Ahead of the 2027 elections, the Chief Executive Officer of TheChoice9e9ja, Caleb Udeoha, has said Nigerians can leverage on technology to vote out non-performing political office holders.
Udeoha spoke in an interview on Arise Television while unveiling TheChoice9ja, a digital platform on which Nigerians can rank the performance of elected political leaders.
He said Nigerians can use technology to hold their leaders accountable.
According to him, political office holders will be assessed and ranked on the platform based on their campaign promises, as well as other relevant key performance indicators (KPIs) that are relevant to their offices.
Udeoha said, “This platform was developed from a serious and intensive survey we did in the UK with Nigerians in the Diaspora. The survey was about what Nigerians are expecting from politicians after the promises made during campaigns. We figured out that Nigerians want to be able to hold politicians accountable based on their manifestos. After electioneering Nigerians want to hold them accountable based on their KPIs. They want to be able to say ‘if you promised us this, within this period of time how have you performed on these promises made to us’ and overtime they want to see the effect on their livelihood.
“You can’t have, year in year out, politicians making promises and there is no way to hold them accountable. Same stories and rhetorics. Nigerians are eager this period – you see what has happened with #EndSARS, you see what has happened with #EndBadGovernance.
“What has actually happened is that Nigerians want to hold politicians accountable to say that, ‘please you said this and that in your campaign, now campaigns are over, how do we rate you based on specific KPIs? If they (politicians) have a job in a paid employment, for them to keep the job they have to perform in line with their KPIs and Nigeria should not be run by people who are not serious about making life better for the people.
“We should have leaders that care about the people, leaders that seek change, leaders that seek betterment in the lives of the people.
“You can actually kick out non-performing politicians on this platform – that is what we intend to achieve.”
Shedding light on how the ranking platform works, Udeoha noted that the ranking happens every quarter.
“So in a quarter you jump on the platform and rate the public office holder you want to rate. For the President you rate him based on his 8 key-point agenda, for the governors you rate them based on the sustainable goals set by the United Nations, same as the senators and the members of the House of Representatives.”
Udeoha noted that the platform will provide a measurable assessment of the impact of government policies.
“We ask how has government policies affected the people in their day to day living and we believe three months is enough. We have been receiving feedback on the platform.
“We have over 100,000 users already so clearly Nigerians are eager to see that things are working in Nigeria especially at a time like this. We see Nigerians going overseas, you see them performing abroad, why can’t they perform in Nigeria?”
While stressing that the ranking will be objective and credible, Udeoha allayed concerns that the platform can be hacked.
He equally assured that personal data of Nigerians who go on the platform to rank political office holders will be protected.
Speaking on the expected impact of the innovation, Udeoha stressed that information is vital in the democratic process.
He emphasized that technology can bridge the gap between governance and accountability.
“Information is key and even when you don’t vote, when you come to the platform, you can see the performance of these our leaders. Now this informs you. Now in America we have what we call preferred candidates and this is through ratings and reviews over the years. It won’t happen overnight. This is an opportunity for Nigerians, using technology, to bridge the gap between governance and accountability.
“So we need to get Nigerians on the platform before the next election, rating these leaders, to hold them accountable.
“We have about 50 to 100 million people that use smartphones (in Nigeria), who have access to internet. If we can get a fraction of this 30 million people that voted in the last election we can be able to transform leadership in Nigeria.
“If you are willing to participate in the electoral process, how do you make your decision? That is what we are bothered about. It is by going to the platform and looking at their performance. Performance is key for good governance, for accountability, for rule of law.
“Inflation is above 40 percent, unemployment is above 40 percent. Nigerians need to come together to hold leaders accountable.”