| dc.description.abstract | The roles played by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), especially in democratic environments globally, have contributed tremendously towards the conduct of free, fair and credible elections as well as in supporting electoral institutional processes. Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), a CSO participating in the Nigerian electoral process, carried out several activities around the 2019 general election cycle (pre-election, during the election and post-election stages). This research studied the roles played by PLAC in the 2019 General Election. It also examined the specific activities carried out by PLAC in the 3 stages of the 2019 General election with particular focus on how those specific activities impacted the outcome of the election.
The qualitative research method was adopted in carrying out this research work. It involved the collection of texts, interviews, observation and documentary evidence in answering each of the research questions raised by the study. The primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with nine (9) Staff of PLAC who had been in its employ in the 2019 electoral cycle.
The result of the study established that PLAC participated in the three stages of the 2019 electoral cycle by mapping out all its programs, activities and resources around the three election stages. Some of the specific activities carried out by PLAC in the 2019 electoral cycle included policy advocacy for electoral reforms and improvements, voter education campaigns to raise awareness about the electoral process, establishment of a central situation room hub for effective election observation to assess the conduct of the 2019 general election, election reporting to highlight key findings and make recommendations on areas of improvement for future elections as well as conduct of post-election analysis with relevant stakeholders to discuss identified areas of strengths, weaknesses and recommendations. The Impact of these activities and other roles by PLAC on the outcome of the 2019 General Election were summarized as increased voter awareness and empowerment, mitigation of escalation of conflicts and violence in many Polling Units on election day as well as advocacy for electoral reforms (arising from the gaps noted during the election).
The study recommended that PLAC, as well as all CSOs in the electoral process, understand that election is a process not an event so that they may set effective agendas around the 3 stages of each of the electoral cycle. They may also conduct a needs - analysis of the 3 stages of the cycle so that they can proportionately deploy their resources effectively to each of these stages to ensure positive electoral outcomes that will promote electoral democracy in Nigeria | en_US |
