The conference will be held from September 19, 2023, to September 22, 2023, in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Interested speakers should suggest compelling panels, workshops and other presentations. Suggested sessions should be skills-based and focused on the tools, techniques, and how-to of investigative and data journalism.
The organiser says the three main types of sessions will entail the panels which are usually with three speakers and a moderator, workshops which are smaller sessions usually taught by one or two trainers, and networking sessions which are informal meet-ups based on language, region, or topic.
Session ideas must be submitted in English.
Journalists can submit session ideas for an investigative journalism conference.
The working language of the conference is English, so the proposed speakers should speak and understand English.
The deadline for the submission of ideas is January 10, 2023. Interested speakers should send ideas here.
With less than six months to the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s term in office, Nigerians will head to the polls on February 25, 2022, to elect a new president.
Apart from voting for the President, Nigerians will also be voting to elect members of the National Assembly (senate and the house of representatives), State governors – aside from states with off-cycle elections Kogi, Anambra, Ekiti, Osun, Bayelsa, Imo, Edo, Ondo – and members of State Assemblies making it five ballot papers in all, but this report will only focus on the Presidential election.
The National Assembly will be held on the same day as the Presidential election, while the Governorship and the State Houses of Assembly will be held on March 11 2023.
Since its independence in 1960, Nigeria has had sixteen dispensations with 14 heads of states/presidents.
Candidates for the 2023 presidential election
Eighteen candidates are running for President in Nigeria this year.
Voters register and Voter turnout
Nigeria has a voter register of 93.5m voters, according to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu announcement in October 2022.
According to Mahmood, “In terms of demographic distribution, 7.2mn new voters or 76.5 per cent are young people between 18-34 years while there is a slightly higher number of female (4.8m or 50.82 per cent) than male (4.6m or 49.18 per cent) voters. In terms of occupation, 3.8m (40.8 per cent) are students.”
“At the end of the [CVR] exercise, 12,298,944 Nigerians successfully completed the registration as new voters. All along, we have repeatedly assured Nigerians that our process of cleaning up the register is robust,” he said.
He further said, “After a rigorous cleaning-up of the data using the automated biometric identification system (ABIS), a total of 2,780,756 (22.6%) were identified as ineligible registrants and invalidated from the record, among them double/multiple registrants, underaged persons and outrightly fake registrations that fail to meet our business rules.”
“Consequently, the number of valid registrations (post-ABIS) is 9,518,188.”
“The 9,518,188 new voters have been added to the existing register of 84,004,084 voters. The preliminary register of voters in Nigeria now stands at 93,522,272.’’
Although the number of Nigerians registering to vote has been increasing, voter turnout in Nigeria has lagged behind the national average since 1999.
Election turnout has been declining steadily since 1999, though there was an increase between the 1999 and 2003 elections from 52 per cent to 69 per cent, according to data on election statistics available since the beginning of democracy in 1999.
However, following the 2003 presidential election, turnout in subsequent elections continued to drop, first to 57 per cent in 2007, then to 54 in 2011, and finally to 44 in 2015.
Declining further in 2019, only 34.75 per cent of registered voters cast ballots in the presidential election; according to data from INEC.
How to become Nigeria’s president
Elections have been held every four years in Nigeria by balloting since 1999.
Requirements to be a presidential candidate, according to the 1999 constitution, Chapter VI, Part I, Section 131 of the constitution states that a person may be qualified for election of the office of the president if:
They are a citizen of Nigeria by birth;
They have attained the age of 35 years;
They are a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party;
They have been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent.
A person contesting must also be a member of a political party – this party must be registered with INEC.
Once a member, the person must be nominated as the party flagbearer in the election through the process of the primary election in the party.
The Electoral Act allows a political party to nominate a candidate by the following means:
Direct Primaries:
All registered members of the party vote for the aspirants
Indirect Primaries:
Delegates vote for the aspirants
Consensus:
All cleared aspirants for the position voluntarily withdraw from the race and endorse one candidate, which must be in writing.
