Says Nigerians are awake to consciousness of democratic principles
By Joy Odor
As over eighty-three million (83,209,007) Nigerians on Saturday cast their vote, to welcome a new president and transition, the Chief Executive (CE), Civil Society Organizations, Connected Development (CODE), Hamzat Lawal said judging by the data, Nigerians are awakened to the consciousness of democratic principles – which instructs that civic participation and engagement are crucial to the advancement of democracy.
CODE Chief Executive disclosed this on Friday, while officially unveiling its situation room, Uzabe, a unique technology that provides real-time situation reports for the 2023 general election on Saturday, February 25, 2023 at the Abuja Continental Hotel.
He informed that the election has the highest number of youths registered to vote which means that Nigerian youths are waking up to their duty in project Nigeria.
Hamzat maintained that the youth are all stakeholders in project Nigeria and believed that the election provides a great opportunity to bind together, to ensure that democracy thrives in Nigeria.
According to him, voting is the weapon which can help solve Nigeria problems and can bring great change in the country.
CODE Chief Executive noted that in a truly democratic system, the voters are the kings and are responsible for the creation of government, stressing that the citizens’ duty goes beyond casting their ballot, but ensuring that they stick together, united in their values as they pick leaders who reflect their values.
To this end, CODE Chief Executive affirmed that they have deployed its electoral intelligence tool, Uzabe to share live situation reports from all polling units across the country to ensure a credible and transparent election.
According to him, CODE have also created a network of 20,000 community-driven observers, 7000 of which are accredited by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to give on-the-ground real-time report from the Local Government Area and polling unit.
Hamzat vowed that CODE is taking the observation process critically and would be guided by INEC’s guidelines around election as well as the 2022 Electoral Act.
“As Africa’s leading civil society organization, this is why we launched Uzabe. Uzabe is a unique technology that provides real-time situation reports from thousands of polling units across the country. But more importantly, Uzabe puts power in the hands of the citizens.
“For democracy to be successful, citizens must become informed about issues that can improve their lives. With Uzabe, citizens have access to real-time situation report and analysis on electoral processes across various polling units.
“And this is powered by 20,000 tenacious citizens who have volunteered to observe elections across the 36 States and FCT. This qualifies Uzabe as a citizen-led movement. We should all recognize that in a truly democratic system, the citizens are the kingmakers. Voters are the kings in the garb of common people.
“They are the ones responsible for the creation of the government. Voters are the supreme power in a democracy. This means our duty goes beyond casting our ballot but also ensuring that we stick together united in our values as we pick leaders who imbibe and reflect these values.
“From our observation of elections in 2011, 2015, and 2019, and the recently concluded 2022 Kenyan elections, we have seen the power of technology and the people.
“This is why we are excited to see INEC’s deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) technology. We observed its use during the Ekiti and Osun elections and while there were few concerns, for all intents and purposes, the BVAS is designed to improve transparency in the voting process. This is why for us at CODE, it is important to observe the electoral process and monitor adherence to INEC guidelines” he said.
Hamzat also informed that CODE partnered with security agencies so that any issue of violence that is reported from the field is immediately escalated and directed to the right channels.
He assured of the capacity of the security agencies to safeguard all Nigerians as they cast their ballot and urge Nigerians to remain peaceful as they vote.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the past few months have been a defining period for Nigeria. The Security atmosphere has become a note of worry and if you’ve been following the news you must have seen or heard cases of pre-election violence. But we are assured of the capacity of the security agencies to safeguard all Nigerians as we cast our ballot.
“This is why we have partnered with security agencies so that any issue of violence that is reported from the field is immediately escalated and directed to the right channels. Because Uzabe is a democratic alliance we have also partnered with reputable media organizations to expand coverage and fact-check information to quell fake news, mis & disinformation likely to incite violence or significantly impact the elections” Hamzat ended.
