By Chimezie Godfrey
The Organization for Community Civic Engagement (OCCEN) in partnership with Kano Civil Society is set to inaugurate Kano Election Situation Room.
A statement issued by the Executive Director, OCCEN Nigeria, Abdulrazaq Alkali disclosed that the Kano election situation room would ensure coordination between all relevant stakeholders in election management to ensure that civil society efforts to ensure free and fair elections are coordinated and as effective as possible.
Alkali noted that the situation room will provide for platform for immediate sharing of information and recommendations among civil society groups and with other relevant stakeholders.
He said,”Organization for Community Civic Engagement (OCCEN) in partnership with Kano Civil Society Forum with support from National Endowment for Democracy (NED) Washington D.C will create a new model for civil society engagement with general elections in Kano state. The “election situation room”. The election situation room is established to ensure coordination between all relevant stakeholders in election management to ensure that civil society efforts to ensure free and fair elections are coordinated and as effective as possible.
“The role of civil society in ensuring the success of election is partly shaped by the environment in which they are operating and by the traditional nature of their intervention, which is usually observation and reporting after the fact. Traditional election observation has contributed to the improved quality of election by providing opportunity for peer review and learning; putting the election process under the spotlight, thereby reducing the chances of impunity; and providing evidence-based documentation of elections. However, these modes of intervention have limitations. Election observation documents events in the election and presents a report at the end of the elections with recommendations on how to improve the electoral process. It is not designed to react to real time challenges of the election process.
“The Situation Room model, by contrast, provides a platform for rapid response; it is designed to ensure that beyond observation, civil society is able to play a greater role in crisis management, early warning and constructive engagement of the process to ensure a credible election.
“The Election Situation Room is expected to bring together broad and diverse civil society groups and maximize the assets for information gathering and provide a unified platform for analysis and intervention. Each group will bring a particular asset to the Situation Room ranging from grassroots outreach, to access to government, internet skills, or access to security structures. By pooling resources together, the Situation Room will be able to punch well above its weight. It is expected the situation room will provide,” she said.
Among other benefits, the election situation
asserted that a platform for immediate sharing of information and recommendations among civil society groups and with other relevant stakeholders.
“Credible, real-time analyses and information during and after polls.
“Objective insights into the challenges of the election management body, helping to identify challenges and redress
” Rapid response to emergencies – especially in the crisis situation that developed after the elections, as violence broke out in protest at the result. The Situation Room can serve as effective mechanism for mobilizing intervention from key stakeholders and respected personalities in Kano and Nigeria at large.”
Alkali said that the platform would organize periodic meetings with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be brief on activities of INEC and to offer recommendations to the election management body.
“A platform for engaging with official structures in a constructive manner. The Situation Room will maintain a cordial relationship with INEC and other relevant institutions involves in election management throughout the election period.
“During the course of elections, the Election Situation Room will organize periodic meetings with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be brief on activities of INEC and to offer recommendations to the election management body. This relationship is going to be based on the premise the quality of work the Situation Room will be able to do which INEC leadership will find invaluable,” he stated.
