The Youth Party has resolved to initiate contempt proceedings against the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mr. Mahmood Yakubu, “for refusing to obey a Court of Appeal judgment”.

The Party made this known yesterday after an emergency meeting of its Board of Trustees and the National Executive Committee, NEC.

In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Ayodele Adio, the party described the actions of Mr. Yakubu as unbecoming, regrettable, undemocratic, and unacceptable of a supposed electoral umpire.

He said: “Despite a Court of Appeal judgment in our favour, INEC has gone ahead to exclude us from the electoral process by denying the party access to the voter’s register. Additionally, the Commission has refused to receive or acknowledged any of our letters.”

The party also stated that should INEC continue its unconstitutional exclusionary policy against the party, there is every chance that the general election will be deemed null and void for failure to allow a registered party to participate in the election.

“To avoid a constitutional quagmire, we are urging INEC to do the responsible and democratic thing by respecting the Court of Appeal’s judgment to include us in all election processes leading up to 2023,” Mr. Adio said.

He further expressed grave concern for the fragility of Nigeria’s democracy, noting that the first sign of the failure of a democracy is the abuse of judicial decisions.

He added that “We must never tolerate a situation where public officers can flagrantly disregard judicial decisions or judgments from the court.

“It doesn’t matter if the person is the Chairman of INEC or the clerk in ministry. Nothing threatens democracies more than the destruction and humiliation of its judicial institutions.”

 The party finally noted that it would be releasing the guidelines for the 2023 elections, having received recommendations from the committee setup to review and advise its NEC.

On Friday, 25 February 2022 President Muhammadu Buhari after much delay over
the years signed the reworked Electoral Amendment bill into law. The Bill has the
potential to significantly strengthen the legal framework governing our electoral
system and set the pace for a better and more credible elections in 2023.

The Youth Party welcomes the new Electoral Act 2022 and is pleased to have
contributed significantly to the final outcome of the Act through numerous policy
advocacy interventions. The Youth Party was one of the few parties that responded
to the invitation by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in a letter
dated 18th June, 2019 to submit recommendations1 for reform of the electoral
process after the last general elections. The Party also submitted an extensive
memorandum to the National Assembly Joint Committee on INEC and Electoral
Matters which was also presented at the public hearing of the Bill by our Financial
Secretary, Mr. Ifeanyi Nwoye even though we were given a very short notice.

Read more about the Electoral Act 2022 position paper here https://bit.ly/3KzT33u

The Youth Party has expressed great dismay that the Federal Government has not held any official to account for the sheer incompetence of importing 3 million liters of substandard petrol.

The party, through its spokesperson Lawal Ayo, noted that the negligence of duty has cost the country billions of Naira when resources are scarce. Even worse is that several car and generator owners have suffered huge damages from the substandard petrol that knocked down their engines.

Lawal said: “sadly, the government has shown no remorse for its incompetence that has cost many Nigerians their cars and generators. Neither has it demonstrated the will to punish the agency’s leadership responsible for such a catastrophic error. For us, this is unacceptable. If an agency is charged with the responsibility for quality control in the importation of petrol, it should be held to account when it fails to deliver on its mandate”.

“On the one hand, we cannot claim that the country has no money to fund education and hence the insistent strike action from ASUU, and then fail to come down hard on officials who have cost the government billions of Naira from their negligence. Furthermore, we call for more transparency and accountability from the NNPC and every other agency operating or regulating the oil sector.

“Well-meaning Nigerians will no longer tolerate the opaqueness and impunity that has characterized that sector. Nigerians have a right to know how their resources are managed and how their wealth is distributed (or spent)”.

The Government through the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed earlier announced that the government would stop subsidy payments on petroleum products in June. Unfortunately, the government reneged on its initial position in a meeting reportedly convened by Ahmad Lawan, President of the Senate with Zainab Ahmed, Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director, NNPC Limited in attendance. 

The statement that the President is unaware of the commitment to remove subsidy is misleading. The real issue is not whether the President is aware of its removal or not because the President presented the 2022 budget, and signed the Appropriation Bill into law which signaled the removal of subsidy in June as only N443 billion was appropriated for subsidy payment from January to June 2022. 

