To deepen democracy and monitor to ensure elections are credible in Nigeria, a coalition of Civil Society Organisations and Media stakeholders has launched an Alliance for Deepening Democracy (A4DD), to track the conduct of the coming polls, and to ensure a credible electioneering process across the country.

The stakeholders, comprising think tanks which include Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), Journalism and Development Seminars (JADES), Proactive Gender Initiatives, Raising New Voices, Partners West Africa Nigeria (PWAN), Alliance for Credible Elections (ACE-Nigeria), Young Professionals in Policy and Development (YouPaD), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), The Electoral Hub, and Women in Politics Forum (WIPF), launched the Alliance to monitor the coming electioneering process

In a statement signed by the chairman of the coalition, Mr Edetaen Ojo, who is also the Executive Director of the Media Rights Agenda and the Vice Chairperson, Ms Hadiza Mrumun Garba, the communication of Women in Politics Forum, the stakeholders noted that the intention of the initiative is to collaborate with other coalitions and organizations engaging the electoral process, to ensure that the 2023 elections are transparent, properly organized and conducted, secure, and credible.

Focused on the preparation of the Independent National Electoral Commission for the coming polls, the coalition stated that A4DD will scrutinise and engage the electoral commission in its readiness for the election to avoid an electioneering process whose results cannot be trusted

“Mr Ojo and Ms Garba further noted that Alliance will assess the preparedness of the electoral commission and engage other concerned stakeholders for the coming elections to ensure that they play their roles effectively in the elections

The statement partly reads “We do not want to wait until Election Day to find out that the preparations for the elections were poor or inadequate and that the outcome cannot be trusted. So we will engage and scrutinize all critical stages of the process and the preparatory activities of the main agencies involved in the conduct of the elections, particularly the Independent National Electoral Commission, before the elections, on election days and in the immediate post-election period.”

“ They explained that the Alliance will periodically and at different stages of the electoral process assess the state of preparedness for the elections and based on the outcome of its assessment, it will engage with INEC or other relevant actors in the process to advocate for necessary adjustments in plans or preparations as well as appropriate frameworks to ensure credible elections.

“According to the Alliance, its assessment of the plans and preparations for the elections will cover things such as the printing of election materials like ballot papers, results sheets, etc.; the procurement of other election materials; logistics plans for the movement of election materials; plans for the deployment of election personnel; plans for the deployment of security personnel; plans for the collation of election results; the inclusiveness of the process in terms of how well it addresses the needs and interests of women, youths, persons with disabilities and other marginalized or vulnerable groups.

“The spokespersons said the Alliance will engage with different stakeholder groups in the electoral process, including INEC, the Government, law enforcement and security agencies, the political parties, the Judiciary, local and international election observers, civil society organizations, the Media and professional bodies within the Media as well as citizens at large to ensure that each of them is playing its role effectively.

“They noted that the activities of the Alliance is being overseen by a representative six-member Steering Committee constituted from among member organizations of the Alliance to bring on board representatives of women, youths, persons with disabilities and other interests groups,” they said.