As the countdown to the 2023 general elections gets underway, Nigeria’s foremost election observation coalition, the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), has expressed readiness to mobilize its teeming member organizations across the country to engage critical aspects of the process.
Speaking at a Strategy Planning Meeting organized by the coalition to reflect on its place in the Nigerian civic space and to relaunch itself, the TMG Chairman, Auwal Musa Rafsanjan, said the engagement will include the period leading up to the elections, election day activities as well as the post-election period covering the election dispute resolution phase and the inauguration of winners.
A statement signed on Tuesday by Mr Rafsanjani said the frontline elections coalition vowed to utilize its experience and expertise on elections to strengthen Nigeria’s democracy, promote citizens participation in all stages of the process and strengthen good governance, especially at a time when citizen’s faith in democracy appears to be declining as a result of failure of the political elite to meet the expectations of Nigerians across various strata of the society.
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Mr Rafsanjani, therefore, stressed that there were several aspects of the electoral process, which the TMG would immediately move to work on, given its numerous advantages and its over two decades of experience in election observation and promoting democratic governance.
“The Strategy Planning Meeting brought together TMG leaders and members from the six geo-political zones of Nigeria, past leaders, and former members of staff of the organization, to discuss the legacies, successes and challenges recorded by the coalition in recent years.
“Those in attendance at the meeting were unanimous in concluding that despite the challenges and setbacks encountered by the coalition in recent years, it remained relevant in the Nigerian civic space, especially with the critical 2023 general elections fast approaching.
“They therefore identified short and long term strategies for relaunching the coalition to enable it to re-enact its award-winning performance in election observation during previous election cycles in Nigeria.
“Some of the proposed areas of work identified by the coalition include; voter education in the pre-election period, especially around the recently amended Electoral Act, 2022, linking election observation to good governance, campaign finance issues as well as interfacing with key electoral stakeholders, particularly the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), with the goal of enhancing the credibility of the process.
“At the close of the meeting, the members endorsed the plan by the TMG leadership to build strategic partnership with local and international organizations, which share in the coalition’s stated goal of strengthening Nigeria’s democracy, while ensuring the democratic process delivers good governance.
“The meeting included a participatory process of assessing and analyzing the coalition’s strengths and weaknesses as well as identifying threats and opportunities facing it, as part of the effort to reposition the coalition to rediscover its relevance, while responding to the current realities of the constantly changing environment in which it operates,” the statement noted.