Read more about the Fuel Subsidy position paper here https://bit.ly/3g2ezRd

Given Nigeria’s current fiscal state, the Federal Government must speedily adopt and implement the Bold Revenue Plan in order not to avoid debt and economic crisis, the Youth Party has said. Reacting to the passing of the 2022 budget, the party, in a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Ayodele Adio, noted that “our current revenue realities cannot move the country forward. If we continue to borrow and do nothing about growing our revenue base as other countries are doing, a severe debt crisis awaits us.”

The party also criticized the Federal Government for having no clear strategy on revenue generation, relying mainly on borrowing such that the country spends 98% of its revenue on debt servicing. “There is no evidence of a coherent strategy by the Federal Government to improve our revenue substantially and to manage our debts. Even the Director-General of the Debt Management Office has warned that unless the country’s revenue profile is raised significantly, the country will face debt sustainability challenges.”

Expressing their disappointment with the government’s funding priorities, the Youth Party sounded an alarm that “shockingly, we are currently borrowing to fund a high recurrent expenditure, petrol and electricity subsidy, an expensive National Assembly, over-bloated civil service and the largess of politicians. Meanwhile, the government plans to spend only 5% of the budget on health and 7.9% on education, both of which are less than UNESCO’s recommendation of 15% for developing countries.”

After its criticism of the government’s handling of the economy, the party urged the Federal Government to adopt its Bold Revenue Plan to rescue the economy. Noting some of the recommendations in the plan, the party’s Publicity Secretary expressed confidence that the country will increase its revenue to GDP ratio from 8% to 14% within three years of implementing the Bold Revenue Plan.

Some of the recommendations in the plan include: the immediate implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act, implementation of the Stephen Oronsanye report to reduce the cost of governance, phased removal of petrol and electricity subsidy, and strict adherence to the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which states that budget deficits must not exceed 3%.

A few weeks ago, the President Muhammadu Buhari refused to assent to the 2021 Electoral  Bill, which was passed by both chambers of the National Assembly on November 18, listing  the inclusion of the compulsory direct primaries for political parties as his major concern.  

President Buhari argued that the compulsory mode for selection of candidates is subject to  manipulation and will lead to high costs of conducting primaries, violate citizens’ rights, lead  to litigation and cause security challenges.  

Read our Position Paper on the President’s rejection of the Bill https://bit.ly/3I1EMLI

On Friday, 31st December, 2021, the President signed the 2022 Appropriation Bill as well as the enabling 2021 Finance Bill which sets the tone for fiscal year by providing the legal backing to the government’s expenditure.

Fiscally speaking, the budget clearly shows once again that Nigeria is broke, significant steps have not been taken towards revenue generation and our rising debt is leading us towards the path of an unsustainable debt crisis.

Read our Position Paper on the budget here https://bit.ly/3zNYHe0

Strong democracies are built on the idea of equality, justice and liberty. But democracies endure because citizens are empowered with the inalienable rights to freely assemble and to determine their future through a free, transparent and credible electoral process. Once the electoral process is exclusionary, such a system rigs democracy in favour of a tiny elite in pursuit of narrow and selfish interests. It is for this reason that democratic societies must continue to reform their electoral systems to be more inclusionary. Except a level playing field is created for all persons to compete favourably in an electoral process, citizens are denied the most crucial element of a democracy – the right to choose.

Rather than attempt to further open the democratic space, the Independent National Electoral Commission has placed before the National Assembly, a Bill that would make it almost impossible for new and smaller political parties to grow organically. INEC seem to have been persuaded by the tempting but faulty assumption that political parties are solely in the business of winning elections. This is incorrect. Although winning elections are important for political parties (as this allows them to govern and implement their ideas), it remains only one of several functions of political parties some of which include moulding the public’s opinion of various issues, offering alternative ideas of governance, effective opposition, monitoring actions of officeholders and educating the electorate (or citizens) on various issues that affect them.

