By Ola Fadoju
A one-day multi-stakeholders dialogue meeting for Kogi West Senatorial District on Prioritising Anti-Corruption and Accountability Issues towards 2023 Elections was held at Hotel Charvid, Ayetoro Gbede, Ijumu Local Government Area on Thursday, 8th of September, 2022.
It was organised by the Conscience for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CHRCR).
The meeting had members of political parties, students, community-based organisations, market women, hunters, religious groups, traditional leaders, members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), and youth groups.
The meeting featured presentations on the review of activities on the anti-corruption project, goal and objectives of the anti-corruption project, question and contributions sessions, development of citizens impact scorecard, and a community questionnaire on prioritising anti-corruption and accountability issues towards 2023 elections.
The Executive Director of CHRCR, Idris Miliki Abdul, in a communique, said the conversation recommended that there was a need for political parties to put in place deliberate strategies for the inclusion of women in elective and appointive positions in the party activities and programmes.
He also said: “There is a need for increased levels of awareness creation for women and other stakeholders on inclusive political party participation. The meeting emphasised the need for political parties to incorporate anti-corruption and accountability in their manifesto, to serve as a guide to prospective candidates that will win elections on their behalf, which will in turn lead to good governance. There is a need for political parties to make publicly available their party manifestos and constitution to enable the electorates to make informed choices during elections.”
It was also agreed that political parties needed to continuously build the capacity and monitor the activities and performances of the candidates and elected representatives. The meeting encouraged the electorates to continue participation in the electoral process and make themselves available on election day to perform their Civic responsibilities by voting for candidates and political parties of their choice.
