The OurMumuDonDo group led by popular musician, Charles Oputa a.k.a. Charly Boy, and other civil rights groups have protested against the registration of underage voters in northern Nigeria, particularly in Kano State.
The groups, therefore, called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to ensure that children are not allowed to vote in 2019.
The call came amid pictures trending on the social media showing children between the ages of eight and 15 voting during the recently concluded local government election in Kano State.
The coalition also called on INEC to ensure that the process of registration and collection of Permanent Voter Cards were not cumbersome.
Mr. Deji Adeyanju, who read a statement at the headquarters of INEC in Abuja on Monday, said if the process of registration was too difficult, many Nigerians would be discouraged and ultimately might not vote in 2019.
The letter, which was received by the Assistant Director in charge of security, Mr. J. Musa, was signed by Charly Boy, Deji Adeyanju (Concerned Nigerians); Ariyo Atoye (Coalition in Defence Of Nigerian Democracy), Bako Usman (Campaign For Democracy) and Moses Paul (MAD Connect).
The coalition also said it was interested in working with INEC to address voter apathy and disenfranchisement “as a result of the long time practice of rigidity in the electoral process.”
The group highlighted the issue of electronic voting and the challenges of documentation and population of eligible voters, which it said needed public engagement.
“We humbly request a strategic engagement with INEC to discuss the issues identified above and other likely developments obstructing the electoral process and how we can equally be of significant help as stakeholders,” the letter read in part.
The movement stated that if necessary actions were not taken to remedy the deficiencies plaguing the electoral process, “it will be difficult to eradicate voter apathy and disenfranchisement, and even more difficult to sustain our democracy.”
However, the Kano State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof. Riskuwa Shehu, said INEC did not organise local government elections and so could not be blamed for any cases of underage voting.
Shehu said the voter register used for the local government election was different from the one used by INEC and promised that children would not be allowed to vote in Kano State in 2019.
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