Yiaga advocates credible guber poll, to deploy 541 observers in Ekiti

A frontline election monitoring group, Yiaga Africa, has said it would deploy a total of 541 elections observers to monitor the June 18 governorship poll in Ekiti State.

Speaking during a media round table discussion held in Ado Ekiti, on Thursday, a board member of Yiaga, Mr Ezenwa Nwagwu, said the high number of personnel deployment is to ensure that the votes of the electorate count.

Nwagwu noted that Yiaga will be introducing a novel approach tagged ‘Watch The Votes Initiative(WTV)’, to ensure that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other state actors, align with international best practices in conducting the much-awaited poll.

The Yiaga boss referred to Ekiti as unique because of its history and for having the highest number of educated people in the country, saying Nigerians are expecting high ethical conduct in this election taking cognisance of these lofty attainments.

Nwagwu described the WTV as a technology-driven initiative that would be deployed for Parallel Votes Tabulation to ascertain the authenticity of votes being counted to expose fraud, rigging, and manipulation.

Preaching against violence that had been considered an impediment to the growth of Nigeria’s democracy, Nwagwu posited that such tendency always necessitated apathy that affects the electoral system.

He said, “A total of 250 observers will be deployed in pairs to monitor polling units. We will also have 25 roving WTV observers and another 16 that will be stationed to the 16 local government areas.

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“Their tasks are to monitor accreditation process, voting, counting and collation of results and the announcements at various levels.

“Our task as a reputable election observer group is to ensure that we build confidence in the citizens and let them be rest assured that their votes will count.

“However, Nigerian democracy is making progress and our role as stakeholders is to continue to inspire confidence in the citizens and let them know that the best form of government is democracy, despite all the challenges.

“If it is about dividends of democracy, military also provides that. Some of the edifices and Infrastructures in the Federal Capital Territory were provided by the military, but we all jumped out of our houses and said we didn’t want them. That is why we must defend this democracy.”

Describing INEC as pivotal and critical to the success of the poll, Yiaga Project Manager, Mr James Paul, tasked the commission to be well prepared for the election, saying any infraction from the umpire could mar the process and plunge Ekiti into crisis.

Yiaga Project Manager urged the electorate to resist vote-buying, saying it represents an evil that is currently plaguing good governance and stalling participatory democracy in the country.

Paul said the observers group would monitor INEC and political parties’ preparedness for the poll, noting that preelection preparations largely determine the success of any election.