Makes salient recommendations to avert violence, others

As the Edo governorship election draws closer, an election observer, YIAGA AFRICA, Tuesday, released the first Pre-Election Observation, PREO, report on political activities carried out so far by political parties and their candidates.

The PREO report with subject, ‘2020 Edo Election: An election defined by strongarm tactics and violence’ revealed some key findings which include Dominance of two political parties and their campaigns; Spate of pre-election violence escalating; Potential hotspots and flash-points of violence; State of INEC’s Preparedness for the election; Poor public sensitization on new policies and guidelines on Voting Amidst COVID19; Voter inducement and purchase of Permanent Voter Card (PVC); Glaring exclusion and under-representation of women; and Human Rights Violations by Security Agents.
According to YIAGA AFRICA the two dominant parties in the governorship race are guilty of violent rhetoric, hate speech, vandalism, and violence, and that Edo State currently witnesses a surge in cult groups’ activities, especially in Ikpoba/Okha, Oredo, Orhionmwon, and Owan West LGAs, which are all traceable to an entrenched subculture of violence built around well-known ‘strongmen’ including thugs, touts, gangsters, and cultists on the one hand, and “the widespread belief that elections cannot be won – or smooth governance guaranteed – without strongarm tactics and the support of powerful thugs.”

The PREO involves the deployment of 24 carefully recruited and trained LTOs in each of the 18 LGAs in Edo State to systematically observe and gather information concerning the pre-election environment and early warning signs of conflict and electoral violence.

These citizen observers are equipped with a checklist to record the relevant information and provide verifiable findings.

Twenty-four of the LTOs report bi-weekly on a standard set of questions at the local government level, while the others are mobile within the state, and they report critical incidents only.

The LTOs are recruited from their LGA of residence where they monitor electoral activities such as voter education and information, political campaign activities, marginalized groups (youth, women, and PWDs), and election-related violence round the clock. Additionally, they track electoral stakeholders’ activities like; INEC, political parties, NOA, CSOs, and women, youths, and PWDs.

All findings from the LTOs are transmitted to the WTV data center via coded SMS and are thereafter, analyzed, and reported periodically. However, in the case of critical incidents, the WTV project escalates immediately to sister CSOs and Security agencies like; the Nigeria Police Force and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence The report reads in part, “Edo State’s political context has been influential in shaping the politics of the Edo governorship election as revealed by Yiaga Africa’s Watching the Vote (WTV) findings from the first phase of the pre-election observation (PREO) in the state.

“Yiaga Africa deployed long term observers throughout the state to observe the pre-election environment and to monitor government responses to COVID-19 in each of the 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs).

“This pre-election observation also includes violence monitoring as part of an early warning system designed to prevent electoral violence and track the prevalence of human rights violations, particularly in light of the COVID19 pandemic.


https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/09/edo-guber-election-yiaga-releases-1st-pre-election-findings-on-political-activities/

Hmmm