HL Deb 24 February 1999 vol 597 c120WA
Lord Haskel

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What practical measures they are taking to support the electoral process in Nigeria. [HL195]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean

Her Majesty's Government 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.