2027: Igbuzor, Amadi set agenda for INEC against rigging, credible election as Centre LSD graduates 98

… Citizens won’t eat campaign promises, says Igbuzor

The Director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thought, Dr Sam Amadi, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to do everything possible to block politicians from rigging and ensure a free, fair and credible elections in the forthcoming 2027 general elections.

This is coming as the Founding Executive Director of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), Dr. Otive Igbuzor, said Africans, especially Nigerians require people-centred, inclusive, sustainable and transformative leadership, adding that citizens do not eat elections or live on campaigns promises.

According to him, leadership must convert Nigeria’s enormous human and natural resources into improved wellbeing for citizens.

The two development experts were speaking on Saturday in Abuja during the graduation ceremony of set 25 and matriculation ceremony of set 27 of the Centre LSD Leadership School, Abuja.

98 students – comprising 48 males and 50 females – were graduating from the Leadership School.

For Dr. Sam Amadi, who was the guest speaker at the occasion, drew relationship between leadership, development and election, and submitted that “good elections enable good leaders to emerge and make those leaders to have incentive to serve the people.”

On the 2027 general election, Amadi, who tasked INEC to block desperate politicians from rigging, added that only free and fair election is the gateway for Nigeria’s possibility.

He said: “I think the INEC has done well in the recent election in Osun but they can do better. INEC should focus more on stopping politicians from rigging elections. INEC has a tough job to do because Nigerian politicians across parties are desperate for power.

“So I spoke with the INEC chairman personally. I said sir, your job is to make sure you defeat the politicians. It doesn’t matter who wins election.

“It matters that the process is free and fair. If it’s free and fair, the people will support the winner. If they feel it was rigged, they will not support.

“So INEC has to open its eyes and know that internally they are going to be sabotage by both politicians and by some of the staff. So the INEC chairman has a responsibility to fight everybody to make sure, because Nigeria’s future rests on shoulder of Nigeria, across West Africa we see coups everywhere, Nigeria must not fall into that error. Nigeria must remain democratic and that means that Nigerian elections must be such that like Osun, we finish it, we go home, we are happy, we cheer the winner, the losers congratulate the winner and the country moves forward. So, free and fair election is the gateway for Nigeria’s possibility and INEC can deliver.

“So, we will trust INEC. We will work with INEC. We will help INEC to deliver free and fair elections,” he stated.

… Citizens won’t eat campaign promises

In his remarks, Dr. Igbuzor, whose 63rd birthday was celebrated by the staff of Centre LSD during the event, stated that the test of leadership and elections is development.

“Citizens do not eat elections. They do not live on campaign promises. They require security, jobs, education, healthcare, infrastructure, social protection and opportunities to live dignified and productive lives.

“Development must therefore be people-centred, inclusive, sustainable and transformative. Leadership must convert Nigeria’s enormous human and natural resources into improved wellbeing for citizens.

According to him, Nigeria’s development will not happen by accident. Credible elections will not happen by accident. Good leadership will not emerge by accident. They require deliberate preparation, strong institutions, active citizenship, ethical leadership and collective action.

He said: “As we approach 2027, the challenge before us is not merely who will win the elections, but to have credible, free, fair and believable elections that will drive the kind of development required at all levels.

“Our task at Centre LSD is to continue building a critical mass of dynamic, strategic, transformational and visionary leaders who can help change the trajectory of Nigeria and Africa.”

He said it is the aspiration of Centre LSD to produce dynamic, strategic, transformational and visionary — DSTV — leaders.

“The four dimensions of DSTV leadership reinforce one another. A dynamic leader is adaptable, responsive and innovative. Such a leader understands that leadership takes place in an environment of continuous change and refuses to be trapped by obsolete practices or conventional wisdom.”

… Why the leadership programme

In his welcome address, Executive Director of Centre LSD, Mr. Monday Osassah, said the leadership programmes are guided by values of transparency and accountability, integrity, feminism, diversity, dignity of the human person and Pan-Africanism.

He added that disability, youth and women’s rights are also mainstreamed across the programming.

“Nigeria requires leaders who can strengthen institutions, promote accountability, manage public resources responsibly, protect citizens’ rights, foster inclusion and create the conditions necessary for sustainable development.

“This is where leadership and development intersect.
Development is not simply about constructing roads, buildings and other physical infrastructure. But about improving the quality of people’s lives, strengthening institutions, expanding opportunities, protecting human dignity and ensuring that citizens can participate meaningfully in the social, political and economic life of the country.”

“At Centre LSD, we believe that citizens must not be passive participants in democracy. Citizens have a responsibility to engage, ask questions, demand accountability and contribute to the strengthening of democratic institutions.”