President
Muhammadu Buhari has formally reacted to the release of the 2019 election
timetable and schedule of activities by the Independent National Electoral
Commission INEC, warning actors in the political space against a resort to
violence in an attempt to sway electoral support, or in the event that they are
rejected at the polls.
President Buhari hosts
to Dinner APC Party Chieftains in State House
President Buhari spoke Thursday in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at the 15th Daily Trust Dialogue which had as its theme, ‘Nigeria and the Challenges of 2019’.
President Buhari spoke Thursday in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at the 15th Daily Trust Dialogue which had as its theme, ‘Nigeria and the Challenges of 2019’.
This
was as he said his election as president in 2015 was a reflection of the will
of Nigerians, a position that was immediately denounced by one of the three key
speakers and former Governor of Jigawa state, Sule Lamido who posited that the
2015 elections were defined by the “lies and propaganda of a coalition of
desperate politicians” under the aegis of the All Progressives Congress APC.
“The
elections that ushered the ‘change’ government into power in 2015 reflected the
will of the Nigerian people and was widely acclaimed as transparent and
peaceful.
“From
Umuahia to Damaturu, Jalingo to Osogbo, our people queued for long hours at
their polling units and kept vigil as election officials tabulated their votes.
And then the big one: the then outgoing president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan
historically set the tone for future political conduct in the country by
graciously accepting defeat in a keenly contested race”, the president
recalled.
He
said the election timetable is a reminder to politicians and other stakeholders
that the 2019 general elections were fast approaching.
Represented
by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, the
president said his predecessor, President Goodluck Jonathan by his actions in
2015, had already set the tone for decent political conduct in the country.
“I
also call on politicians and political parties to pledge their commitment to
the peaceful democratic process by urging their supporters to respect the
electoral process and restrain them from violence. All aggrieved parties should
seek redress through constitutional means and respect for the rule of law.
“On
our part, I want to assure Nigerians that my administration will not condone
any violence, support any individual or groups that undermine citizens’
confidence in the ability of the country’s political institutions to conduct
peaceful and successful elections”, he said.
Allow
Attorney Generals handle Election Disputes -Ajibola
Chairman
of the occasion and former Judge of the International Court of Justice ICJ,
Prince Bola Ajibola on his part, advised the federal government to allow
Commissioners of Justice and Attorneys General in the states to handle 2019
election disputes.
Ajibola,
a former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, said; “The
point I am making is to allow the Attorneys-General and Commissioners of
Justice in all the states to handle as Judges the cases of election petition by
moving them around the states, come 2019 so that non will preside over matters
in his own state and will definitely serve in another state either jointly,
with a panel or alone”.
He
also advocated an amendment of Paragraph 2 of S.150 of the 1999 Constitution
which states that “…a person shall not be qualified to hold or perform the
function of the office of the Attorney General of the Federation unless he is
qualified to practise, as a legal practitioner and has been so qualified for
not less than 10 years”.
According
to Ajibola, “instead of 10 years, we now need to replace it with ‘Senior
Advocate Of Nigeria SAN’. We have so many of them now and they are competent to
handle this service”.
Lies,
Propaganda Defined 2015 Elections -Lamido
Lamido
who accused the APC administration of lying itself to power, also took a swipe
at the president, describing him as “intolerant and vengeful”.
Speaking
directly to the president, Lamido said, “if you destroy too much, one day you
will also lead”.
“Mr
President, I am sure when you were coming here, you say fuel queues everywhere.
You are the Minister of Petroleum. When are you going to demonstrate and go on
strike?
“Typical
of you APC, you have not been able to metamorphose from an opposition party to
a party in government. Same old rhetorics. More blame games, more problems.
Telling lies. That is what you are. Your party, not you as a person.
