Election 2019: WANEP deploys 114 observers nationwide
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, February 15, one of the leaders of WANEP, Salamatu Hussein, said the ESR is part of a broader programme titled Election Monitoring, Analysis and Mitigation launched in October 2018.
- The West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) and partners have opened their Election Situation Room (ESR) ahead of the 2019 elections
- WANEP has established and operated Election Monitoring, Analysis and Mitigation (E-MAM) across West Africa in the past
- The network is deploying 114 observers nationwide for the elections
The West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) and partners have opened their Election Situation Room (ESR) ahead of the 2019 elections.
The ESR is opened in the Asokoro area of Abuja and would be operation from Friday, February 15 to Monday, February 18.
Legit.ng gathered that the organisation is deploying 114 observers nationwide for the elections.
Before now, WANEP had established and operated Election Monitoring, Analysis and Mitigation (E-MAM) across West Africa as part of its support to Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) efforts in ensuring the credibility and peaceful conduct of elections in the region.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, February 15, one of the leaders of WANEP, Hon. Salamatu Hussein, said the ESR is part of a broader programme titled “Election Monitoring, Analysis and Mitigation (E-MAM)” launched in October 2018 in Abuja in collaboration with ECOWAS and the AU.
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Her words: “The focus of the ESR is to observe threats to the peaceful conduct of the electioneering process and provide strategic responses to support the prevention and mitigation of election related violence during the Presidential and National Assembly elections of 16th February 2019.
“WANEP joins other accredited domestic and international observers to contribute to credible, free and fair elections across the 36 States of Nigeria and the FCT.
“This intensive monitoring and analysis process, culminating in the specific observation of the Presidential and National Assembly elections, targets prioritized medium and high risk areas throughout the 36 States of Nigeria and the FCT.
“To facilitate the success of the ESR, WANEP has deployed 114 observers for the elections. In addition, 37 personnel comprising data collectors, analysts, communication experts and eminent persons are in the Situation Room.The ESR will be operational for four days from February 15-18, 2019 in Abuja.
“To facilitate the observation, WANEP collaborated with the ECOWAS Early Warning Directorate (EWD) to develop a user-friendly Arc GIS online mobile application platform to generate data from the field observers to the Situation Room in Abuja.
“It is a live platform designed to enable triangulation of reports for analysis and to inform engagement with national and international stakeholders. It also enhances WANEP’s strategic contribution to its partners such as ECOWAS, the African Union, United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) and other stakeholders.”
Legit.ng checks revealed that the ESR is data gathering room, the analysis room, the decision room and the communication room.
WANEP also acknowledged and commended the Independent National Electoral Commission, security agencies and all other stakeholders for their efforts in preparing for the elections.
The group encouraged all stakeholders including political parties and the electorate to conduct themselves peacefully before, during and after the elections.
Responding to a question by Legit.ng on whether the 114 observers deployed nationwide are enough for their operations, Chukwuemeka Eze, one of the coordinators of the group, said the operations of WANEP started six months ago.
According to him, the group also employed the use of community observers and partnered with other monitoring organisations ahead of the elections.
He noted that the goal of the organisation is to identify problems and relate with relevant stakeholders to remove the problems, adding that their focus is on early warning and early response.
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Meanwhile, an election observer, Connected Development (CODE) has launched a technological mapping tool that provides electoral and response organisations to monitor electoral incidences ahead of the 2019 general elections.
It also enable citizens have an easy to use tool to capture and report critical information during the polls.
Named 'Uzabe,' it is a real-time (web-based map) situation technology that would capture election processes happening across the 36 states of Nigeria with about 5,000 observers deployed by CODE nationwide.
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Source: Legit.ng