The National Orientation Agency has identified election violence, vote buying, misinformation and declining public trust as major factors weakening Nigerians’ confidence in the country’s electoral process.
The Director of Civic, Values and Democracy Education at the NOA, Olukemi Afolayan, stated this on Thursday in Abuja during an election roundtable organised by Create Studio Nigeria and the Humanitarian Foundation for Social Justice.
Speaking on the theme, “Reclaiming Our Vote: Enfranchising a New Generation of Voters,” Afolayan said the growing perception among some Nigerians, particularly young people, that their votes no longer make a meaningful difference was contributing to voter apathy.
She stressed that rebuilding citizens’ confidence in democracy was essential to reversing voter apathy and encouraging greater participation in elections. According to her, reclaiming the value of the vote must begin with restoring public trust in the democratic process.
Afolayan described young Nigerians as important stakeholders in the country’s democratic development, noting that Nigeria’s youthful population makes their active participation critical to the future of democracy.
She urged citizens to reject vote buying and selling, resist misinformation and political manipulation, shun electoral violence and demand issue-based campaigns from political actors.
Also speaking, the Executive Director of the Humanitarian Foundation for Social Justice, Adekunle Adebanjo, said the roundtable was organised to bring stakeholders together to examine Nigeria’s democratic journey and identify practical measures for strengthening the electoral system.
Adebanjo maintained that democracy should ultimately improve citizens’ living conditions and expand opportunities, stressing that democracy is a means of achieving better governance and not an end in itself.
