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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Eight civil society organizations have called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to conduct credible elections in 2023.
The CSOs are Accountability Lab Nigeria, Connected Development (CODE), SERAP, BUDGIT, CJID, PLSI, Yiaga Africa, and EIE.
Addressing journalists recently in Abuja, Country Director of Accountability Lab, Odeh Friday, also charged government to prioritize fiscal transparency and to strengthen anti-corruption agencies and address gender challenges.
Odey said: “With over 20 years of sustaining democracy, Nigeria needs to work towards achieving inclusive governance where all classes of citizens and underserved groups have every opportunity to participate in governance processes effectively.
“Despite the existence of a legal framework for asset declaration for political office holders, the level of compliance is unknown as data on asset declaration for office holders is not available to the public.
“The lack of public data on the assets of potential political aspirants provides an avenue for opacity and a lack of accountability; thereby fueling political corruption.
“The monetisation of politics was the main headline during the political parties’ primaries and has become a pointer to how vote buying and selling will play a disruptive role in the 2023 elections.
“This has also affected the value of the Naira, aS aspirants now deal in and distribute major international currencies, especially the dollar.
“In the last couple of weeks, the dollar to naira exchange rate peaked at N715 on the parallel market due to the undue pressure on the value of the naira.
“Vote-buying has become a widespread practice, where democracy has struggled to be fully consolidated due to Nigeria’s entrenched corrupt political class, trapping citizens in self-sabotaging, subservient relationships with political leaders.
Equally the Executive Director, CJID, Tobi Oluwatola, while citing a report by the Africa Report, noted bills geared at empowering women had been rejected 11 times previously by some opposition federal lawmakers for religious and cultural reasons.
According to him, “One member of the House of Representatives went so far as to warn his colleagues against giving women ‘too much opportunity’.
“Nigeria has just eight (8) women who sit in the Senate, and most state assemblies do not have any representation of women and Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) in the State house of assembly.
“With the lack of diversity amongst election candidates across the country, we believe the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should more urgently promote gender inclusion in electoral processes and in political party leadership through the INEC gender policy, the National Gender Policy, and the PWD Act.
“The face of most political party campaigns has shown a regrettable lack of gender-inclusive governance, with political campaigns failing to adequately represent women and persons with disabilities.
“With political parties, there seem to be limited or no plans to change behaviours and improve negative social norms.
“Even the vaunted ‘Change Begins with Me’ campaign -which many thought would initiate change from the political leadership in Nigeria – did nothing to build a country where citizens are faithful, loyal and honest.
“This means Nigeria is stuck in a social trap and behaviour crisis where even though citizens want to live in a more honest, equitable society, they do not fundamentally trust leaders to share this aspiration and uphold the standards of transparency and accountability in governance.”
In addition, the Admin and Procurement Associates of PLSI, Onuoha Ifeoma, said in a bid to strengthen democracy in Nigeria there should be inclusive and accountable leadership with integrity and enhancing public trust in governance.
“We are calling all political parties and political aspirants to publicly declare their assets; declare the utilization, and retiring of their 2019 campaign funds in compliance with sections 85-90 of the 2022 Nigerian Electoral Act, as a sign of good faith and commitment to publishing same after the 2023 elections;
“Declare plans to address negative behaviours that lead to violence, such as vote-buying and publicly reject vote-buying before and during the 2023 elections
“Reinforce Nigeria’s value system in line with the National Pledge “To be faithful, loyal and honest. To serve Nigeria with all my strength. To defend her unity, and uphold her honour and glory’;
“Adopt a Gender Equality and Social inclusion (GESI) approach in their campaigns and political engagements toward inclusive governance, and a plan to advance the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill;
“Declare the percentage of appointive positions for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in line with the National Policy on disability – the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018.
“We also demand that the National Assembly oversee full operational independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of the 2023 elections and yield to numerous calls for transparency regarding its budget and auditing of its finances.
“The idea behind this is to inform and engage with political parties and potential aspirants on the journey to the 2023 election with a view to strengthening Nigeria’s democracy and making governance work for people through accountable and responsible leadership in the next administration,” she said.
