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‘The Candidates’ returns as Kadaria Ahmed hosts top six presidential candidates, their running mates

By Ifeanyi Ibeh
07 November 2022   |   11:15 pm
The Candidates presidential town hall series, an original Daria Media concept, returns with on November 17, 2022 and will be live on NTA, FRCN, Radio Now, DSTV, YouTube, Facebook, and more, as political parties and their respective presidential candidates compete to lead Nigeria's next administration by winning the 2023 election. ‘The Candidates’, an election special…

The Candidates presidential town hall series, an original Daria Media concept, returns with on November 17, 2022 and will be live on NTA, FRCN, Radio Now, DSTV, YouTube, Facebook, and more, as political parties and their respective presidential candidates compete to lead Nigeria’s next administration by winning the 2023 election.

‘The Candidates’, an election special town hall meeting for presidential candidates and their running mates was created by Daria Media towards the 2019 General elections to elevate election conversations to issue based conversations. The town hall meetings provided an opportunity for the candidates to interact directly with the electorates and vice-versa.

The program was a departure from the debate format traditionally associated with the presidential elections, which has proved somewhat controversial in Nigeria and many times, takes place without leading contenders.

The latest instalment of the two-hour live town hall meeting series features the presidential and vice presidential candidates for the six major political parties.

According to a news release shared by Daria Media, the parties were selected using a combination of editorial judgement, aggregated polls by the Centre for Democracy and Development, CDD, occupation of elective offices and presence across the country.

Kole Shettima, the Africa Director of the MacArthur Foundation says “the foundation is privileged to support an opportunity for Nigerians to interact with the leading Presidential candidates in the 2023 general elections.”

The Candidates’ Presidential town hall will take place as follows:

Prince Adewole Adebayo and running mate, Alh. Yusuf Buhari, of the Social Democratic Party – 17th November, 2022

Mr. Omoyele Stephen Sowore and running mate, Barrister Haruna Garba Magashi, of the African Action Congress Party –18th November, 2022

Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and running mate, Bishop Isaac Idahosa, of the New Nigeria Peoples Party -19th November, 2022

Mr. Peter Obi (CON) and running mate, Dr. Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, of the Labour Party – 21st November 2022

Alh. Atiku Abubakar and running mate, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa of the People’s Democratic Party – 22nd November, 2022

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and running mate, Sen. Shettima Kashim of the All Progressives Congress Party – 23rd November 2022

Each town hall will be moderated by prominent journalist and broadcaster from Nigeria, Kadaria Ahmed. Since the 2011 elections, she has been presiding over town halls and presidential debates.

Obi Asika, Ceo of Cabal Ent, who has created a number of significant live events, festivals, television programmes, reality formats, and has long been at the forefront of media production, is in charge of producing “The Candidates” this year. He would try to impart that quality to The Candidates along with his staff.

“I am hugely excited to be working with Kadaria Ahmed, one of Nigeria’s most distinguished journalists and broadcasters with a long and impressive track record in print, tv and radio,” said Asika. “We hope to deliver a town hall series that will make all Nigerians proud regardless of which candidate they support and we want to enable the best possible platform for all the leading candidates to come and share their best plans for Nigeria with Nigerians.”

The Candidates will be a live broadcast and streaming production that offers a singular forum for direct communication between the presidential and vice presidential candidates of Nigeria’s major political parties and the country’s voters.

In the Candidates Presidential Townhall series, the organisers say they will be delivering six presidential townhalls and seven pundit shows with leading national commentators hosting the conversations before each town hall.

According to the news release, each edition of the series also has six remote locations in Nigerian universities with live interactive audiences in Maiduguri, Enugu, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Kano, and Abuja who will be part of the live townhall series.

They also said there will be an audience of 100 people for each town hall, including CSOs and the Diplomatic Corps, and that it will be an opportunity for Nigerians to hear directly from the aspirants and to ask them questions on governance and nation building.

‘The Candidates’ has partnered with Zikoko Citizen to distill the conversation for the young, social media engaged audience, and with Africa Fact Check to ensure accuracy and accountability.

‘The Candidates’ will be broadcast across Nigeria on all platforms and will be live on NTA, and over 30 FRCN radio stations, and partner TV stations. It will also be streamed online on YouTube and social media platforms to enable Nigerians in the diaspora to participate.

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