As the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) commences the CVR exercise on April 27, 2017 in its Local Government Areas offices in all 774 LGAs of Nigeria. The exercise is designed to update the voter register with the registration of citizens who turned 18 after the last voter registration exercise; or those who couldn’t register in previous CVR exercises. Uncollected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) will be distributed during the exercise as well issues relating to transfer of registered voters, lost or omitted PVCs will be addressed during the exercise.
Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth & Advancement (YIAGA) will deploy its Watching The Vote (WTV) election observation methodology during the Continuous Voter Registration exercise. The observation mission is geared towards enhancing the credibility and transparency of the voter registration process. It will also generate data and knowledge for influencing electoral policy formulation and implementation in the buildup to the 2019 general elections.
YIAGA’s #WatchingTheVote is an advanced observation methodology that uses well-established statistical principles and sophisticated information technology for reporting and assessment of electoral activities. Using this methodology, YIAGA will provide the most timely and accurate information on the conduct of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), Permanent Voter Card (PVC) distribution and Transfer of Registered Voters.
For the CVR, YIAGA WTV is deploying 260 citizen observers to 260 randomly selected local government area registration centers spread across all the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory based on established statistical principles.
On assigned days, WTV observers will be stationary at the local government area registration center as from 9:00am – 3:00pm daily to observe the process. Throughout the registration process, WTV observers will also serve as mobile observers reporting on any critical incident they witness or are reported to them. All WTV observers will send in their observation reports via coded text message using their mobile phones. The reports will be received directly into a sophisticated database located at the YIAGA’s secretariat in Abuja for review, verification and analysis. In addition to the observation exercise, YIAGA will also conduct an experiential survey during the CVR exercise to assess the level of awareness of registrants and document their experiences with the exercise with a view to generating data that will inform electoral policy review on voter registration. YIAGA WTV will issue interim report on the process based on reports from its observers, this will be shared with the public, Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), political parties, civic society organizations and others.
About YIAGA
The Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth & Advancement (YIAGA) is YIAGA is a civic hub dedicated to the promotion of democracy, accountability and citizens’ participation. In pursuit of its goal of enhancing the quality of elections, YIAGA deploys citizens’ observers to observe the conduct of activities within the electoral cycle. This is informed by the need to deepen electoral integrity and accountability. Through its network of election observers, YIAGA promotes the conduct of elections in line with democratic principles and global standards.
Signed.
Samson Itodo
Executive Director