Ahead of the July 16 gubernatorial election in Osun State, an election monitoring group, YIAGA Africa, has trained Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on mobilising first-time voters to participate in the election as part of its drive to promote inclusiveness.
YIAGA Africa’s Head of Elections, Mr. Paul James, while speaking during the organisation’s Parallel Vote Tabulation workshop in Osogbo, said the programme aimed at exposing CSOs to its election observation method, which would be deployed during the election.
Mr. James, who noted that CSOs are important stakeholders in the electoral process, said their role in educating citizens about the pre-election activities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other stakeholders was critical to democratic growth.
He appealed to the CSOs to engage political stakeholders on the need to have a credible, free, fair, and all-inclusive election in the state.
He also urged representatives of the CSOs to educate the political gladiators on the danger of election-related violence, vote-buying, monetary inducement, and other negative acts capable of undermining credible electoral processes.
He said the organisation would work towards ensuring that residents of the state come out en mass to participate in the voting exercise without fear of molestation or intimidation.
“One thing we commend the people of Osun State for is having good participation in the electoral processes.
“If you check INEC statistics today, Osun is one state that has the highest registered voters that will participate in both the state and federal elections.
“This workshop is to get the commitment from CSOs on the mobilisation of the newly registered voters to participate in the election. For instance, INEC has introduced over 500 polling units in the state.
“Osun used to have 3010 polling units, but now we have 3763 polling units. We expect CSOs to identify the locations of these polling units and also help voters identify the newly created polling units.
“We want the CSOs to be more proactive as the election draws closer.
“We can use this period to engage both the citizens and other election stakeholders to ensure we have a hitch-free election,” he said.
James said YIAGA Africa would remain non-partisan, adding that the organisation is only interested in a free, fair, and credible election.
Representatives of CSOs at the workshop promised to be committed to mobilising voters for the election, stressing that they would always support free, credible, and fair elections in the state.
E/Suzan O.
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