For the first time in history since the return to democracy in 1999, Nigeria recorded the lowest rate of voter turnout of 34.75 per cent at the last presidential election held on February 23.
The rate of voter turnout is calculated as the percentage of the total number of registered voters by the total number of votes (the summation of the total number of valid votes and the total number of rejected votes) accrued at the end of the election.
The rate of voter turnout in the 2019 election in Nigeria is also the lowest of all recent elections held on the African continent, according to the data from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (I-IDEA) reveals.
Data compiled by the I-IDEA, an intergovernmental organisation that supports sustainable democracy worldwide reveals that the turnout of voters at the just concluded presidential election happens to be the second lowest in the history of elections held in African countries — the lowest being 32.3 per cent in the 1996 Zimbabwean presidential election.
