Group pushes voters’ participation ahead 2023 elections
The Policy Innovation Centre (PIC) collaborating with MacArthur Foundation is creating public awareness to boost voter participation in the 2023 general elections.
At a recent workshop in Abuja tagged ‘applying behavioural insights to electoral participation’, PIC encouraged participants to understand Nigeria’s electoral hurdles, leveraging lessons from behavioural science, to design an intervention that will boost citizens’ participation in the electoral process.
PIC director, Faisal Naru, noted that the workshop was the first in a series of efforts to engage key players in identifying the challenges associated with electoral participation in Nigeria.
He said: “We are trying to help drive a paradigm shift in the way people think about problems and how they solve them…. The key thing for citizens and public sector stakeholders is to improve accountability and transparency that will build trust and increase voter turnout and participation in the elections. That seems to be one of the presiding things the public is searching for, and public sector institutions can help do.”
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Participants at the workshop were provided with some background on electoral participation in Nigeria by several resource persons, including Samson Itodo, executive director of Yiaga Africa.
“The challenges with voter apathy and electoral participation are immense in Nigeria. We have seen that decline happen over decades, but believe we can change the narrative one step at a time by reflecting on simple, actionable strategies that we can implement to improve citizens’ engagement with the electoral process,” said PIC deputy director, Osasuyi Dirisu.
She added: “Based on what we’ve seen today, there is potential for behavioural insights to improve electoral participation. The only caveat is that we also need to reflect on the other side of the coin. We need to engage government and political structures to also improve their commitment to delivering on electoral promises made to citizens.”
Launched at the 27th Nigerian Economic Summit (NES 27) in 2021, the PIC is the first national-level unit of its kind in Africa applying lessons from behavioural and social sciences to inform better policies and decision making.
