UPDATE: Thabo Mbeki leads Commonwealth observers to monitor 2023 general elections

Ex-president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, has led a team of Commonwealth election observers to Nigeria ahead of the country’s presidential election scheduled for Saturday, February 25, 2023.

The group is expected to receive briefings from electoral authorities, political parties, the media, and civil society organisations representing women, youth, and people with disabilities before elections are conducted. 

The briefings will allow the group to have a better understanding of the country’s situation ahead of the elections.

Mbeki, during his address at a press conference in Abuja on Saturday, appealed to the country’s political parties, candidates and their supporters to play their part in ensuring peaceful, transparent and credible elections.

He described the much anticipated 2023 general elections as the “Africa’s largest democratic exercise” which are not only crucial to Nigerians, but to Africans at large. 

“This month’s elections will be Africa’s largest democratic exercise. The outcomes of the elections will be significant not only for Nigeria, but also for the entire continent.

“Therefore, we urge all stakeholders in Nigeria to uphold their commitment to ensure a peaceful and inclusive election in which the people of Nigeria are able to freely exercise their right to vote, with the fundamental freedoms of expression, association and assembly fully respected,” Mbeki said. 

The former South Africa’s leader added, “Our mandate is to observe and assess the pre-election period, activities on polling day and the post-election period. Throughout, we will consider all factors relating to the credibility of the electoral process. 

“We will assess whether the elections are conducted according to the standards for democratic elections to which Nigeria has committed itself. As we undertake this assessment and conduct our duties, we will be objective, independent and impartial.”

According to the country’s electoral body, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), an estimated 93.4 million registered voters will be able to vote in 176,846 polling units across Nigeria. 

Observers will be deployed across the country starting on Thursday to monitor pre-election preparations as well as voting, counting, and results processes at polling stations.

The Chairperson will give an interim statement outlining the group’s preliminary assessment of the electoral process at a press conference on February 27 in Abuja.

Following the elections, the group will submit its recommendations to Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland KC in the form of a report.

She will send the report to INEC, the leaders of the political parties contesting the elections, and all Commonwealth governments, and the report will be made public. 

The Observer Group is made up of 16 distinguished Commonwealth citizens, including politicians, diplomats, and experts in law, human rights, gender equality, and election administration.