ECOWAS engages political stakeholders on dialogue, mediation ahead 2019 elections

AHEAD of the crucial 2019 general elections, the second of five workshops planned by the ECOWAS Commission for Nigerian political actors and civil society groups on the use of dialogue and mediation as tools for preventing and mitigating election-related disputes and conflicts opens on Tuesday in Benin City, Edo State, South-South geopolitical zone.

The engagement in Benin City is a follow-up to the first held in Jos, Plateau State, in the North-Central zone, with those for the North-West, South-East and South-West coming up before the end of the year.

This was made known in a statement signed by Paul Ejime and made available to TribuneOnline on Monday in Warri, Delta State.

The statement disclosed that ECOWAS Commission has, in collaboration with the Abuja-based Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) and the Swedish-based Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA), lined up the workshops to strengthen the capacity of key Nigerian political stakeholders to prevent and mitigate potential pre and post-election-related disputes/violence, so as to ensure peaceful electoral outcomes.

It further disclosed that the ECOWAS Directorate of Political Affairs (DPA) has outlined the organizers and participants to include representatives of traditional and faith-based organizations, civil society organizations, representatives of governmental platforms involved in dialogue and mediation processes, as well as women and youth organizations.

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Specific goals of the engagements, it further noted, include: creating the opportunity for participants to appreciate the ECOWAS normative principles and frameworks for transparent and peaceful elections and the organization’s commitment to employing dialogue and mediation in resolving electoral disputes and conflicts.

Others are providing a forum for participants to brainstorm and identify contending issues around the forthcoming elections and the possible role they could play in mitigating potential electoral violence before, during and after the elections; and to sustain and enhance ECOWAS’ strategic engagement with the political process in Nigeria.

According to the statement, the organizers will deploy the Dialogue and Mediation Handbook, developed by the ECOWAS Commission to facilitate the workshops, with participants expected to acquire practical techniques and skills for dialogue and mediation as important tools for the management of electoral conflicts through role-plays and simulation exercises.

It will be recalled that at the opening ceremony of the first workshop in Jos last month, the Governor of Plateau State, H.E. Simon Bako Lalong, had commended the ECOWAS’ initiative as a timely intervention ahead of Nigeria’s all-important general elections in 2019.