Low turnout of voters has been witnessed in many Nigerian states for Saturday’s, 9 March 2019, governorship elections.
This is thanks to residual fears over the violence that marred the presidential and National Assembly polls on 23 February 2019.
Some of the voters blamed the low turnout on the unexpected outcome of the last election that returned the ruling All Pregressives Congress (APC) and the incumbent president to office, while some others said the whole process had been militarized and far from transparent.
For instance, in Lagos State, many of the non-indigenes of the state stayed back in their homes for fear of being attacked by the supporters of the APC in the state. In the 23 February 2019 presidential and National Assembly elections, some non-indigene voters in some polling units in the state were attacked and their votes burnt.
Reports from the five states in the South East of the country said that the turnout of voters was low. The same report was given for Plateau, Nassarawa States and Abuja.
However, the report of low turnout of voters is not seen as a surprise to many Nigerians since the efforts made by the lawmakers to reverse the trend by having the presidential election after the general elections were rejected by the ruling APC and the Presidency.
Voter apathy is usually worse in the country if the expectations of voters are not met in the presidential election, which they see as the crucial election since most decisions that affect their lives are taken at the federal level.
– APA
