Vice President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo will lead the Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) observing the general election in Sierra Leone on June 24.
This was made known by the secretary-general of the Commonwealth, Patricia Scotland who said Osinbajo accepted to be the chairman of the group.
She explained that as the chairman of the Commonwealth Observer Group, Osinbajo would lead a team of experts in observing the general election in Sierra Leone and would be joined by dignitaries from various fields including, legal, media, gender, and election administration professionals.
The group has the mandate to consider whether conditions exist for credible, transparent, inclusive, and fair elections and whether the media is impartial in its reportage of the electioneering process.
“I am grateful to Yemi Osinbajo for accepting my invitation, to undertake this important area of our work in deepening democracy across our Commonwealth — despite his busy schedule and overseeing a seamless transition of his government,” Scotland said.
“As a senior statesman from the region, Osinbajo understands in depth the challenges across West Africa and I am confident he will lead a brilliant team.”
On his part, Osinbajo expressed gratitude for the opportunity to chair the Commonwealth observer group.
“I’m highly honoured by the unique opportunity to continue to bring my expertise and experience in contributing to deepening democracy, especially in Africa, and the Commonwealth by extension,” he said.