CSO urges Nigerians to advocate dividends of democracy at grassroots

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have said that allowing democracy to fester at the grassroots was key to its survival in any country, urging Nigerians to pay heed to the conduct of credible elections at the local government level.

They stated that periodic conduct of elections at the local government level with effective participation of young people should be encouraged to enhance democratic practice.

At the two-day training for 120 election Observers drawn from the 17 local government areas of Enugu State, Head of programmes, ActionAid Nigeria, Mr. Celestine Okwudili Odo, insisted that appropriate attention should be paid at getting election right at the local government level.

He stated that ActionAid sponsored the training in partnership with the South-Saharan Social Development Organisation (SSDO) and Justice Development &Peace Initiative (JDPC) as part of their contribution to enthroning credible Chairmen and Councilors in the  Enugu state local government areas election slated for  Saturday 21st, September 2024.

The council election conducted by the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) is expected to take place in the 17 local government areas of the state, with a total of 16 political parties that have indicated an interest in the exercise participating.

Odo disclosed that seven participants were drawn from each of the 17 local government areas of the state for the all-important assignment.

Odo, who warned the participants against arrogating to themselves the powers of party agents or electoral officers while in the field, insisted that their assignment should not go beyond that of domestic election observers.

He urged them to resist the temptation of being used, having sympathy for a particular political party, or being sentimental, noting that if they did that, the essence of the training would have been defeated.

He added that the organization decided to train the election observers because of its special interest at the grassroots levels where the vulnerable and less privileged in the society are mostly domiciled, explaining that as a body, local government elections in Nigeria, especially that of LGAs is very important, “because the local areas is our primary constituency”.

He revealed that the organization has developed an App, called the eye monitor through which the trained election Observers would be feeding its situation room with happenings across the 17 council areas of the state during the poll.

He said: “It is therefore pertinent that you do your best to live to the confidence reposed in you. As young people, you have a responsibility to make the right observation and report accordingly because whatever you feed us with is what we will report to the electoral umpire at the end of the day. Remember that your future is at stake and should therefore not be compromised.
 
“The training will cover key aspects such as electoral laws, observation techniques, and reporting procedures. The event will also serve as an opportunity to brief the media and the public on our readiness and plans for the election period.

“With the election fast approaching, it is crucial to ensure that election observers are well-equipped to monitor the process effectively” stressing that the organization is a national non-governmental, non-partisan, non-religious, civil society organisation, and an affiliate member of the ActionAid International Federation with presence in 70 countries. 

“It works in solidarity with people living in poverty and exclusion to achieve social justice, gender equality, and poverty eradication towards achieving a just, equitable, and sustainable world in which every person enjoys the right to a life of dignity, freedom from poverty, and all forms of oppression”.  

Odo also emphasised the need for young people in Nigeria to be proactive and be at the forefront when it comes to the issue of electing political leaders at all levels of government for their good and interest.

“But in carrying out this assignment, once again, you must not be biased or apolitical. Avoid taking sides with any political party, professionally conduct yourselves because ActionAida has a name to protect, we are not a political organization” he maintained.

Also speaking, the Head of programmes, SSDO,  Mr. Udochukwu Egwim, stated that the training was to ensure that the upcoming Enugu LGA election was transparent and conducted in line with electoral laid down procedures.

He explained that the trained election observer would be deployed to all 17 council areas to furnish the situation room with happenings in various voting centres across the state.

“So, part of the reason for this observers training programme is to enable us to have a total coverage of the 2024  Enugu LGA election. We are doing all we can as always in Nigeria and the state to ensure that our electoral system improves, and meets international best practices” he stated.

Others who spoke emphasised the need for continuous engagement with the grassroots to make for good governance and participation of the people in the electoral process.

The participants stated that with the training, they were equipped to go to the field on Saturday to observe the process while calling on the election stakeholders such as security officials and ENSIEC to ensure that no one was disenfranchised.