Hadiza's Blog

By Hadiza Abdulrahman  Since the 2015 general election, there have been 125 electoral offenses filed before various courts across the country. Out of which  60 convictions  have been secured according to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) Professor Mahmoud Yakubu. Nigerians have had to contend with Electoral Malpractices for two decades,  from 1999 to 2019  elections which have been tainted by  fraud or misconduct  such as bribery, vote buying, rigging and other vices. The consequences of these offences have continued to affect the nation adversely. Many Nigerians believe that these factors have made it more difficult for credible candidates to win elections and had out-muscled individuals who truly wanted to serve. Implication of Electoral Misconduct Today, many citizens have lost confidence and trust in the electoral system and the commitment of the government towards credible polls, resulting in  Political Apa...

A young man displaying his PVC  By Hadiza Abdulrahman Elections have been the main method of implementing representative democracy in contemporary times. It allows anyone to vote and run for office.  In Nigeria, the first elections held after the military took power in 1993 were those of the Fourth Republic. Though, the country has held elections since 1959, with a variety of political parties.  Indeed, voting must take place for elections to succeed, and that explains why it serves as the mechanism by which the electorate, or people, select representatives to serve in their governments.  However, as a result of their lack of confidence in the political system or the electoral process, many Nigerians, particularly the youth, have come to believe that election results are often fixed before voters even cast their ballots.  The question then is: why do candidates for public office still run if your vote has no real impact?  Number of Completed Voter Re...

NAOWA President Mrs Salamatu Yahya commissioning the borehole By Hadiza Abdulrahman  The president Nigerian Army Officers Wife Association (NAOWA) Mrs Salamatu Yahya says the association is committed to impacting on the lives of the less privileged and vulnerable in society. The NOAWA President stated this in Abuja while commissioning some projects at the Mogadishu Cantonment Asokoro, constructed by NAOWA Garrison Chapter. She commended the Coordinator of the Chapter, Mrs Asmau Garba for sustaining the legacies and upholding the tenets of unity and service of NAOWA to improve on the lives of the beneficiaries. “The construction of this additional borehole within the barracks, to complement other sources of water supply clearly shows the commitment of the Chairperson NAOWA AHQ Gar Chapter to improve the standard in the barrack, it is also a mark that she is in tune with my vision of “Sustaining Legacies and Upholding the Tenets of Unity and Service”. I wish to congratulate all the t...

Participants and facilitators at the training  By Hadiza Abdulrahman  The Institute for Media and Society, (IMS) with support from the European Union, (EU) has commenced a two days training on Building Digital and Multimedia Storytelling Skills for Women broadcast journalists. The training, which is an activity under the Support-to Media Component of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance (EU-SDGN) Project, is also targeted to enhance the skills of women ahead of the 2023 general election. At the commencement of the training in Jos, Executive Director of the Institute Dr Akin Akingulu explained that the training would improve the professional capacity of women journalists through exposure to digital tools, technical know-how and relevant methods for digital skills while still maintaining a fair, accurate, ethical and inclusive coverage of the electoral process. Executive Director of IMS, Dr Akin Akingulu “Women journalists cannot access appropriate level of partic...