CIVIL SOCIETY STATEMENT ON THE 2011 NIGERIA ELECTIONS AND THE IMPERATIVE OF A SITUATION ROOM.
PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday March 8, 2011
Situation Room Worried Over Preparations for 2011 Elections
Civil Society Organisations working on the 2011 Nigeria elections today issued a statement on the preparations for the April 2011 elections. Operating under the name, Nigeria Elections Situation Room, the Steering Committee of the forum issued statement saying that:
“Political parties are increasingly disregarding the basic tenets of democracy through the use of violence, absence of internal party democracy, pattern of campaign rallies that are highly exclusionary, monetary inducement to the electorate with, security agencies and the judiciary, intolerance of opposition, increased manifestation of hate speech, and the reckless use of public resources by incumbents during campaigns”, the statement said.
The Situation Room specifically expressed concern that opposition parties are being muzzled by incumbents at the federal and state levels, which endangers the prospect for democratic consolidation as it relates to expanding the democratic space for all political parties to operate.
The Situation Room also raised concern about goings-on in the judiciary, particularly the open quarrel and acrimony between the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the President of the Court of Appeal, as well increasing allegations of judicial corruption that is fast eroding the legitimacy and credibility of the judiciary as an institution that should guarantee electoral justice.
According to the Situation Room, both the Chief Justice of the Federation, Aloysius Katsina-Alu and his Court of Appeal counterpart, Justice Ayo Salami, should immediately resign from their positions, as it would appear that the jostle between both high judicial officers is dictated by a struggle for the control of the process of appointment of members of Election tribunals to adjudicate likely election petitions.
The Situation Room also expressed serious concern over the unexplained jump in the voters registration number from a tentative figure of 67,764,334 to 73,528,040, stating that the jump in figures raises questions about the reliability of the voters register.
The Situation Room further stated that it is becoming increasingly worried about the preparations of the Independent National Electoral Commission for the 2011 elections, pointing out that the logistics challenges experienced during the voter registration, as well as the poor handling of the display of voters register and delay in confirming that the production of candidate specific ballot papers are serious indicators of poor preparations for the 2011 elections.
The Situation Room also raised worry that Election Petition Tribunals which should be in place at least 14 days before the first election on April 2, are yet to be constituted, wondering when the tribunals would be constituted as to enable its members undergo proper training and orientation in order to effectively and expeditiously handle the petitions that are likely to result from the elections.
The Situation Room is a forum comprising more than 40 civil society organisations working on the 2011 general elections, including Action Aid Nigeria, Transition Monitoring Group, Centre for Democracy and Development, Justice Development and Peace Commission, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, CLEEN Foundation, Community Life Project, etc.
The 2011 Nigeria Elections Situation Room aims to strengthen civil society synergy on the April elections and foster collective action by civil society to promote accountability throughout the electoral process.
For: 2011 Nigeria Elections Situation Room
| Dr Jibrin Ibrahim
Executive Director Centre for Democracy and Development(CDD) Tel: 0803 4001200 |
Clement Nwankwo
Executive Director Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre(PLAC) Tel: 0803 8899999 |
2011 ELECTION SITUATION ROOM MEMBERS.
Action Aid Nigeria
Alliance for Credible Election (ACE)
Centre for Democracy and Development
Centre for Democratic Development Research and Training
African Centre for Leadership Strategy and Development (Centre LSD)
CLEEN Foundation
Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)
Community Emergency Response Initiative (CERI)
Community Life Project (CLP)
Empowering Women for Excellence Initiative (EWEI)
Forward Africa
Human Development and Care Centre
Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
JDP/Caritas Nigeria
Next Generation Youth Initiative
Niger Delta Budget Monitoring Group
Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre
Transition Monitoring Group (TMG)
Women Environment Programme
Women’s Right to Education Program (WREP)