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Okwe Obi, Abuja
Ahead of Saturday’s governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections, Civil Society Organisation, Yiaga Africa said it has deployed over 682 observers to monitor the referendum.
Unlike the presidential and National Assembly elections, it said it would not be deploying the Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) methodology to verify the authenticity of the results; rather it would assess the election process directly at the polling unit and collation centres.
Its Chairman, Watching The Vote Working Group, Dr Hussaini Abdu, while addressing newsmen yesterday, in Abuja, explained that the deployment became essential to enable it provide authentic and accurate information.
His words: “YIAGA Africa will deploy a total of 682 observers to observe the elections in 29 states. This comprises 642 stationary observers and 48 roving observers.”
Contrary to the destruction of sensitive materials, Abdu advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to ensure the deployment of sufficient security personnel to protect election materials.
He added that the electoral umpire should comply with the Electoral guidelines by posting Forms EC.60E series in collation centres.
As for political parties and candidates, he said, “they should encourage their supporters to exercise their franchise.”
