Samson Itodo is now a member of the board of International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).
The Executive Director of Yiaga Africa and six others were appointed to the board on 01 December for a three-year tenure to begin in 2021.
The other appointees are Mariska Beijnum from The Netherlands, Eva Belser from Switzerland, Adam Bodnar from Poland, Laura Chinchilla from Costa Rica, Christian Leffler from Sweden, and Julia Leininger from Germany.
Development Diaries understands that the IDEA board of advisors play the major role of advising the council of member states and the secretariat on matters of strategic importance.
‘Samson Itodo (Nigeria) is a leading national and continental youth voice who successfully led the “Not too Young to Run” campaign in Nigeria that subsequently went viral across Africa’, IDEA said in a statement.
Itodo, who is a respected development practitioner, holds bachelor and master’s degrees in Law.
He has 13 years of experience in elections, governance, and civic engagement; and he provides policy advice to parliamentary committees, electoral commissions, political parties, and international donors.
The University of Jos alumnus has facilitated legislation and policies on constitutional and electoral governance, youth, and civic engagement that transformed Nigeria’s political and civic space.
Itodo’s #NotTooYoungToRun campaign has been adopted by the United Nations, the African Union, and ECOWAS as a global campaign for youth political inclusion.
Additionally, he leads ‘Watching the Vote’, a citizen-led election observation initiative that promotes electoral integrity.
The Yiaga Africa boss has led international election observation missions across Africa and in the United States of America.
‘Mr Itodo is the Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, a community of change makers focused on building sustainable democracies in Africa anchored on the principles of inclusion, justice, accountability and constitutionalism’, the IDEA statement added.
Source: IDEA
Photo source: Samson Itodo
