In the run-up to the Edo State 2024 governorship elections, Yiaga Africa has carried out a one-day training for leaders of media and civil society organisations in the state to deepen their awareness and understanding of Yiaga Africa’s elections observation of the elections under the Watching the Vote project.
The training, which was conducted under Yiaga Africa’s African Election Academy (AEA) and supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is in recognition of how free press and civil society are also pillars of democracy alongside credible elections. It also aimed at bolstering the effective functioning of these institutions while highlighting their unique and crucial role in the upcoming 2024 Edo Governorship Election, which takes place on September 21st.
The Watching the Vote (WTV) project is deploying the Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT) methodology, which harnesses statistics and technology to provide real-time, verifiable data on election procedures through citizen observers, reinforcing the project’s commitment to transparency and citizen participation and instilling confidence in the process.
Safiya Bichi, head of Yiaga Africa’s Knowledge, Management and Learning, showed participants 10 violence indicators during elections, highlighting the projected competitive nature of the Edo polls and “other factors that will likely affect the outcome of the election.” Participants were opportune to review results and case studies from WTV’s previous work and understand how a citizen observer group plays a crucial role in analysing data received from the sampled polling units, sharing timely findings on the election’s conduct in near real-time, releasing projected estimates and verifying the accuracy of results declared by the election management body.
The Academy showed how WTV will deploy its 300 Polling Unit Observers to 300 representative randomly sampled polling units across the 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Edo state to observe the accreditation, voting and counting processes on election day against a structured observation checklist and a critical incident form. It also explained that for additional oversight, WTV will also deploy 18 observers to observe the result collation process at the LGA Result Collation Centres and one observer to observe at the State Results Collation Centre.
Paul James, Yiaga Africa’s Programme Manager (Elections), expounded on the Watching the Vote’s (WTV) Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT) methodology, which will be deployed during the elections. This methodology harnesses statistics and technology to provide real-time, verifiable data on election procedures through citizen observers, reinforcing the project’s commitment to transparency and citizen participation and instilling confidence in the process.
Participants were opportune to review results and case studies from WTV’s previous work and understand how a citizen observer group plays a crucial role in analysing data received from the sampled polling units, sharing timely findings on the election’s conduct in near real-time, releasing projected estimates and verifying the accuracy of results declared by the election management body.
The PRVT is the only observation methodology that can independently verify the accuracy of election day results as released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). It also allows the Watching the Vote project to present an accurate and comprehensive assessment of the election day processes, such as whether election officials comply with the guidelines for the conduct of elections, the presence of security agents, the presence and behaviour of party agents, the secrecy of the ballot and transparency of the counting process.
At the end of the training, the 62 participants, drawn equally from the Media and CSO pool, expressed satisfaction and optimism about the PRVT methodology and its necessity in elections., as it increased their trust in the efficiency of the methodology. They were also equipped with the requisite knowledge to pass this information down and better engage with the election process.
The WTV team also paid courtesy visits to election stakeholders in the state, such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the National Orientation Agency (NOA), the Nigeria Police Force, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). This is in recognition of the essential roles that they will play in the governorship elections, including the organising of the elections, public sensitization of citizens and providing adequate security to ensure an incident-free elections.
The team also visited political parties in the state: the Labour Party (LP), the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and the Inter-Party Advisory Council, which is the umbrella body of the political parties. These visits were an opportunity for the WTV team to brief them about our election observation project and methodology.
