By Victor Nwegede, Abakaliki.
A Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), IYKON Global Foundation for Child, Youth Care and Human Rights Defence, has designated Ebonyi State as its pilot state in the South-East to assess the performance of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The founder and President of the foundation, Ambassador Ephraim Ikechukwu Nwonu, disclosed this during a press briefing in Abakaliki at the weekend.
Nwonu said the exercise would focus on documenting projects, policies, appointments and other interventions credited to the Tinubu administration at the federal level and the Nwifuru administration in Ebonyi State.
He said the findings would be unveiled at a two-day workshop scheduled for September 7 and 8, 2026, in Abakaliki, stressing that the initiative was aimed at providing citizens with credible information to enable them make informed decisions ahead of the 2027 elections.
According to him, the organisation had undertaken an extensive assessment across Ebonyi State, including visits to the state’s 13 local government areas, to obtain first-hand information on projects and development initiatives executed by the state government.
“We have gone around the whole local government to be sure that we have data, first-hand information, of all the things the Ebonyi State Government has done,” Nwonu said.
He said the organisation had also conducted assessments across the country to document the achievements of the Tinubu administration, particularly interventions with implications for the South-East.
“We have our facts and figures,” he said, adding that the data would be presented at the workshop to enable Nigerians assess the administration’s performance on the basis of documented evidence.
Nwonu said IYKON Global Foundation had, since its establishment in 2009, been involved in advocacy, humanitarian services, good governance, transparency, anti-corruption and human rights activities.
He said the organisation had collaborated with agencies including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in promoting accountability and responsible governance.
“We are non-partisan. Our responsibility is to ensure that we have good governance in place, which we know will rub off positively on the citizenry,” he said.
Explaining why Ebonyi was selected as the pilot state for the South-East, Nwonu said the decision followed reports about the developmental activities of the Nwifuru administration which the organisation wanted to independently verify.
“We have been hearing a lot about how nice this governor is and everything. And we didn’t just want to conclude. That’s why we said, okay, let us come here and survey to see all those things we’ve been hearing that this governor has done,” he said.
The foundation’s president said its assessment would cover federal interventions in the South-East, including road infrastructure and federal appointments, alongside projects and programmes executed by the Ebonyi State Government.
He maintained that the exercise was not designed to promote any political party, insisting that the organisation would retain its non-partisan posture.
Nwonu said citizens, including members of the organisation, were nevertheless entitled to their individual political preferences and choices in the electoral process.
On complaints of marginalisation in the South-East, he said the foundation had documented federal projects and appointments in the region and would present its findings during the workshop.
He said the evidence would enable citizens to independently evaluate the extent to which the concerns of the region had been addressed.
Nwonu also responded to concerns over poverty, inflation and economic hardship, saying the foundation’s assessment would consider government interventions aimed at improving livelihoods, particularly in agriculture and youth empowerment.
“Our youths, for instance, on agriculture, Mr President has done fantastically well. Our youths have been encouraged severely by a whole lot of incentives in that sector to prioritise agriculture,” he said.
He said experts, professionals and resource persons would handle various thematic areas of governance and development at the workshop.
Nwonu said the ultimate objective was to equip citizens with verifiable information and promote evidence-based participation in the democratic process ahead of the 2027 elections.
“We want to showcase all those achievements to help Ebonyians in making informed decisions,” he said.
