2023 Elections: Governors urged to hold urgent dialogue to salvage democracy


The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) has been enjoined to convene a meeting to thrash out emerging concerns ahead of the 2023 general elections.

Earl Osaro Onaiwu, the founding Director General of the Governors Forum and chairman, Governors' Mandate Group, gave the advice in an interview with our correspondent on Friday.

Onaiwu said as electioneering activities hit the home run, state governors, as guardians of political processes at the sub-national level, needed to come together to analyse the myriads of threats facing the polity, compare notes and proffer possible political and security solutions to neutralise the challenges.

The astute politician noted that the threats by non-state actors such as insurgents, bandits, militants and secessionists could not be wished away. He mentioned that Nigeria's current reality is that gunmen are controlling large swathes of the Nigerian territory, a situation which may terribly compromise the integrity of the elections.

"We keep hearing cases of arsonist attacks on INEC facilities in the Southeast. Police and other security agencies are not even spared.

"As of today, there are whole local governments and federal highways that people cannot dare go to because of banditry.

"These are places where elections should hold but with the prevailing circumstances, a lot is left to be desired," Onaiwu said.

The Public Relations strategist, however, believes governors could proffer a quick panacea out of the conundrum with "critical thinking and frank talks."

"I know the governors, many of them are familiar with their terrain and under the right atmosphere and support, these challenges can be effectively tackled before the elections," he said.

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