Anambra CLO decries poor participation of citizens in electoral process

The Civil Liberties Organization (CLO), Anambra state chapter has decried the low participation of Anambra citizens in the registration exercise, which it said will affect the enthronement of good and accountable governance in the state.

The state chairman of the rights group, Comrade Vincent Ezekwueme, who spoke in a statement he made available to newsmen in Awka, the state capital on Wednesday, said the same people who refused to take part in the voters’ registration exercise and electoral process in general would sit back in the comfort of their homes to criticize the actions of government.

It is unfortunate and distasteful that our citizens exhibit arrogant display of ignorance by criticizing every action of government at the comfort of their homes, without taking positive action to enhance good governance,” he said.

The CLO boss said it was unfortunate that most of the youth in the state act out of sheer ignorance and display lackadaisical attitude in voter’s card registration on the ground that the exercise was just a formality, since people’s votes don’t decide who wins the election.

He contended that the church, political class, political parties, Civil Society Organization (CSO), trade union and Student Union movements have enormous task of inculcating the right attitude in our youths, especially on the need to participate adequately in the process leading to November 18, 2017 governorship election in the state.

Ezekwueme reiterated his call on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to decentralize the current registration exercise so as to ensure that eligible voters are availed the opportunity to register.

Ultimately, said Ekwueme, Anambra people should take their destiny in their hands by not only participating in the election but enduring that votes count, warning that security agents should stay clear from partisanship during the election.

Meanwhile, Ezekwueme has lauded billionaire business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, for his concern on the alarming rate of youth unemployment in the country.

The CLO boss said Dangote condemned the publicity given to the high profile kidnapper, Evans by the media in the country, lamenting that Nigeria “celebrates mediocrity instead of meritocracy, vice instead of virtue, corruption instead of honesty, failure instead of success.”