On Thursday, a coalition of civil society organizations urged the government, potential presidential candidates for 2023, and other key players to give accountability issues in governance processes, fiscal transparency, and strategies to support anti-corruption organizations and address gender issues top priority.The following CSOs reiterated the need for Nigeria to work toward achieving inclusive governance in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja: Accountability Lab Nigeria, Connected Development, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, BUDGIT, the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative, Yiaga Africa, and Enough is Enough. Part of the statement read, "Nigeria has to work towards attaining inclusive governance where all classes of citizens and underserved groups have every chance to effectively engage in governance processes." The organizations complained about the absence of publicly available information regarding the disclosure of assets of prospective political candidates, according to the statement."Although there is a legal structure requiring political office holders to disclose their assets, the extent of compliance is uncertain because information on this subject is not generally accessible. Political corruption is fueled by the absence of publicly available information on the financial standing of prospective candidates for public office. "The monetisation of politics was the main headline during the political parties' primaries, and it has since evolved into a signpost for how vote-buying and selling may disturb the 2023 elections. Aspirants currently trade in and distribute various international currencies, mainly the dollar, which has an impact on the value of the naira.
Due to the excessive pressure on the value of the naira in recent weeks, the dollar to naira exchange rate on the black market reached a high of N715 per dollar. Due to Nigeria's deeply entrenched political class's corruption, vote-buying has become a common practice, locking citizens in servile, self-defeating ties with political leaders. The CSOs urged the candidates to "publicly declare their assets; declare the utilisation, 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 behaviors that lead to violence, such as vote-buying, and publicly reject vote-buying before and during the 2023 elections." They also urged the candidates to "reinforce Nigeria's moral code in accordance with the National Pledge: 'To be truthful, loyal, and honest. to give all of my strength to serving Nigeria. to protect her honor and grandeur, and to defend her union; Adopt a strategy to advance the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill as well as a Gender Equality and Social Inclusion approach in their political campaigns and engagements. In accordance with the National Policy on Disability and the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act of 2018, "declare the percentage of appointive positions for Persons with Disabilities." The statement ended, "We further demand that the National Assembly oversees the Independent National Electoral Commission's full operational independence ahead of the 2023 elections and succumb to repeated pleas for transparency about its budget and auditing of its funds.
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