If the above requirement has been met, the next step is the General Election:
Section 133 of the constitution provides that if there is only one candidate running, he or she must have obtained a majority of YES votes over NO votes and at least 25 per cent of the votes cast in each of at least two-thirds of the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory in order to be considered duly elected (FCT).
According to Section 134(1) of the Constitution, if there are only two candidates running for office, one of them must have received a majority of the votes cast in the election and at least a quarter of the votes cast in each of at least two-thirds of the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory to be considered duly elected (FCT).
In accordance with Section 134(2) of the Constitution, the candidate who receives the highest number of votes cast at the election and at least one-quarter of the votes cast in at least two-thirds of the states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is deemed to have been duly elected.
THE Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has increased surveillance against possible outbreak of infectious diseases, including cholera, monkey pox, ebola, measles and COVID-19 in the nation’s capital.
Director, FCT Public Health Department Saddiq Abdulrrahman disclosed this to journalists, saying although no major incidents had been recorded, proactive measures are being taken against any outbreak.
“For Ebola viral disease, which is a big global disease of public health concern, though it is not yet witnessed in Nigeria except for the last case in 2014, we are aware that there is already an outbreak in DRC Congo, with so much consequences from quite a number of deaths, and closure of schools. So here, we have executed a high alert mode even though we have not witnessed any case yet.
“So, proactive measures have been taken. Our surveillance system is heightened, and the FCT Administration bought quite a number of commodities, particularly for these key diseases, like Cholera, that we witnessed in 2021. We went on advocacy visits to key stakeholders, especially in those area councils that had high potent of the disease during the outbreak, such as AMAC, Kuje and Bwari,” he said.
The director also noted that there were ongoing training sessions for health workers, as well as awareness campaigns targeted at residents in the grassroots to cushion effects of possible disease outbreaks.
“For cerebral spinal meningitis, from January to date, we witnessed zero case; for cholera, we witnessed only two suspected cases and zero laboratory confirmed. And for viral hemorrhagic fever, especially Lassa fever, which is endemic, we had 11 suspected cases and only one laboratory confirmed with no death.
“For measles, we had about 245 suspected cases and zero laboratory confirmed. And for monkey pox, which had brought a wave in recent past, cumulatively, we had about 58 suspected cases, with nine confirmed in the FCT from January to date,” he added.
Abdulrahaman noted that although the government had relaxed COVID-19 guidelines and related travel advisories, residents were still required to adhere to precautionary measures due to a resurgence of the disease in other countries.
CROSS River State governor Ben Ayade has ordered the immediate discontinuation of the Bikers’ Parade at the ongoing Calabar Carnival after seven persons died in an accident during the event.
Twenty-nine persons were also injured in the accident, which occurred on Tuesday, December 27.
A statement by the Special Adviser on Media to the Cross River State Government Christian Ita said the governor was devastated by the incident and has directed security agencies to apprehend a motorist suspected to have caused the accident.
The unnamed motorist is currently on the run.
Ayade also sympathised with the victims of the accident and their families and ordered an immediate investigation to unravel how the motorist was able to get through security obstacles to have access to the routes, which were closed to the public.
Tragedy struck at the annual carnival when a Toyota Camry car lost control and ran into a crowd of spectators.
The accident, which occurred when the governor was already seated with other dignitaries, brought the Day Five activities to an end.
While confirming the accident, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Sector Commander, Maikano Hassan, said 21 male adults, three women, two boys and three girls were injured.
He said that the remains of the dead had been deposited in two hospitals in Calabar, the state capital.
THE Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command of the Nigerian Police has launched an investigation into the death of a Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission staff, Ahmed Usman Hassan, who was reportedly killed on Monday morning in Abuja.
Usman, a father of four, left home around 7:00 am to jog around his Ochacho Estate home in the Idu-Karmo District of the FCT on Monday, December 26.
His wife became worried when he didn’t return home. She contacted his friends and people in the estate, who lodged a complaint at the Idu-Karmo Divisional Police Station.
