2019: CLEEN foundation to mitigate electoral violence

Component 5 Support to Civil Society Organizations of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN), will help mitigate electoral violence in Nigeria before, during and after the 2018 offcycle and the 2019 elections, CLEEN Foundation has said.
According to the Executive Director, Dr Benson Olugbuo, in a press statement made available to journalists in Abuja explained that the European Union is supporting ten organizations including CLEEN Foundation towards implementing effective democratic governance in Nigeria.
According to him, with the accreditation of CLEEN Foundation by the electoral body, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the July 14, 2018 Ekiti Governorship Election, CLEEN Foundation organized capacity building training for its observers for the election.
He said the training realized the following objectives.
“Ensured their safety and security are prioritized using the findings of CLEEN foundation security threat assessment in Ekiti State; reviewed police performance during previous elections” “Reviewed INEC election observer’s ethics and guidelines; improved their knowledge and understanding on the Police Service Commission conduct of conduct for security agencies on election duty” he said.
He further explained that “CLEEN Foundation trained election observers will be deployed across the sixteen Local Government Areas of Ekiti State to specifically monitor the conduct of security officers on election duty during the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti State.
“CLEEN Foundation call centre managers are also on ground to receive complaints from members of the public on logistical, security, technical and other challenges during the election.
“These complaints will be communicated to appropriate authorities for timely response.
This is with view to ensure they are not trigger factors for electoral violence in Ekiti State.
“CLEEN Foundation will collate, analyse and produce preliminary statement on the conduct of security agencies during the election.
This will be used to drive advocacy for improving election security management in Nigeria.
“Prior to this, CLEEN Foundation piloted the harmonised electoral violence mitigation tool in Ekiti State for predicting electoral risk factors and mitigating violence in the state,” he said.