Senate to make debate mandatory for presidential, govship candidates

Ahead of the 2019 General Elec­tions, the Senate yesterday fast tracked the passage of a Bill for an Act to establish the Nigerian Political Debate Commission with responsibility to conduct and organise debate for candidates of political parties seek­ing elective positions in the country for Second Reading.

The Bill which was sponsored by Sena­tor Abdulfatai Buhari (Oyo North) and was first read on the floor of the Senate on Octo­ber 2015 seeks to give legislative backing for the establishment of a commission with re­sponsibility to organise and conduct debates for all the candidates of political parties cleared by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) to participate in election into the offices of the President, Vice President, Governors and Deputy governors of the 36 states of the Federation.

In his lead debate, Senator Buhari said if the Bill scales final pas­sage and assented to by the President, it would strengthen the nation’s democracy and bring it in conformity with the practice in other re­nowned democracy of the world.

He explained that when passed into law the debate would be used to sample the can­didates’ knowledge on a wide range of issues such as a detailed analy­sis of how they intend to drive the economy, foreign, health and edu­cation policies, among other.

According to him, one noteworthy area of the potential impact of the debate is its capac­ity for what political scientists call agenda setting, adding that vot­ers learn from debates and are able to describe the platform of the can­didates and opens up more information about the pedigree of the can­didates in the contest.

Having enjoyed the overwhelming support of Senators present in the chamber, the Bill was passed for Second Reading and referred to Senate Committee on INEC for further legis­lative consideration.