By Ankeli Emmanuel (In Sokoto State)
A non-governmental organization, Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement Africa (YIAGA) has decried the cost of elections in Nigeria, saying it is too expensive and discouraging the youths from participation in elective positions.
YIAGA Africa which is a UKAID sponsored NGO, made the observation in Sokoto state on Tuesday at a one- day media roundtable on youth reporting in the 2023 general elections.
Speaking on the state of youth candidacy in Nigeria, Ibrahim Faruk from YIAGA Africa, said despite the fact that 43.2 percent of youth candidates in the 2023 election are direct beneficiaries of the, "Not To Young To Run Act", there was a decline from 34 percent in 2019 to 28.6 percent in 2023.
Giving reasons for the decline, Ibrahim Faruk, said "from YIAGA Africa perspective, the decline in youth candidacy is attributed to a range of factors. Principal amongst them is the excessive cost of nomination forms; highly commercialized party primaries; substitution of candidates and the de-registration of political parties".
Continuing, Ibrahim Faruk said, "The highly monetized party primaries shrunk on the political space and limited fair competition. Most young aspirants declined to pursue their political aspirations due to non affordability of the forms and lack of resources to procure delegates".
While noting that the current political financing creates unfair competition and shrinks the political space to the detriment of competent leaders, youth, and women, Ibrahim, advised that urgent political finance reform is necessary to ensure the political space becomes accessible to all persons regardless of age, economic class, tribe and creed.
On the accommodation of youth candidacy ahead of 2023 general elections by the 18 political parties, YIAGA Africa rated the African Democratic Congress (ADC) 1st with the New Nigerian People's Party (NNPP) coming 3rd, the Labour Party being 6th and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressive Congress (APC) coming distance last on 13th and 15th respectively. NNL.
