African Center, CDD, others call on Nigerian government to implement election reforms, financial autonomy to judiciary

They also called on legislative steps to grant financial autonomy to election and judicial institutions to free them from executive interference. Pro-democracy organizations and thinking-thanks have called on the Nigerian government to carry out election reforms, eliminate Godfatharism and strengthen election integrity. They also called on legislative steps to grant financial autonomy to election and judicial institutions to free them from executive interference. The call was part of the recommendations made on Thursday in the subnational reinforcing democracy conference, held in Lagos States. The conference was held under the theme “Pathway to Good Governance and Political Integrity.” It is organized by a strategic partnership between Peering Advocacy and Advancement Center in Africa (PAACA) African Center for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Center LSD), Center for Democracy and Development (CDD) and Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD). They have brought together diverse stakeholders of academia, political parties, civil society organizations, traditional leaders and management experts to assess democratic progress and bring about a sub -national level. The conference emphasized how political godfatherism, election fraud and poor institutions erode free and fair elections, discourage credible leadership and reduce the confidence of public trust in the election process. In his welcome address, Director of Strategy at the African Center for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Center LSD), Itia Otabor, asked the democratic institutions to be reinforced at the sub -national level, especially after the national conference due to the decline in democratic values ​​in recent times. Otabor expressed concern about poor institutions, poor internal party structures and the lack of ideological consistency among political parties, arguing that without strong democratic institutions and well -structured parties, the democracy of Nigeria, a senior lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Yaba College of Technology, a senior lecturer in the Department of Mass Communications. lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication. is not enough. “One important provision of a thriving democracy is the quality of institutions,” she said. “Institutions such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec), the judiciary, the police and other law enforcement agencies must be strengthened to ensure independence, efficiency and accountability,” she added. She has called on legislative steps to grant financial autonomy to election and judicial institutions to free them from executive interference. She further emphasized that appointments in the leadership of Inec must be transparent, with the approval of the Senate strictly based on integrity and expertise. In his article presentation, Mr. Kunle Adegoke (San) emphasizes the important role of stakeholders, civil society (CSOs) organizations, the media, security agencies, political parties and Inec to strengthen Nigeria’s election process. The guest speaker, Professor Sylvester Odion Akhaine, a pro-democracy advocate and management expert, described the God-foundation as a major obstacle to credible elections, and emphasized that political parties should prioritize the internal democracy. Meanwhile, a communication issued at the end of the conference set out important reforms to improve the election integrity of Nigeria and combat political manipulation. The Communiqué emphasized that election integrity is crucial for democratic consolidation and sustainable management in Nigeria. It noted that with the 2027 election approaching, the immediate implementation of reforms was needed to restore confidence in the election process. Among other things, the Communique asked to improve election awareness and empowerment of voters, reducing the high cost of management and promoting fiscal liability. It is also to encourage statesmanship among political actors to address God -foundation. The communication has recommended to improve election processes and integrity, and call on political parties to maintain internal democracy to ensure credible candidate choice, while also requesting that institutional frameworks be strengthened to combat the purchase of votes and election fraud. It is said that there must be improved youth involvement in politics by providing young voters to make accurate information possible to enable informed election participation. The conference held the panel session that discussed election violence, women inclusion and interagency cooperation. The second panel session discusses the strengthening of the roles of CSOs, political parties, media and other stakeholders to mobilize citizens for election and political participation.