AdvoKC has urged Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State, southeast Nigeria, to prioritise his campaign promises.
The civil society organisation (CSO) made the call in a statement noting the governor’s ‘failure’ to publish the full agenda for the state within the first 30 days of his time in office.
The CSO, Development Diaries understands, begun the monitoring of Soludo’s performance on 17 March, 2022 – the day he assumed office as governor.
During his campaign for election to the highest office in the state, Soludo promised to publish a full agenda for the people of Anambra, also known as ‘Ndi Anambra’, within the first 30 days of his administration.
‘What we present is a synopsis, designed to give Ndi-Anambra a feel for the future we envision. The full agenda, costed with timelines and delivery mechanisms, will be published within the first 30 days on assumption of office, if you give me the mandate’, he had promised.
However, AdvoKC, which developed the ‘Soludometer’ to monitor the delivery of the 100 most important campaign promises of the governor, rated the above promise as ‘broken’.
‘With the promise broken within the time frame, we understand that the promise can still be kept although the time factor contract has been breached. We, therefore, urge the Anambra State governor to prioritise the campaign promise’, the statement read.
Soludo, who polled 112,229 votes to emerge winner of the November 2021 election, had listed job creation, improved security and economy as his top priorities in his campaign manifesto christened ‘the Soludo Solution.’
Cofounder of the nonprofit, Abiola Durodola, in an exclusive interview with Development Diaries, said the full agenda, if published, will enable the people of Anambra to hold the state government accountable.
‘It will accelerate service delivery in the sense that people will have a clear picture of how this government intends to transform the state in the next four years and then hold them accountable’, Durodola said.
‘This government seems to have identified some of the sectors that needs its intervention but what is the plan for addressing some of these gaps in these sectors – this is part of what the full agenda will give to the people so that Ndi Anambra can then hold the government accountable.
‘The Anambra State government also needs to prioritise engagement with the citizens through new media because this is one area they prioritised during electioneering. It will also help citizens to know how the government is faring as well as their challenges’.
Durodola also said that AdvoKC submitted a promise reminder letter to the governor’s office ten days before time. According to him, they did not receive a response to the letter.
Photo source: Charles Soludo
