The Ekiti State Government has unveiled plans to deploy arts and culture as tools to address voter apathy and improper voting ahead of the June 20 governorship election.
The Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, Prof. Rasaki Bakare, disclosed that the ministry will commence a statewide sensitisation campaign on March 28, covering major communities across the three senatorial districts.
The initiative is aimed at educating residents on their civic responsibilities and proper voting procedures.
Bakare made this known during a press conference held in Ado Ekiti on Monday, March 23, where he also announced Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s approval of an additional release of funds for the 2026 Ekiti State Art Endowment Fund.
The fund is designed to provide annual financial support to individuals and groups within the arts and creative sector.
He explained that the fund, offered as a loan at seven per cent interest, is targeted at supporting beneficiaries in establishing sustainable businesses, with the goal of fostering economic growth and job creation within the creative industry.
According to the commissioner, the ministry’s responsibilities include leveraging arts and culture to support government initiatives.
He clarified that the planned sensitisation tour is not a political campaign but an effort to boost voter participation and awareness.
He said, “Election is a government programme. Our intervention here is to complement the jobs of the National Orientation Agency and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“The ministry is engaging in a statewide mobilisation tour whereby we use both the performing and visual arts and the culture of the people to sensitise Ekiti residents on two important issues – election and preventing flood.
“Elections are coming, a good number of our people still do not know how to vote well, people still don’t know how to thumbprint properly, people still don’t know how to fold their ballot papers after thumb-printing, which is why there is always a high number of invalid votes.
“Many don’t even understand why they must vote, from the research that we did, there are still people who like to be in their farms working on election days, many people still don’t have voters card, and they don’t see the reason they must have voters card.
“We want to use art, the language that people understand, to teach them how to vote and why they must vote.
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“As a ministry, we want to contribute our quota to making sure that our people have information that will make the forthcoming election seamless, that will impact a high number of voters’ participation, and impact the correct voting process and procedure.
“So we are moving round all our major towns and the senatorial districts in Ekiti State to make sure that we use the art, creativity and culture to sensitise the people on election, as well as what causes flooding and how to prevent it”.
He noted that during the 2022 governorship election, only 360,753 voters participated out of the 988,923 registered voters, highlighting the need for increased awareness.
The state is therefore intensifying efforts through ongoing voter registration campaigns by the Independent National Electoral Commission, with a target of at least 500,000 voters in the upcoming poll.
Describing the initiative as ‘Theatre-for-Development’, Bakare stressed that the exercise is strictly non-partisan and not intended to promote any political party.
He said, “We are not going to campaign for any political party, we want people to see the effect of not voting on election day and not knowing how to vote directly.
Our campaign will just be for you to go and exercise your civic responsibility, and we would have only taught residents how refusal to vote can affect their future,” the commissioner said.
Bakare also encouraged practitioners in the arts and creative sector who require financial support to submit applications and business proposals for the 2026 Art Endowment Fund.
He added that feedback from beneficiaries of the 2024 and 2025 editions indicated positive progress, noting that the scheme supports various segments of the creative industry, including content creators, fashion designers, and other cultural enterprises.
“The fund is a loan which attracts seven per cent interest. It is not a grant because we want our people to be responsible for how they spend the money. It is a revolving loan.
“Whatever the government gives yearly is added to what is already there so that more people can continue to benefit as beneficiaries pay back,” Bakare said.
Also present at the briefing were the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Prince Adebanji Adelusi, the Governor’s Special Assistant on Culture, Adewale Igbeda, and other directors within the ministry.