To therefore reduce political parties to mere vehicles for winning elections will inadvertently create a desperate and self-defeating system where politicians’ singular focus will be winning elections rather than the socioeconomic development of the society. Perhaps, this explains the lack of imagination in our current state of affairs that has resulted in record numbers of poverty, unemployment and insecurity. A system that is intolerable of new ideas will struggle to make meaningful progress.

So, what is INEC proposing and how does it stifle the electoral space?

INEC is setting impossible criteria for new parties that can only be met by a Party that has being in existence for a few years. Section 78(7)(a)(ii) of the Electoral Bill provides that:

“The Commission shall have power to deregister political parties on the following grounds-

(ii) For failure to win Presidential or Governorship election or a seat in the National or State Assembly election.”

The Bill sets an unrealistic and limiting criteria that for a political party to remain in existence.

The proposed provision is at variance with Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (fourth amendment), which gives INEC the powers to deregister a political party for breach of any requirement of the registration, failure to win at least 25% of votes cast in one state of the federation in a presidential election, one local government of the state in a governorship election, one ward in a chairmanship election, one seat in the national or state house of assembly or one seat in the counsellorship election.

It is retrogressive to reduce the existence of a political party to its ability to win a presidential, governorship, or state house of assembly election. This is a blatant attempt to restrict the political space to the two dominant political parties – the APC and PDP, the appointors of the INEC leadership. This will always leave citizens with the short end of the stick. Emerging political parties should be given at least four-year election cycle to meet the requirement of section 225A of the 1999 constitution.

Another issue is who deregisters a political party? The current practice is that INEC unilaterally decides whether a political party has fallen short of certain requirements and then goes ahead to deregister the party. It is my view that only a court order from a court of competent jurisdiction should empower INEC to deregister a political party. This is to enact a legal framework that protects smaller political parties from being unduly disenfranchised. To deregister a political party is to take life away from a lawful assembly and such powers should not be left to the discretion of INEC but an unbiased judge after giving both parties a fair hearing. It is illogical that only a Court of law can disqualify a candidate from running in an election but INEC has the unfettered power to deregister his or her Party which includes the candidate and many others. In the banking industry, only a court, upon application by CBN can withdraw a banking license. This permits fair hearing and avoids abuse of power. It is noteworthy that the INEC leadership is appointed by the Ruling Party; Thus, leaving the power to deregister competitors solely in the hands of such political appointees offends the principle of natural justice.

The focus of INEC and the National Assembly should not be about drastically reducing the number of political parties without any real basis. It should be on how to expand the political space and create a level playing field that encourages smaller political parties to grow at their own pace. After all, South Africa has 93 registered political parties, The United States has 32, Ghana 24 and the United Kingdom 18.

Not every political party wants to contest the presidential election. Some political parties are contented with operating at the grassroots and competing only at the local government level. This should not be crippled; because it allows political education and participation at the grassroots. It is fair to concede that the APC and PDP are big political parties with a national spread. The Electoral Bill is tacitly promoting only these parties as having the God-given right to participate in electoral process.

The position of the law is clear on the fundamental right to freely associate. The Constitution and other international treaties to which Nigeria is a signatory protect this inalienable right, they include:

Section 40 of the Constitution, Article 10 of the African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights and Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.

Elected members of the National Assembly must therefore rise above partisanship and reject any bill that stifles the electoral space and discourages political association at all levels.They

owe it a duty to their constituents to uphold the oath they swore to defend the constitution and to preserve our democracy. The country is better off with robust political participation.

Anna Ekeledo is the Executive Director of AfriLabs, a network organisation of over 300 technology innovation hubs spread across 49 African countries, which helps develop programmes and build partnerships that support African innovation hubs and other stakeholders to raise high potential entrepreneurs that stimulate economic growth and social development in Africa. She holds a first-class degree from Covenant University and M.Sc. from Leeds University Business School in the UK.

An international speaker, trainer, innovation ecosystem builder and mentor, she is also an advisor, member of the advisory board at African Europe Innovation Partnership, an initiative supported by the European Commission. She also chairs the working party on AfCFTA negotiations, eCommerce Forum Africa (EFA) and is a mentor on Google Launchpad Accelerator Africa for Entrepreneurs.

