Dare Babalola
The Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation (SABMF) on Tuesday gathered government officials and citizens for a 2-day interactive session.
The programme, themed “Assessing electoral promises: Fostering Government-Citizen Engagement for National Unity” was held at the Arewa House, Kaduna, on July 29 to 30, 2025.
The event was attended by President Bola Tinubu who was represented by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State while Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar, Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties (Office of the Vice President) represented Vice President Kashim Shettima.
This was contained in a statement by Engr. (Dr) Abubakar Gambo Umar, the DG, SABMF, where he said the session was in line with the foundation’s objective of deepening dialogue between critical stakeholders and the public to drive inclusive decision-making.
Umar added that the Federal Government sent a delegation which was led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume and included the National Security Adviser, members of the Federal Executive Council, Heads of Federal Agencies, the Chief of Defence Staff and security chiefs, from the Northern part of the country.
He said, “The event brought together government officials, security agencies, civil society organizations, academics, traditional and religious leaders, private sector representatives, and development partners to deliberate on electoral promises, governance, and strategies to strengthen citizen engagement for national unity.”
The DG highlighted some observations and resolutions reached at the interactive session.
Some of the observations at the session are that “the administration’s delivery of electoral promises in security, infrastructure, and economic reforms was high and commendable.
“Northern Nigeria contributes significantly to national stability, development, and electoral outcomes; the problem of Almajiri and out-of-school children remains a key concern of Northern Nigeria; equitable resource distribution is essential to address regional imbalances.
“Agricultural value chains and rural industrialization are crucial for employment and food security; ongoing economic and security reforms require inclusive and non-kinetic approaches and strengthened federal-state collaboration is essential for regional prosperity.
On the resolutions reached, the statement said the interaction gave room to make a case for institutionalised periodic government-citizen dialogue platforms at the national and state levels.
The DG continued that they “commend the government’s high performance in delivering electoral promises in many areas especially security, infrastructural development; praised the increased equitable resource availability to subnational authorities.”
Furthermore, the collaborators “urge substantial investment in education to address the out-of-school children crisis, especially in the North; call for increased and accelerated infrastructural development in Nigeria.”
Umar added that “the summit concluded that Northern Nigeria acknowledges and commends the administration’s high performance in fulfilling its electoral promises in many areas and also appreciates subsisting challenges. Participants call for more commitment to transparency, fairness and equity as elements that would foster national unity and sustenance of our democracy.”
