By Diana Omueza/Angela Atabo/Johnson Eyiangho/ Temitope Ponle
Cleen foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has launched its Election Security Support Centre for the monitoring and reporting of the 2019 general elections.
Dr Benson Olugbuo, Executive Director of the foundation, said on Friday at the launch in Abuja that the centre would ensure adequate coverage of the elections and real-time security situation analysis around the elections.
Olugbuo said that through the centre, there would be observation on the conduct of security agents deployed on election duty for the Feb. 16 and March 2 elections.
“The centre will be located at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel-Maitama, Abuja.
“Cleen foundation will provide exact and up to date analysis of happenings from the polls in the Pre-election, election day and post election day.
“Our analysis will be centered on security situation of the elections and the conduct of Police Officers. The Centre will deploy different technologies that will enable it to broadcast live incidents from election field as they happen.
“The Centre will also be composed of technical experts in politics, policing, elections management, gender, communication including data analysis.
“Information from our observers will be fact-checked before releasing same to the public, while doubtful information that cannot be verified will be discarded.
“These are part of our support to counter fake news and misinformation that can trigger election violence which we are working to avert.” he said.
Olugbuo said that the foundation had trained law enforcement officers of the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps on Electoral Security Management.
According to him, the series of trainings were conducted across the six geo-political zones while trained officers also conducted step-down training for officers in their various divisions who were not part of the training.
He also said that it had trained and deployed 1,620 election observers to monitor the conduct of security agents during the elections across the 774 local governments in the 36 states of the federation and in Abuja.
He noted that the observers were trained to observe and report the conduct of security personnel with a particular focus on the police.
“They will observe police conduct from movement of election materials to voting centres, arrival at polling areas, accreditation and voting processes and announcement of poll results.
“To achieve our mandate on election security management, we have collaborated with key stakeholders such as the Police Service Commission (PSC), Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room, the Yar’adua Foundation-Case 2019, the Nigeria Police Force, accredited domestic and foreign observers, INEC and some development partners.”
Olugbuo urged members of the public to follow its updates, using its hashtag.
He urged the security agencies, particularly the police to play their responsibilities to ensure that the general elections were conducted in a peaceful atmosphere without any voter being disenfranchised.
He said that the ratings of the police would, to a large extent, be determined on how best they handled the 2019 general elections to ensure an atmosphere devoid of rancor of any sort.
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces has assured Nigerians that it would support peaceful general elections and urged voters to go out and exercise their franchise without fear.
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin, gave the assurance on Thursday after he met with the service chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police, behind closed doors.
The Directors-General, Department of State Services (DSS), National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and Chief of Intelligence Agency (CIA) attended the closed door meeting.
Olonisakin, who addressed the press after the meeting, disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari, had met with the service chiefs and made it clear that he was committed to free, fair and credible elections.
He said: “I wish to say that the Armed Forces of Nigeria are also committed to violence-free elections and that all Nigerians are able to carry out their civic responsibilities and vote for candidates of their choice without fear of molestation by any person or groups”.
The CDS, however, said that the military was aware of plans to illegally use uniforms of military and paramilitary agencies to impersonate security personnel.
He also said that they were aware of plans to use illegally acquired arms to intimidate and harass members of the public and other like acts to breach security.
Olonisakin, however, warned that the military and other security agencies would not tolerate any act likely to cause security breaches, before, during and after the exercise.
He further warned that all such acts would be decisively dealt with.
He urged Nigerians to disregard the “stay at home’’ advice on the day of election in some parts of the country.
According to him, the stay home leaflets being circulated and similar online messages are part of the handiwork of mischief makers, who are bent on scuttling the process and should be ignored.
“I want to assure the public that the security agencies are prepared to support the police, to ensure safe conduct of the elections.’’
He maintained that law enforcement agencies would remain apolitical, adding that a code of conduct for the armed forces had been issued to personnel deployed for the elections.
He said that personnel not deployed for election duty had been directed to “steer clear of the exercise, apart from exercising their rights to vote for candidates of their choice.’’
The CDS also warned that violators of restriction of movement on the day of election, no matter how highly placed will be arrested and detained, except those on essential duty and election observers.
NAN recalls that the Acting Director Defence Information, Brig-Gen. John Agim, had at a news conference told personnel, who want to exercise their franchise to do so in mufti.
Also, the ECOWAS has deployed 200 election observers across the six geopolitical zones of the country ahead of the now postponed presidential and national assembly elections.
This was made known at a briefing by the ECOWAS Election Observation Mission to Nigeria on Thursday in Abuja.
The ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Gen. Francis Behanzin, noted that a pre-election fact-finding mission had been to Nigeria in Nov. 2018 ahead of the elections.
Behanzin explained that the fact-finding mission included high-level representatives of the ECOWAS Commission who met with relevant stakeholders in the electoral process and urged them to support peaceful and credible elections.
“Based on the recommendations of the pre-election fact-finding mission a five-member core team of Long-Term Observers were deployed on Jan. 13 to observe the phases of the electoral process leading up to the elections.
“This core team was joined by additional 27 Long Term Observers from Jan. 26.
“In furtherance of our commitment to the process, a total of 200 Short-Term Observers are ready to be deployed in all the six geopolitical zones in the country to support the long term mission on the Election Day,” he said.
The commissioner encouraged observers to be attentive, strictly follow the observation codes and guidelines and give their full commitment to the mission.
The Head of the mission, former Liberian President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, tasked observers to be proactive in the discharge of their duties.
Johnson-Sirleaf said their commitment would contribute to building the confidence and trust of the electorate in the democratic process in Nigeria and the region.
She added that the outcome of the mission would undoubtedly serve as a yardstick to measure the credibility of the elections.
“It is in this spirit that we should all see this onerous task as very important which should be diligently and meticulously done without compromise.”
She also urged political parties and leaders to “conduct themselves in a manner that contributes to a peaceful, free, fair, credible and transparent election, as has been done previously in the country”.
“In the case of Nigeria, the current election is being held on the heels of nagging security challenges and tense political environment.
“We are, however, confident that Nigeria’s strength and resilience, as well as with the support of friends, will go through this process in the most successful manner.
“We should remain mindful of the fact that the onus to hold peaceful, free and fair elections rests with the Nigerian people themselves,” she said.
