Cleen Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has inaugurated its Election Security Support Centre as a monitoring intervention support centre for the Anambra Nov. 6 Governorship Election.
Mrs Ruth Olofin, the Acting Executive Director of the foundation, disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Abuja.
Olofin said that the support centre is a monitoring intervention for a peaceful and credible conduct of the election under its election security management project in Nigeria.
“Cleen foundation is one of the observer groups accredited by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to observe the 2021 Governorship Election in Anambra State.
“Cleen`s mandate on election is to present evidence-based data and information on election risk factors ahead of elections to inform right-sized deployment of resources and training of personnel by key election stakeholders and to promote voter participation.
“It has presented a security threat assessment for the Anambra Elections which was conducted using a standardized tool developed in collaboration with the Electoral Institute of INEC- called, The Election Violence Mitigation and Advocacy Tool (EVMAT).
`EVMAT offers recommendations towards the peaceful conduct of elections and the report has been disseminated to strategic partners and the general public.
“The setting up of the election security support centre is also an intervention to ensure peaceful polls and to enhance professionalism by security agents and agencies,’’ she said.
According to her, the foundation will adopt a triangulation approach in her observation of the conduct of security personnel deployed on election duty in the 2021 Anambra State Governorship Election.
Olofin said that the foundation would collect primary data on the conduct of security personnel on election duty.
She said the data collection would be done through the foundation’s stationary observers deployed across the 21 LGAs of the state through a standardized checklist on the conduct of security personnel.
The acting director said the observers would utilize the foundations Mobile App to collect the data and transmit to Election Security Support Centre (ESSC) to be hosted in Abuja, Lagos, Imo and Edo States.
“The ESSC will host election and security experts who will analyze security developments in Anambra State as the election progresses.
“Incidences reported by our observers will be verified and confirmed from the media and other credible partners and escalated to the appropriate government institutions, including the INEC, the Police Service Commission and the Nigeria Police Force for necessary actions,’’ she said.
Olofin said that the foundation will also partner with strategic media organisations to share election related information on the Anambra election to a wider audience.
All this, she said, is to further deepen democracy and promote free, fair and peaceful election in Anambra State.
The acting director said the foundation would also develop its pre- and post-election press releases for dissemination on the conduct of security personnel.
She urged all players and stakeholders in the election to abide by the rules and regulations set forth by the INEC and by the various security agencies led by the Nigeria Police Force.
Olofin advocated for professionalism and greater coordination by all security agencies and INEC in the discharge of their assigned duties on the election day.
She also urged all registered voters in the state to go out and exercise their franchise to elect a credible leader.(NAN)