A sociopolitical group, Enugu State Citizens Support for Equity and Good Governance says it will mobilise residents of the state for the forthcoming Continuous Voter Registration in the state.
The Coordinator, Mr Onyendozi Onwe, said this in Enugu on Tuesday during a courtesy visit by the leadership of the group to the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Enugu State Council.
Onwe said that the essence of the visit was to seek the collaboration of the NUJ to ensure that residents of the state were given the right information to participate in the democratic process.
He said that members of the group would also engage and mobilise those in the rural communities to ensure that they discharged their civic responsibilities.
“The citizens have to be well informed in order to participate actively in the forthcoming voter registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“We, therefore, need the partnership of the media to educate our people on this in order to be in a better position to make informed decisions,” Onwe said.
Also, the Secretary of the group, Mrs Chinasa Nwekeke, said that their motivation to embark on the exercise was due to the apathy that had marred previous electoral processes in the state.
“We had in the past noticed apathy in the electoral and democratic process in the state.
“Our people should be made to understand the importance of coming out to vote the candidates of their choice during elections,” Nwekeke said.
Responding, the NUJ Chairman in the state, Mr Rex Arum, said that journalists in the state would be glad to partner with any group whose aim was to deepen democracy.
Arum said that the constitutional duty of the media was to hold government accountable with a view to ensuring good governance.
He said that it was sad that most Nigerians had failed to actively participate in the democratic process, saying that such apathy was responsible for the poor governance in the country.
“Voter education is the only way to go for our democracy to thrive. Our society is derailing and we need to enlighten our people to take their destinies into their hands,” he said.
Arum said that the media would continue to be at the forefront of political enlightenment in the state. (NAN)
