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West African bloc to send poll observers to Nigeria

Xinhua, January 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will send a 250-member election observation team to Nigeria for the country's general elections scheduled for February 14, authorities said Wednesday.

The ECOWAS mission, one of the largest foreign observation teams being deployed in Nigeria, will be headed by former Ghanaian president John Kufuor, who led a fact-finding mission to the country last October, the ECOWAS authorities said in a statement released in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.

According to the West African bloc, the deployment of observation missions by the ECOWAS Commission is consistent with the provisions of the regional Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and within the framework of the ECOWAS Electoral Assistance Program for Member States.

The team is due in the Africa's most populous country on February 10, the statement said, adding the team will be preceded by a 12-member Long-Term Election Observation Mission (LTEOM), whose members will be deployed from Jan. 22 to Feb. 18.

While the short-term mission will concentrate on the regular observation of the electoral process, before, during and the post- election period, the LTEOM will serve as a rapid response mechanism for emergencies and contribute to the prevention and management of election-related conflicts, the statement said.

The team members will provide credible real-time analysis and substantial recommendations and also help create an atmosphere of public trust and encourage citizen participation, the regional bloc added.

Xinhua learnt that the ECOWAS team will comprise an election specialist, who will be responsible for liaison with electoral authority and assessing the work of the electoral management body in relation to regional principles governing democratic elections.

The poll observers will be deployed to Nigeria's six geopolitical zones, with the exception of the northeast region because of the security situation.

Nigeria, with an estimated population of 170 million people, has some 70 million registered voters and 22 political parties, which will be contesting for positions in the 469-seat two-chamber national assembly, state legislative assemblies and governors, with 14 candidates vying for the presidency.

The general elections are taking place under heightened international interest and security concerns, especially in the northeastern part of the West African country. Endi