Group mobilises citizens to join struggle for good governance in Kaduna

By Philip Yatai

The Gidan Yanci Fellows on Saturday organised a one-day post-election dialogue to mobilise citizens to join the struggle for the promotion of good governance in Kaduna State.

One of the members of the organisation, Mr Mohammed Yayandi said that the dialogue was organised to reflect on the election process, lessons learnt and identify areas of improvement for more citizens participation.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the dialogue was organised in partnership with YandyTech Community and Governance for All Initiative.

Yayandi said that the dialogue was also to provide an opportunity to explore strategies for enhancing transparency and inclusiveness in future elections.

“This is an open conversation to find solutions to the challenges affecting the electoral process in Kaduna State.

“This is with a view to promote good governance through active participation of citizens in the electoral and governance process,” he said.

During a panel discussion, Mr Yusuf Goje of the Coalition of Association for Peace, Empowerment and Development (CALPED), pointed out that the 2023 General Elections was peaceful.

According to him, there was remarkable progress in the country’s electoral process on the part of the electorate who showed interest in who should lead them.

Goje added that the introduction of technology has improved transparency and curb sharp practices in the electoral process.

“Generally, the election was peaceful, elderly people and pregnant women were given a chance to vote, but no provisions for Persons with Disabilities to vote with ease,” he said.

He stressed the need for electorate to pay close attention to local government and state elections to ensure efficient management of resources to deliver the dividend of democracy.

According to him, good governance will be achieved with active participation of citizens who elect good leaders and hold them to account to serve the people better.

Another panellist, Ms Grace Josiah, Founder, Governance for All Initiative, called for massive sensitisation of electorate against vote buying in future elections to elect credible candidates.

Also, Mr Mohammed Abubakar, North West Lead, Follow the Money, an initiative of Connected Development, decried the incidence of vote buying with as little as N200 during the 2023 General Elections in the state.

Abubakar said that his organisations monitored the election and escalated sharp practices to appropriate authorities as its contribution to entrench good governance.

He said that beyond participating in the electoral process, the citizens equally need to monitor implementation of constituency projects to ensure quality service delivery.

Mr Yusha’u Abubakar, Executive Director, Enhancing Communities Action for Peace, and Better Health Initiative, called for active participation of citizens, particularly learned citizens in party politics where candidates for election emerged.

According to him, the measure is critical to promote internal democracy of political parties, particularly against the practices where the candidates use money to buy their tickets.

He urged the youth to participate fully in political party politics to contribute to the selection of candidates that would stand for election to represent the people and provide the expected good governance.

NAN reports that Gidan Yanci is a special project that strengthens the advocacy of young leaders and influential voices in Northern Nigeria for freedom of expression, governance reforms and political participation.

(NAN)