At National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) has deployed 369 observers to monitor compliance with the inclusion of Persons with Disabilities and other vulnerable groups in the election process.
The monitor is to see the involvement of women, youth and Persons with Disabilities (PWD) in the electoral process.
The institution made the disclosure on Friday during a media briefing in Abuja.
NILDS also announced the Political Party Watch Project, a nonpartisan research project into Nigeria’s electoral process and inclusiveness.
Speaking on behalf of NILDS, the Director of Democracy and Governance, Adewale Aderemi, said that NILDS has established a command center to coordinate the activities of the coordinators.
“Regarding the 2023 general elections, NILDS will deploy 369 observers nationwide about nine in each state and three in each senatorial district in all the 36 states and then there will be about 50 in the FCT.
“We will also be a command center (situation room) together with the WFD and other stakeholders where we will take real-time field reports from 369 observers on the ground.
“We will analyze through the lens of inclusiveness; we will see the involvement of women, youth and Persons with Disabilities (PD) in the process.
“We will also analyze the general conduct of the election and we will live in all the social handles of NILDS and WFD,” he said.
Speaking on the project, Mr Aderemi said the Political Party Watch Project is a collaboration between the agency and the Westminster Democracy Foundation.
He lamented the exclusion of the disabled, youth and women from the electoral process. He said the agency would produce a report after the election.
Mr. Aderemi noted that political parties must address the issue of marginalization of these groups, adding that donor groups have been fighting tirelessly.
He said poor leadership recruitment and godfatherism are some of the factors affecting inclusion.
“There have been many interventions to build the capacity of political parties since 1999, donors are not only willing to put money into political parties but we are not giving up.
“What we intend to do with the Political Party Watch Project which is monitoring the inclusive practices of political parties as part of it, is to address the challenges we have identified in the political party system in Nigeria,” he said.
In his presentation, the State Representative of the WFD, Adebowale Olorunmola, said that inclusion is essential in evaluating political development in any democracy.
“The health of democracy is not determined only by success in elections but by the participation of citizens in the democratic process.
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“This is regardless of gender, age, religion, ethnic origin, location or country of ability or disability. This is the main determinant of the health of democracy and therefore if we have a good percentage of the population participating in the process, we can confidently say that democracy we are healthy.
“As we have it, our democracy is a work in progress because, over the years, Nigeria has been wrong in its data on participation and inclusion,” he said.
Presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for Saturday across the country.
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