UNDP, Yiaga Africa, and Channels Television Partner to Host Citizen Dialogues and Debates Ahead of the 2023 Elections

October 4, 2022

29 September, Abuja - The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Yiaga Africa, and Channels Television have launched a televised programme series designed to provide a public platform for citizens to conduct political debates and focused dialogues to promote electoral awareness of the upcoming 2023 General Elections.

The television series will comprise of citizen dialogues with youth, election experts, development experts, and other influential voices. This series are aimed at increasing electoral awareness and kindling engagement on social, economic, and development-related topics for Nigeria to consider in the 2023 General Elections and beyond.

Additionally, there will be debates and town halls with aspiring presidential candidates and political party leaders who will highlight and discuss their strategies and party manifestos. Key focus on these will be youth empowerment and women’s empowerment as they relate to other critical development issues in Nigeria, such as inclusive economic growth, peace and security, and climate change. The debates will be informed by current challenges and opportunities while being guided by questions and topics raised by the Nigerian youth.

The television series will create opportunities for engaging in a two-way dialogue between citizens and relevant stakeholders to increase citizens' participation in the electoral process, rather than the traditional one-way communication of information delivery on election processes. This will be critical in reversing the decline in voter turnout which is mainly attributed to voter apathy and a dearth of information on the political and electoral processes in the country.

Speaking about the dialogue, Mr. Mohamed Yahya, UNDP Nigeria Resident Representative, noted that “This series is about highlighting the key issues confronting Nigerians with the upcoming General Elections. The electorate needs to be fully informed on the process and be able to voice their concerns. By being active participants in the electoral process, they can hold their intended representatives accountable to deliver on their promises.”

“Providing citizens with the information required to make informed choices and giving them a platform to market their ideas, will alternatively have inspire them to turn out and vote,” said Samson Itodo, Executive Director of Yiaga Africa.

'We are pleased as always to be the medium through which citizens of the country would engage with political office seekers and by so doing play a role in deepening the electoral process in Nigeria,” said Dr. John Momoh, Chairman/CEO of the Channels Media Group.

71 per cent of the 11 million new voters registered in the last registration exercise are youths between the ages of 18 and 35, according to data from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). This makes the youth a critical target demographic to engage with ahead of the election to reduce political apathy, improve voter turnout and rebuild trust in the electoral process.

Although young people between the ages of 18-35 make up 51.1% of registered voters, only 28% of these voters voted in the 2019 elections. This missed opportunity for young people to shape governance in Nigeria can be reversed with a political mobilization strategy premised on innovation, inclusion, collaboration, consistency, and context-specific interventions. These dialogues and television series aim at building trust and inspiring participation among the youth and provide a for accurate information on voter registration and other critical thematic election topics on the 2023 General Elections.

Note to Editors

About UNDP Nigeria

UNDP is the leading United Nations international development organization working in 170 countries to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality. UNDP helps countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities, and to build resilience to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Our work is concentrated in three focus areas; sustainable development, democratic governance and peace building, and climate and disaster resilience.

UNDP has been in Nigeria since the country became independent in 1960 providing capacity building and policy development support to the Federal Government of Nigeria in areas of Governance & Peace Building, Inclusive growth and Sustainable Development. UNDP continues to support, the government in the implementation of development interventions aimed at meeting the medium to long term goals enshrined the; Economic Recovery and Growth Plan 2017-2020; National Vision 2020 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030.

About Yiaga Africa

Yiaga Africa is a non-profit civic hub of change makers committed to the promotion of democratic governance, human rights and civic engagement. Yiaga Africa was launched as a student organization in 2007 at the University of Jos, Nigeria and has since established itself as a leading civil society organization in Africa. Since its inception, it has carved a niche for itself as one of Africa’s frontline non-profit organizations promoting participatory democracy, human rights and civic participation.

With its operational base in Abuja, Nigeria, Yiaga Africa focuses on in-depth research, providing critical analysis on key democratic and governance issues, crafting practical solutions, training and empowering citizens to lead change in their community. Yiaga Africa implements several innovative programs aimed at stimulating active citizenship, protecting human rights and deepening democratic governance.

About Channels Television

Channels Television is an international, multiple award-winning television station known for producing and broadcasting quality television programmes, which are transmitted to over 40 million viewers in Africa and around the world.

Founded in 1995 by Dr John Momoh, OON, Channels TV is propelled by professionalism and enterprise rooted in integrity, authenticity, originality, innovation and relevance. The station was voted 2014 “Best TV station in Africa” (African Achievers Awards Trust) and is a 14-time winner of Best TV Station in Nigeria an award endowed by the Nigerian Media Merit Award Trust.

Channels Television a member of the Channels Media Group and is also Nigeria’s ‘Most Admired” Media Brand.

 

 

MEDIA CONTACTS

Mark Amaza                                      Christabel Chanda-Ginsberg

Senior Communications Officer         Head of Communications and Partnerships

Yiaga Africa                                         UNDP Nigeria

mamaza@yiaga.org                             Christabel.chanda-ginsberg@undp.org

 

Kingsley Uranta

Assistant General Manager, Operations

Channels TV

kduranta@channelstv.com