Preliminary reports showed that Hassan’s assailants allegedly pounced on him while he was jogging, stabbed him, left him in a pool of his blood and went away with his phone.
The deceased was reportedly taken to the Garki General Hospital, where he was confirmed dead.
Many of his friends on social media and people in his estate described him as a gentleman, loving and peaceful.
They said he recently bagged a Master’s Degree in Energy Oil and Gas Economics from the University of Dundee, United Kingdom.
The deceased was taken to his home town in Barkin Ladi LGA of Plateau State, later on Monday for burial.
In a statement on Tuesday, the FCT Police Command, through its spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, a deputy superintendent of police, said the new Commissioner of Police, Sadiq Abubakar, had directed the division of jurisdiction and other investigative and intelligence assets of the Command to investigate the death and bring persons behind the crime to book.
According to the Command, Hassan’s body was discovered around 2: 00 pm on Monday by a search party organized by the Karmo Divisional Police Headquarters upon receiving the complaint that he was missing.
Hundreds of people converged on Barkin Ladi Town, Barkin Ladi LGA, Plateau State, for the burial.
The ICIR reports that the attack on Hassan is the latest of the insecurity crisis in the FCT.
Last Friday, the newspaper chronicled some of the issues that have threatened the nation’s capital in a report on the appointment of the new FCT Police Commissioner, Sadiq Abubakar.
The FCT recorded a similar attack on a jogger in December 2020. The victim, a retired Air Commodore, Akin Johnson, was attacked and brutally injured by armed men while jogging alone near his residence at Lugbe, located along the Abuja International Airport Road.
Many residents of the FCT, especially civil servants and security forces, as well as workers in paramilitary agencies, usually engage in early morning jogging, covering some kilometres.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), jogging as a physical activity has significant health benefits for the heart, body and mind. It also has several other benefits which are available here.
Lack of physical exercise can be very detrimental to human health and productivity.
THE Lagos State Police Command has said two police officers arrested alongside the killer cop, ASP Dambri Vandi, over the Christmas Day killing of a female lawyer, Omobolanle Raheem, would be released as they were not involved in the crime.
According to News Agency Nigeria (NAN) the Command’s spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin disclosed this on Tuesday, December 27, while giving an update on the case.
The police in Lagos, on Christmas Day, arrested Vandi and two other officers attached to Ajiwe Police Station in Ajah, following the killing of the female lawyer.
Hundeyin said the arrested cops were immediately taken into protective custody and later transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for thorough investigation.
He added that the two police officers arrested with the ASP were detained for interrogation and testimonies.
Hundeyin said, “The two policemen arrested with the ASP who killed the lawyer will be released today (Tuesday) after giving their testimonies to the Command.
“They were arrested because they saw what happened. They were not the ones who allegedly killed the woman.
“They have given their stories on what happened and the CP has ordered that they should be released while investigations continue.”
Giving an update on the similar killing of one Gafaru Buraimoh on December 7, by a police officer from the same Ajiwe Police Station, Hundeyin revealed that the officer was still in detention, yet to be charged to court.
The PPRO said the police officer was yet to be arraigned because his dismissal order had not been released.
“There are indeed consequences. The officer is still in detention at the SCID. His investigation is being wrapped up.
“Once his dismissal order comes out, he will be charged to court immediately,” he said.
Hundeyin said the killer cops would be held responsible for their actions.
He noted that when the first incident occurred on December 7, the Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi, changed the DPO of the police station.
He added, “This has become one too many, especially bearing in mind that a similar incident occurred at the same location less than three weeks ago.
“The condemnable incident is against the standard operating procedure and rules of engagement of the Force, and to say the least is embarrassing.
“Beyond this incident, the Nigeria Police Force will carry out a reappraisal of its rules of engagement, to put an end to such avoidable ugly incidents.”
He further appealed to Lagos residents to remain calm, adding that the Command was already in touch with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that justice is done.
