CSO: Nigeria needs good governance — whether next president is from north or south

Candyfidel Onwuraokoye, director of information and strategy, Citizens Intervention and Accountability Nigeria (CIAN), says ethnicity should be of little importance when electing the country’s next president.

He said getting a candidate that can deliver good governance is more pertinent.

Onwuraokoye said this on Friday during a press conference ahead of the launch of the organisation’s book titled ‘Nigeria’s Next President’.

He said the 2023 election should be an exercise to select the best candidate and shouldn’t be a gift for people based on their region of origin.

“It does not matter if Nigeria’s next president is from the north or south. What matters is good governance. The population needs jobs, education, good motorable roads, pipe-borne water supply, 24-hour electric supply, clean environment, health services, etc.,” he said.

“And as politics is a contest between people and political parties of divergent views, then the electorate should be allowed to elect the best candidate in a free and fair election.”

CIAN is a civil society organisation (CSO) dedicated to advancing democracy and good governance.

The organisation is set to launch ‘Nigeria’s Next President’ on December 3 in Abuja.

The book, written by Mofe Jeje, president of CIAN, “is essentially a civic education handbook, written to engender a renegotiation of the failed social contract between the ruling elite and the Nigerian people, in addition to empowering civic patriotism that will challenge conventions and demand accountability from elected officials.

“As a project, the book, Nigeria’s Next President, rests mainly on our concern for Nigeria leadership recruitment process and our intention, as an organization, to be a driving force in championing practices and solutions that are essential for peace and guarantee for Nigeria, future stability and progress.”