Youth and the 2021 Anambra Governorship Elections

Ndi Anambra are preparing for polls to open in less than 24 hours. The pre-election atmostphere for the 2021 Anambra governorship elections has been nothing short of eventful. With rife insecurity, separatist agitation, and general political apathy among the electorate, there are legitimate concerns that voter turnout on election day will be poor.

Indeed, Anambra has a history of poor voter turnout, having recorded just about 17% in 2010. The figure increased to 26% in 2013, but reduced again to 22% in 2017. These poor levels of turnout raise serious concerns about lack of legitimacy and a government that is elected on the mandate of a very small number of people.

At FYCI, we believe that the youth have great potential to influence the political arena in the country. An obvious indication of this is in their sheer number. In Anambra alone, youth form the majority of the population. Unfortunately, this power has been utilised for evil, as politicians frequently hire these youth as thugs to disrupt the electoral process. So how can youth turn the tide and utilise their power for good?

1. Voting During Elections

The easiest way for youth to get involved is to come out to vote on election day. Given their sheer number, if youth come out to vote en masse, they can significantly increase the level of voter turnout, which will in turn promote democratic legitimacy. Indeed, such mass voting will mean that youth can even determine the outcome of the 2021 Anambra governorship elections. Young people in Anambra must realise this power of their vote and start to utilise it.

2. Observing and Monitoring Elections

Youth can also get involved by serving as election observers. They can volunteer with organisations that have been accredited to observe the elections. Even outside this formal process of election observation, active youth can also serve as election monitors to ensure that their votes count. They must be observant and report any irregularity to the appropriate authorities. In this way, they are taking personal responsibility for protecting their votes.

3. Advocating for Peace

Advocacy is most commonly linked to the work of civil society organisations. However, youth can also conduct advocacy within their personal spheres of influence. This includes encouraging their family members, friends, classmates, work colleagues, and other peers to abstain from violence in the electoral process. Given that youth are frequently used as thugs to instigate election violence, such peace advocacy from fellow young people could have a powerful effect in reducing election violence during the 2021 Anambra governorship elections.

4. Constesting During Elections

Eventually, we would be pleased to see more youth getting involved as candidates during elections. This is one area in which youth participation has been abysmal. INEC’s records show that in 2013 and in 2017, there were only a handful of candidates under 40 (data for previous years is unavailable). This year, youth participation seems to have worsened, as there is no single young person under 40 among the governorship candidates.

The Not Too Young to Run Act passed in 2018 attempted to promote youth participation by reducing the minimum age for running for presidential elections from 40 to 35, and National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections from 30 to 25. However, the age limit for contesting governorship elections was not reduced from 35 to 30, as the sponsors of the Bill originally proposed. We believe that if this proposal had been passed, it would have facilitated youth participation even further

Ultimately, as the 2021 Anambra governorship elections hold tomorrow, we urge Anambra youth to utilise their power by coming out to vote, observing and monitoring the elections, and otherwise advocating for peaceful and credible elections. In the near future, we also urge them to get more involved in the process by contesting for governorship elections. Legislators also have a role to play here by reducing the age limit from 35 to 30. In this way, we are confident that youth political participation and representation in the state will improve.