Develop index for evaluating political parties, Igini charges journalists
Jin Nigeria have been asked to develop index for evaluating political parties in the country akin to the stock market index for assessing delivery of benefits.
Delivering a paper on “2023 General Elections, the Nigerian Project and the Media” in Calabar at the just concluded Cross River Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists ( NUJ) Week, the immediate past Resident Electoral Commissioner, Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Mike Igini, said the media has big role to play if democracy must succeed.
He said: “Holding political parties to account for the benefits of democracy is a bigger responsibility for the media in playing its role as an effective watchdog and gatekeeper for democratic practice. To do this effectively, the key issues also need to be well defined.”
Igini stated that NUJ needs to scrutinise how the parties have managed in terms of their internal democracy processes in the choice of candidates for election, whether they have been able to form and institutionalise effective regime of separation of powers between the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary?
“Have they been able to formulate and implement effective public policies? Are the opposing parties offering credible alternatives to policies? Have they been able to formulate and organise public opinions around key issues of development through institutionalised debate and get the public to vote around such issues,” he added.
He said NUJ needs to also establish if parties have been able to provide national stability by uniting, simplifying and stabilising the political process of the country; if they have been recruiting leaders and creating successional processes for coaching and mentoring future leaders.
He charged journalists to commit and hold those seeking elective political offices to account by institutionalising political debates for aspiring leaders, especially on the issues of security, education, healthcare and social welfare, economy ( job creation, employment, and position on international trade) and infrastructure for development.