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Read the entire position paper by the SI4DEV Governance group HERE and check out the BusinessDay article HERE.

Excerpt of article as reported by BusinessDay:

Strategy and Innovation for Development Initiative (SI4DEV), a non-governmental organisation registered in Nigeria, has identified underage voting as the bane of credible elections in the country.

The group has, therefore, called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to investigate the alleged voting by underage persons in the recent Kano State local government elections.

SI4DEV brings together individuals and groups and provides training on practical skills towards achieving democracy and economic prosperity for communities, including the application of research and innovation products.

In a recent position paper on the importance of youth involvement in leadership and political process in Nigeria, the SI4DEV Governance Group reiterated the constitutional provision that limits voting in elections only to Nigerians that have reached the age of 18 years and resident in the country, adding that when numbers and population are illegally boosted by adding underage children to the list, it “creates room for rigging elections in favour of whoever orchestrates the irregular registration”.

“Underage voting reportedly took place during the 2015 elections, most especially in Northern states including Kano, Katsina and Jigawa, and more recently, there have been reports that election monitors, Centre for Information Technology and Development, (CITAD), and Action Aid International Nigeria witnessed voting by underage children during the Kano State local government elections on February 10, 2018.

“While there is no way to determine the severity of this irregularity, it calls into question most elections across the country – both those handled by INEC and the state electoral commissions because all elections purportedly rely on the voter register compiled by INEC,” SI4DEV said.

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64 thoughts on “SI4DEV Governance Group Featured in BusinessDay – Position Paper”

  2. The constitution stipulates that the voting age is 18. Anyone less than 18 should be screened out, there need to be proactive measures set in place to eliminate under age voting prior to the 2019 election. Kudos to SI4DEV, CITAD and Action Aid Nigeria for championing this course.

  5. The very first step toward actualizing a free and fair election, and casting of vote is INCLUSION, when the people, and groups do not leave the “watching”to the INEC officials alone, the conscious mind set becomes inbuilt knowing the masses are watching, and more when cooperate groups like the Si4DEV mentions the anomalies witnessed or reported during the election days.
    The practice of allowing under age is grossly against the law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 🇳🇬, and is not more than a show of political insecurity, immaturity and infidelity to a nation owned by vast a diverse of people.

    2. In addition to your suggestion…I believe in setting up gadget like cctv camera focusing the registration center, accreditation center and polling booth…this will enhance live transmission and bring people to self consciousness… We need to enlighten people on the usage of their phone camera

  10. The importance of installation of cctv camera cannot be overemphasized….this has helped in so many organizations, stores, streets and so on to bring about self consciousness and sanity in every activities.

  11. We can stop underage voting by just snapping some pictures and a short video detailing the location of the act. If possible, merge together with the names of electoral officials in charge of that particular polling station. Once this is done in a single polling station, others will follow.

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