HEADLINES
Conrad Omodiagbe
Nigeria Sets State Election Deadline
The electoral umpire in Nigeria, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has announced its decision to maintain June 29 as its original deadline for the conduct of primaries, as well as the submission of party nominations for the September 19 set governorship elections in the south western state of Edo. The chairman of the commission, […]
Conrad Omodiagbe
Trump Threatens to Shut Down Twitter
President Donald Trump has revealed intentions to take extraordinary steps to “strongly regulate” or shut down social media platforms ahead of the U.S November polls, following rising tensions between the president and Twitter, which he accused of attempting to silence the conservative arm of the country. The president’s threat came in after Twitter, as part […]
Farida Adamu
What Does Data Say About Democracy in Your Country?
At the end of 2019, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) published the 2019 edition of its democracy index where the state of democracy in over 165 independent states and two territories were examined across five categories, electoral process and pluralism; the functioning of government; political participation; political culture; and civil liberties. Why This Matters From Hong Kong to […]
Farida Adamu
Nigeria: Why is Lawmaking So Expensive?
In Nigeria, while executive power rests with the president, the National Assembly (which consists of the lower House of Representatives and the upper Senate) make the laws that keep the executive in check. There are 109 members of the senate and 360 members of the house of representatives. With an estimated population of 200 million […]
Farida Adamu
Here’s How COVID-19 Is Eroding Democracy
Most of the news recently has focused solely on providing updates on the current Coronavirus Pandemic sweeping through the world. Just looking at the news alone could lead one to believe that very little else is happening as countries fight to save the lives of their citizens from COVID-19. However, this is untrue as authoritarian […]
Conrad Omodiagbe
Bolivia Postpones Presidential Elections
As fear surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, Bolivia followed in the footsteps of other countries as it announced that it will postpone its presidential elections originally scheduled for May 3. The country also announced that it will institute a mandatory countrywide 14-day quarantine period as part of its measures to curb the spread […]
Conrad Omodiagbe
Malawi Nullifies Presidential Election
It appears that Malawi is heading back to the polls following a recent judgment by the country’s High Court, nullifying the disputed May 2019 presidential elections that seem to have caused further confrontations between leading and opposition parties, as well as widespread unrest within the country. Ruling Cites Irregularities in Vote Tallying Following a globally […]