BY THE FORUM OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS FOR DEMOCRACY AND GOOD GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA (FORDGON), ON THE 2025 KATSINA STATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS.
DATED: Thursday, February 13th, 2025.
PROTOCOL:
Gentlemen of the press, fellow accredited election observers, representatives, ladies and gentlemen, all protocols observed.
On behalf of the working group of the forum of civil society organization of Democracy and Good Government in Nigeria, it is my pleasure to welcome you to this press briefing coming on the heels of Katsina Local Government Election scheduled to hold on 15th February, 2025.
FORDGON watching the vote, will deploy accredited observers for the 2025 local government election in all 34 local government areas (LGAs). It involve deploying carefully selected trained and accredited stationary citizen observers to represent polling units located in all 34 LGAs. The citizen observers will witness the entire Election Day process from setup of the polling unit through the announcement and
posting of the official results.
Throughout the course of the day, FORDGON citizen observers will send in report in near real-time via SMS and WhatsApp using their mobile phones to a computer database for analysis at our state information center (SIC) located in Katsina.
ABOUT FORDGON:
Forum of Civil Society Organization For Democracy And Good Governance in Nigeria (FORDGON) focuses on in-depth research, capacity development and public policy advocacy. Since inception, the organization has carved a niche for itself as one Nigeria’s front line civil society organization promoting participatory democracy, human rights and active civil participation, to this end FORDGON focuses on in-depth research, providing critical analysis of key democratic and governance issues, crafting practical solutions, training and situating youth leaders in strategic point of engagement within their community.
Using this approach, we implement several innovative programs aimed at stimulating active citizenship,
protecting human right and deepening democratic governance.
WATCHING THE VOTE:
FORDGON citizen observers were carefully recruited according to established criteria to ensure that they are non-partisan. All FORDGON citizen observers had to sign a pledge of neutrality and were given a code of conduct to which they have given adherence to when observing.
ON ELECTION DAY:
Observers will report to their assigned polling units at 7:00am and remain there throughout set up accreditation and voting, counting and finally announcement of the official results. Observers will provide detailed information on the conduct of the process as well as the official results for the polling units as announced by the officers for proper collation.
KTSIEC PREPARATION:
The Katsina State Independent Electoral Commission is well prepared for 2025 Local Government Election with all indication as posited by the chairman of the commission, Alhaji Lawal Hassan Faskari. “The commission is indeed ready to conduct the election having given adequate notice of 365 days according to guidelines of the electoral act. We have conducted training and retraining of over 20,000 adhoc staff.
“It will also interest you that the commission came up with a new concept of aptitude test with the support of NDLEA on all the contestant to checkmate drug related issues on candidate to ensure integrity.
“Also, accordingly, sensitive and non sensitive materials are set and ready to be distributed at the right time and when due including Local Government Areas where we are having securities challenges. So, be rest assured the election will hold”
SECURITY:
Different security agency have been deployed strictly for the purpose of 2025 Katsina State Local Government Election and they are fully ready to render maximum services for the success and progress of 2025 Katsina State Local Government Election.
CONCLUSION:
FORDGON is ready to observe the 2025 Katsina State Local Government Election, and we are calling on Katsina state voters to go to their various polling units with confidence that their votes will count, watching the vote, will provide independent verification of local government results as announced by KTSIEC.
Therefore, FORDGON appeal to all Katsina state people to work together to ensure that the election reflects the will of the people. Election Day is expected to be long for voters who will spend hours at the polling units queuing for accreditation and voting. It is likely to be hot, and temper may rise. We urge the electorate to remain calm even in the face of challenges that may arise, every Katsina voter has the right to participate irrespective of party affiliation. In the interest of transparency and accountability, we recommend KTSIEC to make publicly available polling units results. This will enhance the confidence
of political parties, contestants and the public in the accuracy of the official result.
FORDGON encourage all registered PVC-holding voters of Katsina to go out on Saturday, 15th February, 2025 to vote their choice in the local government election, hence, adequate security measure is taken by the state government.
Long Live Katsina State, Long Live Nigeria.
SIGNED
Comrade Zubair Ladan
General Secretary
FOR: (FORDGON)