“The
election in 2007 was among three northerners who are Fulani. Gen. Buhari, Atiku
Abubakar and Umaru Musa Yar’adua. We are talking about tolerance and making
sacrifices which you (Buhari) tried to allude to. After the elections, PDP with
about 27 governors and a number of local governments in Nigeria won the
elections. The two other northerners went to the tribunal and lost; went up to
the Supreme Court and lost. If you go by their pedigree, and again I mean no
offence, Yar’Adua was the most qualified democrat among them. He was a
northerner, a Fulani like them. He was not Ijaw. He was not Jonathan, but even
at that, they never forgave Yar’Adua up till when he died. For the over two
years that Yar’Adua was president, Gen. Buhari never attended the Council of
State meeting. He never did. When Yar’Adua became sick, the pressure and
harassment he went through in the National Assembly, some of us stood by him
but we were not being seen as northerners or PDP. When God took him, the first
(Council of State) meeting that the then President Jonathan called, the first
to be there was Gen. Buhari. It says so much about tolerance. It says so much
about vendetta. It says so much about hate.
“Thereafter
in the PDP, somehow, Jonathan ran in 2011 and those who are now preaching
tolerance were not tolerant. He (Buhari) refused to concede and in the north,
people like us were villified and blackmailed. I was called a ‘pastor’, a
preacher because I had a contrary opinion. At that time, you were either for
them or you were not a northerner and a lot of people were killed in the north
because of the hate speeches. APC won in 2015 by creating disaffection among
families. In Gusau, they went from house to house flogging PDP members.
“APC
is telling us what government should do after three years in power. APC should
tell us what they have failed to do”.
Why
Tinubu must leave APC
Speaking
to Mr Wale Edun who represented Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu at the event, the
former Jigawa governor said; “Tell Asiwaju that his brother and friend says he
is in a wrong party. He will only recover and reintegrate himself as a democrat
if he leaves the APC”.
He
accused the Buhari administration of using “Tinubu’s own governors” to fight
against him, saying the president only reached out to the former governor
barely six months ago because his strategic services would be handy ahead of
the 2019 general elections.
Buhari,
Nigerians now Wailing Wailers
“They
call Nigerians wailing wailers for complaining. Thankfully, wailing will be
over in 2019. APC members have joined the wailing wailers. Buhari is wailing.
His wife is wailing because there are no syringes in the Aso Rock Clinic. Sagay
is wailing, calling his party names. (Bisi) Akande is wailing, everybody is
wailing.”
Tinubu
kicks against Open Grazing, Backs Power Devolution
Tinubu
on his part weighed in on the hersdmen killings in Benue and Taraba states,
saying it was time government put a stop to open grazing. He however expressed
his support for devolution of powers.
“2019
must not be a game between players similar in every way save the political
party costume they wear. The election to come must be a contest of different
visions for the nation’s present and future”, he said.
On
killing of people in Benue and Taraba states, Tinubu said; “Against this
backdrop, we must take prudent action. It is incumbent on the federal
government to do what past governments neglected to do. We must forget our age-old
prejudices in order to resolve this problem. What we need is serious committed
action. At its essence, this crisis was not born of religious or ethnic hatred.
It is about a shrinking amount of grass and water.
“As
we commend these security measures, we must not lose sight of the fact that the
problem bears an economic origin. Thus, agro-economic policy initiatives must
help shape the lasting solution. The crux of the matter is that the nomadic way
of life is fast becoming obsolete. Large scale nomadic practice does not belong
in this day and age. This is reality and it is inescapable.
“Thus,
herders have no right to cling to this way of life by killing others.
Government must stop their violence but also offer them a viable new way of
life by moving them toward more modern, non-nomadic cattle rearing”.
He
also spoke against the current fuel subsidy regime in the country.
“We
must reform the current fuel subsidy regime. At this stage it causes more
problems than it cures. Bottlenecks of long fuel queues, erratic supply,
resultant economic dislocations for consumers from lack of fuel and the corrupt
practices of trade insiders undermine the good intentions upon which the
subsidy is based. Currently, the subsidy does not benefit the average person.
It sweetly profits the elites who manipulate the program to their own
advantage. We need to allow market forces to more directly determine price. We
need to open the now closed market to more suppliers”.
The
third speaker at the event, nollywood actress, Kate Henshaw lamented the
growing culture of gerontocracy in Africa, saying it was high time the elders
left the stage for the younger ones.
She
said, “every election year, we do the same thing, and expect different
results”.
Advising
political parties to refrain from parading spent forces who have been tested
but cannot be trusted, Henshaw urged them to instead reach out to
highly-cerebral young Nigerians who have the wherewithal to rescue the nation
from the albatross.
SOURCE:
VANGUARD NEWS
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