The second edition of the Youth Vote Count mega concert, set to take place on Saturday, June 11, 2022, at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos, will feature popular rapper, Folarin Falana, aka Falz; skit maker and social media celebrity Debo Adedayo, popularly known as Mr Macaroni; singer, Aituaje Iruobe, aka Waje, and a host of other entertainers.
The event is a collaboration between the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth, and Advancement, and the European Union Support to Democratic Governance.
Though the event is free to attend, guests will only be admitted if they have their permanent voter’s cards.
During the week, the Lagos Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC, Olusegun Agbaje, stated, “The event is free, but permanent voter’s cards or temporary voter’s cards are required for access.”
“The number of registered youth voters is not where we want it to be yet. That is why INEC and other organisations felt we should do something to spur this category of the population.
“INEC does not have any intention to extend the voters’ registration exercise beyond June 30, 2022.
“At the flag-off of the exercise at TBS on Monday, we registered over 1,000 (prospective voters) and we expect to register between 15,000 and 20,000 people on Saturday during the concert where we are expecting about 25,000 attendees.
“The youth have the capacity to ensure a rancour-free election. They must tell political parties that this is the time to get it right. If we get it right in Lagos, other states will follow suit.”
The programme manager for EU-SDG, Laolu Olawunmi, also stated that the substantial youthful population in the country had not translated to meaningful impact on the electoral process.
She however admitted that voter apathy among youths affects the political process. She added, “Providing platforms where we can interact with centres of power and the government will change a lot. Interest in governance and political process will hugely benefit the youth.”