Four of the founding board members of Enough is Enough, EiE Nigeria have resigned.
They are Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, PIN, ‘Gbenga Sesan; Founding Partner of Red Media Africa, Adebola Williams; Executive Director of The Future Project, Chude Jideonwo and journalist, Cheta Nwanze.
In a statement, the group said the resignations were made in the past week and all were with immediate effect.
The group in the statement said their exit follows the resignation of Amara Nwankpa in 2012 for personal reasons and Scott Igbene in 2013 to explore elective office.
Alkasim Abdulkadir, it added, will serve as Acting Board Chair until the Board’s next meeting in the first quarter of 2015.
EiE Started in 2010 and got formally incorporated in 2012. It is a coalition of individuals and organisations focused on good governance and public accountability.
It was the product of the youth-led protests in Abuja in March 2010 and in Lagos in April 2010, demanding that the National Assembly follow the rule of law and make Goodluck Jonathan the substantive president while raising concerns around fuel scarcity, killings in Jos and the comatose state of the power sector.
All four ex-board members said they were leaving to get involved in politics as such have to exit EIE since it conflicts with their original roles in the organisation.
Speaking about his transition from non-partisan advocacy to partisan activities, Mr. Sesan said “In 2011, we decided to work as a non-partisan organisation because of the need for a neutral organisation that can call any of the players in our governance space to order without the accusation of bias.
“It was a wise decision and … I respect the decision of the organisation to remain non-partisan. Nigeria needs an institution like EiE Nigeria and I wish the organisation more strength as it fulfills an all-important role of working for good governance in Nigeria. Due to what is nothing short of the ‘fierce urgency of now’ …. I will complete and be involved in projects to convince others not to reward failure and incompetence during the 2015 general elections.”
EiE’s outgoing Board Chair, Mr. Williams, said, “The past four years have been an amazing ride, the historic things young people have done through EiE Nigeria have changed the way we see our country and the way we engage it for good.