How presidential candidates manifestos seeks to address SDG

Nigeria Network of NGOs (NNNGO) has launched a report that links the manifestos of the three major candidates in the 2023 Presidential elections to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In a statement, made available to The Guardian, the report, called the SDGs Manifesto Index, objectively assesses the relevance of the SDGs to the manifestos presented by 0Presidential candidates of the All-Progressive Congress (APC), Labour Party (LP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The publication marked a significant milestone in the journey of tracking SDGs implementation by the new administration that would be ushered in by the 2023 general elections, using each prospective candidate’s manifesto as an entry point.

The SDGs Manifesto Index report found that Goal 8 of the SDGs (Decent Work and Economic Growth) has more relevance in the manifestoes of the three presidential candidates, namely Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (APC), Peter Obi (Labour Party) and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar (PDP).

The Index detected 16 goals in the “A Covenant with Nigerians” of the Atiku-Okowa ticket. “Renewed Hope 2023-Action Plan for a Better Nigeria” document of the Tinubu-Shettima ticket that addresses the SDGs documented 14 goals. For the “It’s Possible-Our Pact with Nigerians” document of the Obi-Baba Ahmed ticket, 14 goals were detected.

The report noted that the APC candidate’s manifesto would help achieve 46 SDG targets; LP, 55 and PDP 62 out of the 169 SDG targets. In addition, the Index searched for specific references to the words “Sustainable Development Goals” or “2030 Agenda” in the various documents, 11 instances were found for Atiku Abubakar, three for Peter Obi, and none for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The SDGs Manifesto Index was developed by the Nigeria Network of NGOs using text mining and natural language processing tool developed by the European Union Joint Research Centre, with an additional conceptual design and framework by the Index Team at NNNGO forming part of the process. It also benefited from further review by a group of SDGs experts drawn from within civil society.

Executive Director, NNNGOs, Oyebisi Oluseyi, said: “Reviewing promises, priorities, and strategies of the three major Presidential candidates in the 2023 elections through the lens of SDG is necessary for focusing attention on the goals. “We will perform a post-election review of the manifesto of whoever wins the 2023 elections and develop an indicator for measurement based on United Nations (UN) SDGs indicators with input from development experts and other stakeholders. The indicators will help spotlight how progress towards the design and implementation of activities towards the manifesto including how this will be monitored and evaluated.”