In view of the upcoming October 19 Local Government elections in Kaduna, a CSO, Gender Awareness Trust (GAT), supported by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), has urged voters to protect their votes.
The CSO equally urged the voters to resist votes selling in the local government elections.
The Executive Director of GAT, Dr Lydia Umar, made the call at a press briefing on Friday at the National Human Right Commission’s complex in Kaduna.
According to her, selling of votes may spell doom for the people in the coming years, adding, ”Whoever buys votes, would want to recoup the money once he/she gets to the office.”
Umar also called on the voters to ensure a peaceful election by being orderly on the cues, allowing the aged, the pregnant women, suckling mothers and people with disability to be given priority.
She, however, said, ”What is needed is not just a free, fair and credible election but a peaceful one during and after announcing the results.”
Umar also called on all the voters to protect their votes by supporting security officers to ensure that no one was allowed to snatch ballot boxes and make sure that counting takes place right from the ward level.
Speaking further, the executive director called on all electoral officials to be professional, diligent and honest, while also calling on the media to be conflict-sensitive in their reportage.
Expressing concerns over women’s participation in politics, Umar said the situation since the inception of democracy in 2019 left much to be desired.
Umar disclosed that GAT, supported by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), together with other NGOs have been working hard to change the narrative of women’s exclusion in politics.
She said the trend showed that although women and young people constitute over 67 per cent of voters during general elections and over 80 per cent during LGA elections, they hardly occupy above three per cent of democratically elected positions.
According to her, appointive positions have been better with women about 50:50 in the Executive Council, in addition to having a female Deputy Governor in the state.
“Researchers have shown that this is not due to lack of effort, but many obstacles such as cultural and systemic issues that are well known in the public domain,” she said.
In a goodwill message, the State Coordinator of the National Human Rights Commission, Mr Terngu Gwar, said it had always campaigned and advocated free, fair and credible elections.
He added that they also sensitised women on contesting and participation in politics.
Gwar equally said that the commission observe the principle of credibility during elections, while urging the media to employ objectivity in their reportage. (NAN)
