Arm Yourself With Knowledge of Electoral Act, Constitution, Yiaga Africa Tells CSOs
- In the aftermath of the just concluded gubernatorial polls in Osun and Ekiti states respectively, election observer groups and CSOs have started interfacing
- The foremost electoral observer group, Yiaga Africa recently held an engagement forum with CSOs and electoral stakeholders in Osun state
- The group during the interactive session with these stakeholders carried out an evaluation of the success and shortcoming of both elections
PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed!
Osun, Osogbo - Yiaga Africa has called on the leadership of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and media in Osun state to arm themselves with the knowledge of the Electoral Act of 2022 and the Nigerian constitution in order to engage citizens from an informed perspective.
Board member, Ezenwa Nwagwu said this on Thursday, August 4 in Osogbo, during a post-election debrief with the leadership of CSOs and media in the state.
Source: Facebook
According to Ezenwa “the essence of this post-election meeting is to examine how we can improve in future elections."
He however said, before CSOs can engage in the process and suggest recommendations, they first must have adequate knowledge about the laws guiding the process and the constitution.
PAY ATTENTION: Join Legit.ng Telegram channel! Never miss important updates!
Ezenwa stated that the engagement will enable CSOs to harvest all the granular details about the July Osun Governorship election from the lenses of the CSOs who participated in the election, in the state.
He said:
“Most times people perceive election as an event but for us, at Yiaga Africa we see the election as a process that commences with the pre-election environment, election day, and post-election engagement”.
Yiaga Africa charges CSOs on self-evaluation
While It is important to analyse the successes and challenges of election stakeholders, he said it is also important to put the mirror before us and review the performance of CSOs during the election and how they can lead citizens' engagement beyond elections.
The general idea according to him is to influence policies saying, the recommendations from the engagement can go to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies, and other election stakeholders to improve the process going forward.
He reiterated that:
"It is the recommendations, reports, and interventions of CSOs in the past that is yielding the incremental progress currently being experienced in the electoral process”.
Also speaking during the event, Chairperson of Osun State Chapter Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Ayegbayo Motunrayo lauded stakeholders for their effort toward an improved electoral process.
She said, there are a lot of lessons learnt and opportunities to increase citizens' participation.
In his remarks, the chairman of the Osun State council of the NUJ, Mr. Wasiu Ajadosu, commended Yiaga Africa, INEC, and other stakeholders for their support at the election.
Ajadosu urged INEC not to regard the Osun election as a perfect process, but to focus on how to improve further elections.
Also, the President of the Network of Non-Governmental Organisations in Osun, Mr. Michael Oluseyi, commended security agencies for their professional conduct during the election. Oluseyi charged INEC to look for ways of curbing vote buying and selling in future elections.
Ekiti post mortem: Yiaga Africa charges CSOs on solution activism
Similarly, civil society organisations have been urged to champion the course of ensuring transparency in electoral practice.
Election observer group, Yiaga Africa made this call recently during an interface with the electoral stakeholders and CSOs in Ekiti state.
According to Yiaga Africa, the post-Ekiti election engagement forum is to evaluate and reflect on the successes and challenges faced during polls.
Source: Legit.ng
