As arrangements for the 2023 general elections gets underway, Nigeria’s foremost election observation coalition, the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), has declared readiness to mobilize its members across the country to engage critical aspects of the process to ensure successful transition.
The election monitoring body vowed to utilize its experience and expertise on elections to help strengthen Nigeria’s democracy, promote citizens participation in all stages of the process and strengthen good governance, especially at a time citizen’s faith in democracy appears to be waning as a result of the failure of the political elite to meet the expectations of Nigerians across various strata of the society.
Speaking at a strategy planning meeting organized by the coalition to reflect on its place in the Nigerian civic space and to relaunch itself, TMG chairman, Mr. Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, noted that there were several aspects of the electoral process, which the TMG would immediately move to work on, given its numerous advantages and over two decades experience in election observation and promotion of 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 coalition, to discuss its legacies, successes and challenges recorded in recent years.
Participants at the meeting unanimously concluded 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 identified short and long term strategies for relaunching the coalition to enable it re-enact its award-winning performance in election observation in the previous election cycles in Nigeria.
Some of the proposed identified areas to work on 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.