Regional innovation lead Africa at EdTech Hub, the world’s largest education technology research and innovation project, which seeks to drive research and adoption of evidence-based education technology in developing countries supported by the World Bank, FCDO and Bill & Melinda Gates, prior to joining AfriLabs, Anna was involved in pioneering various impact-driven projects and new business units with organisations such as the Visiola Foundation, Wild Fusion Digital Centre, Google, Lagos Business School and Ingenico, a French global financial technology company. She is also a member of the Africa-Europe Foundation Digital Strategy Task Force and is engaged at a high-level policy dialogue on Science, Technology and Innovation working group AU-EU Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).

In this interview with TOBI AWODIPE, she gave insights on how SMEs can identify and leverage technology to digitize processes and reduce costs; how she is strengthening innovation hubs across Africa, creating access and opportunity for girls to learn about STEM and career pathways, and how women can innovate and succeed in the tech space amongst other issues.

As the Executive Director of AfriLabs, what does your work entail?
My work entails overseeing the running of the organisation effectively to ensure we achieve our mandate to our community and the African innovation ecosystem. Externally, I engage multiple stakeholders to foster collaboration, raise awareness and funding for our work and our community of hubs, entrepreneurs and innovators. I also work closely with the AfriLabs Board to ensure that we stay true to our vision, mission and our strategies are aligned with them.

Take through your career journey, how would you describe it?
I started out with a degree in Psychology, where I achieved a first class from Covenant University, Nigeria. Afterwards, I served in the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), where I worked with a team to raise awareness for investment in Nigeria and coordinate investment forums to attract foreign investments into the country. In 2011, I proceeded to business school where I got an Msc in International Marketing Management from the University of Leeds.

Over a period of three years post my masters’ degree, I worked in the fintech sector, handling business development and country level operations for Ingenico, one of the largest global financial products and value-added services, and in tech training and development, as a marketing manager, trainer and training coordinator for Wild Fusion Digital Centre in Lagos. My move into the development sector and the African innovation ecosystem was propelled by my long-time passion for impact driven initiatives, which I decided to focus on.

In 2015, I consulted for a nonprofit called Visiola Foundation to set up their first STEM Summer Camp for Teenage Girls, which now runs across Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya, and has impacted hundreds of girls over the past six years. In 2016, I joined AfriLabs, with the initial assignment to establish the secretariat (HQ) in Abuja, Nigeria, re-engage community members and partners as well as plan the first AfriLabs annual gathering. We have a mission to support the growth of innovation in Africa which greatly aligns with my passion and since then, I have stayed on to lead the growth of the organisation and the community as the executive director.

You say you’re on a mission to raise successful entrepreneurs that will stimulate economic growth and social development, how exactly are you doing this?
AfriLabs does this by strengthening innovation hubs across Africa and the diaspora, who serve as support structures for entrepreneurs to turn their innovative ideas into successful businesses. We strengthen these hubs through capacity building, financing and networking. We also build the innovation entrepreneurship ecosystem needed for entrepreneurs to succeed in Africa through policy advocacy, collaborating with a range of stakeholders to carry out value-add initiatives as well as providing insightful, reliable data used to make informed decisions that impact the ecosystem.

How best can Nigeria deploy technology to drive financial inclusion and create social and economic opportunities especially for women?
By ensuring that technology is accessible and affordable to women irrespective of their geographic location, socioeconomic status and educational background. Technology in this case includes ICT infrastructure such as broadband connectivity across Nigeria; hardware devices to access financial technology (fintech) services, specifically mobile devices, which have shown to be the fastest growing enabler of technology services consumption in Nigeria and finally, financial technology solutions, such as savings, credit, insurance, which enable women to access financial services and products for themselves, their families and their businesses. It is also important to ensure that women are equipped with the right awareness, technical know-how and financial education to take advantage of these technologies and financial products and services.

