Two of Nigeria’s civic tech organisations, PROMAD and ADVOKC Foundations have launched an online survey to capture the data of disenfranchised voters in the February 25 presidential and national assembly elections.
The organisations announced the development in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, signed by Daisi Omokungbe and Abiola Durodola, founders of the organisations.
According to the group, the election showed the promise of what our democracy can become: citizen-driven, participatory, and energetic. This enthusiasm was dampened by widespread voter suppression, either deliberate or not, experienced across polling units in the country.
“Reports reveal several incidents of intimidation, logistical inefficiencies of INEC, and outright violence. We are personally aware of a polling unit with about 750 ready voters, of which only 72 had the chance to vote.
“The impact of this is dangerous. When citizens lose trust in the process, their motivation to participate as active citizens is eroded, which in turn weakens our democracy”, the statement reads.
“As organisations that have actively advocated for more young people to become more civically active and participate in the democratic process. Promad Foundation and Advokc Foundation have collaborated to launch this online database to gain a data-driven perspective on the depth of the impact of this suppression.
“We are deploying an online form using social and traditional media channels to actively gather the data of Nigerians who could not vote because of the inefficiencies of INEC logistics, breakouts of violence, the inability of BVAS to accredit them, or other realities that disenfranchised them,” the group said.
They enjoined other Civil Society organisations, development partners, and media organisations across the country and the general public to share the platform with every individual that could not vote despite coming out in the elections.
“It is important that we acknowledge and applaud the sacrifice of these voters, even if they cannot be restituted. With their help, all of us can use the findings to work with INEC and other critical stakeholders to ensure that incidences like this become scarcer”, they said.
The database opened on the 28th of February and would lapse till the 10th of March, 2023.
