Though Nigerians still have one more time to queue up to elect the governors of some states of the federation and their representatives at the various state houses of assembly, the uncertainties that characterized the pre-election in Nigeria are fast wearing out with the election of the president of the country, yielding sufficient ground for all stakeholders in the Nigerian project to start looking beyond today for the country.
During the electioneering campaign, politicians held Nigerians spell-bound with all manner of promises. With the way providence has done it with the emergence of the president-elect, it is now time to start holding these politicians to account on their promises.
The media and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have the onerous task of holding the president-elect and the All Progressives Congress (APC) accountable for the trailer-load of campaign promises that characterized the build-up to the presidential ballot of March 28.
We are glad that already, leading CSOs have indicated interest to work towards ensuring that politicians deliver on their campaign promises.
In a recent statement, Clement Nwankwo, convener of Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room and Executive Director of Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, said civil society organizations (CSOs) would hold the president-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, to the promises he made to the electorate while campaigning.
“We will keep a close eye on the incoming government”. We will closely monitor the government. Expectations are high, and if the government fails, change will automatically be the answer”.
“Situation Room also congratulates Buhari and urges him to chart the course of steering Nigeria away from its present economic and political crisis and on to the path of recovery.”
The president-elect should take steps to re-unify the country and heal the wounds of a very divisive campaign largely fought along ethnic, religious and regional lines.
In a similar development, Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani), Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) charged civil society and the media to remain vigilant and not to relent in their pursuit of a truly democratic nation where the freedoms, rights and welfare of all citizens are guaranteed.
He also urged CSOs and the media to stand ready “to commence prompt follow-up on campaign promises to demand accountability on adequate service delivery and fulfillment of campaign promises at all levels of government.”
We commend these civil society groups for their commitment to ensuring that campaign promises are not treated with levity and arrogantly abandoned. We also join them in urging the president-elect and his team to work towards producing a blueprint for governance between now and inauguration day. This, we believe, could yield valuable dividends.
In our view, this will help the president-elect to hit the ground running after he is sworn in on May 29. The president-elect should appreciate his coming into office against a background of several challenges, including a fiscal crisis occasioned by weak global oil prices, insecurity and insurgency.
Other challenges are unprecedented corruption, an inefficient civil service, over-dependence on imports and a single source of foreign exchange, decaying infrastructure, lack of investment in oil and gas sector and rising inequality, among others.
Given this long list of socio-economic maladies confronting the nation, the president-elect should understand that Nigerians are impatient for results, meaning that the incoming government has no time to waste.
We welcome the assurances by the civil society situation room that members will hold the new government to account while calling on the president-elect to come out with specific steps he will take to end corruption and impunity in the country.
We see some benefits in coming up early with a blueprint for governance including an opportunity to moderate the promises by the time the president sees details of the country’s finances. On the part of the media, it will be necessary to keep the new government on its toes by constantly reminding the ‘governing party’ of what it promised the electorate.
