As part of measures to deter electoral fraud and manipulation in the November 16 governorship election in kogi stateYouth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement (YIAGA AFRICA), is to deploy 548 observers to the state.
Programme Director YIAGA AFRICA Ms. Cynthia Mbamalu disclosed this while speaking at a media roundtable on the governorship election, Friday, in Lokoja.
She said the observers, consisting of 500 polling unit observers; 27 long term observers; and 21 local government area result coalition centre observers; would monitor the governorship election in the state.
Mbamalu, who said the move was to make the result of the election credible and acceptable to all, urged stakeholders to strive towards making sure that citizens’ votes counted in the governorship election.
She called for dissemination of timely and accurate information about the election process to voters and stakeholders so as to build citizens’ confidence in the exercise.
The programme director said as part of efforts at ensuring that the election was free of fraud and manipulation, the group would deploy the PVT methodology for election observation, describing it as a powerful citizens’ tool for assessing polling units on the day of election.
Mbamalu said election observation should be data-based and evidential rather than sentimental, adding that YIAGA AFRICA was concerned about promoting electoral reforms, using data.
In his remarks, the Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kogi State Council, Alhaji Adeiza Momoh-Jimoh, assured that the media would live up to their billing in ensuring accurate and objective reportage of the election.
He commended the group for its commitment to the conduct of a hitch-free governorship election in the state, urging the media to concentrate on peace messages and avoid sensational reports which might ignite violence and disrupt the election.