LABOUR Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi has appointed a former Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Akin Osuntokun, as the new Director General of his campaign council.
Osuntokun’s appointment was announced by the party’s national chairman, Julius Abore, at a press briefing on Tuesday, December 27.
He said that the new DG was chosen at a strategic meeting of the party, which had Obi, members of the National Working Committee and the party’s candidates for other elective positions in attendance.
According to Abure, Osuntokun is a “worthy and trustworthy” replacement for Doyin Okupe, the former DG of the campaign council.
Osuntokun served as Political Adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and as Director of the Presidential campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2011.
He is a political scientist, strategist, researcher, administrator, journalist and writer with experience in media advocacy, policy research and implementation and political analysis.
Until his appointment, he was the Zonal Coordinator of the LP Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) in the South-West
The ICIR had reported that Okupe resigned from his position earlier this month following his conviction by an Abuja Federal High Court for money laundering.
Okupe was found guilty for receiving over N200 million cash from former National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki, in violation of the Money Laundering Act.
THE Christmas message of the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah, on December 25, 2022 has resonated the call that the incoming administration needs to restructure the economy if it must succeed.
Informed analysts who reacted to the speech told The ICIR that the concerns raised by the cleric are, indeed, worrisome as Nigerians feel the high impact of government’s failure on insecurity, rising inflation, and currency problems.
The cleric, well-known for his fearless declarations on national issues, had once again raised issues with the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s inability to manage Nigeria’s diversity.
He accused Buhari of nepotism, which he said was fuelling corruption.
In the Christmas message delivered at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Sokoto, the cleric called on the President not to leave behind a vulnerable country, as he celebrated his last Christmas period as president of Africa’s largest economy.
Kukah stated in his message, “In Nigeria today, we bear scars, we bear trauma, we bear deep sorrow. Our children are still in forests, in the hands of evil men. But most of them have no names. They are only numbers. Still, let us not give up. This is the last Christmas for this present government’s administration. Let us do our duty as we have a chance to choose new leaders.”
The cleric stressed that Nigeria was falling to the pressure and irruptive forces of primal ethno-religious national, with an emphasis that “before Nigerians’ eyes, a dubious jihadist culture has held our nation to ransom with the government simply looking away.”
Kukah remarkably pointed out that despite the President’s lofty promises, he was leaving Nigeria far more vulnerable, and dashing the hope the citizens had on him for a corruption-free nation, which Kukah alleged was marred by his nepotism.
Kukah commends Buhari on infrastructure, despite nepotism accusations
“In my Christmas message last year, I pointed out that you had breached the constitution by your failure to honour and adhere to the federal character provisions of our constitution. The evidence is before us all,” he said.
Kukah’s speech was not all gloomy, as he praised the President’s efforts in areas of infrastructure and electoral reforms.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has quickly reacted to the message, describing it as “unGodly” coming from a priest, and asserting that Buhari deserved kudos for the “achievements” the party argued he had racked up during his tenure.
The APC director of publicity, Bala Ibrahim, said Buhari, rather than condemnation deserved commendation from Kukah.
Ibrahim said, “I hold him (Kukah) in high esteem and respect him because he is a senior brother to a friend.
“Secondly, he is a man of God. But I am sorry to say that sometimes his speeches are unGodly. UnGodly in the sense that he does not seem to be objective at times.
“If you are going to be objective or speak with fairness, you cannot but give credit to Buhari for the way and manner he handles this country.”
Analysts’ concerns and suggestions
A social critic and professor of Law at Baze University, Sam Amadi, who spoke with The ICIR on the concerns that Kukah raised, said the cleric’s comments had prepared the template for the incoming administration not to repeat the mistakes that Buhari made.
Amadi contended that repeating such mistakes would plunge Nigeria further into an abyss which might be very difficult to emerge from.
“What is important now is for those who eventually win the election in 2023 to have a sense of purpose to realise that the country is in a very bad place. We would be deteriorating unless there is a reversal of where we currently are now.
