The Global Chairman of the All Nigerian Nationals in the Diaspora (ANNID), Peter Mozie on Thursday revealed that no fewer than 80 diasporans would be deployed as observers for the 2023 elections.
Peter Mozie said the group would observe the 2023 election that will usher in a new government.
Mozie said that trained personnel would be deployed across the states to aid democratic process alongside local trained observers, adding that all political parties will receive equal attention.
He said “We are here to observe the 2023 election, to make sure that the election is conducted freely and credibly. This is not the first time we are doing this observation. In 2011, over 500 diasporas from over 52 countries visited Nigeria to see how we can add value in the democratic process. At the end of the consultation, we all decided that we will get involved in election monitoring and observation to make sure that credible people are elected into office. Since then, we have been observing elections in Nigeria.
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“We are here to repeat this. This time around, the situation is different. We are here to make sure that we observe all the elections that will happen in Nigeria to make sure that it is credible. We are working with our partner, Nigerian American Public Affairs Committee, to make sure that when Nigerians vote, their votes will count and it will usher in a credible administration.
“It is not going to be business as usual. We are on ground to announce our arrival to kick start the project and the pre-election observation process. We are going to deploy as usual our trained personnel to 36 states of the federation and also train all INEC observers to aid democratic process.”
“It does not matter to us who wins the election. All we want is for the election to be free and credible.
Speaking on the report the group gets after observing and monitoring the elections, the Global Chairman noted “We usually send reports to INEC after our observations and monitoring. In 2015, for instance, we submitted a report that the election was not flawless because in that report, we recorded voter intimidation in Port Harcourt.
“People were killed because they tried voting for a party and in the North, people were not allowed to put posters on the wall. In 2011, the election was free and credible and that was what we reported to INEC.”
