2023: Aregbesola, Fayemi, Saraki to speak at NPO Reports one-day dialogue on January 17

Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of the Interior, and Bukola Saraki, former President of the Senate, are some of the expected speakers at a dialogue organized by NPO Reports, an online newspaper.

The one-day dialogue is scheduled for January 17 in Abuja.

NPO Reports, formerly known as Nigeria Politics Online, is organizing the event with the theme ‘2023 and beyond: Tracking campaign promises for good governance’.

The dialogue is part of the activities on the occasion of the 12th anniversary of the online newspaper.

According to a Tuesday statement from Semiu Okanlawon, editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Kayode Fayemi, former governor of Ekiti; Yahaya Bello, Kogui governor; and Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos, are also expected at the event.

Other speakers include Lai Olurode, former National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); Abdulfatah Ahmed, former Governor of Kwara; and Mufuliat Fijabi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Women Trust Fund (NWTF).

Panelists at the event include Waziri Adio, Executive Director, Agora Policy; Hamza Lawal, CEO of Connected Development (CODE); Abiodun Adeniyi, a professor at Baze University; and Angela Agoawike, executive director of Omalicha Radio.

Representatives from YIAGA Africa, Fix Politics, BudgIT, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Nigerian Women Trust Fund, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) and Socio-Economic Rights Accountability Project (SERAP) are also expected to attend the event. .

According to Okanlawon, the dialogue is expected to ensure that candidates for political office and the electorate begin to treat campaign promises as issues of accountability in the interest of promoting good governance.

“Throughout the decades, not even politicians running election campaigns are aware of the sanctity of the promises they make,” Okanlawon said.

“Often, there are no records of those promises. Whereas, the electorate often makes electoral decisions on the basis of the promises made.

“Unfortunately, there are no mechanisms in place to track these promises and there is a dearth of tools to force them back on their promises to achieve redemption.”