Ayo Obe welcomed listeners to the last episode of IDEAs Radio.  She said that over the past four weeks the programme had looked at the IDEAs quotient in Security, the Electoral Process, the Judiciary and the Economy.  The last of the programme would be looking at Politicians, and what was their own Integrity, Ethics and Accountability contribution to our Democracy.  She introduced the guest who would discuss the issue with her: Jide Ojo who is a Development Consultant, Author and Public Affairs Analyst whom many listeners would know from his columns in Punch newspapers or television appearances.

Ayo Obe said that this fourth programme in the One Year After the Vote series would look at the Economy, for which she was happy to welcome back to the programme, Bismarck Rewane, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives who is an economist and a banker and was a member of President Buhari’s Economic Advisory Council.

Ayo Obe said that Elections are a key part of Nigeria’s Democracy.  Although they are not the only part, where there is dissatisfaction with elections and the electoral process, that dissatisfaction spreads throughout the polity.  Ayo said that she was not quite old enough to remember the elections of the 1950s and 1960s and so could not speak for the entirety of Nigeria’s history, but if we consider the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Republics, in her view the 2023 elections were the most divisive our country has held.

Ayo Obe said that it would surprise many that IDEAs was back on air after it was supposed to have ended last July, but noting that “It’s an ill wind that blows nobody good”, she explained that the ‘ill wind’ of the collapse in the value of the naira had brought the ‘good’ that allowed IDEAs to do a further five broadcasts.  These would lead up to the anniversary of last year’s National elections, and would cover the Integrity, Democracy, Ethics and Accountability quotient of the government in five critical areas: Security, Elections, the Judiciary, the Economy and the behaviour of our Politicians.

Chukwudi Ezugwu started by referring to the saying about “good things coming to an end”, to which Ayo Obe replied that it might be better to stick to “all things must pass”, as it might be rather bold to talk about IDEAs as “good things”.  Chukwudi said that regular listeners would know that the programme came up on Friday afternoons and that it was engaging, interactive and educative.  He said that people would learn so many things as Nigerian citizens if they apply it in the daily activities of government and governance.  He  asked Ayo to explain the significance of IDEAs

andra introduced Ayo who intimated her that today’s was the penultimate broadcast of IDEAs Radio.

The guest, Bismarck Rewane, was greeted by Ayo who went on to say that the new administration of President Bola Tinubu had been getting praised for its policies such as floating the Naira and removing the fuel subsidy, but that most of that praise was coming from outside the country.  Even though most people inside Nigeria agreed that these policies needed to be implemented, there was real concern about the impact on people.

Chuwudi Ezugwu introduced the guest – Nkoyo Toyo, the Convener of the Labour Civil Society Front – and the topic, which he felt everyone would be very interested to hear: the removal of subsidy and the kind of palliatives that would be most useful.

Ayo Obe feared that listeners may have been groaning at the idea of more talk about subsidy removal and palliatives, but said that the programme would be looking at matters from the perspective of Integrity, Ethics and Accountability in our Democracy.  She said that today’s guest, Ambassador Nkoyo Toyo, was not only the Convener of the Labour Civil Society organisation, but was also a well-known civil society activist,

Sandra Ezekwesili was full of beans and had ‘raised shoulders’ over the decision of the Federal High Court striking down the power of the National Broadcasting Commission to impose fines as she welcomed Ayo Obe for IDEAs this week, and Ayo’s guest, Lanre Arogundade, the Executive Director of the International Press Centre, Nigeria.

IDEAs 14th April 2023 … #BBOG’s Habiba Balogun on the 9th Anniversary of the Chibok Girls’ Abduction. Ayo Obe said that today’s programme was going to be different from the usual election-related topics that IDEAs had been covering because the 14th of April marks a sad anniversary.  It is 9 years since the abduction of…

IDEAs 31st March 2023 … Ikeazor Akaraiwe Esq. SAN on Election Petitions Chukwudi Ezugwu said that today’s programme would be looking at Election Petitions in general, and their role in upholding the Integrity of Elections. Ayo Obe then introduced today’s guest, Ikeazor Akaraiwe SAN.  She said that it was known that the Independent National Electoral…

IDEAs 24th March 2023 … Paul James of YIAGA on the State Elections Chukwudi Ezugwu introduced today’s guest, Paul James, the Manager of YIAGA Africa’s Elections Programme, who would be discussing last Saturday’s State elections, and looking at the Integrity and Ethics of the electoral umpire, and the lessons to be carried forward. Ayo Obe…

Today’s guest was Ene Obi, Convener of the Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room, and after Sandra Ezekwesili had kicked off the programme, Ayo Obe said that although we could not be sure that this was the last election in this cycle, since anything could happen. 

IDEAs 10th March 2023 … Sandra Ezekwesili Introduced the programme, saying that today, the discussion would be about the Integrity pressure points in Nigeria’s electoral process.  She started by asking Ayo Obe what was meant by Integrity in the electoral process? Ayo said that Integrity in the electoral process meant issues about whether the procedures…

IDEAs Episode 120 – 24th February 2023 Civil Society Situation Room’s Ene Obi on the eve of #NigeriaDecides2023 Chukwudi Ezugwu introduced the programme by saying that Ayo Obe would be speaking to Ene Obi, and that he was sure that listeners were familiar with the Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room, of which she is the…

Chukwudi Ezugwu introduced the programme by referring to the expression “free and fair” as used in the context of the coming elections, and what that meant in the context of the Integrity – or the lack of Integrity – of the election process in Nigeria. He said that many people were worried about the

Ayo Obe then turned to Jide Ojo, saying that with the elections now just over a week away, she thought it would be useful to survey the pre-election landscape from an IDEAs point of view, because all the elements of IDEAs – Integrity

SP Benjamin Hundeyin on the Role of the Nigeria Police in Securing the Integrity of Elections in Nigeria

After Sandra Ezekwesili kicked off the IDEAs segment, Ayo Obe introduced today’s guest, Superintendent of Police Benjamin Hundeyin, who is the Nigeria Police Force, Lagos State Command Public Relations Officer.

in light of the Osun Election Tribunal.

