Nigeria’s electoral system has once again been greeted with a new innovation that will help ensure the success of next month’s presidential elections.
Brain Builders Youth Development Initiative (BBYDI), a non-governmental organization, launched the YVOTE WI-APP on Tuesday, January in Abuja to address voter apathy and assist persons with disabilities (PWDs) during the elections.
Olasupo Abideen, the executive director of BBYDI, stated that the app’s purpose is to help reduce voter apathy in Nigeria.
He stated that elections have not been smooth for voters in the past because they find it difficult to locate their polling units, particularly newly registered voters.
According to Abideen:
“We discover that in Nigeria, a major contribution to voter apathy is because people do not have the opportunity to access polling units.
“So, this app is basically designed for increased participation in voting in Nigeria because the last general election we witnessed low-level participation.”
He went on to say that the new app aims to keep voters and citizens up to date on electoral information and to help them find polling places, particularly for people with disabilities, who can use a special feature on the app to help them find polling places.
Similarly, Obasanjo Fajemirokun, the app’s developer, described it as Nigeria’s most inclusive app.
He stated that the app is designed to meet the needs and desires of every Nigerian, regardless of age, class, or gender.
Obasanjo stated that the app is simple enough for even the least educated person to use, and that it has translations in four languages (English, Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo).
He said:
“The app is very friendly and easy to use. It was built with the basic purpose of inclusion and we are using the UK standard to ensure that everything in the app is accessible, including its support screen reader function.
“People living with disabilities will be able to use the app. It has no difficult menu; everything was ensured to be open and easy.”
Obasanjo was the winner of a youth civic-tech competition held last year to bring together young tech innovators in order to provide technological solutions to Nigerian electoral practices.
Christian Aid (Nigeria) funded the initiative, which was facilitated by Brain Builders Youth Development Initiative (BBYDI).