Thread by @DeepDiveNG

There's a systematic Voter Suppression ongoing in the South; 6 South West States with 5m voters there are mostly affected. It may not be the intention of @INECnigeria to suppress Southern voters - but, it's happening on their watch.

Let's take a deep dive into relevant datasets

According to PVC data from @INECNigeria, Lagos State has the highest number of abandoned PVCs (1.41m). However, a deeper dive into the dataset shows a disturbing pattern - the #WORSE10 States with abandoned PVCs are in the south.

See pattern in the infograph👇

Are Yorubas and other Southerners the most politically unconscious citizens in Nigeria🤷‍♀️? Or is there a subtle strategy by the political elites to suppress votes from Yoruba states and other literate Southern States in Nigeria🤷‍♂️?

Let's take a look at 3 theories:

Theory 1:

@INECnigeria is allocating fewer human resources and equipment to SouthWest & other Southern States; as a result, queues are longer, more people in the region get discouraged, abandon their PVCs or Continuous Voters Registration process altogether.

#NigeriaDecides2019

Theory 2:

States with the highest number of abandoned PVCs also have the lowest Poverty Rates; meaning more people are in some form of formal/informal jobs making it difficult for them to get permission off work between the official 9AM -3PM to be on queues for PVC daily

Theory 3:

@INECnigeria is genuinely unaware of the relationship between low Poverty Rates & abandoned PVC cards; as such, it has not taken any active measures to correct the problem, thus unintentionally suppressing voters in the affected regions through its inactions

It is difficult to argue that the huge number of abandoned PVCs in the south is largely due to apathy or naivety; if this were the case, owners of abandoned PVCs wouldn't have registered for TVCs (Temporary Voters Card) in the first place.

#NigeriaDecides2019 #ManifestoFirst

If nothing is done about this problem, those who will decide Nigeria's next leader are mainly those with the highest Illiteracy Rate & Highest Poverty Rate - making them unable to understand quality manifestos & predisposing them to vote candidates who share Rice/Money on D-day

Recommendation:

1. PVC collection and CVR registration timetable should be changed from the current 9AM - 3PM daily to 7AM - 6PM daily.

2. Weekends (8AM - 6PM) should be added to PVC/CVR timetable in affected states; staff can be paid for extra hours.

#NigeriaDecides2019

3. @INECnigeria should continue to publish 2-3 page summary statistics on PVC collection/CVR (Continuous Voters Registration) data regularly so election monitoring groups, international development organization can monitor the pulse of events & provide advise on an ongoing basis

For Nigeria to have an issues-based election in 2019, literate Nigerians/middle class Nigerians need to be encouraged to vote; otherwise, having a sound public policy implementation strategy or manifesto may not be a key deciding factor in 2019 election cycle

#NigeriaDecides2019

While you are here, please take this survey:

What timeframe should @INECNigeria adopt to ensure that more citizens collect their PVCs or participate in Continuous Voters Registration process?

@Gidi_Traffic @CivicMediaLab @CiviciLab @CivicHive @gidimeister

#NigeriaDecides2019