Gives tour of its data center.
With less than two days to the Ekiti State Governoship election, YIAGA AFRICA, a non-profit civic hub of change makers committed to the promotion of democratic governance, human rights and civic engagement held its pre-election conference in Ekiti state on Thursday, 15th of June 2022 where it sensitized the general public on election credibility.
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Seated at the high table are, Professor Nnamdi Aduba(Board member, YIAGA Africa), Cynthia Mbamalu, (Director of Programs YIAGA Africa), Ezenwa Nwagu, (Board Member, YIAGA Africa),The Executive director YIAGA AFRICA, Mr Samson Etodo.
Also present at the event were media practitioners, members of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and key stakeholders.
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The Executive director YIAGA AFRICA, Mr Samson Etodo, while speaking on “matters arising” commended INEC’s efforts towards achieving credible elections, identified some key observations/findings and subsequently made few recommendations which according to him would be beneficial to the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) ahead of the Ekiti state gubernatorial election.
“YIAGA AFRICA Commends efforts by INEC to improve voter access to polling units by creating additional 250 polling units in Ekiti state, we are however concerned about the imbalance in the distribution of voters to polling units as INEC is yet to address this concerns about oversized polling units“. He said.
Speaking on the deployment of new technology by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to promote electoral integrity through the introduction of the Bi-modal Voters Accreditation System (BIVAS).
“INEC decision to deploy the BIVAS device is a welcomed development and we celebrate it. We believe that it would no doubt improve the exercise as well as the transparency and credibility of the elections”. He added.
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He aslo decried the dwindling level of voters turnout during elections hence urged critical stakeholders to boost the confidence of the public which while give INEC the “capacity to deliver”.
Before rounding up the press conference, he listed some key recommendations listed below.
FOR INEC
- INEC should invest in publicizing the locations of the new polling units.
- INEC should carry out sensitive programs on the use and deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS)
- INEC should focus on training Ad’hoc staff on the use of the BVAS machine, to avoid challenges encountered in the FCT Area Council Election.
POLITICAL PARTIES
- Political parties should engage more in voter education, issue-based debates and sensitization of citizens.
- Rather than bribing and inducing voters with money and gift items, political parties should focus on issues-based campaigns.
MEDIA
Media organizations should ensure a fair reporting of all political parties activities by giving candidates and parties equal access to media platforms.
SECURITY
As vital stakeholder in the conduct of the free, fair and credible election, security agencies should ensure sufficient security provisions ahead of the election.
CITIZENS
- Voters should refuse any form of inducement by politicians as the election approaches but engage political parties and candidates based on issues that they care about and only vote for parties/candidates who have a clear agenda for the development of the state.
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Shortly after the recommendations were made, participants were then moved to another hall for a tour of its Data center.
See photos below:
(C)ControlTV2022.
