Special Report: How voter apathy, low number of registered voters, unclaimed PVCs threaten Igbo bid to rule Nigeria in 2023

Our Editor, Abuja; Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia; Chukwudike Ndubeze, Awka; Ike Nnachi, Abakaliki & Nonsochukwu Uwa, Owerri

As the 2023 general elections approach, the total number of registered voters in the South-East geo-political zone is worrying in comparative terms.

With barely one month to the end of the on-going Continuous Voter Registration, CVR, exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, South-East is yet to record an encouraging number of registered voters.

Investigations by Ikengaonline revealed that as at May 16, 2022, only 517,826 voters have been captured in the entire South-East in the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) ongoing in the country.

When you integrate this number to the existing 2019 figures what it means is that only a total of 10,574,956 voters have so far been captured in the INEC record in the South-East.

A critical look at the figures shows that the of 517,826 voters who have “completed their registration” in the ongoing exercise in the South-East represent an insignificant 5.15% increase on the 10,057,130 registered voters recorded in the zone in the 2019 polls.

In the South-East, INEC figures from the ongoing CVR exercise shows that Anambra comes first in the zone with 156, 706 newly registered voters while Imo State comes last with 57,582 new registrations. (See Table below).

SOUTH EAST
S/N	STATE	Completed Registration
1	ABIA	124,192
2	ANAMBRA	156,706
3	EBONYI	118,337
4	ENUGU	65,009
5	IMO	53,582
	TOTAL	517,826

Although the figure is slightly above what it was in the last general election, it calls for serious concerns especially when compared to the figures posted by other geopolitical zones in the country.

In 2019, South-East zone occupies the basement according to the table of registered voters in the six geopolitical zones in the country with 10,057,130. Whereas North-West was top of the table with a swarming figure of 20,158,100 registered voters, followed closely by the South-West with 16,292,212.

The other geopolitical zones came in the following order: North-Central recorded 13,366,070; South-South had 12,841,279; and North-East, 11,289,293 registered voters. (See 2019 INEC Figures in the Table below)

NORTH CENTRAL
S/N	STATE	Completed Registration
1	BENUE	2,480,131
2	FCT	1344856
3	KOGI	1,646,350
4	KWARA	1,406,457
5	NASARAWA	1,617,786
6	NIGER	2,390,035
7	PLATEAU	2,480,455
	TOTAL	13,366,070
NORTH EAST
S/N	STATE	Completed Registration
1	ADAMAWA	1,973,083
2	BAUCHI	2,462,843
3	BORNO	2,315,956
4	GOMBE	1,394,393
5	TARABA	1,777,105
6	YOBE	1,365,913
	TOTAL	11,289,293
NORTH WEST
S/N	STATE	Completed Registration
1	JIGAWA	2,111,106
2	KADUNA	3,932,492
3	KANO	5,457,747
4	KATSINA	3,230,230
5	KEBBI	1,806,231
6	SOKOTO	1,903,166
7	ZAMFARA	1,717,128
	TOTAL	20,158,100
SOUTH EAST
S/N	STATE	Completed Registration
1	ABIA	1,932,892
2	ANAMBRA	2,447,996
3	EBONYI	1,459,933
4	ENUGU	1,944,016
5	IMO	2,272,293
	TOTAL	10,057,130
SOUTH SOUTH
S/N	STATE	Completed Registration
1	AKWA IBOM	2,119,727
2	BAYELSA	923,182
3	CROSS RIVER	1,527,289
4	DELTA	2,845,274
5	EDO	2,210,534
6	RIVERS	3,215,273
	TOTAL	12,841,279
SOUTH WEST
S/N	STATE	Completed Registration
1	EKITI	909,967
2	LAGOS	6,570,291
3	OGUN	2,375,003
4	ONDO	1,822,346
5	OSUN	1,680,498
6	OYO	2,934,107
	TOTAL	16,292,212
ZONAL SUMMARY
S/N	ZONE	Completed Registration
1	NORTH CENTRAL	13,366,070
2	NORTH EAST	11,289,293
3	NORTH WEST	20,158,100
4	SOUTH EAST	10,057,130
5	SOUTH SOUTH	12,841,279
6	SOUTH WEST	16,292,212
	TOTAL	84,004,084

Four years down the line, South-East is still at the bottom of the table with only 517,826 completed new registrations. 

