27th March, 2015
The Justice, Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos and other civil society organisations have deployed 750 observers for Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections in Lagos.
The JDPC Deputy Director, Joe Nkamuke, made this known in an interview with NAN in Lagos.
Nkamuke said that some of the observers would come from civil societies and religious organisations that had been collaborating with the Catholic Church in the past to monitor elections.
He said 50 observers were from Federation of Muslim Women’s Association of Nigeria, 50 from Anglican Church and its affiliate groups in advocacy for the entrenchment of good governance in the country.
The Pentecostal Churches and others, he said, would contribute 50, while coalition of non-religious civil society groups had 50 observers.
He said that the Catholic Church and its societies would provide the remaining observers.
Nkamuke declined details of how the observers would be deployed, saying that such information could compromise the safety and performance of the observers.
The JDPC, he said, was impressed with the pre-election arrangements ahead of the polls by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“INEC’s tenaciousness and stance on a number of issues toward ensuring that the polls will be credible are quite commendable,” he said.
He said the use of the card readers for Saturday’s voting was proper, and added that such a move was an indication that the Nigerian electoral process was conforming to global norms.
“Some African countries such as Kenya and Namibia are introducing ICT into their elections as most countries of the world are currently embracing e-voting.
“The introduction of the card readers into electioneering in Nigeria is a step in the right direction that will ensure that our country falls into the scheme of globalisation,” he said.