Yiaga Africa deploys 3,836 observers for Saturday’s poll

Yiaga Africa says it has deployed 3,836 election observers across the country to monitor the Saturday’s Presidential Election.

Yiaga Africa said this in its Watching The Vote Pre-election Press Conference and Tour of Parallel Vote Tabulation Data Centre for the Feb. 25 Presidential Election on Thursday in Abuja.

In a document signed by Hussaini Abdu, Chairman, WTV Working Group and Samson Itodo ,Executive Director, Yiaga Africa, the organisation said it would also verify the election result as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Reading the document Abdu said that Yiaga plans to use the Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) to provide Nigerians with timely and accurate information on the 2033 General Election.

“The election observers includes 3,014 stationary Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) observers deployed to a random representative statistical sample of 1,507 polling units.

“There also 822 roving observers across the 774 LGAs and 36 states and 8 Working Group members who will run real-time election analysis.

“Yiaga Africa will also deploy observers to the LGA and State Results Collation Centres in every state.

“Our observers will observe the entire election day process from set-up of the polling units through the announcement, posting of the official results and uploading of the polling units to the INEC Result Viewing Portal,” he said.

Abdu added:”The observers will send in periodic reports to the Watching the Vote National Data Centre located in the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja where they will be processed and analysed.

“This deployment will enable Yiaga Africa to provide the most timely and accurate information on the election process.

“Based on reports from its observers in the sampled polling units Yiaga Africa will also provide an independent projection of voter turnout and will be able to project the vote shares that each party should receive within a narrow range.”

Abdu said that if the official results fall within Yiaga Africa’s estimated ranges, then the public, political parties and candidates should have confidence in the ballots cast at the polling units.

He said that only INEC has the legal mandate to announce the election results.

“As soon as INEC announces the official results, Yiaga Africa will follow up with a result verification press conference to share its own statement on the accuracy of the election results and will publicize these projections.

“Utilising information communications technology and statistical principles, PVT is the gold standard for citizen election observation and has been utilized throughout Africa and the world.

“Yiaga Africa has also deployed this methodology in the 2019 presidential election and in eleven (11) off-cycle gubernatorial elections in Nigeria.

“Yiaga Africa restates its commitment to the objective, non-partisan and credible observation of the election,” he said.

Abdu said that the Watching The Vote project was driven by data for all Nigerians beholden to none.

He said that while the electoral law had been tested in two off-circle election, the 2023 elections would be the first national election to be conducted under the new electoral legal framework.

He said thus, the 2023 presidential election presented a major litmus test for the new electoral law, especially on the deployment of electoral technology.