Yiaga Africa targets 130 trainings ahead of 2027 polls

Yiaga Africa will conduct more than 130 training sessions for election observers ahead of the 2027 general elections, its Executive Director, Samson Itodo, has said.

Itodo disclosed this on Friday in Abuja while speaking with journalists on the sidelines of a two-day Training of Trainers for State Focal Persons and Watching the Vote trainers on the Process and Results Verification for Transparency methodology.

He said the training, supported under the EU-SDGN project, marked the commencement of the organisation’s nationwide preparations for the 2027 elections.

“For us at YIAGA Africa, we’ve commenced full preparations for the 2027 elections,” Itodo said.

He explained that the training was aimed at equipping focal persons from the 36 states to cascade the knowledge to observers at the state and local government levels.

Itodo said Yiaga Africa would deploy its Process and Results Verification for Transparency methodology, which requires extensive technical preparation.

“For just the general elections, we’re going to be hosting over 130 different trainings, because election observation isn’t a tea party.

“It’s a very systematic, highly technical exercise that requires investment in capacity building,” he said.

He said participants were being trained on the methodology, statistical principles, the electoral framework, stakeholder engagement, security, recruitment and pre-election observation.

Itodo added that the organisation would activate 774 local government supervisors who would monitor political developments and campaigns ahead of the elections.

He said the deployment would enable Yiaga Africa to provide a national assessment of the pre-election environment and determine whether conditions were conducive for campaigns.

Also speaking, Yiaga Africa’s Director of Programmes, Cynthia Mbamalu, said the Abuja training represented the official launch of the organisation’s national deployment for the 2027 elections.

She said 42 Watching the Vote trainers and 47 state coordinators were participating in the training.

Mbamalu said the organisation planned to deploy more than 3,000 observers during the general elections.

She explained that state coordinators would recruit local government supervisors, who would subsequently recruit the observers.

“Based on INEC’s timetable, campaigns have started, and for us, once campaigns begin, elections have started,” Mbamalu said.

She said Yiaga Africa would deploy 774 long-term observers to monitor the pre-election environment across the country’s local government areas.

According to her, the observers will monitor political party campaigns, INEC’s preparations, voter education activities and incidents capable of affecting the electoral process.

Mbamalu said violence monitoring would also form a major component of the deployment.

“The idea of violence monitoring is to build a preventive or early-warning system that prevents and mitigates election-day violence,” she said.

She said training of the long-term observers would commence in the first week of September.

Mbamalu added that findings from the monitoring exercise would be shared with relevant security agencies where necessary.

“Our goal for this next election is that, one, the process is transparent, but that it is peaceful and violence-free, and it inspires citizens’ confidence in the electoral outcomes,” she said.

A participant and Kano State Focal Person, Maryam Garba Usman, said the training would strengthen participants’ understanding of their responsibilities in voter education and election observation.

She said the participants would use the knowledge gained to promote democracy and peaceful participation ahead of the 2027 elections.