Stakeholders have appraised the 2023 elections and called for further improvement of the processes to ensure better and smoother elections in 2027.
The stakeholders, including traditional rulers, religious and community leaders, and non-government and civil society organisations, brainstormed at a town hall meeting convened by SOS Children’s Village, Nigeria, in Ibadan, Oyo State.
SOS Children’s Village Nigeria organised the meeting with stakeholders drawn from the Akinyele and Ibadan North Local Government Areas of Oyo State.
The Programme Officer, SOS Children’s Village Nigeria, Grace Sambo, said the programme was organised to hear from stakeholders in the last elections and seek ways to further improve future elections through the experiences of the past.
Sambo said it was also important to learn from past electoral experiences and de-emphasise factors such as ethnicity and religion in choosing leaders at elections.
The Assistant Secretary, Joint Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), Oyo State chapter, Musa Akinsawe, said there was a need to further improve access for persons with disabilities during elections in Nigeria.
Akinsawe called on electoral bodies to involve JONAPWD at the planning stage of the electioneering processes for better inclusion and effective participation of people with disabilities, stressing that “among other things, part of what we are clamouring for is accessibility at election venues and voting convenience.”
Also speaking at the meeting, the National Council of Women’s Societies (NCWS), Oyo State Council, sought increased community involvement and engagement, saying this would restore eroded cultural values and instill discipline among the people.
Speaking through the Assistant Secretary of the Oyo State NCWS, Chief Isimola Olowoyo, the women noted that imbibing the right values would bring about good elections, which in turn would ensure good governance.
The NCWS also stated that giving security agencies the leverage to perform optimally during elections was one of the bans and lapses of the last general election.
The representative of the Catholic Women Organisation (CWO), Catholic Archdiocese of Ibadan, Mrs Edith Isidahome, who is the Vice President of the organisation, thanked the SOS Children’s Village for the enlightenment it carried out in preparation for the 2023 general election, saying the gesture of the SOS Children’s Village made her and many others vote for the first time in the country.
In his remarks, the Coordinator, SOS Children’s Village Nigeria, Mr. Gabriel Adajie, noted that one of the ways better elections could be achieved in Nigeria was through the strengthening of cultural values, which negate the antics of the political class.
Adajie said Nigerians must make sacrifices to be able to change what happens in the polity, saying that politicians have weaponized poverty so as to perpetuate themselves in office.
He said the electorate was also encouraging the politicians through some of their attitudes and called for attitudinal change for better elections in 2027.
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