News
It’s Dangerous Joining Corrupt States to Emulate UK in Plotting Voter Suppression
- /home/rhoncare/pointblank.ng/wp-content/plugins/mvp-social-buttons/mvp-social-buttons.php on line 27
https://pointblank.ng/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/BorisBuhari.jpeg&description=It’s Dangerous Joining Corrupt States to Emulate UK in Plotting Voter Suppression', 'pinterestShare', 'width=750,height=350'); return false;" title="Pin This Post">
- Share
- Tweet /home/rhoncare/pointblank.ng/wp-content/plugins/mvp-social-buttons/mvp-social-buttons.php on line 69
https://pointblank.ng/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/BorisBuhari.jpeg&description=It’s Dangerous Joining Corrupt States to Emulate UK in Plotting Voter Suppression', 'pinterestShare', 'width=750,height=350'); return false;" title="Pin This Post">
By Joel Popoola
This week, an unelected head of state – sitting on a throne – announced plans to make it harder for their subjects to vote.
In the Queen’s Speech – in which the British government outlines legislative plans for the coming year – her majesty Queen Elizabeth announced plans requiring voters to bring formal photographic ID such as a passport or driving license, to vote in elections – even though many of the poorest Britons have no such identification.
The British government insisted the move is necessary for “increasing transparency, fairness and accountability” – the very values the digital democracy campaign I lead is dedicated to advancing in Nigeria’s political system.
But these plans will do nothing of the kind – the United Kingdom seems determined to commit a naked act of voter suppression potentially as shady as anything witnessed in any of Nigeria’s more corrupt states.
Our political process has much to learn from our former colonisers in terms of modernity and transparency. But it is critical that we do not copy these proposals.
As of May 2020, 41,000,000 Nigerians were registered in our national ID programme – meaning something like 160,000,000 were not. These voters are likely to be amongst our poorest and most excluded citizens. We must not exclude them further by making formal photographic ID a voting requirement.
Current estimates suggest only 38% of Nigerians have any sort of identification. Although free voter cards are issued at election times, far too many Nigerians are unable to access them as it is.
We all know how difficult it can be to get any accepted means of identification in Nigeria. A driver’s licence costs up 10,450 Naira. A passport can cost as much as 70,000 Naira.
Even when this is affordable, which to many Nigerians it is not; it is not unknown for the process of obtaining these items to take up to four years.
As a result, it is not unusual for bribes to be necessary to accelerate the process.
We cannot allow bribery to become necessary as part of plans to reduce fraud!
As Director-General of the NIMC, Aliyu Aziz has said:
“Over 100 million Nigerians have no identity (ID). These include the poorest and the most vulnerable groups, such as the marginalised – women and girls, the less-educated people, migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, people with disabilities and people living in rural and remote areas.”
Our democracy cannot be accessible only to the urban and the affluent.
If turnout falls any further in Nigerian elections the very legitimacy of our democracy will be called into question. Turnout in our last presidential election was 34.8% – not only half of that in Ghana’s last presidential election, but the worst in West Africa.
What is to be done? The answer could be at our fingertips.
As I never tire of telling people; more Nigerians own a smartphone than voter’s card.
My Digital Democracy Project is designed to reconnect electors and the elected using technology.
Our free Rate Your Leader mobile is designed to helps politicians engage directly with people who elected them, by putting them in direct person-to-person contact with verified voters.
Rate Your Leader helps voters bring important issues to the attention of local leaders, and lets communities and their elected representatives collaborate to make local areas better.
The Rate Your Leader app also helps politicians understand what matters most to the people who elect them and build relationships of trust with the electorate. The app allows voters rate their leaders on accessibility and accountability, highlighting their value and values to their neighbours, family, friends and peers.
By facilitating relationships of trust between electors and elected, we aim to inspire trust in the political system as a whole, encouraging people to vote by proving to them that democratic politics can deliver positive change and is worth engaging with.
Even the British government itself admits that this proposal is a solution in search of a problem, publicly stating in March that “the United Kingdom is world-renowned for running elections of the highest standards in which voters can have full confidence.” Estimates suggest that Electoral Fraud is suspected in just 0.000057% of British votes.
It is no wonder that so many people are so concerned about plans that may shut many legitimate voters out of the democratic process.
In Nigeria enough people already do this to themselves, voluntarily. We need to get more people to vote. Not less!
Joel Popoola is a Nigerian tech entrepreneur, digital democracy campaigner and is the creator of the Rate Your Leader mobile app. He can be reached via @JOPopoola
Accomplished media entrepreneur and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Chief Dele Momodu, has said that nobody trusts President Bola Tinubu to conduct a free and fair election, including the President’s own supporters.
Momodu also noted that there is a belief that if the President does not win in 2027, he will not want to relinquish power.
He added that if Tinubu refuses to step down, he would be chased out of the Presidential Villa.
Momodu made the revelations while speaking on Arise News Prime Time belt.
