As Nigeria approaches the 2027 presidential and gubernatorial elections, citizens and civil society organizations stand at a critical juncture to demand transformative accountability from candidates. This advocacy brief outlines the Top 7 Non-Negotiable Demands—rooted in recent calls from credible sources like Yiaga Africa, Chatham House, and Open Government Partnership reviews (2024–2025)—urging leaders to prioritize electoral integrity, security, anti-corruption, economic relief, youth empowerment, judicial independence, and transparent governance.
These demands emerge from widespread protests, stakeholder forums, and policy analyses highlighting systemic failures in security, fiscal mismanagement, and democratic erosion, as documented in reports from ThisDayLive and The Nation. By committing to these action-oriented reforms, candidates can restore public trust and chart a path toward sustainable prosperity.
Nigerians must hold aspiring leaders to these standards, ensuring promises translate into measurable policies that unlock the nation's potential.
Electoral and Constitutional Reform for Credible Elections
Transfer the authority to make appointment decisions, such as selecting the INEC chair, to an independent and non-partisan selection committee. Additionally, enhance and reinforce INEC’s institutional independence through comprehensive measures aimed at rebuilding and restoring public trust in the electoral commission’s impartiality and effectiveness.
Amend the Electoral Act and the constitution to explicitly mandate the use of electronic results transmission for all elections, significantly accelerate the timelines for both pre-election and post-election petitions to ensure swift resolution of disputes, enable voting rights for citizens living in the diaspora, allow for independent candidacy without party affiliation, and implement measures to reduce barriers that currently limit the active participation of youth and women in the electoral process.
Security Sector Strategy and Accountability
Commit to a comprehensive national security strategy that includes clearly defined, measurable timelines aimed at significantly reducing incidents of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and communal violence. This strategy should also incorporate specific civilian protection metrics that are tailored to assess and improve security conditions within individual states and localities, ensuring that efforts are both targeted and effective in safeguarding communities across the nation.
Enhance and strengthen the oversight and accountability mechanisms of security agencies by implementing comprehensive measures such as regular and transparent public reporting of their operations, activities, and detailed budgets. Additionally, establish and support community-based early-warning systems and response mechanisms that actively involve local populations in monitoring and addressing potential security threats in a timely and effective manner.
Anti‑Corruption Reform and Institutional Independence
Ensure and guarantee full operational and financial independence for anti‑corruption agencies such as the EFCC and ICPC, enabling them to function without external influence or interference. Additionally, fully implement comprehensive beneficial‑ownership registries along with mandatory public asset declarations for all senior officials to promote transparency and accountability throughout the government.
Accelerate the implementation of comprehensive legal reforms aimed at significantly enhancing the prosecution processes for cases involving grand corruption. These reforms should also include robust measures to provide strong protection and support for whistleblowers who expose corrupt practices. Additionally, it is essential to improve and strengthen the coordination and collaboration between financial intelligence units and prosecuting agencies to ensure more effective investigation and prosecution of corruption-related offenses.
Economic Relief, Transparent Fiscal Policy, and Social Safety Nets
End regressive subsidies that disproportionately benefit higher-income groups and replace them with carefully designed, targeted cash transfer programs along with transparent, means-tested social safety nets. These measures will effectively protect the most vulnerable and poorest populations while simultaneously restoring much-needed fiscal space for sustainable economic management.
Publish open budgets and actively strengthen fiscal transparency initiatives, including comprehensive participatory budget processes, to significantly reduce financial leakages and effectively restore and enhance citizen confidence in public financial management systems.
Jobs, Youth Inclusion and Skills Development
Implement a comprehensive national employment and skills-acceleration plan that strategically connects public investment, expanded apprenticeship programs, and targeted private-sector incentives. This integrated approach aims to generate sustainable and meaningful job opportunities specifically designed for youth and individuals returning from conflict-affected areas, ensuring long-term economic stability and social reintegration.
Reform the hiring and procurement processes to specifically prioritize youth-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), ensuring that these businesses receive greater opportunities and support. In addition, establish clear and measurable targets for increasing female and youth employment within all federal and state programs, creating accountable benchmarks to track progress and promote inclusive economic growth.
Access to Justice and Judicial Independence
Safeguard the independence of the judiciary by firmly insulating judicial appointments and disciplinary processes from any form of political interference, influence, or pressure. Additionally, ensure that courts receive adequate, consistent, and transparent funding to enable them to function effectively and uphold justice without bias or external control. This comprehensive approach helps maintain public trust and the integrity of the judicial system.
Strengthen the provision of legal aid services to ensure wider access to justice for all individuals, especially those from marginalized communities. Implement measures to fast-track the resolution of court backlogs, with a particular focus on electoral disputes and human rights cases, to uphold fairness and accountability. Additionally, enforce strict timelines for the adjudication of corruption charges and security-related prosecutions, ensuring that these critical matters are addressed promptly and effectively to maintain public trust in the justice system.
Open Government, Transparency and Anti‑Illicit Financial Flows
Commit to adopting OGP-style open government commitments, including key areas such as open budgets, transparent public procurement processes, and comprehensive beneficial ownership disclosure. Additionally, establish clear and realistic timelines to ensure the full and effective implementation of these commitments, promoting greater accountability and transparency in government operations over time.
Implement more robust and comprehensive controls on illicit financial flows, enhance and tighten anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures significantly, and establish a system of automatic, transparent public reporting on progress. These steps are crucial to effectively move Nigeria off international grey lists and improve its global financial reputation
Post a Comment