2019: CTA presents final reports, holds roundtable for future polls

Barely three months after the 2019 general elections, one of the observers groups, Center fir Transparency Advocacy (CTA) has presented its final reports, even as it held a roundtable stakeholders meeting in preparation for the future elections.


The roundtable meeting had in attendance the representative of the INEC, the Police, Nigerian Army, Navy, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), other Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the media.


According to the report, six major issues which include: Security and Ngerian elections, internal political party democracy, engagement with INEC, Citizens participation and vote trading, election violence, Judiciary and the role of INEC were focused on.


Speaking at the event Thursday in Abuja, the CTA’s executive secretary, Faith Nwadishi, said it was important to look at some issues tnat will engender better democratic practices which in turn will help the electoral umpire to fashion a credible pathway to elections and the electoral process.


Nwadishi said: “Tbe 2019 veneral elections have come and gone, however, as critical stakeholders, we must continue to review, appraise the outcomes, mistakes made, tbe successes, lessons learnt and of course rejig the process for the forthcoming elections and the 2023 general elections which is about 1,200 days away.”


When asked for her opinion on how to better future elections, the CTA executive secretary said: “Political class being the overall beneficiaries of an electoral process, they should actually be the ones being in the forefront of making our elections better. So, when you have the political class who cannot hold good party primaries, who cannot hold themselves accountable for the rules, the constitution or there laws that they have created for themselves, it becomes a huge problem in the outcome of any election.


“Prior to the election we were concerned about the kind of language, the like of mistrust even amongst themselves, even within their party. So,we came up with our report and we commended INEC for the work that they had done in the election.”


In his remarks, an commissioner at the event, Muhammed Haruna, said the issue before the commission include the issue of continuous registration, how many political parties should be registered, credible primary elections by the political parties and so on.


He confirmed that of 159 local and international observers registered by the INEC, only about 40 had presented reports which CTA is one.

Leave a Reply