Group Begins Tracking Of Tinubu’s Campaign Promises
The Transition Monitoring Group has inaugurated a compendium to track the campaign promises of the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu who would be sworn in as the 16th President of Nigeria on May 29, 2023.
Speaking at the launch of the document in Abuja on Friday, the chairman of TMG, Auwal Rafsanjani, said although a President has emerged from the electioneering process, the organisation was still waiting for the final outcome of the court processes.
According to him, the document was published to ensure that politicians respect and implement the commitment they made to Nigerians.
He said, “The objective of the exercise is quite simple; oftentimes, we have seen politicians outrightly deny promises they made after they have been elected to office, or just simply turn a blind eye to promises made especially when no one seems to hold them to account on those promises.
“Also, we have seen citizens quickly forget about the promises made if they are not documented. Hence, TMG has documented promises from the 2023 election with the hope of presenting a tool that can be used to remind elected leaders and hold them to account for their own words.
“While this documentation has only streamlined to the leading four candidates at the presidential level, as well as streamlined the areas of focus to critical areas of development that include the economy, health, education, security, anti-corruption and others, TMG hopes to subsequently expand the scope of this exercise to the subnational level where governance accountability and citizens participation is at a critical low.”
Speaking on the methodology used, Rafsanjani said TMG adopted a straightforward methodology in documenting these promises, saying that “these include desk reviews, constant monitoring of appearances of the candidates in different media and forum.”
“More importantly we combed through the manifestos of the candidates which as far as we are concerned remain the most binding documents to the aspirants. Though a president has emerged from the electioneering process and other candidates are in court contesting the outcome of the election, however, it plays out, this publication will serve as a critical tool to holding the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to account for his own promises”, he stated.
The Programme Director of TMG, Solomon Adoga, commended the candidates for putting in so much work in producing their manifestos.
He, however, observed that the implementation of the promises would require a deliberate action plan and commitment.