What are some of the challenges you have faced during this pandemic and what lessons would you say you have learnt going forward?
During the pandemic, we had to redesign most of our planned activities that involve physical engagements with our community members across Africa. In 2020, we canceled all physical workshops and annual gathering, making it all virtual. Our community members also suffered economic losses from a loss of clients and physical activities which brought regular income. Despite these challenges, we leveraged the power of technology in driving inclusion and participation for all stakeholders.

During the pandemic, we adopted a virtual and hybrid approach for most of our activities, including our workshops and annual gathering, which was held in Abuja. We also saw an increased uptake in tech solutions such as healthtech, edtech, logistics tech and ecommerce. In addition, we rolled out programmes such as EdTech and COVIDAction, which involved identifying innovative solutions to tackle the effects of COVID-19; we had to leverage on local scouts within our community to directly interact with communities and innovators in rural areas. We also saw firsthand the importance of technology access to every segment of the African population and this has increased our drive to prioritise advocating for technology inclusion and affordable accessible broadband connectivity.

Working with SMEs and start-ups, it’s no secret that many are struggling till date, what advice would you give to these business owners?
For SMEs who are yet to embrace technology, it is important to identify how to leverage technology to digitise processes to reduce costs, increase efficiencies and access to data and market opportunities, which will lead to business growth. For start-ups, pivot if necessary. The pandemic taught us that specifically in Africa, you need to ensure that you focus on providing solutions that are essential to your identified target market.

Looking at where Nigeria is tech-wise, how close are we to a full digital future compared to the rest of the world?
To achieve a full digital future, we need to be connected to all via the internet, and importantly, fast, reliable and affordable internet. Unfortunately, according to a study by DQL, Nigeria has one of the slowest broadband connection speeds globally (ranked at 105th), but a slightly faster mobile internet, ranking 96th in the world. We also still struggle with 2G networks in many parts of the country, while the rest of the world has moved to 4G and is migrating to 5G. We also rank low globally on internet affordability, e-government, and e-infrastructure, which shows that we have a long way to go.

However, it is encouraging to see that the government has a plan to increase broadband connectivity across the country, following the Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2020 – 2025 driven by the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. With the tech ecosystem in Nigeria, already providing, but constantly building a wide range of innovative digital products and services, I believe that a fully connected Nigeria, coupled with the right enabling policies, will lead us to a fully digital future.

We also need to invest in the tech ecosystem through funding, supporting and providing the right policies, innovation hubs, startups and tech infrastructure providers. The Nigerian Startup Bill is a step in the right direction by the government and the tech ecosystem to enact the right laws and regulations that will drive Nigeria to a fully digital future with a thriving innovation driven economy.

Seeing as the world is advancing every day, do you think SMEs and start-ups are exploiting the digital commerce space enough and what more can be done?
Education of SMEs and startups on the digital commerce platforms, tools and opportunities will go a long way in getting more to take advantage of the space. Awareness isn’t enough, they need to be shown how to, and equipped with the skills to do so, with clear evidence of how it will lead to business growth and increased revenue.

We also need to fix the infrastructure deficit so startups and SMEs can access digital technologies irrespective of their location. Other than internet facilities, hard infrastructure such as road networks and a functional postal service will facilitate adoption. Finally, we need to invest in digital commerce technologies and its end-to-end solutions (such as epayments and e-logistics) that meet the needs of African startups and SMEs considering our unique environment.https://50e23822e66ba72b8651792ca60684d5.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

You chair the working party on AfCFTA negotiations, how is this act benefitting the average small business women in say, rural Nigeria?
I chair a working party on AfCFTA negotiations at a pan-African organisation called eCommerce Forum Africa, in which I am a board member, focused on promoting the eCommerce industry and supporting stakeholders in Africa. The AfCFTA once implemented fully will be a game changer for small business women who constitute the larger percentage of MSMEs in Africa. The AfCFTA will open up markets for women to trade easily with zero or no tariffs, thereby reducing the cost of trade and increasing profit, and making it easier and safer for women traders to move between African borders.

Finally, with technologies and platforms such as eCommerce platforms that aggregate suppliers, traders and manufacturers across the value chain of various sectors, it will open up new market opportunities in ways never done before. All these will lead to increased markets, revenue, business growth, job creation and a better standard of living for women and their families.

