A former presidential candidate, Fela Durotoye, has noted the devastating impact the annulment of June 12, 1993, presidential election by former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida, had on the Nigerian electoral system.
He said the particular action made a “devastating impact on our trajectory as a nation”.
According to him, for this reason, Nigerians concluded that their votes do not count after that election adjudged by many as one of the freest and fairest in Nigeria’s history.
Durotoye, a former presidential candidate of the defunct Alliance for New Nigeria, ANN, was a guest on the Sunday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television.
He said the annulment of the June 12 election over three decades ago tampered with the voting behaviour of Nigerians and enthroned the culture of electoral apathy in the populace.
He said, “The past does not shape the future; it only shapes the present. It is now that matters because we like to look back at the things that happened. I would almost have not wanted to comment about the IBB book launch except for the fact that it had such a devastating impact on our trajectory as a nation.
“One of the most devastating things that we didn’t realise was that it was that particular moment that the people came to the conclusion that ‘our votes don’t count’.
“From that moment was when you start hearing: ‘Our votes don’t count’. It was that annulment that embedded that (votes not counting) into the consciousness of the people.
“The danger of ‘my votes don’t count’ is that the majority have become the minority. Look at the number of registered voters and look at the number of votes that are counted.”
Durotoye said there are four kinds of votes – mobilised votes, monetised votes, manufactured votes, and manipulated votes.
According to him, all the categories of votes were not up to half of the total registered voters in the 2023 general election.
“Even with all of that, go and look at the number of votes that are cast and the number of registered voters, and you realised that the concept of ‘my votes don’t count’ is the most powerful thing that the rulers have used to suppress us.
“For instance, in the last election, there were 93 million registered voters but only about 23 million votes were counted, including manufactured and manipulated votes. 70 million people did not vote. That is the majority,” he said.