The Nigerian Elections Debates Group (NEDG) in collaboration with the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has set debate dates for Presidential candidates ahead of the 2023 general election.
Eddie Emessiri, the executive secretary, of NEDG, disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja.
He said the planned presidential debate is part of the election process, which will allow candidates to show the electorate their capacity and competence in order to help Nigerians make informed choices regarding the next president.
The politics has now switched to campaign mode, and the atmosphere is super-charged and the culture of televised presidential debates has now become a fixture in the Nigerian democratic space.
The essence of such debates is to identify a candidate with the competence and capacity to protect and defend national interest.
National interest, simply defined, is the very essence of a nation’s existence, its prestige and the well-being of its people.
Against this background, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group is collaborating with the Nigerian Elections Debate Group to organise a four-pronged debate on Security, Economy, Restructuring and Agriculture.
A member of both the content and Media committees of the Presidential Debate 2023, Babajide Kolade-Otitoju said in a democracy, a nation goes through a variety of political rituals to identify, periodically, the candidate with the right credentials to uphold its integrity, and keep it on the path of genuine progress.
The organisers have gone the extra mile to bring stakeholders on board across TV, radio, new media and civil society
The debates are also to be translated in different languages to ensure no one is left behind when they are aired, beginning with the presidential debate on the 25th of October, 2022.
