YIAGA
YIAGA Deploys 48
YIAGA
YIAGA Deploys 48 Observers for Bayelsa, Kogi
Polls
The Bayelsa and Kogi elections is anticipated to be keenly
contested, with a lot of expectations from all election
stakeholders and it becomes pertinent to engage the process from
the pre-election period. Having Observed the Political party
primaries in both Bayelsa and Kogi and States, YIAGA AFRICA’s
Watching The Vote (WTV) project has concluded that training and has
deployed 48 Long Term Observers (LTO) to observe the pre-election
environment. Out of the 48 Long terms observers who all resident of
the Local Government they are observing from, 21 are deployed in
Bayelsa State 27 are deployed in Kogi State.
The Long Term Observers are also expected to recruit polling
unit observers from sampled polling units that will observe the
governorship election on November 16th, in both states. The Long
Term observes who also double as Local Government Supervisors are
deployed to each of the 8 Local Government Areas in the Bayelsa
State and the 21 Local government areas in Kogi State to report on
events, activities and critical incidents using a specialized
checklist and critical incident form. The observation reports from
the field are sent in form of coded SMS to the WTV Data Center
bi-weekly commencing from September 13th, 2019, while the critical
incidents are sent in as they occur and properly escalated after
verification.
YIAGA AFRICA’S Watching The Vote Pre-Election observers will
observe issues related to the; activities of the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) ranging from recruitment and
training of ad hoc personnel, identification of polling units,
meeting with stakeholders, voter education and information
campaigns to the collection and distribution of Permanent Voters
Card, activities of political parties like rallies and campaigns,
activities relating to security agencies and incidents capable of
undermining the electoral process. Pre-election observers will also
observe and report Voter information campaigns by National
Orientation Agency (NOA) and other Civil Society Organisations.
At YIAGA AFRICA, we believe and promote social justice and
inclusiveness thus voter education and campaigns targeted
specifically at Youths, Women and Persons With Disabilities (PWDs)
will be followed closely and duly reported by Observers during the
pre-election period. Even as political parties launch their
campaigns across the state, our election observation team are
interested in campaigns and rallies associated to various political
parties while also observing if youths, women and PWDs are also in
anyway canvassing for votes.
Through the Pre-Election observation, YIAGA AFRICA will track
early warning signs and any form of incident that can hinder the
successful conduct of the elections. In this vein, WTV
pre-elections observers will observe and report issues relating to
hate speech campaigns, intimidation and harassment of any electoral
stakeholder and attacks on media or INEC officials. LTOs will also
report government restrictions on political activities or
unjustifiable military influx into the state. This will enable
YIAGA AFRICA to verify and report this information to relevant
authorities for proper action. Pre-elections observation findings
will be shared to the public via various channels of communication
including social media.
As a civic hub dedicated to the promotion of electoral integrity
and credible elections and as an INEC accredited observer group,
YIAGA AFRICA will also be deploying citizens’ observers to observe
the Election Day activities. YIAGA AFRICA invites the people of
Bayelsa and Kogi States, Election Stakeholders and citizens to
follow the pre-election observation report and engage using the
findings of the reports.
Signed
Samson Itodo
YIAGA Africa, Executive Director
Moshood Isah
Media Officer | YIAGA AFRICA