Are you satisfied with the number of start-ups and SMEs owned/headed by women in Nigeria?
No, it can definitely be a lot more. We need to invest in more SMEs and startups owned and headed by women and provide them with the right capacity building, mentorship and market opportunities.

Despite efforts to improve the number of young girls and women in STEM, the numbers are still low; what other ways would you suggest these numbers could be ramped up?
As society grows its digital economy, it is critical that we position women to be successful within this economy. This includes creating access and opportunity for girls to learn about STEM study and career pathways and encouraging and expecting girls to join the STEM workforce. First, through the education system, we need to get all girls in school.

Also, STEM subjects should be compulsory in the early years of primary and first half of secondary school. Schools also need to show the range of opportunities available by deliberately infusing stories of women’s contributions in the STEM fields and how it benefits girls to pursue advanced coursework in this area. This helps students see themselves in such fields and gives them a chance to find the right fit for themselves.

As a trainer and mentor, how important is mentoring for women in career growth?
Very important. A lot of women were raised traditionally to be good homemakers, wives and mothers, with little priority given to the importance of career growth. While I believe it is ultimately the woman’s choice to pursue a career or not, it is important that from home, school and even in the workplace, women should be mentored on making important career decisions. Women shouldn’t have to feel like they have to choose between a thriving career and a family.

Wearing as many hats as you do, how do you combine everything and succeed at them all?
I don’t succeed at them all to the same degree; I prioritise, I delegate and I learn when to let go. Learning to say no is also a skill that I am sharpening.

What are the three key things you would tell a woman looking to innovate in the tech space to do and avoid in order to succeed?
Three key things to do include: One, focus on designing a solution for the needs of your target market. Technology is an enabler, not the full solution, especially in the African market. Secondly, surround yourself with a strong support system. Friends, family, mentors or investors and team members who will provide sound business, moral and networking/financial support when needed.

Finally, do not be afraid to fail. The fear of failure can be crippling. Do it afraid and when failure comes, learn from it and try again. What to avoid is the need to prove a point. Go-getter women can sometimes fall into the trap of trying to prove themselves to the naysayers. While this can be a driving force for some women, it isn’t healthy for an innovation mindset, makes the journey a lot less enjoyable and can have one fixated on holding on to an original idea or business that needs to be let go of for a better one. Focus instead on the market you are trying to serve and people around you who support you.

If you could change something for Nigerian women, what is the first thing you would do?
I would change policies for Nigerian women. Various policies that cut across politics, ensuring at least 50 percent women in political positions at all levels; finance, ensuring women have access to a range of financial products, including credit facilities, lowering the barriers and ensuring finance institutions are mandated to lend to women owned businesses; and education, mandating that all girls go to school irrespective of tribe, religion or socioeconomic status.

Tari Taylaur, currently the Secretary of a Lekki subzone and an active member of the
Environment Committee for Lekki Estate Residents Association (LERA), has been appointed as the party
Ward Chairman of Youth Party, Eti Osa Local Government Area effective November 10, 2021. As Ward
Chairman, Mrs. Taylaur will also serve on the State Executive Council Committee.

Tari Taylaur, a recognized media professional brings to the party 14 years of experience in
providing consulting services around social development and governmental issues to corporate and
individual clients.

She is passionate about improving the welfare of young people and has served as a volunteer in projects
across education, food security, voter enlightenment and environmental advocacy.

Mrs. Taylaur, a candidate of the Youth Party, ran for the office of Councillor, Eti-osa LGA Ward E (Lekki
1), with a clear strategy to transform the environment and create jobs for the many unemployed youths
milling the streets.

About Youth Party
The Youth Party is made up of individuals and groups that seek to serve and unite Nigerians. Our goal is
to develop and improve the standard of living of all Nigerians.

We will achieve this through service oriented political leadership, transparent political leadership and
followership, discourse, fostering a new crop of leaders and one Nigeria .Register here https://bit.ly/3wXO2w9 to join us shape the future of Nigeria.