As the October 10 gubernatorial election in Ondo state draws closer, a coalition of civil society organisations, media, labour, professional bodies, and religious bodies on Monday said it had concluded arrangements to organise a debate for governorship candidates in the forthcoming election in the state.
Speaking at a press conference at the NUJ Press Centre, Alagbaka Akure, Gbenga Abimbola said the purpose of the debate was creating a credible platform for an effective interface between candidates and the people in the first instance, and among the candidates themselves.
According to Abimbola, “The event, which will hold on 29th of September and 4th of October, will be broadcast live on Radio and Television stations based in the state as well as on digital platforms.
“There is no gainsaying the fact that public debates among candidates seeking elective positions have become a norm in advanced democracies and is gradually being embraced in Nigeria, though a relatively new idea.”
According to him, “The goal of election debate is to promote political tolerance, constructive dialogue and selfless service to the people. Election debate provides a neutral platform where candidates of political parties are grilled by independent moderators on critical issues to enable the audience compare the candidates’ positions on such issues.
“As a matter of fact, debates are often the only time during a campaign when candidates are together at the same time in the same place. Debates also seek to fill the gap created by the one-way communication model that characterises campaigns whereby politicians only talk at the people without allowing people to ask questions.”
The group further said that “It is against this background that the ‘face the voter initiative’ is birthed by nonpartisan and independent Ondo State-based stakeholders in the civil society and the media. The group, which draws membership from labour, professional bodies, CSOs and other critical stakeholders, is an independent, nonpartisan, issue-based and value-adding platform specifically conceived and set up to stage an engagement among gubernatorial candidates of different political parties and the electorate in healthy debates on radio, television and digital channels prior to the election.
“It affords the contestants the opportunity to meet the Independent National Electoral Commission’s directive to political parties and their candidates to explore the media option (both conventional and social platforms) to reach the electorate rather than mass gathering campaigns in line with the Covid-19 protocols.”
