The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has revealed that 146,913 accredited national and international observers will be monitoring the 2023 general elections.
Prof Yakubu gave the breakdown of the observers set to monitor the forthcoming February 25 and March 11 elections on Tuesday while briefing newsmen at the National Collation Centre in the International Conference Centre (ICC) in Abuja.
Speaking at the press conference, he explained that in line with global good practice, electoral commissions in most jurisdictions invited national and international organizations to deploy observers or organize study tours for election managers during elections.
He, however, noted that the reports and recommendations of the observers and the knowledge from the study tours helped electoral commissions to progressively improve processes.
He said, “For the 2023 general elections, beginning this weekend with the presidential and National Assembly elections, the commission has accredited 196 national or domestic groups that are collectively deploying 144,800 observers.
“Similarly, the commission accredited 33 international organizations, deploying 2,113 observers. In all, 229 groups are deploying 146,913 observers for the 2023 general elections.
“This is the largest deployment of domestic and international observers in the history of elections in Nigeria.”
While cautioning the observers against interfering in the elections, he said, “You are by definition observers. Do not interfere with the process or show partisanship. In addition, international observers must be guided by the fact that the elections are conducted by the Federal Republic of Nigeria whose sovereignty must be respected.”
