Posted by By PETER ANOSIKE on
The Rights Monitoring Group (RMG) and Probity and Ethics Society (PES) have deployed 4000 observers to monitor the rescheduled governorship election in Cross River State.
The Rights Monitoring Group (RMG) and Probity and Ethics Society (PES) have deployed 4000 observers to monitor the rescheduled governorship election in Cross River State.
Members of the observers team are drawn from the National Council of Women Society (NCWS), National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Labour and Human Rights Activists and Journalists.
According to the National Co-ordinator, Rights Monitoring Group, Femi Akinbule Aduwo, the observers are expected to arrive Calabar the State capital few days before the Election Day to monitor INEC, s preparedness for the rescheduled election.
He said that the purpose of the team's arrival earlier was to make sure that due process would be followed in the conduct of the election.
His words: 'We want to be on ground to witness the arrival and distribution of election materials. Like I always say election rigging is the beginning of corruption. If we fail to get it right at the election then forget about the dividends of democracy. You should not expect a candidate that came into power without the mandate of the people to be sensitive to the plight of those who were not responsible for his coming into power. So we want to make sure that due process would be followed in the conduct of the rescheduled governorship election,' he explained.
According to him, the Rights Monitoring Group is the only organization that has monitored INEC-organised bye and rescheduled elections since from January this year.
He noted that based on the experiences garnered from their election observations across the length and breadth of the country, they have presented a document to the electoral reform committee as their own contribution towards ensuring the conduct of free and fair elections in the country in the nearest future.