As the 2023 presidential elections is only less than five months away, many Nigerian electorates still look forward to a jaw contest among the various presidential aspirants. At every electioneering period, it is customary to have manifesto-driven debates to enable aspirants to openly address issues they intend to solve if voted into power, and to enable electorates to determine their preferred candidates or parties.
In light of the foregoing, the Nigeria Elections Debate Group (NEDG) has announced its readiness to kickstart its presidential debate by mid November this year towards the 2023 presidential and general elections. The debate according to NEDG will provide a fair and equal platform to various party candidates to present a comprehensive and in-depth knowledge of their economic policies and agenda to the Nigerian electorates.
Addressing Journalists at a joint news conference with the organising partners in Abuja the Executive Secretary of NEDG, Dr Eddie Emessiri noted that the initiative is geared towards ensuring that Nigerians are better informed on the economic and political policies of the presidential candidates and take informed decisions as they go to polls in February 2023. According to him:
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“It is against the preceding that the participants of the Presidential debate are expected to share their insights on how Nigeria can sustainably grow its economy while addressing core issues in the following areas: Macroeconomic environment and indicators.”
Mr Emesseri said candidates that would feature in the debate would be selected from the outcome of the ongoing opinion poll which is already open to the public. According to him, due to financial and time constraint, the NEDG will limit the number of presidential candidates to the four most popular ones based on the poll results.
The NEDG Executive Secretary also disclosed that the results of the opinion poll would be made known early next month and the debate would follow almost immediately.
“The final list with the names of selected candidates and the methodology for the selection process will be announced on Nov. 8, a week before the first debate,” he said.
“This year’s debate will be taken closer to the people beginning from Abuja and subsequently to Port Harcourt, Lagos and Kano” Emessiri said, adding that the debates would be broadcast by all Federal government and state government-owned Radio and Television stations.
Emessiri expressed optimism that such debates would enable the electorate make informed decisions at the polls that would evolve leaders that would positively transform the country in the interest of all. He also assured the candidates of a fair platform for engagement, saying that all stakeholders will be duly carried along.
The organising partners include the Broadcasting organisations of Nigeria, the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, the Nigeria Union of journalists, and the guild of editors, among others.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the NEDG is a coalition of broadcast organisations, civil society organisations and professional groups, who are committed to the deepening of democracy in Nigeria.
The NEDG is also committed to entrenching an enduring democratic culture through organised television debates since the return to democratic rule in Nigeria in 1999.