Statistics from INEC as at May 16, 2022, show that South-South has shot into the lead with 1, 387, 192 “completed registration;” followed by South-West with 1, 127, 457; North-West zone has 1, 057, 086 new registrations; North Central, 1, 022, 316; and North-East had garnered735, 874 newly registered voters. (See 2021/22 INEC CVR figures by geopolitical zones as at May 16, 2022, below)

NORTH CENTRAL
S/N	STATE	Completed Registration
1	BENUE	139,843
2	FCT	57907
3	KOGI	212,754
4	KWARA	210,234
5	NASARAWA	130,886
6	NIGER	144,884
7	PLATEAU	125,808
	TOTAL	1,022,316
NORTH EAST
S/N	STATE	Completed Registration
1	ADAMAWA	123,763
2	BAUCHI	175,429
3	BORNO	124,746
4	GOMBE	114,858
5	TARABA	142,139
6	YOBE	54,939
	TOTAL	735,874
NORTH WEST
S/N	STATE	Completed Registration
1	JIGAWA	124,845
2	KADUNA	182,874
3	KANO	253,338
4	KATSINA	136,691
5	KEBBI	125,598
6	SOKOTO	156,975
7	ZAMFARA	76,765
	TOTAL	1,057,086
SOUTH EAST
S/N	STATE	Completed Registration
1	ABIA	124,192
2	ANAMBRA	156,706
3	EBONYI	118,337
4	ENUGU	65,009
5	IMO	53,582
	TOTAL	517,826
SOUTH SOUTH
S/N	STATE	Completed Registration
1	AKWA IBOM	170,473
2	BAYELSA	293,905
3	CROSS RIVER	165,571
4	DELTA	302,179
5	EDO	163,110
6	RIVERS	289,954
	TOTAL	1,385,192
SOUTH WEST
S/N	STATE	Completed Registration
1	EKITI	124,844
2	LAGOS	206,699
3	OGUN	139,149
4	ONDO	107,351
5	OSUN	360,625
6	OYO	188,789
	TOTAL	1,127,457
ZONAL SUMMARY
S/N	ZONE	Completed Registration
1	NORTH CENTRAL	1,022,316
2	NORTH EAST	735,874
3	NORTH WEST	1,057,086
4	SOUTH EAST	517,826
5	SOUTH SOUTH	1,385,192
6	SOUTH WEST	1,127,457
	TOTAL	5,845,751

According to information gleaned from the website of INEC, “The ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise ends by 30^th June 2022.

“This will enable the commission to clean up the registration data, print the Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) and compile the register ahead of the 2023 General elections.

“Online registration ends 30^th May 2022. You must complete your application and schedule your appointment for biometric capture before then,” INEC wrote.

Thus, with the gradual winding down of the registration exercise, the total number of registered voters in the South-East so far calls for concern more so when the region is making an audacious yet justified demand for the next elected president of the country to come from the zone in line with equity and fairness — the much-talked-about Nigeria President of Igbo extraction. In essence, the South-East could make their case to be considered for the 2023 presidency easier by showing increasing political participation in the electoral process expressed in the data of registered voters in the zone.

Our investigations further revealed that a greater chunk of Igbo youths care less about participation in the electoral process.

The level of voter apathy among the youths is so disturbing that a good number of them would rather idle away with all sorts of leisure on election days instead of going to vote.

It has been sadly observed that a reasonable number of Igbo youths of voting age rather choose to play football on the empty streets on election days instead of going to cast their ballots. 

While eligible voters in South-East are grappling with the problem of voter apathy, ironically, there have been vibrant participation by northern youths although there have been also allegations of under-aged voters swelling the numbers coming from the North. For instance, INEC data shows that in the ongoing CVR a state like Zamfara, which allegedly does not have a single candidate registered to sit for the West African School Certificate (WASC) examinations boasts of 76,765 new registrations. In 2019, the same Zamfara registered 1, 717, 128 voters.

