2023: Presidential debate on economic policy to hold on November 15 

Chigozie Ikpo, Abuja

The Nigeria Elections Debate Group, NEDG has announced that the Presidential debate on economic policy will hold on November 15,  ahead of the forthcoming 2023 general elections.

The debate which is organized in collaboration with the Nigerian Economic Support Group, NESG, will provide a platform to assess the various Presidential candidates, their understanding of the Socio-Economic issues facing the country and the solutions they are looking to proffer to these issues.

Executive Secretary of NEDG, Eddie Emessiri who made this known yesterday in Abuja while briefing the press said the the debate will feature four leading candidates in the 2023 presidential election.

Emesiri said “The election debate is specifically designed to provide a comprehensive and in-depth knowledge of the economic policies and agenda of all the candidates who are running for the office of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“The debate will raise an an opportunity for them to come and present their policies to Nigerians. They may have been doing this elsewhere in many other forums, but in this particular situation, they will be asked specific questions to which they will respond.

“The NEDG and the NESG are the people collaborating on this debate, with a host of partners in the civil society and from the professional groups.

On why the NEDG scheduled the debates, Emessiri said, “We have scheduled this debate simply because we are in a critical situation in our country today, people are asking questions, the situation is difficult for many people and we are asking people from different works of life to have a say in the selection of who will be their president and we can do that effectively by providing all the information that they require to enable them cast a vote that is right for them.

He noted that the debate which will hold in four zones of the country will feature questions bothering on the economy, foreign affairs, education, security and restructuring.

“One debate will not be able to fulfil the desires of everybody so we are hosting a series of four debates starting with the Economic debate which is scheduled to hold on November 15 at the Congress hall in Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

“The second debate which will specifically be for the Vice Presidential candidates will hold in Port Harcourt on December 15, while the third one will hold on January 19 in Lagos. The final debate is scheduled to hold in Kano on February 18.

“The NEDG is collaborating with Broadcasting organisation of Nigeria, BON, to provide a platform that will enable us reach the grassroots. BON is getting all the broadcast organizations in the country to help transmit the debate across platforms, in Igbo Hausa, Yoruba and Pidgin and sign languages

“Out of the 18 candidates running for presidency, we will select the best four for the debate. Each candidate will have a minimum of five questions to answer and the debate will run for two hours” Emessiri added

Speaking on the selection criteria for the four candidates, NESG representative, Chuka Mordi said “We have a selection criteria and a framework that we will use to shortlist candidates that will be invited. We are also carrying out a poll for the general public to validate the selection criteria. The results of that will be made public to the general public and members of the press.

On the funding of the debates, Emessiri said, “We are going to sell advertising spots for adverts within the programme. We are approaching manufacturers and big advertisers to buy the available slots to help us fund the debates.”