Ezugwu Chukwudi introduced the programme by saying that “Information is Key” during elections, but that it had to be handled in a way that would not set the nation on fire. He introduced Lanre Arogundade, the Executive Director of the International Press Centre before handing over to Ayo Obe.

Sandra Ekwesili introduced the programme today, but unfortunately the advertised guest, Festus Okoye Esq., who is the INEC National Commissioner for Information, had to represent the INEC Chair at the meeting with political party chairs and presidential candidates and so was unable to join us for the discussion.  As a result, she would pretend to be Festus, and Sandra would have to pretend to be her!

IDEAs Episode 114 – 13th January 2023 Ikeazor Akaraiwe Esq. SAN on allegations against neutral election actors Ezugwu Chukwudi introduced the programme with a reminder that the elections are now only 42 days away.  He referred to the role of election observers and the way some of them are treated and wondered whether that was…

Ezugwu Chukwudi introduced the programme by saying that many Nigerians would be optimistic about 2023 and looking forward to the elections of February 25th and March 11th.  He said that we would be discussing all that listeners need to know about INEC’s preparedness so that they can be confident about the elections and why it is important to participate.  He said that the programme would be joined by Samson Itodo of YIAGA Africa which is doing great work in relation to citizen participation and accountability.

Before delving into the issues for discussion today, Ayo corrected the wrong information conveyed by her interview with Honourable Patrick Ikhariale in Episode 106, where they had wrongly discussed the APC primaries as if there was to be only one delegate per LG, whereas it was in fact 3 delegates per LG. She then turned…

With all the drama surrounding the issue of political party delegates, this week IDEAs had a big interview with Honourable Patrick Ikhariale, a former member of the House of Representatives on the issue.

Episode 105 Blog – 13th April 2022 Ebun Adegboruwa SAN on the IDEAs issues in remaining in office as an aspirant With the President directing “all ministers, Heads and Members of Extra-Ministerial Departments, Agencies, Parastatals of Government, Ambassadors as well as political appointees who desire to contest for elective offices” to resign before Monday 16th…

As election season gets into full swing with the sale of nomination forms by some parties, and the emergence of delegates who will chose their party’s flagbearers, leading political columnist and analyst Jide Ojo was our guest on today’s programme to examine some of the IDEAs issues raised.

With the 28th March 2022 attack by terrorist bandits on a train travelling from Abuja to Kaduna with loss of life, injury and apparent abduction of some passengers, as well as a mounting toll from not just terrorist and bandit attacks, but also criminal kidnapping across the country, our guest on IDEAs Radio today is Ochendo Simon Okeke, who was Chair of the Police Service Commission from 2001-2006.

Episode 102 Blog – 18th March 2022 Waziri Adio on the ‘Perfect Storm’  as fuel shortages & high diesel costs jam system collapse! With a ‘system collapse’ of the National electricity grid during the last week, Nigerians seem to have entered a ‘perfect storm’ where problems relating to energy are hitting Nigerians from all sides:…

Auwal Musa Rafsanjani on what impact the amended Electoral Act will have on the Integrity of elections in Nigeria’s Democracy Episode 101 Blog – 4th March 2022Auwal Musa Rafsanjani on what impact the amended Electoral Act will have on the Integrity of elections in Nigeria’s DemocracyIn addition to being the Executive Director of the Civil…

During the week BudgIT released its analysis of the 2022 Budget of the Federal Government and its Senior Research and Policy Analyst, Iniobong Usen came on IDEAs Radio to discuss the issues raised with Ayo.

On Monday 20th December President Buhari wrote to the National Assembly that he was withholding his assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.  In a letter dated 13th December that was read to the Senate and the House of Representatives on the 21st of December, the President focused on the clause that imposed direct primaries…

Episode 95 Blog – 10th December 2021 Jide Ojo on Asset Recovery and Disposal by the Anti-Corruption Agencies December 9th was World Anti-Corruption Day, and Jide Ojo, a public affairs analyst, columnist and television host joined Ayo Obe to discuss issues connected with Accountability in the recovery of assets that were the proceeds of fraud,…

With just over a week to go before the Anambra State off-cycle governorship election, Ayo Obe interviewed Cynthia Mbamalu, Director of Programs at YIAGA Africa who is leading the organisation’s ‘Watching the Vote’ project in Anambra State. Such an election clearly answers to Democracy, the ‘D’ in IDEAs, but what was Cynthia’s assessment of the Integrity of the electoral process: was the Independent National Electoral Commission prepared for the poll? She referred to YIAGA’s Pre-Election Observation Report which raised certain concerns, including the failure of INEC to commence the collection of Permanent Voter Cards for the over 70,000 newly-registered Anambra State voters.

Nigerians have reacted to the scandal of the Pandora Papers, but what IDEAs issues do they raise?  In today’s episode, Ayo Obe spoke with Nicholas Ibekwe – the award-winning journalist who leads the investigative journalism section of Premium Times, one of Nigeria’s leading online media outlets.  Premium Times is part of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists which spent a year examining the 11.9 records known as the Pandora Papers.

President Muhammadu Buhari gave a long and wide-ranging speech to mark Nigeria’s 61. Independence anniversary; But what issues relating to Integrity, Democracy, Ethics and Accountability did his speech raise? In this week’s programme Ayo Obe was in conversation with Aghogho Oboh to examine this question.