Scholars and analysts have tried to explain the reasons behind the disturbing lack of interest in political participation by citizens in the South-East.

According to Sam Amadi, an associate professor and coordinator of Abuja School of Social and Political Thought, the answer to the widespread political apathy in the South-East can be found in multiple reasons including despondency from the collapse of the economy of the country; poor performance of elected officials; revival or escalation of the campaign for Biafra; as well as the negative mercantilist mentality of the average South-East person.

Yet the former Executive chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) was of the views that all these impediments can be surmounted by moving into electronic voting.

“There is general despondency in Nigeria about the collapse of economic and social well-being in Nigeria. But it is most in the South-East. South-East people have largely lost faith in Nigeria and have long contracted out of the social contract and providing some of the things governments provide for themselves. This is dangerous for democratic governance. It means that elections mean nothing because political power does not impact so much on our lives.

“Again, the revival and escalation of the campaign for Biafra has diverted the attention of South-East youths away from electoral politics into some kind of revolutionary struggle. Also, the negative mercantilist mentality of average southeast person means that the cost-benefit analysis of voting does not add up. Some people will probably not invest enough efforts to queue on the line for hours to register to vote and go and vote like in the North of Nigeria. All these factors will have less impact if we move to complete electronic registration and voting, “Sam Amadi said.

For Fred Onyeoziri, an empirical theorists and professor of political science, continuous registration ordinarily should be of interest to those who have not registered before or zones with low voter registration like the South-East.

According to the scholar, IPOB may be responsible for young peoples’ lack of interest in electoral process in the South-East.

“The younger generation are unhappy with the government of the country; it is possible they can carry their anger over to say, whether ‘Igbo presidency’ or not, they want Biafra.”

He also faulted the South-East governors for surrendering their authority to non-state actors who now apparently run the zone. “The South-East governors (though not all of them) have also not helped matters.

“Ordinarily, the South-East because they are asking for the presidency in 2023 should show interest in the CVR, but if that is not happening it means that the younger generation for whom the CVR is made  have lost interest in the Nigerian State.

“If South-East has a strong presidential candidate after the primaries accepted nationally, that will also rekindle interest of the people of the zone in the 2023 electoral process.

“Marginalisation, the attitude of the political parties and indeed the other geopolitical zones towards the South-East are also factors to be considered. The South-South and the South-West despite having had shots at the top job since 1999 are not interested in yielding the presidency to the South-East in 2023 and that as well could discourage political participation in the latter,” Onyeoziri posited.

Again, it is obvious to see from the records that South-East Governors, the political elite and other critical stakeholders are not doing enough to mobilise unregistered eligible voters in the zone to go get their Permanent Voter’s Card PVC, ahead of the polls.

ABIA

INEC Public Affairs Officer in charge of Abia State, Mr. Bamidele Oyetunji, however, described the situation in Abia as very encouraging.

He attributed the feat to the massive sensitization by the Commission to raise awareness among eligible voters in the state.

He said that the Commission was collaborating with some radio and television stations in the state to education sensitize the public about their right to be part of the electoral process.

Director General, Abia State Orientation Agency, ASOA, Mr. Godwin Adindu, told Ikengaonline that the agency for the past two years, had been on tour of all 17 Local Government Areas in the state, and all 184 Electoral Wards to sensitize eligible voters.

He also said the agency had taken the awareness campaign to major markets in Aba and Umuahia.

“For the past two years we have been on aggressive sensitization of the public because you know that every year more people mature into the electoral class.

“We go to markets and communities to preach to them. We have gone round the 17 LGAs on council-by-council awareness. We have equally done Electoral Ward by Electoral Ward sensitization.

“In the villages we engage women groups while in the cities we involve market associations. When we visited Abia Polytechnic, we went with INEC team who mounted their machine and was capturing eligible voters right there.

“Abia State is really committed to sensitizing and mobilizing our people on the need for active participation in the electoral process.”

Besides the efforts by the agency, some individuals and politicians in the state have also embarked on sensitization of their constituents on the need to acquire their PVC before the 2023 elections.

