TheCable

Hamzat Lawal, chief executive officer (CEO) of Connected Development (CODE), says candidates for the 2023 elections should premise their campaigns on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Lawal spoke with journalists on Saturday at an event to mark the 10th anniversary of Follow The Money (FTM), an initiative of CODE seeking to foster accountability in governance.

The event also marked the global week for SDGs.

The CEO said SDGs should inform the manifestos of candidates and also make the country’s democratic process better.

“As we celebrate 10 years of Follow the Money, we want the script to be flipped. The current script is not working for Africa. The current script does not ensure justice or equity, gender equality, tackling inequality and ending poverty,” he said.

“Flipping the script is saying let’s mobilise more young people; let’s educate them; let’s sensitise them. We also know that in a few weeks, campaigns will start in Nigeria and this week is world democracy week.

“As the campaign season starts and in the spirit of flipping the script, we must ensure that messages are based on issues, not sentiments, and citizens would collect their PVCs and on election day, we will get citizens to cast their ballot.

“The SDGs talks about ending poverty, hunger, providing justice, equity and fairness. It talks about education. It talks about healthcare. It talks about job creation. If politicians use SDGs to inform their manifesto, they are ideals that would address our problems.

“We want politics that leaves no one behind. SDGs can inform our politics and we can take that into 2023, so that we have a script that works for Nigerians, irrespective of who they are.”