Ekiti 2022: Yiaga Africa Trains, Deploys Long Term Observers Across All 16 LGAs
- Activities are ongoing to solidify preparations for the first election in Nigeria since President Mohammadu Buhari signed the new Electoral Act into law
- The June 18 gubernatorial election in Ekiti state has been regarded by many political pundits as a litmus test to ascertain the effectiveness of the newly signed Electoral Act
- Meanwhile election observation group, Yiaga Africa yet again has intensified their preparedness to monitor the pre-election, election, and post-election activities at the Ekiti polls
Ahead of the Saturday, June 18 gubernatorial election in Ekiti state, apex electoral observation group, Yiaga Africa says it has trained and deployed its observation team across the 16 local government areas of the state, Legit.ng reports.
In a statement signed by Samson Itodo, the executive director of Yiaga Africa, no fewer than 24 observers were certified to oversee the pre-electoral and electoral proceedings of the gubernatorial elections in the state.
Source: Twitter
Itodo said the pre-election observation will include observing efforts by election stakeholders in educating and mobilizing the voters ahead of the election to improve on the abysmally low turnout recorded in the 2018 elections.
He said:
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“Major institutions/stakeholders whose activities will be observed include the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), National Orientation Agency (NOA), Political Parties, and Security Agencies.”
He however noted that the involvement of women, youth, and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) is crucial in the observation of the electoral process.
He said:
“Also, as the INEC concludes Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) in Ekiti State, Yiaga Africa’s observers will observe the collection of Permanent Voters Card (PVC) across all LGAs including other voter education activities in preparation for the polls.
“The Long Term Observers were also trained to track, monitor, and report incidents of violence that may impact the elections across all the 16 LGAs. The violence monitoring will enable Yiaga Africa’s Watching the Vote to track early warning signs and escalate as necessary to prevent incidents that can hinder the successful conduct of the elections.
“In addition, WTV pre-elections observers will observe and report issues relating to hate speech, intimidation, and harassment of any electoral stakeholder, women, youth, and persons with disability and attacks on media or INEC officials. The LTOs will also report any incidents of government restrictions on political activities that may restrict equal participation in the process.”
Itodo also disclosed that Yiaga Africa’s Pre-elections observation findings will be shared with the public via various media of communication including social media and shared with respective institutions for required action.
Ekiti 2022: Yiaga synergise with stakeholders ahead of polls
Itodo said Yiaga Africa’s board and management paid advocacy visits to security agencies, electoral management body, civil society organisations, leadership of political parties, traditional leaders and other election stakeholders in the state.
He stated this is aimed to strengthen collaborations and bridge gaps in the area of citizens participation while ensuring all stakeholders play their roles to ensure credible and peaceful elections in the state.
He reiterated:
"#WatchingTheVote is a comprehensive observation initiative that includes the observation of the pre-election environment, deployment of the Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) for election day observation and post-election audits.
"Our goal is to deepen electoral integrity and enhance citizens’ participation by providing credible, accurate and timely information on the process and verifying the outcome of election results."
He also noted that the observation is designed to deter, detect and expose fraud and build citizens’ confidence in the process.
He stated that Yiaga Africa operates as a civic hub of changemakers poised with the onerous mandate of enhancing the quality of democratic governance, public accountability and civic participation.
Ekiti CP welcomes Yiaga Africa's collaboration ahead of polls
Meanwhile, the commissioner of police in Ekiti State, CP Tunde Mobayo has said the Nigerian Police Force does not have a choice but to collaborate with Civil Society Organizations like Yiaga Africa.
He said due to the level of work they do on building early warning systems and providing information to prevent escalation of election-related violence, it will be difficult to look away.
He said the nature of work Yiaga Africa does to support electoral stakeholders has made it impossible not to collaborate with the organization especially ahead of the upcoming Governorship election in Ekiti State.
Ekiti 2022: INEC unveils final list of candidates
Also, Nigeria's electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has published the final list of candidates ahead of the Ekiti governorship election scheduled for June 18, 2022.
The list includes 16 governorship candidates vying for the position, as disclosed in a statement signed on Monday, March 14, by the national commissioner and chairman, information and voter education committee, Festus Okoye.
According to Okoye, the list was released in compliance with the Electoral Act 2022, following the close of nominations by political parties.
Source: Legit.ng
