In order to ensure peaceful and credible 2023 elections in Nigeria, civil society organisations (CSOs) in the country have recommended viable solutions.
Speaking at a meeting, themed ‘Nigeria’s 2023 Elections and the Imperative of Evolving Strategies towards Peaceful and Credible Elections’, the CSOs, including Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Nigerian Working Group on Peacebuilding and Governance (NWG), and NEEM Foundation called for strict adherence to the 2022 Electoral Act.
The CSOs at the meeting, which was organised by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), also called for improved civic education, eschewing of violence, CSOs’ engagement with inter-agency security council, and the need for greater collaboration among CSOs on election matters.
‘I am confident that there will be credible elections if the Electoral Act is adhered to, and if all actors eschew violence and if we conduct the elections under an atmosphere of peace’, the USIP Country Manager for Nigeria, Zango Abdu, said.
The Executive Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Idayat Hassan, said the 2023 general election was crucial to Nigeria’s democracy because it would usher in 24 years of unbroken democracy.
She called on relevant stakeholders to tackle misinformation and disinformation for peaceful elections in the country.
For his part, the Programme Manager, NEEM Foundation, Ahmed Jumare, said his work around security has showed that the entire country was engulfed in conflict.
‘Now in the northeast, northwest, we have terrorism and banditry, southwest, southeast have succession movements, north-central is facing farmers and herders clashes, in the south-south, we are seeing militancy among others’, he said.
‘We are all in this as one entity, the government can definitely not do it alone. As the elections draw near, we are also seeing increase in divisive statements’.
Jumare advised the media to work towards changing the narrative.
Photo source: GPA Photo Archive