By Richard Akintade,x Osogbo
Ahead of the general elections in the country, the Justice, Development and Peacemaker Centre (JDPMC), Osogbo Catholic Diocese, Osun State, in support of European Union (EU), has inaugurated election monitoring Mobile application.
Rev. Fr. Peter Akinkunmi, the General Coordinator of JDPMC, during the inauguration of the App named “Just-Watcher Mobile Application” at the JDPMC conference centre in Osogbo, on Wednesday, said that it would be used to check gender-based violence as well as vote buying before, during and after the 2023 elections.
Akinkunmi said that it would also help to strengthen capacity for data gathering and ensure credibility in the process of information dissemination.
The Cleric noted that 237 election watchers from Osun, Ekiti and Oyo states had been trained to provide and report first-hand information to a situation room named “Survivor Service Centre” on the day of the election.
“The application was launched to challenge the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as electoral body and also to challenge ourselves as Civil Society Organisation.
“And this is to ensure that our process of election observation, recommendations and contributions, information gathering and dissemination are credible.
“Our information gathering and dissemination must be credible and reliable because CSOs are important partners when it comes to development of democracy.
“We should be seen as the voice of the people and say things the way they are and that is why we are launching this application to ensure credibility in the process of data gathering”, he said.
In his presentation, Mr Festus Ojewumi, Project Manager of EU- Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (SDGN), said the mobile App was developed to report and track gender-based violence before, during and after the election in Osun, Ekiti and Oyo states.
Ojewumi said it would also be used to report election processes at different polling units on the election day.
He said the app could be accessed via http://-j-watcher.org/APK/Just-Watcher.apk.
Participants at the inauguration of App commended JDPMC and EU for their commitment in strengthening the electoral process in the country.
The highlights of the events were the official opening of Survivor Service Centre, which will serve as the situation room on each day of the elections.
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