The Inter-Party Advisory Council of Nigeria (IPAC) has deployed an Election Observer Mission Team to Liberia to observe Tuesday’s general elections.

IPAC national publicity secretary, Chinyere Oge-Kalu, said this in a statement.

IPAC said the observer team, made up of Nigerian political party leaders already in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, is led by the IPAC’s national chairman, Sani Yabagi.

Other members of the team, according to the statement, include national chairmen Muhammed Nalado of Accord Party, Ralf Nwosu of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Hajiya Zainab Ibrahim, Deputy National Women Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC).

IPAC said the delegation was to ensure democratic processes and principles were duly followed to guarantee a positive outcome that would deepen the roots of democracy on the continent.

“Efforts by undemocratic forces to reverse the gains made in entrenching democracy in the West African sub-region in recent times have become a cause for serious concern around the globe, especially Nigeria. The presidential election taking place on Tuesday, October 10 in Liberia has attracted more than a passing interest of the international community of democrats like the IPAC,” it said.

IPAC added, “To underscore the importance of this mission, the former President Goodluck Jonathan is leading the African Elders Forum amongst other notable regional bodies to observe the elections.”

“As the chairman of the largest organization of political parties in Africa, my expectation is that this election in Liberia will rekindle our faith in democracy. Also, the democratic tenets in the West African Sub-region in particular and the entire African continent in general,” Mr Yabagi said.

The IPAC observer mission team is expected to return to Nigeria on October 11.

Over 2.4 million Liberians head to the polls to elect a president and members of their legislature. Currently, 19 candidates are hoping to replace incumbent President George Weah of the Coalition of Democratic Change (CDC), who is seeking a second six-year term.

The main challengers are former Vice-President Joseph Boakai and businessman Alexander Cummings. Both men were previously in a four-party opposition alliance, the Coalition of Political Parties (CPP).

However, despite the initial success, the coalition has broken up after reported disagreements over who gets the presidential ticket in this election cycle.

Also in the running is Liberian People’s Party’s Tiawan Gongloe, a renowned human rights lawyer and law professor who served as the country’s solicitor general during the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf administration.

The former president became Africa’s first elected female leader in 2006, but political inclusivity is still a mirage in many parts of the continent, including her native Liberia.

Only two of the 20 contenders in Tuesday’s presidential vote are women. One is Sara Nyanti, a former deputy special representative in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.

Mr Weah, who is running for a second term, has boasted that he will secure outright victory in the first round of elections.

He has been in office since 2017. 

(NAN)