Samson Itodo appointed board member of international institute for democracy

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) has appointed Samson Itodo as a member of its board of advisers.

Itodo is the executive director of YIAGA Africa, an organisation focused on building sustainable democracies in Africa, anchored on the principles of inclusion, justice, accountability and constitutionalism.

He also successfully led the “Not Too Young to Run” campaign in Nigeria that later became popular across Africa.

The institute, on December 1, appointed Itodo and six others for a three-year tenure to begin in 2021.

The board of advisers of IDEA play the major role of advising the council of member states and the secretariat on matters of strategic importance.

The institute, in a statement, expressed eagerness to work with the new members in the coming years.

“International IDEA is delighted to welcome the new Board Members to the Institute and looks forward to working closely with them in the coming years,” the statement reads.

The other appointed members are Mariska Beijnum from The Netherlands, Eva Belser from Switzerland, Adam Bodnar from Poland, Laura Chinchilla from Costa Rica, Christian Leffler from Sweden, and Julia Leininger from Germany.

Itodo and the six other persons will join seven members currently on the board.

The current members of the board are Sergio Bitar, Nicole Goodman, Njeri Kabeberi, Celso Lafer, Maria Lohela, S.Y. Quraishi and Serena Sasingian.