The chairman of the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmoud Yakubu, has urged Nigerians to protect
their votes against ballot-snatching thugs during elections.
Speaking at a campus outreach
organised by the electoral body in conjunction with the European Centre for
Electoral Support in Lagos, Mr Yakubu said active citizen participation is the
solution to security challenges during election.
“Nobody will take a
gun where they know they will be challenged. But when people abandonpolling
units, it becomes easier for merchants of violence to disrupt
the process,” Mr Yakubu said.
“We also have a system
of merging with security agencies and although we discourage armed
security men in the polling units, there are armed men outside the polling
units to also beef up security in the polling units.”
Nollywood star,
Omotola Jolade-Ekeinde, urged the youth to be ready to “waste” their votes for
their candidates of choice during the 2019 election.
“The point is not
whether or not the candidate of your choice wins but the point is to put the
numbers behind them to give them the needed confidence to try again,” the
actress said.
“Come 2019, we should
be ready to waste our votes even if it is just to make a point and disrupt the
status.”
During a panel session
moderated by Channels Television’s Seun Okinbaloye, popular comedianBasket Mouth
said social media had replaced reality in the mind of the youth as it had
become their major outlet for all grievances.
“Social media has
consumed the mind of the youths,” he said.
“We now need people to
validate how we feel about ourselves, we post and wait for likes. When the
president called us lazy, we should not have been angry, he became president at
a young age, came back as an old man to become president again, what does that
tell him about the youths?”
The comedian said
Nigerians do not believe in the nation anymore because they are their own
presidents.
“We provide light,
water, security, health care and even education so most people have no reason
to believe in Nigeria anymore. But the fight is not for you but for your unborn
children,” he added.
Another popular
comedian, Ayo Makun (known as AY), urged Nigerians to make a conscious effort
to believe in the Nigerian project.
“Get what has to be
done and do it right. You don’t have a right to say a person is not good enough
when you are not making a conscious effort to do anything. If we decide to
provide content collectively, we would get the needed result.”
Earlier, during his
welcome marks, Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, the host and vice chancellor of University
of Lagos, told the youth to channel their energy towards good
governance.
“The university believes that
the task before INEC though much, is achievable with partnership from
organisations interested in entrancing democracy in Nigeria.”
The Commission said
the programme themed ‘Youth Votes Count’ would be held in four different
universities in four other geopolitical zones.
PT
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