Governance
Edo Election: Yiaga Africa to adopt PVT methodology to check credibility of election results
Yiaga Africa, a civil society organisation says it plans to deploy its Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) methodology to assess the credibility of the Sept. 19, Edo Governorship poll.
Mr Samson Itodo, Executive Director, Yiaga Africa said this in a statement on Friday in Abuja.
He said the group through its Watching The Vote citizens movement, would also deploy 500 observers to monitor the election.
According to Itodo, the PVT is an advanced election observation methodology that employs well-established statistical principles and sophisticated information technology in providing timely and accurate information on conduct of elections.
He added that the process will monitor accreditation, voting, and counting, and it will independently verify the official governorship results as announced by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“The PVTs are not opinion polls; Yiaga Africa citizen observers do not ask voters for whom they cast their ballot; PVT relies solely on official results from polling units.
“This tested and proven election observation methodology has been deployed in over 50 countries worldwide, including Nigeria.
“Yiaga Africa deployed the PVT in the November 2019 Kogi and Bayelsa governorship election where it detected fraud and manipulation of results collation and declined to verify the official results declared by INEC.
“In a statement jointly signed by the Chair of Yiaga Africa election observation mission for Edo, Dr Aisha Abdullahi, Nigeria’s and Yiaga Africa Executive Director, Samson Itodo, the organisation said it would deploy 500 stationary observers.
Itodo said that the observers would monitor the conduct of the process and provide systematic, accurate and timely information on the Election Day process.
He said specifically that Yiaga Africa would provide accurate information on the quality of the Election Day process and ascertain if the official results announced by INEC reflected the total votes cast.
Itodo explained that since the PVT was based on official results from a representative random sample of polling units, Yiaga Africa would estimate the state-wide results for the governorship election within a narrow range based on well-established statistical principles.
He said that if INEC’s official results fall within Yiaga Africa’s estimated range, then the public, political parties and candidates would have confidence that the official results reflected the ballots cast at polling units.
Itodo, however, said that if the announced results have been manipulated and do not match the polling units’ results, Yiaga Africa would oppose it.
He said that the PVT was a component of Yiaga Africa’s comprehensive election observation methodology spanning the electoral cycle.
“Therefore, in assessing whether the 2020 Edo governorship satisfies the electoral integrity test, Yiaga Africa will consider a range of issues such as shortcomings in the pre-election period.
“The quality of election day processes and the scale and scope of critical incidents.’’
Itodo said that on Election Day, Yiaga Africa would receive 4,500 text messages containing approximately 56,000 individual pieces of information about the election.
He added that the messages would be reviewed and analysed to ensure that the information was complete, authentic and accurate before dissemination.
Itodo said that after poll, Yiaga Africa would issue its estimated projections based on its preliminary data.
He added that on Sunday, Sept. 20, the group would share its preliminary Watching The Vote findings on the conduct of setup, accreditation, voting and counting.
Itodo said that immediately INEC announce the official results for the election, Yiaga Africa would hold its news conference and issue its statement on the election result.
“Yiaga Africa Watching the Vote is “Driven by Data for All Nigerians Beholden to None!”
Source: (NAN)
Established by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON, Kwara State Geographic Information Service (KW-GIS) provides modern and efficient land administration in the State.The agency has since improved land administration and other processes related to land with the use of technology and digital platforms.It has also led to the harmonisation of all departments dealing with land administration to minimise bottlenecks and enhance efficiency.The reforms at KW-GIS has also secured land documents and curtail activities of land grabbers, as efforts are ongoing to digitise and serialise R of O, C of O, and other title documents.KW-GIS collates, gathers, analyse and digitise all geospatial data in the state and store them in a central database that can deliver products such as maps, satellite imageries, survey plans, building permits, among others.#IjobaMekunu#IseNlo
Prince Adewole Adebayo, the Social Democratic Party’s (SDP) candidate for president, says his administration will focus on creating powerful institutions that will aid in limiting governmental excesses.
At a Town Hall Meeting titled “Building Nigeria’s Steel, Petrochemical, and Agroallied Industries,” which was hosted by media giant Arise Television, he made this bold declaration as a guest.
He said that this was nothing new because Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, the country’s then-prime minister, included it in the first development plan for the years 1960 to 1965.
As part of the “import substitution program,” which aimed to lessen the importation of those minerals, Prince Adebayo noted that these plans gave rise to the development of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant, Ajala Steel, and other companies.
He added that the First Republic’s accomplishments were a result of public servant discipline, clearly defined objectives, and a powerful Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The legal authority claimed that the CBN was so powerful that the bank’s former governor stopped General Yakubu Gowon, the country’s head of state at the time, from using money to buy ammunition for the Civil War.
The CBN is currently too weak to stand up to the current administration, and a large portion of the proceeds from the sale of crude oil are missing and unreported.
Addressing the solutions, he stated: “We already have the solution, but I need to establish a government that will make things function. To make it work, the CBN will have complete control over the amount of money in circulation, the price of money, and inflation.
In terms of money spent, my government would also be answerable to the people. In order to sort out deteriorating and unfinished projects, we will also establish project management.
We’ll achieve this by developing an economy that will draw capital to finish those projects and provide a stable exchange rate.
Additionally, he pledged to lower unemployment rates, keep inflation at single digits, and build a social system that will thrive on brains.
The Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has expressed concern over a bill at the House of Representatives, seeking abolition of local government councils in Nigeria.
Mr Hakeem Ambali, National President, NULGE, said this when he spoke with newsmen in Kano.
Ambali, represented by Mr Aliyu Haruna, NULGE National Treasurer, said abolishing local councils will worsen the security situation in the country.
“A lawmaker from Rivers has sponsored a bill at the House of Representatives seeking to abolish local government councils in Nigeria.
“In spite of the fact that governors have refused to implement the local government autonomy, what we are witnessing now is an attempt to abolish the local government councils in the country. This is a gang up against the masses.
“This is an attempt to bring the country backward. Therefore, we are calling on the National Assembly to look into the issue, which is an attempt to take away what remain for the people at the grassroots.
“I assured you that if the local government autonomy is implemented by the governors, the issue of insecurity would have been a thing of the past, because some security issues can be handled locally,” he said.
Ambali added that once the local government councils were granted full autonomy, socio-economic activities will spring up at the grassroots level.
He said that NULGE had made contact with the leadership of the National Assembly on the issue, adding that if such did not yield good result, it will embark on strike.
Ambali also expressed concern over sack of about 2,000 workers by the Kaduna State government as well as the slashing of workers’ salary by the Kano State government.
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