Ondo State Governor-elect, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has emphasised the need for Nigeria’s economic managers to invest in creating national awareness campaigns aimed at encouraging citizens to vote.
Speaking during an interview on Arise News on Monday, Aiyedatiwa highlighted the issue of political passivity among registered voters.
He said, “We need to encourage people to vote, and there is a need for a national awareness to be created for people to always come out to vote. Some of the citizens are passive while some are active.
“Not everyone that is registered is active, and this is not peculiar to Ondo State. It happens in every election all over the country.
“A lot of people registered to have their PVC because they just want to have that document, but when it comes to being active politically, not everyone that registered is active politically, and this has been happening in other elections conducted in other states, not just in Ondo State.”
The governor’s comments underscored the challenge of mobilizing voters despite widespread voter registration, as many Nigerians obtain Permanent Voters Cards for identification purposes rather than for participating in elections.
Aiyedatiwa also dismissed allegations of vote-buying in recent elections, asserting that the process was free and fair. Addressing concerns raised by civil society organizations and observers, he admitted that delays caused by the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System affected the voting process in some areas but did not undermine the overall integrity of the election.
“Everybody is entitled to their opinion, depending on where they are speaking from and areas they visited. I want to tell you that not every location was visited by the so-called CSOs and observers,” Aiyedatiwa said.
He continued, “Really and truly, there are some locations where we have a delay, a bit of delay initially, when it comes to accreditation through the BVAS network. It slowed down the process in some areas.
“Eventually, people were able to vote, but in some areas, they made such complaints as well. The BVAS was slow, but along the line, it picked up. That is why you can get that number of votes. If you look at the total number of votes of those who voted in the elections, the number is like every other election, and even though we have a higher figure in this very election than some of the elections that have been conducted in the previous elections.”
Governor Aiyedatiwa expressed satisfaction with the voter turnout, stating that despite the initial BVAS challenges, the eventual participation numbers were comparable to, if not higher than, previous elections.
“So even though the BVAS was failing at the point where it picked up, people were able to vote, and that was how we were able to record the numbers,” he stressed.
The governor’s remarks reflect his confidence in the electoral process while reiterating the importance of fostering greater voter engagement and ensuring smoother electoral operations in future elections.
