Presidential candidates of the registered political parties are expected to outline their economic policies trust to the nation to enable electorate decide who will best meat their economic needs at Nigeria Rising: It is Time. The candidates being expected at the forum are All Progressive Congress, APC, President Mohammadu Buhari, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar PDP, Senate President, Bukola Saraki. The meeting at the NAF Conference Centre and Suites, Abuja, tagged ‘Nigeria Rising! It’s Time: Establishing Social Accountability between the Electorate and Leaders’ under the Second Edition of The Osasu Show Symposium, is organised in partnership with One Campaign, an international, organisation that fights extreme poverty and preventable diseases.
Other dignitaries expected at the event include the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; Presidential Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Donald Duke; the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) Presidential Candidate, Dr Oby Ezekwesili; the Presidential Candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), Kingsley Moghalu, amongst others. Also expected at the event are Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu; Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello; Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima; Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa and Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike.
The Convener of The Osasu Show Symposium, Miss Osasu Igbinedion, in a press statement made available to Vanguard said the event is geared towards achieving an inclusive, transparent and accountable governance in the country. According to Igbinedion: “In view of the current social and economic challenges in Nigeria, it has become imperative for leaders and citizens alike to rise and strive for inclusive, transparent and accountable governance. “The theme of the 2018 edition of the symposium is “Nigeria Rising! It’s time: Establishing Social Accountability between the Electorate and Leaders.”
Igbinedion explained that to drive this year’s event, especially as the 2019 elections approaches, candidates from various political parties at both national and sub-national levels, have been invited for an exhaustive discussion on the theme. She said that it was an avenue to identify who the ideal “People’s Candidate” is and ways to establish social accountability when such individual takes office. The Osasu Show Symposium is a forum where key stakeholders from the public, private and development sectors converge to discuss salient issues regarding nation building and sustainable development as it pertains to the welfare and livelihood of the citizens.
The specific objectives of the symposium includes: structure constructive engagement spaces amongst governments, private sector, civil society and citizens; fortify citizens’ participatory inclination towards helping government and public sector institutions solve problems as it affects the extreme poor and marginalized population; identify feasible ways of bridging the infrastructure gap in the country and ensure equitable citizen involvement in resource mobilization and allocation, amongst others.
