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The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, through its Directorate of Political Affairs, continued its dialogue and mediation training and interactive engagements with members of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) and other relevant stakeholders from the northwest and northeast geopolitical zones of the country.
The Programme opening ceremony in kano is geared towards conduct of a violent-free 2023 general elections in Nigeria with the enhancement of participants’ dialogue and mediation skills and platforms for addressing contentious issues, thus contributing to the prevention and mitigation of electoral-related conflicts and violence before, during, and after the polls.
According to a statement made by the Programme Officer, Mediation Directorate of Political Affairs, ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Brown Odigie, the training, and interactive engagements will create a healthy opportunity for participants to take cognizance of and appreciate the ECOWAS Constitutional Convergence Principles and Frameworks for transparent and peaceful elections, as espoused by the 2001 supplementary protocol on democracy and good governance, as well as the commitments of ECOWAS to the processes of dialogue and mediation in resolving electoral disputes and conflicts.
The stakeholders are also being brought together for a brainstorm, against the backdrop of electoral contestations which have become a major source of conflicts in West Africa, with grave potential for violence, triggered or heightened by the high premium on political power in the political discourse of both politicians and their supporters.
