The performance democracy campaign option…A citizen’s agenda for electoral reform in emerging democracies

By Citizen Dr. Bolaji O. Akinyemi

Apostle | Nation Builder

Convener, National Citizen Conversation

Founder, Citizen Advancement and Development Initiatives (CADI)

Introduction

Democracy has travelled a long journey—from monarchy to representative government, from restricted suffrage to universal franchise, and from authoritarian rule to constitutional democracy. Yet one fundamental question remains unanswered:

Can democracy continue to fulfil its promise if elections become more expensive than governance itself?

Across many emerging democracies, electioneering has become increasingly monetized. Political campaigns consume enormous financial resources, creating pressure on political parties, candidates, governments, and supporters alike.

The result is a dangerous inversion of democratic priorities. Governments elected to deliver development often become preoccupied with securing re-election, while public debate shifts from governance to politics, from performance to propaganda, and from service to survival.

Performance Democracy seeks to reverse this trend.

The Democratic Dilemma

The concern is not limited to one country or one political party.

Across the developing world, opposition parties, civil society organizations, election observers, and ordinary citizens frequently raise concerns about whether incumbency provides an unfair advantage through access to state resources. Whether specific allegations are proven in individual cases is for the appropriate institutio9ns and courts to determine.

The broader issue is that persistent public suspicion weakens confidence in democratic institutions.

Democracy must therefore be designed not only to be fair but also to inspire public confidence that it is fair.

The Performance Democracy Campaign Option

Performance Democracy proposes reforms that reduce the cost of politics while increasing the value of governance.

Instead of allowing elections to become contests of financial strength, democratic systems should encourage competition based on measurable performance, policy innovation, ethical leadership, and public trust.

The objective is not to reduce political competition but to improve democratic productivity.

A Citizen’s Legislative Reform Agenda

Through legislative networking and citizen-sponsored bills, we call for the following reforms:

1. Protection of Public Resources During Election Periods

Strengthen legal safeguards to ensure that public funds, public institutions, government assets, and administrative structures are not improperly used for partisan electoral purposes.

2. Performance Reports Before Campaigns

Require elected executives seeking another term to publish independently verifiable reports of their administration’s performance before campaign activities commence.

Citizens deserve facts before slogans.

3. Campaign Finance Transparency

Strengthen disclosure requirements for campaign financing, expenditures, and major donations to improve public confidence and accountability.

4. Issue-Based Campaigning

Encourage electoral debates centred on measurable policy outcomes, governance achievements, and future development plans instead of personal attacks or identity politics.

5. Reducing Election Violence

Lower campaign intensity through reforms that discourage excessive spending, inflammatory rhetoric, and practices that contribute to political violence.

6. Independent Candidacy

It is time for serious national conversations on Independent Candidacy.

There are outstanding leaders trapped in weak political parties.

There are poor leaders protected by strong political parties.

Democracy should empower citizens to elect the best individuals available, while preserving the important role of political parties in organizing democratic competition.

Independent candidacy should therefore be considered as an additional democratic option where constitutional systems permit.

7. Performance Democracy Scorecard

Develop measurable governance indicators that allow citizens to evaluate elected officials based on service delivery, economic performance, education, healthcare, security, environmental stewardship, institutional integrity, and citizen satisfaction.

The Global Dimension

The challenge of expensive elections is not unique to Nigeria.

Many developing democracies across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and parts of Eastern Europe face similar pressures.

This is why the National Citizen Conversation is taking the conversation to the global stage through the Lagos Declaration on Performance Democracy, the proposed UNGA 81 Side Event, and the development of the Global Charter on Performance Democracy.

The objective is not to export a Nigerian model.

It is to encourage an international conversation on how democracy can better deliver development, accountability, peace, prosperity, and human dignity.

A Call to Action

We call upon:

• National Assemblies and State Legislatures.
• Electoral Management Bodies.
• Political Parties.
• The Judiciary.
• Civil Society Organizations.
• Universities and Research Institutes.
• Development Partners.
• Corporate Institutions.
• Faith Communities.
• Youth Organizations.
• Women’s Networks.
• Professional Associations.
• The Media.
• Citizens across the world.

to join this movement for democratic renewal.

History teaches that democracy survives not because it never changes, but because courageous citizens continually improve it.

Performance Democracy is the next chapter in that evolution.

Let us move beyond the politics of permanent campaigns.

Let us build democracies where public office is measured not by the size of campaign war chests but by the quality of public service.

Let us move from Campaign Democracy to Performance Democracy.

The future of democracy depends upon it.