From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that, it will not be able to deliver the desired free, fair and credible elections in 2015 if voters are not properly educated.
It said low level of education and awareness on electoral matters by the Nigerian citizens was responsible for apathy and resultant low participation which affected the acceptability of the previous
Kaduna State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Alhaji Haliru Aliyu Tambuwwal stated this while inaugurating INEC Inter Agency Advisory Committee on Voter Education and Publicity (SICVEP) at the headquarters in Kaduna State.
He however expressed optimism that, the state INEC Inter Agency Advisory Committee on Voter Education and Publicity (SICVEP) will discourage apathy and promote positive attitudes and responses among the citizenry and encourage compliance with regulation as well as discourage violence and all forms of malpractices.
“This is why for the first time, the commission will be engaging a wide range of agencies at a multilateral level with the task of educating, enlightening and mainstreaming voters in Nigeria in a formal and structured manner.
He outlined the committee’s terms of reference to include; develop a medium to long term framework for civic and voter education in Nigeria and identify various organisations and agencies capable of undertaking voter education activities and recommend appropriate support for them among others.
Committee members drawn from INEC, Media, education, youth and information ministries, labour congress, religious bodies and student unions were inaugurated by the Resident Electoral Commissioner.
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