The Transition Monitoring Group, TMG has commenced training of election observers in preparation for the 2015 general elections with the training of Zonal Officers and the accounting team of the group.
A statement issued in Abuja by the group disclosed that the training is been facilitated by a consortium of organisations which include the National Democratic Institute, NDI, Search for Common Grounds, World Learning and CDD Ghana.
The statement reads in part: “The three-day intensive training will put participants through the mill of the Quick Count Methodology, including how to administer the funds accounting side of the Quick Project and pre-election observation. The pre-election observation seeks to observe, document and inform citizens on pre-election electoral activities from all 774 local government areas in Nigeria. Participants at the training include the Zonal Program Officers (ZPOs) and the accounting team who will in turn step down the training to Quick Count State Coordinating Committees (SCCs), made up of the 37 State Coordinators (SCs) and 111 State Deputy Coordinators (SDCs).
Stressing the importance of the training, the Chairman of TMG, Ibrahim Zikirullahi said the training is of great importance since it is focusing on the people that will train those who will go on the field. This, according to Zikirullahi, is very critical to the overall success of the project.
“Through the TMG Quick Count, non-partisan citizen observers will deploy to a random, representative sample of polling units across the country to report on the opening, accreditation, voting and counting processes during Election Day, as well as collect voting results. The heart of the Quick Count rests on establishing a representative, random sample of polling units. This means that observers will deploy to LGAs in the same proportion as there are polling units located in each LGA”, the statement said.
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