As Nigerians go to poll on Saturday, 25th of February, the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, has warned accredited election observers not to interfere with the process or show partisanship in the 2023 General Election.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu who gave the warning at a media briefing ahead of Saturday’s election in Abuja, urged the election observers to keep to all rules, and ask questions where they require clarifications.
“Today’s briefing for observers is in keeping with international good practice. I wish to remind observers that there is a code of conduct for election observation. You are by definition observers.
” Do not interfere with the process or show partisanship. In addition, international observers must be guided by the fact that the election is conducted by the Federal Republic of Nigeria whose sovereignty must be respected”, Yakubu said.
The INEC Boss disclosed that 229 groups are deploying 146,913 observers for the 2023 General Election, affirming that this is the largest deployment of domestic and international observers in the history of elections in Nigeria.
He noted the expectation of the Commission on reports observers submitted to the electoral commission, highlighting strengths and weaknesses of the processes.
Yakubu said “In line with global good practice, electoral commissions in most jurisdictions has invited national and international organisations to deploy observers or organise study tours for election managers during elections.
” Arising from study tours, election managers also learn from other jurisdictions. The reports and recommendations of observers and the knowledge from the study tours help electoral commissions to progressively improve processes” .
“The progressive improvement in our electoral democracy since 1999 draws in part from the reports of observers and the study tours. That is why over the years, the Commission has sent open or specific invitations to national and international observers. The implication is that all accredited observers are guests of INEC .
” For the 2023 General Election beginning this weekend with the Presidential and National Assembly elections, the Commission has accredited 196 national or domestic groups that are collectively deploying 144,800 observers. Similarly, the Commission accredited 33 international organisations deploying 2,113 observers”.
