The just concluded 2015 general elections in Nigeria changed the perspective and brought to light the ever-growing use and impact of IT in all aspects of life. The Importance of the commencement of the elections could not be overemphasized as the preparations for the elections and the massive campaigns undertaken by the political parties and their candidates occupied the nation’s impost in the last few months.
The elections, which have been termed free and fair, also received global commendations.
The ability to periodically hold free and fair elections was central to the sustenance of democracy in Nigeria, giving rise to the “APC SITUATION ROOM” hosted by several independent organisations and key to it was West Blue Consulting.
The Presidential Progressive Forum saw the need to have the nation move far away from its past experiences of elections characterized by violence and electoral malpractices and the need to strive to ensure that the 2015 general elections were free of violence and all acts of electoral malpractices, thus partnering with West Blue Consulting –an ICT firm, to develop the “APC Situation Room Mobile Application and Web Portal” which is first of its kind in Africa.
“The APC Situation Room” was created to improve the quality of the electoral process, strengthen the role of the electorates to engage and monitor the electoral process, disseminate information on major developments and events during and after the elections in Nigeria and most importantly, to directly engage the citizenry in this key national affair.
The “APC Situation Room” also maximized the potential of social media, with incidences and reports coming from various polling units and wards promptly sent to the respective agencies such as the Independent National Electoral Commission, The Nigeria Police Force and the office of the National Security Adviser.
“The APC Situation Room” nomenclature interestingly became known globally, when Elder Godsday Orubebe wrongly accused INEC of collaborating with “APC Situation Room” and sharing results with them.
It needs to be mentioned here that “APC Situation Room” integrated its application with that of the “Presidential Campaign Office Election Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting System”, amongst others.
“The APC Situation Room” created a platform to access information in real time, of risk factors that threatened the conduct of the 2015 general elections in Nigeria. It also strengthened the capacity of people for effective monitoring and reporting of pre-election, election and post-election violence/incidences.
The interactive tool was used to ensure that the citizens had a role to play in ensuring that the 2015 General Elections were free, fair, transparent and consequently, credible whilst providing a transparent and inclusive platform for everyone to monitor the electoral process and report incidences real time by uploading photos and videos real-time.
The “APC Situation Room” following the conclusion of the election process, will continue to act as a medium for the direct access of citizenry to government and government to citizenry, to ensure constant dialogue between all parties, to support the nation’s developmental goals.