Omoyele Sowore, the 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, said Saturday that low voter turnout in the Federal Capital Territory area council elections is linked to the recently amended Electoral Act signed by Bola Tinubu.
Speaking at Polling Unit 001, LEA Primary School in Kabusa, Abuja Municipal Area Council, Sowore said many Nigerians have lost confidence in the electoral process.
He attributed the apathy to what he described as a lack of transparency in the amended electoral law.
“What we have discovered is that more and more of our people are no longer voting, and I think it was worsened by the newly signed electoral law, which doesn’t give transparency the oxygen it needs because democracy needs one oxygen — that’s trust,” he said.
Sowore said voter participation declines when public trust is eroded.
“The moment trust is lost, people stay at home because there is nothing more voluntary than voting,” he said. “If people feel the process will not produce credible results, they won’t come out.”
He said concerns about the electoral law had been raised before its passage by the National Assembly.
“We warned them when they were signing the electoral law. It’s not about activists, it’s about the future of the country,” he said.
Sowore added that the FCT elections were not the primary focus for many Nigerians, who are instead looking ahead to the 2027 general elections.
“This is not the most important election; 2027 is,” he said. “People must prepare themselves — not with weapons, but with knowledge, intellect, commitment and conviction to change the course of the country.”
