How election debates launched me into limelight – Fashola

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, on Tuesday, said that he earned political relevance through debates against his opponents.

Mr Fashola, a two-term governor of Lagos State, spoke at the 12th anniversary symposium of a civil society organisation, Enough is Enough Network (EiE), in Abuja.

The theme of the symposium was “Debates and Democracy.”

He said he joined the governorship race in 2007 as a rookie but made himself known through debates against his opponents.

He said he participated in no less than 18 debates in the run up to his first election in 2007 and his re-election in 2011 as governor of the state.

He also recounted that he decided to vote for Moshood Abiola against Bashir Tofa in the 1993 presidential election after watching their debate.

“In 2007, people didn’t know who I was politically. People who knew me were the judges and the lawyers in the court, and they said where did you bring this candidate from. And it was clear to me that the only way I was going to connect to the people was during that debate,” Mr Fashola said in one of the panel sessions.

The minister underscored the need to properly engage vice-presidential candidates in debates owing to the economic, social and security roles they play in every government.

“On election day, what you’re probably likely to see is a ballot paper with the signs, symbols, possibly the names of the candidates, but doesn’t tell you what they do about your life, what they care about, how you feed them, doesn’t tell you whether they are God-fearing, whether they have empathy.

“So it is platforms like this that help you test ahead of making a choice, what kind of persons you are entrusting the most serious jobs either in your local government, your state or in your country. And that became very defining for me as a much younger person in 1993,” he further said.

Mr Fashola’s views were also shared by the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Elections Debate Group, Edward Emessiri; a veteran TV host, Ngozi Alaegbu; and a former presidential spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi, who served as a moderator of the session.

Beyond the reality of money politics, religious and ethnic sentiments that often characterised elections in Nigeria, the panelists agreed that there was a need to rigorously subject candidates at all levels of government to series of public debates to assess their suitability before election.

This, according to many of the speakers, including the executive director of EiE, Yemi Adamolekun, will promote a culture of good governance and public accountability of elected officers across boards.

In its bid to promote debate and public awareness about elections processes, Ms Adamolekun said the EiE has hosted and co-hosted over 25 debates in various forms in over ten years.

Some of the debates include the 2019 presidential and vice presidential debate, Osun 2018 and Anambra 2017 and 2021 governorship debates.