Low voter turnout in FCT area council polls linked to Electoral Act amendment – Sowore
The 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowere, has attributed the low voter turnout recorded at the Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, to the signing of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill into law by Bola Ahmed Tinubu
Sowore made the assertion on Saturday while speaking with Vanguard at Polling Unit 001, LEA Primary School, Kabusa, in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC). He said many Nigerians have lost confidence and trust in the electoral process.
“What we have discovered is that more and more of our people are no longer voting, and I think it was made adverse by the newly signed electoral law, which doesn’t give transparency the oxygen it needs because democracy needs one oxygen, that’s trust,” he said.
According to him, once trust in the system is eroded, citizens become unwilling to participate in elections.
“The moment trust is lost, people stay at home because there is nothing more voluntary than voting – you take your money, you take your time, and if you feel like the thing is not going to produce the results you want, you don’t leave your house,” he stated.
Sowore added that the low turnout and apparent lack of interest had been anticipated, noting that concerns were earlier raised over the handling of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill by the National Assembly.
“And that’s what we were warning them when they were signing their electoral law that it is not about activists, it’s about the future of the country. If you want people to have faith in democracy, you must give them what they ask for, and that is democracy. But I am going around today because this is one of my communities, Kabusa,” he said.
He, however, noted that many Nigerians are more focused on the 2027 general elections than the FCT Area Council polls.
“This is not the election that is going to be the most important, it’s 2027 that is going to be the race election, and you must arm yourself, not with weapons, but with knowledge, intellect, commitment and conviction to change the course of history in this country,” he added.
