*Deploy 6000 accredited Observers to 36 states, FCT
*Unveil elections Situation Room,
As Nigerians go to the polls tomorrow, the Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria in collaboration with the Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), have urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its collaborators to remain neutral and impartial in the electoral processes.
They also called on President Muhammadu Buhari-led government and the security architecture to do all within their powers to ensure free, fair and credible elections, that would usher in a new dawn in our national political history and advance for posterity, the course of our national development.
Meanwhile, the group have unveiled the Situation Room for the 2023 general elections.
Also, the Catholic Church in Nigeria, through Caritas Nigeria has deployed 6000 accredited Observers to the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) which is the highest number by any single mission in Nigeria in this election designed to support and strengthen the electoral process.
Speaking at the unveiling ceremony yesterday in Abuja, the Executive Secretary of Caritas Nigeria, Rev Fr Uchechukwu Obodoechina, said that the deployment of expertly trained Election Observers and the establishment of the Situation Room for the collation, and analysis of reports and data are significant steps taken by the Catholic Church to ensure free, fair and credible elections.
He stated that the Situation Room will provide the medium for evidence-based analysis, scenario building, and constructive engagements with the relevant Stakeholders in the elections using the reports from the Observers in the field and sharing authentic information therefrom adding that the situation room would start today, the 24th to Tuesday 28th of February, to cover the Presidential and National Assembly Elections; and reconvene on Friday, March 10th, 2023, for the 28 gubernatorial elections and the 993 States Houses of Assembly seats across the county.
According to him, election observation is a veritable tool for improving the quality of elections in different democracies around the world and in Nigeria in particular as it helps in detecting and deterring electoral fraud and tracking them when they occur.
Obodoechina noted election observation will help in the correction of errors and irregularities before, during and, after elections, thereby building trust in the electoral processes and giving legitimacy or otherwise to any governments that would emerge.
Obodoechina lamented that ever since the return to democratic Governance in 1999, Nigeria has witnessed momentous elections, most of which come short of meeting international and regional best standards of freedom, fairness, genuineness, and credibility. The overarching electoral infractions include various degrees and dimensions of vote buying and inducement, snatching of the ballot boxes, thuggery, violence, under-aged voting, overvoting, and non-adherence to the provisions of the
statutes as they concern campaign finance and the use of state resources.
He said, “Others are the challenges posed by unending litigations, opaque conduct of primary elections, and undue pressure on the Independent Electoral Commission (the INEC). It is saddening that the atmosphere in which elections are conducted in Nigeria is always toxic and unpredictable. It appears as if the country is preparing for war. The degree of violence and destruction of life and property is always scary. People are desperate and would end at nothing but victory at all costs”.
Obodoechina observed that the Catholic Church has been at the forefront of promoting accountable and responsible leadership especially in strengthening democracy, good governance and the electoral processes, the Church has maintained an unassailable moral compass in her prophetic roles in applauding good practices and denouncing their opposites.
In his remarks, the Convener of the Situation Room, Joe Nkamuke noted that the Catholic Church has developed and deployed a Mobile Election Observation App that will be used by all the deployed Observers in tracking and reporting the relevant activities during the election across the 57 dioceses in Nigeria.
He explained that the Caritas-JPDC App for Election Observation will enable them to get real-time information on happenings in every part of the country during the elections adding that in using the Mobile App, the church is implementing the Parallel Vote Tabulation (PTV) system which will assist in the authentication of the accuracy of results announced by INEC.
