A coalition of 10 Civil Society Organizations (CSO) registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission and consultative partners said its findings from the Plateau State voter register revealed over 84, 000 underage registered voters, including children as young as five years old.
The group suggested sanitizing the judiciary to reduce the number of upturned and re-run elections emanating from the influence of politicians in the 2023 elections.
In a statement it issued in Abuja on Wednesday, the group said it uncovered
“Politicians should stop seeing politics as a do-or-die affair and discourage violence perpetrated by their followers. The Nigerian judiciary and politicians should be informed that the Bimodal Verification Accreditation System has broken the thuggery and ballot snatching jinx and has ended massive thumb-printing. Hence, we need to stop trying to manipulate our electoral process.
“All electoral stakeholders should advocate judicial reforms and a review of the election petition tribunal’s and courts’ (pre and post-election) powers.
“Sanitizing the judiciary will largely reduce the number of upturned and re-run elections emanating from the influence of politicians,” they said.
The team made its submissions on claims and objections on the national voter register after its fact-finding visit to Plateau State on November 23, 2022.
The team lead, Stafford Bisong, who read the report to journalists in Abuja, encouraged Nigerians to go beyond coming out to vote but also monitor post-election proceedings in order to foster continued accountability of the nation’s public office holders.
