Ahead of the 2024 Edo Governorship elections, Yiaga Africa organised a refresher training for Master Trainers who will, in turn, train Political Party agents in Edo state in furtherance of its mission to promote electoral integrity and support essential election stakeholders in the electoral process. This training, conducted under Yiaga Africa’s African Election Academy (AEA) and supported by The United States Agency for International Development, USAID, offered an opportunity to significantly influence the election’s transparency.
Paul James, Yiaga Africa’s Program Manager, Elections, stressed the pivotal role of the African Election Academy (AEA) in equipping electoral stakeholders with the necessary skills and knowledge. He urged the Master Trainers to approach their responsibilities with utmost seriousness, as the party agents they train are crucial in ensuring the credibility of the 2024 Edo Governorship elections.
The training conducted by Yiaga Africa’s Program Officers, Elections, Prince Gabriel Gutap, Udoka Akputa, Frances Ogbu, and Opeyemi J. Haruna who expanded on the key ingredients necessary for free, fair and credible elections, which include inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability. As such, party agents need to pay attention to various elements within an election process that adhere to the essential principles for credible elections. Furthermore, facilitators and participants carried out in-depth discussions covering who a party agent is and the roles, responsibilities, and rights of a party agent. Subsequently, facilitators provided information on who the parties can appoint as agents and how those appointments should be made.
The participants were reminded that an election is a process that covers pre-election, election day and post-election. While party agents work mainly on election day, a good understanding of what happens in pre- and post-elections sets them up to better deliver their responsibilities on election day. In-depth knowledge was provided in the following areas: voter registration, nomination of candidates, campaigning and electoral preparations, accreditation and voting, counting, tally of results, announcement of results, dispute resolution, taking of office by winners, and electoral reform. Participants asked questions and clarifications on some legal provisions surrounding election results collation and transmission, the margin of lead, and specific rules that should apply to party agents.
After the training, participants were reminded of the dual role of election observation: to deter fraud and to provide crucial information. This underscores the critical role of transparency and accountability in the electoral process. While elections may not be perfect, each one represents a step towards improvement.
The training for the political party agents held a week later, with five political parties benefiting from the Africa Election Academy (AEA): the All Progressives’ Congress (APC), the Labour Party (LP), the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), the Peoples’ Redemption Party (PRP) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
At these individual trainings, a master trainer took them through election-day procedures, and their roles and responsibilities as agents which have a direct impact not only on their party’s performance at the polls but also for safeguarding electoral transparency.
