CAPP partners NOA, Action Aid to sensitize stakeholders towards Plateau LG elections

In preparation towards the conduct of local government elections in Plateau state, Community Action for Popular Participation (CAPP) has partnered the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and Action Aid to sensitize stakeholders from all the 17 local government areas of the state on their various roles to make the elections a success.

Speaking at the sensitization workshop with the theme; ‘Strengthening Citizens Engagement in Electoral Processes (SCEEP) – Strategic Action Plans’, held at Nana Country Home hotel, Jos, the acting Executive Director of CAPP, Mr. Nelson Ananze said, “this training is essentially to build the capacity of the local government officials on elections so that they will be able to mobilize very well for the elections and also to encourage women, youths and persons with disabilities to participate actively in elections.”

According to Ananze, CAPP entered into partnership with NOA because while CAPP works in only six local government areas in the state, NOA works in all the 17 local government areas. “So, we want to leverage on their spread to expand this project.”

Noting that Action Aid is the lead implementing partner of the project, and that the project is being funded by UK Aid through Action Aid Nigeria, Ananze added that similar projects are being implemented in five other states including Kano, Kaduna and Akwa Ibom.

The Executive Director emphasized that the grassroots are not just expected to participate in electoral processes but also to follow up with the elected politicians after the elections to hold them accountable and to ensure that they fulfil their electoral promises.

Mr. Kenneth Okoeneme, who spoke for Action Aid, appreciated the partnership, describing the training as a demonstration of many things that can really work in Nigeria with appropriate partnership.

The State Director of NOA, Mr. Bulus Dabit, noted that any policy that does not involve the people will definitely fail, pointing out that the role of the NOA is to ensure that the people participate maximally in government policies.

One of the lead resource persons at the training, Dr. Chris Kwaja identified poverty as one reason why the electorate sells their votes. “Politicians capitalize on the people’s poverty and buy their votes cheaply with bags of salts and Maggie cubes only to make them suffer in the aftermath.”

He added that electorate must be told of the importance of their votes, and why they should not sell them for any reason. “Most importantly, they must be empowered so that when politicians come to them with such little enticements they will not fall cheaply to them.