Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, on Friday urged Nigeria to avoid what he described as “fire brigade approach” to the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
Obasa said this while delivering a goodwill message at the State’s 17th Legislative-Executive Parley held at the Marriot Hotels, GRA, in Ikeja, stressing that adequate preparations were needed to make the elections successful.
According to him, there should be adequate voter education to avoid voter apathy, violence and cases of void votes during the exercise.
Obasa noted that the fact that Nigeria is preparing for the 2023 elections means that democracy has become entrenched in the country.
“The fact that Nigeria is planning another election after 23 years of democratic transition is a sign that democratic principles have been widely accepted in spite of the myriad of problems confronting the process.”
“As the nation shows growing commitment to its stability, the time is ripe for civil society to prepare itself and the citizenry to demand power sharing in a truly participatory democracy.”
“As it’s evident enough, the negligence of the importance of voter education has been responsible for violence, a bulk of void votes, and apathy during past elections. It is unfortunate that Nigeria operates a fire brigade approach in some of our undertakings, especially as regards to voter education.”
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