efulefu’ (useless), we should advise them to come out of their social media cocoons, and struggle to collect their voter cards because they have registered. We need to tell about the power to change the current situation through PVC. Young unemployed graduates need to understand that the poor and ignorant political leadership that is increasing poverty in the country starts with the electoral process. And the only special training that can change is participation in the process. They should also know that the powers that have kept Nigeria down, stunted growth we do not want to encourage to vote. They know how to win elections without votes. That’s why they don’t want BVAS and similar benefits.
It’s time to mobilize all the good people in Nigeria who have not been damaged by sustainable prejudice – to use many young Nigerians to collect data, yes, facts and figures about this country that needs a song of urgent redemption. It is time to realize that social media noise does not give victory to the candidate you like.
Thus again the youths must come out of their shells, rally their ‘weapons of mass destruction’ called PVC to elect all these unjust workers including most of the brave scoundrels in the state parliament. It is not only the presidential and gubernatorial elections that matter. The most important institution in any democracy is the parliament. Therein lies the power to check executive rascality and excess. There the treasury can be kept for the common good.
We must not have the mindset that it is not easy to change the ruthless political class in a country where the oil companies (y) produce many rich people without jobs. We must believe that we can overthrow him through free and fair elections. The clarion call is: don’t be afraid of the ‘war chest’ (big election budget). Your PVC, stronger, will make way for us. We must heed the warning of former United States President Barack Obama that “elections have consequences”.
I believe we need to manage to deepen our understanding of what alternative political actors are repeating every day that Nigeria can really become an outstanding world power if we are properly led. We must emphasize to the youth of Nigeria that Nigeria is the only hope of the black race as Madiba’s legend was shocked before he flew away.
But the young and good but satisfied should note that unless we participate in the process of political recruitment, Nigeria will forever remain a point of reference in potential teachings and sermons. This is not the time to blame the country and the electoral process that has left millions behind. That’s why locusts always come back to prey on our prey.
Therefore, here is the reality: those who have not got their permanent voter card after registration should stop complaining: They should get PVC today as the BOM we need next month to blast these evil rulers called leaders.
But what we should use as a badge of honor from this week is the following nugget, which was trending on the platform in June last year. God bless the author I don’t know.
“Your PVC is not just an identity to open a new bank account. It is actually a precious weapon that you must use to fight for your life. So, make time to visit the INEC office in your location, register and collect your card. Hurry now, get your PVC now and start seeing it as a powerful tool to use. If you are too busy to register or too big to vote, just remember that you are not too big to be controlled by thugs… Let’s stop agonizing. Let’s organize and remember that not there are polling stations on Twitter Facebook, Tik-Tok, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc…