Politics
A civil society organisation, Partnership for Issue-Based Campaign in Nigeria (PICaN), has urged citizens to vote for candidates that will ensure their welfare in the 2023 polls through social contracts that will hold them accountable.
PICaN is a non-partisan initiative under the Partnership for Issue-based Campaigns, a collaborative platform working to promote issue-based campaigns by setting governance and developmental agenda.
It comprises Civil Society Organisations, media and a number of political actors.
Mr Yusuf Goge, Lead Partner with the CSO, made the call at a one-day citizens’ engagement on the utilisation of identified technology-driven platforms for tracking and documenting campaign commitments in the 2023 Elections in Kaduna.
He said this in a presentation titled, “The Imperative for Issue-Based Campaigns/The Agenda,”
Goje said most issues citizens paid attention to, were not those that impacted on their lives.
“If you don’t sign a social contract with your candidate, you are doing disservice to yourself, when you have social contract with them, it would be used to hold them accountable,” he said.
Accoding to him, the quality of citizens participation in their governance will determine the quality of leaders they will have in the 2023 elections.
Goje added that anyone coming on board in 2023 as Governor in Kaduna State, should not be based on his personal ambition, but his willingness to provide needs of the citizens.
“The point we need to capture is that whatever you are going to do, how will it improve the society. Those are the things you need to pay attention to.
“Governance is all about collective welfare of the people, as such it is the issues that affect the people that should be prioritised.
“All over the world, participatory democracy is what is being practised,” he said.
According to him, there is no wrong in criticising political office holders, but it should be done in constructive ways.
“The truth is that criticism is a critical aspect of democracy, but that is when it is constructive.
“In election, it is your right to determine what the person will go and do there.
“In your house, if you have a house help and you give him or her money to go to the market without a list, the person goes and shops sweets and chocolate instead of foodstuff, you can’t hold the person accountable because no list was handed.
“This is how it is with those you vote in, you must tell them what you want them to do through social contract,” Goje said.
He further said that the more citizens didn’t pay concentration to the constitution of the country, the more their sufferings.
He said most people who complained that the 1999 Constitution was the problem, had not even gone through the document.
“As we go into 2023 election, we must first go down and study the constitution, which says sovereignty belongs to the people,” he said.
Goje noted that the constitution had given the citizens the power but chooses to use it only through complaints.
“Whatever power any person exercises is the power we delegate to the politicians; whether one participates in voting or not, he has participated. You have not participated, is a decision,” he said.
According to him, the most dangerous human is the ignorant voter that votes for the wrong candidate.
“He is worse than even the bandits,” he said.
“You don’t get what you deserve in democracy, you get what you negotiate. We must prepare our minds that If we vote on sentiments, it is a critical thing.
“There are issues that affect the common man and there are issues that affect the elite, the elite will always protect their interest; for example, bandits don’t look at people or their religion, they abduct people from any faith,” he pointed out.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the engagement is supported by the Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL FCDO) and funded by UKaid.(NAN)
KN
Tags: PERL FCDO PICaN Yusuf Goge
