Pretoria - Former president Thabo Mbeki will lead a high-powered Commonwealth election observer mission to Nigeria ahead of its national general elections.
Nigeria, with a voting population of more than 90 million people, will be holding Africa’s largest democratic exercise later this month when it holds general elections on February 25.
The team led by Mbeki has been constituted by the Commonwealth secretary-general, Patricia Scotland KC, following an invitation from Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission.
As of January, an estimated 93.4 million registered voters would have the right to cast ballots for presidential and national assembly candidates in 176 846 polling units across 774 local government areas.
The Commonwealth secretary-general said: “The Commonwealth remains a committed and reliable partner in Nigeria’s continuing journey towards peaceful democratic governance.
“Since 1999, we have observed all six general elections in Nigeria, and the deployment of this observer group is a testament to the Commonwealth’s enduring support for the promotion of the culture, processes and institutions of democracy in Nigeria.
“In accordance with the values and principles of the Commonwealth Charter, the work of the group seeks to promote transparency, strengthen democracy and the rule of law, and protect the right of the people of Nigeria to participate in credible, transparent and inclusive elections to shape their society.”
Scotland said the elections held immense significance not just for Nigeria, but for the entire African continent and the wider democratic world, and it was therefore essential that all stakeholders in Nigeria reaffirmed their shared commitment to ensuring a peaceful election environment conducive to the free exercise of people’s franchise and in which fundamental freedoms and rights were respected.
Scotland expressed appreciation to Mbeki for accepting her invitation to lead the group, and to each observer for agreeing to undertake the assignment on behalf of the Commonwealth.
The mandate of the group, which is independent and impartial, is to observe the preparations for the election, the polling, counting and the results process, and the overall electoral environment.
The observers would assess the conduct of the process as a whole and, where appropriate, make recommendations for the strengthening of the electoral system in Nigeria.
Before deployment to different parts of Nigeria, they will have briefings with the electoral authorities, political parties, law enforcement agencies, the media and civil society groups representing women, youth and people with disabilities.
On completion of its assignment, the group will submit its recommendations in a report to the Commonwealth secretary-general, who will forward it to the government of Nigeria, the Independent National Electoral Commission, the leadership of political parties taking part in the elections and all Commonwealth governments.
The report will be made public afterwards.
Pretoria News