Women In Politics Forum (WIPF), a support group for female politicians said it has trained and deployed 100 election observers in 11 states for the 2023 general election in Nigeria.
Its national president, Ebere Ifendu, in a statement made available in Abuja said the observers will be working in Abia, Adamawa, Benue, Cross River, Kogi, Kaduna, Kwara, Nasarawa, Plateau, Sokoto, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The statement said the forum is in partnership with the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) with the recent launch of the N-Alerts app to ensure safety of Nigerians at the 2023 polls.
The N-Alerts application is available on the play store and can be downloaded easily, it enables incidences of electoral violence to be reported immediately from the observer’s location to the NSCDC, and will be acted upon swiftly once the command in charge receives the signal for action in the 2023 general election.
She also urged all the civil society organisations deploying observers to make use of the N-Alerts as part of the measures to combat violence against women in the forthcoming elections.
She however expressed worry that Nigerian women have experienced a further reduction in the number of aspirants and emerged candidates, saying this will further affect the number of women who will hold elective positions.
“Women have suffered from marginalisation, discrimination, underrepresentation and also Violence Against Women in Politics at the national, state and local government levels.”