“If you ask an average Nigerian today about Tinubu, ‘Do you trust Tinubu to conduct a free and fair election?’ I can tell you, 90 per cent of them will say no.
“Look, nobody trusts Tinubu to run a free and fair election, including his own supporters. They will tell you, ‘Oh, we are going to win. There is no way we won’t win.’ Ask them why, and they will say, ‘Oh, you know our oga now.’
“In fact, some people are even suggesting that if Tinubu loses the election, he will not agree to step down. I say, why won’t he agree? We will chase him away.
“Look, you do not know the determination of Nigerians. And now, I’m not resting my confidence on just my party. I’m talking about the ordinary man on the street who cannot imagine Tinubu coming back again. They just can’t.
“I can’t tell you our strategy in public. What we know is that, once upon a time, Tinubu fought for himself to secure a second term as governor of Lagos State.
“So, others are also working very hard behind the scenes. We are not going to come out in public and say this, but we know what to do to make sure that he does not get that second term. We also know that some of the people pretending to support him today—and I’m not trying to trivialise this thing.
“I know some of them. They are praying fervently that they will not have to go through this situation where governors become like houseboys. Governors are scared. Judges are scared. Legislators are scared.
“So, Tinubu has become a god whom nobody is ready to confront and say, ‘Oga, you’ve done your best. Please, go home.’”
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has urged President Bola Tinubu to go home and let Nigeria breathe.
Adebayo said this in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday.
He was responding to the President’s plan to excuse himself from the rigors of physical campaigns in some states ahead of the presidential polls.
Tinubu spoke at the inauguration of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in Abuja, urging members to take the party’s message to Nigerians across the states and local government areas while he continues to attend to matters of governance.
In response, Adebayo argued that, if Tinubu is too tired to campaign, he is too weak to govern.
In a statement signed by his Presidential Campaign’s Chief Communications Adviser, Comrade Mark Adebayo, the SDP standard bearer described Tinubu as a “president in absentia” at a time Nigeria needs hands-on leadership.
Adebayo said: “Nigeria is too complex, too dynamic, and currently too distressed to be governed by remote control.”
He cited what he called repeated instances of the President governing from a distance, including prolonged medical vacations disguised as working visits, absence during national emergencies and reliance on proxies to announce State policies.
Adebayo further said: “We have seen repeated instances when the President was visibly missing when the country needed reassurance.
“From unannounced foreign trips during critical economic decisions to his complete silence during widespread regional protests, he has consistently acted like a president in absentia. If you are too tired to campaign, you are too weak to govern.”
Adebayo alleged that the decision to stay off the campaign trail was not about strategy but fear.
“The excuse of bowing out of the 2027 campaign is a cowardly smokescreen. The truth is that the President is terrified of the Nigerian people,” he argued.
According to him, the administration’s economic policies – fuel subsidy removal fallout, skyrocketing inflation and currency instability -have made the President unpopular.
“He knows the pain his bad policies have inflicted on families. He is hiding because he cannot face public anger, and he knows any appearance on a campaign trail will be met with collective booing of a betrayed populace.”
Adebayo also said: “It is time to face reality: step aside, go home, and let this country breathe.”
He called on the administration to prioritise national interest over political survival and be transparent about the President’s capacity to lead for the remainder of his term.
Arsenal Fans Club Nigeria is set to be officially unveiled in Abuja this weekend, as the organisation prepares to strengthen the club’s fan base and promote community development through football.
Amongst the high profile personalities lined up for the unveiling ceremony include, business leaders, celebrities and notable Arsenal supporters like former Gunner, Kanu Nwankwo, former Senate President Bukola Saraki, Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Senator Dino Melaye amongst others.
The unveiling will form part of a two-day programme beginning on Friday, October 16, with delegates from state and city chapters expected to converge on the nation’s capital for the club’s second Annual General Meeting (AGM).
According to a press release issued on Monday by the organisation, the celebrations will feature sporting activities, a community sanitation initiative and a formal launch event attended by prominent personalities and Arsenal supporters.
National President of Arsenal Fans Club Nigeria, Charles Ojugbana, said the organisation draws inspiration from the achievements of Nigerian-descent footballers, including former Super Eagles striker Kanu Nwankwo and current stars Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze.
The former General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) said the club aims to improve the football fan experience while expanding support for Arsenal across Nigeria.
Activities scheduled for Saturday include aerobic sessions and a novelty football match before members proceed to Wuse Market for a clean-up campaign.
As part of the outreach, the club plans to donate refuse bins and other sanitation materials to the market’s leadership, in line with its commitment to philanthropy and community development.
Arsenal Fans Club Nigeria operates through a governance structure comprising a Board of Trustees, a National Executive Committee and a General Assembly, which serves as the organisation’s highest decision-making body.
The club also disclosed plans to promote awareness of Down syndrome among children in March 2027, as part of activities to commemorate World Down Syndrome Day.
The programme expresses the organisation’s ambition to extend its activities beyond football fandom to charitable causes and support for vulnerable members of the society.