“The first challenge is whether those who won would see their victory as an authorisation to do big, or whether they would see their victory as an authorisation to serve themselves and mock those who failed,” he noted.
Referring to some statements that Buhari uttered, Amadi said, “When President Buhari won, he had the opportunity to see the victory as an authorisation to restart and do better and that would mean fairness to all. But he didn’t do that; instead he started to talk about 97 per and 5 per cent.”
The President, Amadi posited, faltered by putting together a team that did not reflect Nigeria’s abundant talent, adding that the result is what Nigeria is experiencing in weak economic growth, currency depreciation and rising poverty.
Amadi: next year’s election victor must steer Nigeria to high economic path
He stressed that the focus for anyone who wins next year’s election should be high economic growth that “must overcome Nigeria’s rising population and multi-dimensional poverty that has 133 million Nigerians in its net.”
The law professor said, “Growth has to go together with fair distribution, and create opportunities for people to move up the economic ladder. Economic growth must be prioritised not as ad hoc, but as an integral part of government’s economic policy.
“Government’s economic growth must prioritise anti-poverty measures and create wealth for those at the lowest economic baseline.
“More importantly, we have to develop a strong consensus of some basic restructuring reform policy. Look at what is happening in Southern Kaduna currently. We must come together in a foundational sense to parry the country away from no-feudalism to a clear democratic citizenship so that we can enjoy a new trajectory of growth.”
To the Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice, Eze Onyekpere, Buhari had shown lack of capacity since 2015.
Onyekpere: President Buhari was tired from day one
Onyekpere said, “The people are still being killed in southern Kaduna, as they were being killed before President Buhari came into office. There is no leadership in place.”
Maintaining the country is on autopilot, he added, “If there’s leadership, how can the State Security Service and the Central Bank of Nigeria be playing the kind of games they are playing now when they both report directly to the President? This raises lots of questions.
He also questioned the rationale of banks rationing payment at counters to depositors.
Onyekpere saw a huge disconnect in the coordination of policies and programmes of the government, a situation he said has made the country rutherless under Buhari.
“Let’s look at the naira redesign: why are people still being largely paid with the old currency, despite the 31st January deadline? The new notes are still scarce and banks are rationing payments even with the old currency, as I witnessed in banks in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
THE Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has said ten persons died in an accident on the Lagos-Ibadan highway Tuesday morning.
The accident involved a commercial bus with registration number TRK 135 ZY and a hit-and-run truck carrying a container.
Six persons were injured in the crash, which occurred around the Guru Maharaji area of Ibadan end of the highway.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the commercial bus was coming from Malumfashi, Katsina State and heading to Lagos State.
The ICIR reports that the bus had covered nearly 900 kilometres of the approximately 1,000 Katsina-Lagos journey before the tragedy occurred.
A similar incident, which claimed three lives and injured six others, occurred on the expressway on Christmas Day.
Incessant reports of gridlocks and accidents, with many fuel tankers going into flames on the ever-busy road, make the highway have the highest record of road accidents in Nigeria.
The ICIRlisted the expressway as one of the country’s flashpoints for abduction and vehicular accidents.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Sector Commander in Oyo State, Joshua Adekanye, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the Tuesday tragedy occurred at 6:30 am.
Adekanye explained that the bus driver suddenly saw the truck carrying container and facing it in the same direction against traffic.
An attempt by the driver to avoid ramming into the truck made him hit the container and fall into a ditch, leading to the death of 10 persons, while six were injured.
The bus had 18 people on it. Seventeen of them were male adults, while one was a male child.
The male child survived but was among the injured.
Adekoye said the injured persons were taken to Ibadan Central Hospital for medical attention while the bodies of the deceased were deposited at Adeoyo Hospital morgue.
He urged motorists to avoid travelling at night, as, according to him, the accident might not have occurred had the driver not travelled at night.
![[REVIEW] 2022 in numbers](https://www.icirnigeria.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022-in-numbers-768x432.png "[REVIEW] 2022 in numbers")
