2019 Elections: WANEP launches EMAM to monitor electoral risks

West Africa Network for Peace building (WANEP) on Tuesday launched its Election Monitoring, Analysis and Mitigation (EMAM) project in partnership with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) in Abuja.

In his remark, the Executive Director for WANEP, Dr. Chukwuemeka Eze, said: “A few years ago, politics and elections were seen as the sole preserve of political actors and gladiators; the State and Government agencies, but today, the voices of citizens are beginning to echo in the political arena.

“The fiercely competitive nature of party politics has been a factor threatening stability in the region largely because there is a widespread perception of elections as a ‘winner takes all or a win or must win’ event. This perception, against a backdrop of palpable inter-ethnic tensions, raises the stakes and risks for all those involved.

“It is even more worrisome that a country like Nigeria with high expectations from international community to lead the continent into electoral decorum and civility, continually experience high level of suspicion and lack of confidence in key State institutions that directly or indirectly superintend the electoral process.

“The responsibility of ensuring that elections in Africa are free, fair and credible cannot be shouldered by ECOWAS, African Union and its member states alone, hence the need for all civil society organizations and interested parties to make concerted effort to ensure a resounding success.”

Dr. Eze explained that the EMAM project will be deployed to monitor, analyze, mitigate and communicate (in real time) electoral risks with periodic debriefing of key stakeholders towards the forth coming 2019 elections.

According to him, “Under this process, monitors at the community, state and zonal levels, will report threats and incidents of electoral disputes and violence throughout the electioneering process (Pre, during and post) to the National Election Analysis and Response Center.

“The Center will provide timely analyzed information to critical stakeholders including the National Peace actors, Security Agents, Electoral Commission and other key institutions of the State, ECOWAS, AU and development partners for rapid response.”

Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), represented by Dr. Muhammed Mustafa Leki, said that: “The EMAM project cannot be any more timely based on experiences in the country and across the West African sub-region, and more so as we approach major elections in the Nigeria 2019 elections.

“Everybody needs to be concerned not because of portent for violence, but because elections are a major democratic activities which can spell the difference between peace and war; and of course we want peace.

“This project is clearly placed into the requirement for peaceful elections, giving us the intelligence to be able to anticipate and take mitigating actions before things get out of hand.

“We are pleased with what WANEP is doing in gender participation and Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) in electoral processes.”

According to Ambassador Fred Ngoga, Head of Early Warning Division, Africa Union Commission, “The launching of this project, which is complemented by the validation of specific indicators for the monitoring of electoral developments in Nigeria is in tandem with the mandate of the Continental Early Warning System (CEWS), one of the five pillars of the African Union’s Peace and Security Architecture (APSA).

“The collaboration between AU, ECOWAS and WANEP is anchored on the symbiotic relationship between AU and ECOWAS as contained in the framework of collaboration between AU and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) on one hand; and the MOU between AU and WANEP, which have enabled the Secondment of a WANEP capacity building officer to AU-PSD as well as regular information sharing on the other hand.”

The Director of Early Warning, ECOWAS, Dr. Abdoulaye Gueye, in his remark said: “We believe that the EMAM project designed to monitor, report, analyze and facilitate response to violent threats for the conduct of peaceful elections, including tracking social postings and compliance to electoral code of conduct at the polling stations will further enhance the support of ECOWAS to the 2019 electoral process in Nigeria.”