§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what practical measures he proposes to support the electoral process in Nigeria. [72897]
§ Mr. Tony LloydWe fully support the democratic process in Nigeria. The FCO and DfID have spent around £900,000 on projects to support the electoral process.
The FCO have funded a BBC World Service project on responsible journalism and voter education. We are working with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy to provide training for the new political parties and politicians. We have helped pay the cost of freighting ballot papers to Nigeria.
We have funded a Commonwealth team which has provided training to electoral officials. With the UN and EU, we are providing observers to the National Assembly and Presidential elections on 20 and 27 February.
DfID involvement has covered a wide number of projects. These include: a Commonwealth Local Government Forum observer mission; training for up to 1,200 local election monitors; a seminar to discuss the draft constitution; and the production of a manual for polling officials.