The European Union (EU) has partnered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to host the second edition of ‘youth votes count’, a free concert to encourage more youths to register and vote in the 2023 general election.

    At a press conference in Lagos, yesterday, 7th June 2022, Programme Manager, Political Governance and Democracy Section, Delegation of the European Union to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and ECOWAS, Laolu Olawumi, said the concert would take place at the Tafawa Balewa Square on Saturday, June 11, by 10am and the only gate pass needed is the personal voter’s card (PVC) or temporary voter’s card (TVC). She said the initiative, a non-partisan campaign funded by the EU, was launched in 2018 with the sole objective of getting young people to participate more in the electoral process.

    “This has been a long time in planning and we are very happy that we are at a stage where we are implementing the plan and looking towards a successful conclusion. It has taken a lot of team work to get to where we are today and we agreed the electoral process would be inclusive, transparent and efficient and that there are efforts to ensure the process is continuously improved.

    “The youth vote count is a non-partisan campaign that was launched in 2018 with the sole objective of getting young people to participate more in the electoral process. The population of young people in this country is huge but that has not translated to an effective participation in the electoral process. We want to get young Nigerians to get involved.

    “We know there is a high level of voter apathy and the reason people don’t want to engage is because they don’t believe the system would work for them. They don’t believe how their votes would influence the kind of leaders they would get at the end of the day.

   “Even if you decide not to engage, it is a decision that would affect the political process, so why not lend your voice? This is the message that the Youth Votes Count is trying to pass across, the population of young people in this country is huge, but that has not translated to effective participation in the electoral process. We want to get young Nigerians to get involved,” she said

    INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Olusegun Agbaje, urged youths to get their PVCs, ensuring the commission is working hard to ensure all votes count.

     He reminded Nigerians that the continuous voters registration (CVR) would end on June 30 and that the commission has no intention of extending the date.

    He said in order to make the process easier, the commission brought 50 capturing machines from Abuja and added more polling units to Lagos.

    Some of the artists, expected are Kizz Daniel who will headline the show, MI, Teni the Entertainer, Tubaba, Falz, Patoranking, Mayorkun, Omawunmi and actors like Chioma Chukwuka, Mr. Macaroni etc.