THE United Nations Development Programme in collaboration with human rights organisation, Yiaga Africa and Channels Television have launched a television programme series that will provide a public stage for the citizens of Nigeria to engage in political debates and discourse in a bid to create awareness ahead of the 2023 general elections in Nigeria.
The television programme series will feature presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party; Peter Obi of the Labour Party; Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party and Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress as guest in the series.
Accordingly, the television programme series will also feature citizen dialogues with youth, election experts, development experts, and other influential voices.
In a terse statement issued by the Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo on Thursday, the television programme series will be targeted at promoting electoral awareness and creating public engagement on social, economic, and development-related topics for Nigeria to consider in the 2023 polls and beyond.
According to Mr. Itodo, debates will also be organized from people who aspire to be presidents or those interested in an political office to have a discourse with other persons who are already leaders in such fields.
He also added that the television programme series targets the youths in a bid to engage them concerning the upcoming election to reduce political apathy, improve voter turnout and rebuild trust in the electoral process.
The UNDP Resident Representative in Nigeria, Mohamed Yahya, said, “This series is about highlighting the key issues confronting Nigerians with the upcoming general elections. The electorate needs to be fully informed on the process and be able to voice their concerns. By being active participants in the electoral process, they can hold their intended representatives accountable to deliver on their promises.”
The chairman/CEO of the Channels Media Group, John Momoh, said, “We are pleased as always to be the medium through which citizens of the country would engage with political office seekers and by so doing play a role in deepening the electoral process in Nigeria.”
