NigeriaDecides2023 - Canadian University to Hold Roundtable On Nigeria's Elections

20 February 2023
Premium Times (Abuja)
By Chiamaka Okafor

The event has the theme: Nigeria's 2023 Elections: A ray of hope or a dead-end.

Carleton University's Institute of African Studies (IAS) will on Wednesday hold a virtual roundtable to discuss Nigeria's general elections.

The organisers note that Saturday's elections portend critical implications for Africa's political landscape (both at the regional and continental levels).

"In a continent where democratic reversals are on the rise through a new wave of military coups... , a successful conduct of highly contested elections in Africa's largest democracy could provide legitimacy for Nigeria to continue to lead the process of promoting the norms of democracy in accordance with the African Union's Charter on Democracy, Election and Governance as well as the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance," the organisers said.

The roundtable is being held in collaboration with The Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of the Canadian university. It will assemble scholars, members of civil society, the media, and other stakeholders in Nigeria's democratic project at home and in the diaspora.

Themed Nigeria's 2023 Elections: A ray of hope or a dead-end, the roundtable will feature Okey Ndibe, writer and political commentator; Aisha Yesufu, activist and businesswoman, and Wumi Asubiaro-Dada, human rights activist.

Others are Abdul Mahmud, a lawyer and human rights activist; Chima Christian, a journalist and public affairs analyst, and Kola Ologbondiyan, a former spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Nigeria will hold presidential and federal legislative elections on 25 February while state elections will be held on 11 March.

This year's election, the seventh since 1999, will go down as one of the most contested elections as more than two candidates are considered capable of winning the election.

There are 18 candidates contesting to become Nigeria's president but only four are considered frontrunners. They are Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party; Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressive Congress; Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria People's Party.

The webinar is open to the public via the following registration link: http://bit.ly/3xy4AM2

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