Former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi has said tracking campaign promises of politicians is not the job of the civil society organisations alone but even the responsibility of the government itself.
Fayemi argued that there is a subsisting wrong notion that political office holders don’t track their own promises saying that there are internal mechanism serious administrations put in place to ensure that the monitor their performances and align those with promises during electioneering.
Speaking at the one-day dialogue organised by the NPO Reports in Abuja on Tuesday, Fayemi, who was the Chairman of the event, said under his administration, there were internal government agencies whose duty it was to track the performances according to the laid down objectives of the administration.
“Tracking campaign promises should happen at the level of government and the citizens,” Fayemi told the gathering
He said one of the strategies politicians themselves employ to track their own performance is peer review mechanism.
“What is it that Osun is doing well that we need to copy from? Or what is Lagos doing that is working for Lagos that Ekiti can copy.” Fayemi stated
He said at the level of the Nigerian Governors Forum, governors compare notes in order to ensure that each of them perform in line with promises made while campaigning.
The former Governor recognised the activities of the different civil society organisations that working to track politicians’ campaigns.
“Tracka is there. Follow-the-Money is there. They track the budget and post pictures of one hospital that is not functioning as a hospital or one project that has been abandoned despite the fact that money has been allocated to it.
“There should just be synergy and partnership between civil society organisations and the public,” Fayemi said at the event.
Fayemi said there are instances politicians genuinely make promises but are constrained by circumstances beyond there control.
He however agreed that when such realities come up, there should be open conversations over them.
Fayemi said the people themselves determine what they want citing instances of his experience while serving as the Governor of Ekiti.
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“Sometimes, when you think it is road you want to construct, some people in that community may say that is not their priority,” he said
He however reminded all political office seekers to remember they must be the visioners for their people in order to take them to the promised lands.
Speaking earlier at the event, Publisher of the NPO Reports, Semiu Okanlawon, highlighted the critical place of investigative journalism in the efforts to rebuild the society.
He said the need to track campaign promises is part of an overall efforts to fix the Nigerian politics.