Ahead of the 2027 general elections, youths across the country have begun setting agenda for political parties and their candidates with demands covering education, agriculture, healthcare, transportation, infrastructure, social protection, entrepreneurship funding and youth participation in governance.

The initiative was unveiled at the Youth Democracy and Accountability Summit, organised by ActionAid Nigeria in Abuja on Wednesday, with the theme, “Empowering Young People for Democratic Participation and Accountability Ahead of the 2027 General Election.”

Speaking at the summit, the Head of Programmes and Policy, ActionAid Nigeria Celestine Okudili Odo, said the summit was designed to enable young people across the country to develop their own agenda for the 2027 elections.

Odo said the youth agenda would be developed into a tool that would be used to engage candidates seeking elections political offices both at the community, state and federal level.

According to him, the agenda would contain a compendium of youth demands from government, including education, agriculture, health, transportation, infrastructure, social protection and access to funds for youth entrepreneurship.

Odo said ActionAid had mobilised and organised youths across the country ahead of the 2027 general elections, providing civic education and creating platforms for their participation both online and physically.

He noted that although many youths became disillusioned after the 2023 elections because their expectations were not met, but urged them not to withdraw from the political process, saying disengagement would only create space for others to determine the country’s direction.

Odo said young people should participate in the 2027 elections, vote, protect their votes and subsequently hold elected representatives accountable at all levels adding that accountability must continue after elections.

He called on citizens to engage their representatives through calls, letters and other legitimate channels to communicate their concerns and make demands, saying the essence of governance is about the welfare of the people, security, social welfare, and protection.

The Programme Advisor, ActionAid Nigeria, Blessing Ifemenam, said more than 4,000 young people had applied to participate in the initiative, adding that the youth agenda process was being implemented across the country.

Ifemenam said the objective was to enable young people to co-create and develop a Youth Agenda 2027 that would reflect their priorities ahead of the general elections.

She said the next step would be to present the agenda and charters to political parties and candidates as a statement of what young Nigerians were demanding ahead of 2027.

She highlighted issues raised by the youths to include unemployment, democratic participation, climate and environmental justice, inclusion gender, digital economy, green jobs among others.

Also speaking, a participant, Christian Ojotu, described the state of democracy in Nigeria as being “below average,” arguing that the country still faces challenges including electoral malpractice, judicial independence and the possibility of military intervention.

Ojotu identified the Constitution as one of the major challenges confronting Nigeria’s democracy, calling for a review to ensure that it effectively serves the democratic interests of Nigerians.

He said resolving constitutional issues would provide a foundation for strengthening democracy and ensuring that the same laws were applied fairly across the country.

Another participant, Uangfun Nsa, commended ActionAid for creating a platform for young people to learn more about democracy and prepare for the 2027 elections.

Nsa said such platforms could provide young people with the information and knowledge required to participate meaningfully in elections and make informed choices.

She also called for greater attention to young people in rural communities, saying they should be equipped with civic information to enable them to assess political candidates and policies beyond inducements such as distribution of food items during campaigns.