{"id":3464,"date":"2025-04-16T12:16:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T12:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/?p=3464"},"modified":"2025-04-16T12:16:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T12:16:07","slug":"inec-chairman-tasks-african-youths-on-peaceful-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/2025\/04\/16\/inec-chairman-tasks-african-youths-on-peaceful-election\/","title":{"rendered":"INEC Chairman tasks African Youths\u00a0 on peaceful election"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"auto\">INEC Chairman tasks African Youths\u00a0 on peaceful election<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has called on African youths to take the centre stage in promoting peaceful and credible elections across the continent.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">He also urged them to actively engage in the electoral process with a positive mindset, shun electoral malpractices, and uphold democratic values.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Prof. Yakubu made the call yesterday while delivering a lecture on \u201cDemocracy and Peaceful Elections in West Africa\u201d to students of International Affairs and Diplomacy and those of Peace and Conflict Studies at the Civil Service University in the Republic of The Gambia, where he was a guest of the University.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Highlighting the indispensable role of young people in the electoral processes, the INEC Chairman noted that elections in Africa cannot succeed without youth participation. \u201cYoung people form the backbone of election duty staff,\u201d he said, pointing out that Election Management Bodies (EMBs) lack the manpower to conduct elections without recruiting youths as temporary or ad hoc staff.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Beyond logistics and staffing, he emphasized that youths also make up the largest segment of the voting population. His words: \u201cBefore the elections, they are involved in voter registration, one of the most critical stages of the electoral cycle. It is a duty that must be undertaken with sincerity, patriotism, and a sense of responsibility.\u201d<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">In a passionate appeal, Prof. Yakubu urged the youths to be upright and law-abiding. He said: \u201cIf you want peaceful elections, play your part for God and country. Do the right thing. Obey the laws and regulations. That\u2019s how we make every vote count.\u201d<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">He also drew attention to the role of youths as political party agents, cautioning against misrepresenting facts or feeding political stakeholders with false information which, he warned, could trigger violence and undermine public trust in the process.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Turning to the influence of digital media, Prof. Yakubu warned against the spread of fake news, particularly during election periods. \u201cDon\u2019t be among the fake news merchants. If it\u2019s not verified, don\u2019t share it. As citizen reporters, you have a duty to report elections truthfully and responsibly,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">He concluded by encouraging young people not to lose faith in democracy or withdraw from civic engagement. \u201cThis is the system we have chosen. It is ours to nurture, defend, and improve. Every young African must play a role in deepening and strengthening democratic institutions.\u201d<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>INEC Chairman tasks African Youths\u00a0 on peaceful election The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has called on African youths to take the centre stage in promoting peaceful and credible elections across the continent. He also urged them to actively engage in the electoral process with a positive mindset, shun [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1876,2248,2110,2016],"class_list":["post-3464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-converted","tag-encouraging","tag-malpractices","tag-peaceful"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3464"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3465,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3464\/revisions\/3465"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}