The President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Samson Ayokunle, said the association had finalised plans to train 300 electoral observers to monitor the 2019 elections.
Ayokunle, spoke on Monday at the First Christian Leaders Roundtable Summit organised by Legacy Initiative International in Lagos.
He said the observers who would be drawn from the six geopolitical zones would be trained at a cost of N12 million.
“Fifty people will be trained from each region, who will in turn train others.
“Our plan is to deploy three observers to each polling unit and we have already applied to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for observer status.
“INEC on its part must strive to remain as an impartial umpire because what we have seen in the last two elections in Ekiti and Osun States left much to be desired due to complaints of intimidation of party agents, vote buying and violence,” Mr Ayokunle said.
Earlier, the Grand Patron of Legacy Initiative International, Chief Kenny Martins, said the 58th Independence Anniversary of Nigeria was a sober day for reflections on how the country’s fortunes could be turned around.
“The journey of Nigeria needs to begin today. At 58, we are still yearning for the most basic things like road, water, housing, transportation among other infrastructure,” Martins said.
He said the group was willing to work with CAN and the leadership of the Muslim faithful to draw a template together on the minimum expectations of the inter-faith community from those vying for elections into public offices in Nigeria. (NAN)
Martins said the inter-faith community would also organise a National Peace Convention for all registered political parties and INEC.
He said that this was with a view to getting them sign a peace pact to keep peace during elections and abide by the rules and regulations.