The State Government last week declared two-day public holidays to enable public workers who are not yet captured for the PVC to get registered.

Some churches also sensitize their members on the need for active participation in the electoral process and to acquire their PVC as a mark of responsible Christianity.

ANAMBRA

Since 1999, elections in Anambra State have been marred by low voter turnout.

Findings indicate that elections in the state have never witnessed up to 50 per cent of voter turnout. 

This is attributed to various factors which discourage the citizens from taking active part in the elections. 

Speaking to Ikengaonline INEC Public Relations Officer in Anambra State, Mr. Reginald Okpalaukwu said the activities of the unknown gunmen were the chief cause of voter apathy in the state, noting that people are afraid of being harmed due to the porous security situation in the state.

He also mentioned economic hardship on the masses, care-free attitude of some electorates and incessant court judgments as other factors causing voter apathy in the State.

According to him, “the activities of the unknown gunmen are affecting voting because the Government has not practically assured people that when they come out, their life is secured. 

“Another one is hardship. There is a way somebody would be suffering from hardship, that person would be highly angry and lose interest in anything voting or election.

“Again, is the care-free attitude of some businessmen. Some businessmen especially those in Onitsha main market do not concern themselves with voting and preferred to stay at home on the day of election,” he said.

He also said incessant court ruling on election results as witnessed in Imo state and the build-up to the November 6 Anambra State governorship election had often confused the confidence people have in the electoral process.

He said politicians now rely on maneuvering election processes and votes to become winners of an election by contesting INEC results with happenings in the build-up to the election. 

“Just as witnessed in the last governorship election in Anambra State, several court rulings have continued to wane the reputation of the system. INEC will issue clear results of election, but the court would nullify it because of certain claims, take Imo State for instance.

“These acts demoralize the average voter, where they now believe that their votes are no more necessary in determining who leads. People now believe that the courts have the final say in knowing the winner of the election.” 

Ikengaonline findings revealed that there were cases of abandoned voters’ card in the INEC premises.  People who are duly registered failed to report to the station to collect their voters’ card having been notified by the body.

Speaking further on the abandoned voters’ cards, Okpalaukwu said there are abandoned voters cards dated as far back as 2011 still waiting to be collected by the owners. 

“People do come here to register but fail to come to collect their cards. What INEC does sometimes is to sort the cards and distribute these to their various wards for onward distribution.

“Some register for voter’s card for official need that is different from voting, some register just to have it in their kitty and some for bank transactions.”

While Okpalaukwu noted that era of manipulating votes and results in the state was over as seen in the past governorship election in the state and with the introduction of BIVAS machine, he maintained that INEC in the state have plans mapped out to embark on voter education.

He also said plans were in top gear for open enlightenment of the public on the dangers of non-participation in voting in the upcoming election.

EBONYI 

INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Ebonyi, Dr. Joseph Chukwuemeka, disclosed that the number recorded for Ebonyi in the ongoing exercise” comprises registrations done in the first, second and third quarters of the exercise, and we are making huge progress,” he said.

Mr. Chukwuemeka, however, noted that no fewer than 127,424 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) have yet to be claimed in Ebonyi.

“As at March 15, 2022, about 127,424 PVCs were still unclaimed and in our custody.

“These PVCs were collected from the CBN and moved to the various INEC local government offices for collection by their owners,” he said.

The INEC official said that owners of the unclaimed PVCs must show proof of ownership before they would be allowed to collect them.

He described PVC as a very important document for election, saying, “it cannot be given by proxy for any reason.”

“I enjoin voters, who registered in 2018 but have yet to collect their PVCs, to visit the local government offices for identification and collection.

“It is the voter card that qualifies the electorate to vote, we need to collect them in order to exercise our franchise,” he said.

Chukwuemeka said that Abakiliki Local Government Area accounted for the highest number of unclaimed PVCs in the state with a total of 42,816 cards.

He said Afikpo North had 7,550 unclaimed PVCs, Afikpo South 3,011, Ebonyi 37,127, Ezza North 3,3,026, Ezza South 2,085, while Ikwo 9,836, Ishielu 2,446, and Ivo 3,124  had uncollected cards.

