PROGRAMS & ACTIVITIES

In addition to our activism aka “street protests,” our work is divided into three broad buckets summarisedbelow.

Elections

Drive the 4 essential actions required from citizens in the electoral process - to Register vote; credible candidates; Select Vote NOT fight & your Protect vote on election day & during the 4-year election cycle. It is Nigeria’s longest-running and one of its most prominent voter education campaigns.

#RSVP

#OfficeOfTheCitizen

Educate citizens on their rights and responsibilities“The Office of the Citizen is the highest office in the land!” Activities include radio programs in several states across the country; a monthly convening in Lagos, a pan-African bi-annual conference called New Media, Citizens & Governance (NMCG) and public interest litigation.

LEGISLATIVE ENGAGEMENT & ADVOCACY

Facilitate productive engagements between citizens and their representatives at the federal, state and local government levels while promoting transparency & accountability This is done through tech-enabled platforms, physical and virtual town halls and public interest litigation.

#OpenNASS

EiE’s flagship voter education campaign, drives the 4 essential actions required of citizens in the P#RSV electoral process. - Register to vote; - Select credible candidate; -Vote not fight; - Protect your vote on election day and during the 4-year cycle.

V - Vote Not Fight

As citizens prepared for the 2023 general elections, EiE entered into the VotenotFight phase of its #RSVP campaign. EiE observed the need for citizens to communicate with INEC before,during,andaftertheelections.

The new Electoral Act, 2022 brought significant changes to the electoral process EiE in partnership with INEC Lagos leveraged a network of volunteers to set up a 72-hour EiE Nigeria Elections Call Centre as a first stop to assist citizens to solve the basic issues they encounteredonelectionday.

Activities

Engagement of Consol Limited

We engaged Consol Limited (ConSol), a leading provider of Contact Centre Services, Consultancy Services & Enterprise Solutions in Nigeria toprovidetrainingandfacilitiesfor theproject.

Training

EiE Nigeria in collaboration with ConSol delivered an intensive 4-hour training for 12 Call Center volunteers. The training took volunteers through types of customers and how to respond to them, communication skills, how to use the call center equipment, how to record complaints, and what to escalate to INEC agents, Nigeria Police, Nigeria Army, EFCC, and basic INEC FAQs and solutions.11volunteerswereengaged.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

EIE Nigeria had an IVR message played when thevolunteerCallCenteragentswereonbreak.

The IVR said; “Dear Active Citizen, Thank you for contacting the EiE Lagos Election Call Centre, your call is very important to us. While we are away, please call INEC Lagos Officials on 08179438145or08145419483or09056369789”

Intimidation of voters

Volunteer Shifts

Thevolunteerswerein2shifts.

Team A

6 team members ran the 6 am - 6 pm shift

Team B

5 team members ran the 7 pm to 6 am shift.

Volunteershadintermittentbreaksasneeded.

Complaints

Voters being intimidated by supporters of some political parties Some voters were reportedly threatened with violence if they did not vote for a particularcandidate.

Irregularities in the Voting Process

This included malfunctioning of the electronic voting machines Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and long waiting times. These irregularities led to frustrationanddisenfranchisementofmanyvoters.

Lateness of INEC officials

Delay in the commencement ofvoting in some polling units.This caused somevoters towait forseveralhours before casting their votes or being told that the voting periodisover

Lack of Transparency

Some INEC officials claimed that theyare not to upload the result of the polling units.This lack of transparency raises questions about the credibilityand legitimacyof theelection.

Challenges

Short planning time Mobility

The initiative was planned within a short period and with limited resources to execute.

Low media publicity

Due to short planning time, EiE could not leverage its media strength in full capacity. However, lessons learned from the process have been used in designing a new media plan for the gubernatorial elections.

There is restriction of movement during elections, so logisticsaremoreexpensivetodeploy

INEC’s Non-availibility

INEC’s contacts were not available and their officials werehardtoreachinsomecases.