TMG to deploy 3,014 election observers for February presidential poll

THE Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) is to deploy no fewer than 3,014 election observers to selected polling units across the country for the February presidential poll, an official has said.

The Quick Count Coordinator of the group in Enugu, Mrs Vivian Eze, said at a workshop for the media and Civil Society Organsations (CSOs) in the South East that the group would cover 1,507 polling units out of the total 120,000 units.

Speaking on the topic ‘The role of parallel vote tabulation in an election,’ Eze said there were other levels of monitoring at the grassroots.

She said that two election observers would be deployed in each of the selected polling units.

Eze said the figure represented 10 per cent coverage of the polling units across the country, adding that it would give a true representation of the outcome of the exercise.

“The observers will use mobile phones to transmit their observations to the national information center for tabulation and this will offer peaceful means of seeking redress,” she said.

Eze said the observers would offer independent assessment of the performance of INEC and the political parties in the electoral process.

In her presentation, Dr Ifeoma Dunu of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, stressed the need for a symbiotic relationship between the media and CSOs in achieving a credible election.

Dunu said the media should be guided by national interest in their reportage.

She said the media needed to include the CSOs as some of their sources of information to achieve a better result in election monitoring.

“The media should always be guided by national interest while exposing electoral fraud,” she said.

Dunu said the February polls could go a long way in determining the direction of the country, adding that the media had a great role to play in mobilising the electorate to make informed choices.

The South East Zonal Coordinator of the group, Dr Osita Nnamani, said the workshop was organised to equip the CSOs with the necessary tools for monitoring the elections.

Nnamani said the mandate of the media was sacred and must be executed with responsibility. (NAN)