The REC further said Izzi accounted for 4,969 unclaimed PVCs, Ohaozara 1,885, Ohaukwu 6,620, while Onicha had 3,202 cards.

He said it was untrue that the PVCs obtained in 2018 had expired or could not be used for the 2023 general elections.

” PVCs issued by INEC do not expire, they have no expiry date written on them,” he said.

Chukwuemeka said that additional 16 INEC Voter Enrollment Device (IVED) had been deployed to complement the 15 machines earlier deployed for the exercise in the state.

“Prior to the commencement of the third quarter CVR exercise, registrations were restricted to INEC local government offices and the state headquarters.

“I am pleased to announce that approval has been given for registration to be carried out at registration areas and ward levels on structured movement of the IVED.

“The machines are moved from one area or ward to another on weekly basis to ensure proper coverage,” he said.

The REC warned members of the public against double registration to avoid being disqualified from voting.

Meanwhile, Ikengaonline, gathered that elections in the state are always marred with voter apathy.

For example, only 493,002 voters took part in the 2019 election representing just about 34.41 percent of the total registered voters in the state.

Speaking to Ikengaonline, a resident, Mr Okoro Samson attributed the voter apathy to belief by people that their votes would not count.

He said another reason could be that voters believe they have no stake in Government anymore as most elected leaders do not deliver on their campaign promises.

Commissioner for Information, Uchenna Orji said the State Government had been working with INEC and various interest groups to sensitize the people on the need to register and collect their voter’s card.

“Voter education is something we take seriously in this state. From records we have recorded appreciable improvement in voter registration in the past one year

“We have programmes on our state radio dedicated to voter education. We also have jingles which we run regularly on the station”

This is in addition to regular outreaches to various communities as well as engagements with Community Leaders and Traditional Readers on the issue”, he said.

ENUGU

Although the continuous voter registration exercise is on-going, attacks on INEC facilities in some parts of the zone may have scared some potential eligible voters from registering for their PVC for fear of attacks.

In Enugu Ikengaonline had reported a vigorous voter education campaign and efforts of groups and individuals in mobilizing citizens to get registered. For instance, a Non-Governmental Organisation, Elite Group, in Iheaka, Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State had introduced raffle draws to boost participation in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in the area.

 ABIA

Insecurity in Imo state to a large extent has created fears in the minds of the residents, which led to the suspension of the voter registration in some Local Government Areas in the state. The affected areas include Ihitte Uboma, Orsu and Njaba. 

The development was as a result of the recent killing of an INEC, staff, Mr. Anthony Okorie, involved in the ongoing CVR, exercise at Nkwo Ihitte (PU 004) in Amakohia ward (RA 02) in Ihitte Uboma, in April 2022.

Ikengaonline was told that due to insecurity, INEC had to move the registration exercise from the centres to the Local Government headquarters for safety. 

INEC has suspended the continuous voter registration exercise in Ihite Uboma LGA.

“This is sequel to the report of the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Francis Ezeonu, to the effect that on the 14 April 2022, a staff of the commission Mr. Anthony Okorie, involved in the ongoing CVR, exercise was shot dead by unknown gunmen at Nkwo Ihitte (PU 004) in Amakohia ward (RA 02) of White Uboma Local Government area of the state. 

“The REC further reported that the state office is making efforts to locate the whereabouts of two remaining staff involved in the registration.

“Before this incident, the commission had suspended the CVR, in Orsu and Njaba local government areas of the state, on account of insecurity while the exercise is taking place only in the INEC LGA office in Oru East, Oru West, Orlu, and Ohaji/Egbema local government areas of the state.”

At the time of filing this report, the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, had ordered that the ban on CVR, be lifted in the three affected LGAs, describing those threatening voters not to register as enemies of the state.

“The CVR will resume in all the designated centres while the three Local Governments under ban will carry out the registration at their Local Government Headquarters.

“Those who are deliberately scaring the people away from registering are enemies of the State who want to draw the State back knowing full well that the INEC registration and the population census are yardsticks for Federal Revenue Allocation to States and Local Governments.” However, he urged “18 years and above, to go and register and obtain the PVC for the forthcoming election.”