women and persons with disabilities,
and mitigate drivers of political
violence.
USAID supports INEC’s administration
of the elections process, political party
formulation of issues-based campaigns,
and building awareness among the
electorate about their rights and roles
in the democratic process as both
participants and candidates.
“Peaceful and credible elections are
critical to development in Nigeria,”
Mission Director Stephen M. Haykin
said. “Our elections support activities
help provide a channel for Nigerians
to choose leaders who will govern
democratically and improve basic
services for citizens. In that sense, our
support to free and fair elections is as
important as any of the work we do.”
Electoral Reform and INEC
For the election results to be fully
embraced and accepted by the Nigerian
people, INEC’s processes and outcomes
must be seen as beyond reproach. To
this end, USAID trains INEC electoral
officers in election administration
and operations, builds its capacity
to coordinate security planning,
develop effective dispute resolution
mechanisms, and develop more
inclusive voting access policies.
USAID assists INEC in enhancing
coordination, effectiveness, and
efficiency of election management
processes, which includes: support
centers to monitor deployment of
materials and collection of ballots;
designing of ballots and voter education
materials; preparing the judicial
system for election petition tribunals;
training in alternative electoral dispute
resolution mechanisms; and, campaign
finance awareness.
Civil Society Strengthening
USAID strengthens CSO capacity to
monitor elections, training more than
3,000 domestic monitors to conduct
a Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT), or
“quick count,” which independently
measures the quality of Election Day
processes and results. The activity also
sets up a conflict early warning system
that identifies emerging trends that
may trigger conflict.
“All our work is about building the
skills of local groups so they can be
active participants in the governance
of their own country,” said Aubrey
McCutcheon, senior resident director
of the National Democratic Institute,
a longtime USAID elections partner.
“While the funding is foreign, the
training strengthens the indigenous
CSOs who are doing all the work in
mobilizing Nigerians to ensure free and
fair polls through their oversight.”
McCutcheon said the PVT framework
allows citizens and organizations
not affiliated with the government
to independently validate the results
announced by INEC, to verify the
results as legitimate or not by taking
Volunteers record the parallel vote tabulation during the recent Osun state
gubernatorial elections in September 2018
statistical samples of polling units in
every local government area around
the country.
It also codifies comprehensive
monitoring of everything from the
set-up to the voting to the counting
afterward, reporting “parallel”
results within a margin of error and
irregularities such as intimidation
and vote buying, which was a serious
issue in September’s Osun State
gubernatorial election. Critical pre-
election observation for early warning
signs of violence provides reports to
other civil society and security agencies
to mitigate violence before it worsens.
Energizing Youth
Likewise, USAID has played a
significant role in fostering political
leaders by strengthening youth
organizations to shape the national
political atmosphere, according to
Obinna Udenwa, 30, who helped shape
a USAID-supported Youth Manifesto
through the Youngstars Foundation,
and now a candidate for office in
Ebonyi State.
Through that manifesto came the idea
of the Not Too Young to Run bill (see
sidebar) which proposed reducing the
age limit to stand for political office
and was signed into law by President
Muhammadu Buhari in May of 2018.
“But that is not enough,” Udenwa
said of the new law. “The older
generation of Nigerian leaders has no
PVT project director, Cynthia Mbamalu eplains the parallel vote tabulation
process to INEC National Commisioner, May Agbamuche-Mbu
CROSSROADS | December 2018/January 2019
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