Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) is a capacity
building civil society organization whose activities cover research, advocacy,
training and publicity in all areas of ICT for development and good governance.
CITAN in partnership with Action Aid Nigeria held a training for 30 (21 males and 9
females) community activists on election observation, on Tuesday 1 st February,
2022 at Goodview hotel Dutse Alhaji, Abuja. The training aims to improve
accountability and transparency in the electoral processes, and to strengthen
citizen’s voices in other to amplify actions in pursuing specific policy change
proposals in Nigeria.
The training started with a self-introduction by participants, followed by a
welcome address by Mubarak Ekute who explained to the participants the
purpose of the training. There was a quick review of the FCT observer’s election
experiences of the past elections from the fields and photo gallery, for better
positioning at the coming election.
Celestine Okwudili ODO AAN’s governance manager exposed the participants to
the election observation procedure and code of conduct while understanding the
key principles, electoral guideline in line with the electoral frame work, incident
reporting & escalation of issues; procedures for communicating issues from the
field to the situation room and understanding the observation checklist. In his
presentation he stated that the training was to make voters observe the dos and
don’ts of election generally, especially in the Abuja Municipal Area council’s up-
coming election. The experiences of past elections there were many challenges,
especially the failure of machines, thuggery, vote buying, hijacking of ballot boxes
and sundry issues. The training showed the participants that the February 12
election is an opportunity to change the Local Government chairmen that failed in
carrying out responsibilities for their communities.
The training was interactive, participatory and inclusive as participants asked
questions and discussed. A social media platform was created to allow all
participants to engage in and raise their concerns after the training, before the

Election Day. A toolkit on election observation was presented to each participant
in order to learn, engage and take action while on the field. The challenge
encountered was in time management, the time was not enough to allow for
group works, as participants had to break to pray and have lunch at intervals.
Yesmin Salako delivered a vote of thanks to end the training, she stated that the
participants should make sure they do not sell their next four years, but rather
secure their future. She assured the participants that they will be kept abreast of
the next process to get their kits to observe the election.

Segun Awofadeji

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has expressed its readiness to collaborate with the Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), in procurement, to promote transparency and accountability.

This was disclosed by a Senior Programme Manager of CITAD, Isa Garba, when he led his team on advocacy to SUBEB and his management.

According to him, CITAD trains directors and deputy directors on accountability and transparency in public service.

“We are here today to inform you that CITAD is granted by the United Sates Agency for International Development (USAID) through the ‘State Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness’ (State2State) to implement a governance project in Bauchi State,” he explained. “The goal of the project is to strengthen citizens’ participation in governance through active participation in the budgetary and procurement processes of the state.”

According to him, the project’s objectives include enhancing the capacity of 40 CSOs to engage both government and citizens in the budget process to improve citizens’ participation in budget processes and the skills of 40 government officials, among others.

He added that in the implementation process, CITAD would work with SUBEB and engage legislators in increasing the budgetary allocation to the education sector and help the agency in monitoring projects.

In his response, Permanent Commissioner, Alhaji Idris Hardawa, said, “Our books are always open for you to go through, and we are ready to work with you in achieving a transparent procurement atmosphere. We are partners with you in the development of the basic education sector.”

He added, “Everything we do here is open and transparent in line with financial and procurement regulations. We ensure that due process is followed in procurement transactions.”