As Nigerians preamble to the presidential poll, which will hold in the coming 25 days, the Deputy Secretary- General of the United Nations( UN) and president of the UN Sustainable Group, Ms Amina J. Mohammed, has advised that Nigeria can not go to fail with the 2023 general choices.
She also prompted the Nigerian Bar Association( NBA) to insure success of the pates.
Mohammed stated this, history, in her keynote address delivered at the State of the Nation Dialogue on Security, Economy and Administration of Justice, organised by NBA in Abuja, prompting the association to come up with how to effectively manage conflicts that may arise from the conduct of the choices.
The UN Deputy Secretary- General said “ As Africa’s leading frugality, with the biggest anchorages and security anchor for our neighbouring countries, Nigeria can not simply go to fail. UN will support any process that will lead to believable, each- inclusive, free and fair general choices. UN is committed to accompanying Nigeria on this trip.
And NBA has a huge part to play to advance the country’s aspiration towards 2023 general choices. ”
She said the UN has observed fake news, religious and ethnical hate speeches running the ongoing juggernauts.
Speaking to the followership via a live broadcast, Mohammed saluted the Independent National Electoral Commission( INEC) for achieving great strides in adding the credibility and translucency of the electoral process.
“The increase in the enrollment of choosers is encouraging and shows Nigerians are enthusiastic of the electoral process, ” she said.
Still, Mohammed said the UN “ continues to witness attack on electoral institutions, fake news, detest speeches grounded on religious and ethnical individualities since the political juggernauts began. ”
She also made a case for increase in the number of women in politics of the country, while lowering on the near disaffection of women and youths. She said equal participation is pivotal for development.
She said “Nigeria’s population is youthful and talented and yet, they aren’t heard from. Seventy per cent of the population is under the age of 30, yet they’re also not represented and frequently not included as active actors in decision timber.
“My sincere stopgap is that this can be turned around to make more equal and just society. Nigerian women constitute only 3.6 per cent of the public congress and none is 35 times of age or younger. My appeal is to prioritise gender equivalency, women’s right and increase the number of women in government. ”
NBA President, Yakubu Maikyau( SAN), in his speech, apologised to Nigerians for what he described as the failure of attorneys to live up to their liabilities of offering guidance for the country’s advancement.
Maikyau said utmost of the challenges facing Nigerians were as a result of the neglect of attorneys to give direction and leadership to the people.
“I dare say, with utmost respect, that to a large extent, our experience moment as a country is a direct result of the legal profession’s adoption of the duty to give direction and leadership to the people. I must, thus, as one who’s privileged to lead the Bar at this time, apologise to Nigerians for the adoption of our part.
“moment, as members of the Bar, we’re reputed more for how important freights we charge our guests as opposed to the discharge of our primary call to offer guidance and/ or offer ourselves for the advancement of the cause of our country. This reason is necessary because, no other group of professionals is called to this privileged position as the attorneys, ” he said.
As the watchdog of the people, he added that NBA members must, through their independence and total commitment to social justice, give necessary support to sustain independent and intrepid bar, the last stopgap of man for law and order, peace and progress.
Members of a panel of discussion moderated by Eugenia Abu on the ‘ State of Human and State Security in Nigeria Is there a way out? ’ lamented the security challenges in the country, indeed as they held that the security of life and property is the responsibility of government.
A former Inspector General of Police and Chairman of the Police Service Commission( PSC),Dr. Solomon Arase, a member of the panel, in his comment, called for increase in the numerical strength of security agents, adding that when there’s consequence for crime, there will be truculent.
Present at the NBA dialogue were presidential aspirant of Action Alliance( AA),Maj. Al- Mustapha Hamza( rtd); Sani Yabaji Yusuf of Action Democratic Party( ADP);Prof. Peter Umeadi of All Progressives Grand Alliance( APGA); Omoyele Sowore of African Action Congress( AAC); Prince Adewole Adebayo of Social Democratic Party( SDP); Dumebi Kachikwu of African Democratic Congress( ADC) and Nwanyanwu Daniel Daberechukwu of Zenith Labour Party( ZLP).
THE pan-Yoruba socio- political organisation, Afenifere, yesterday, called on government and all stakeholders to insure that there’s no change in this time’s choices and handing- over date on May 29. This was contained in a statement issued by its public hype Secretary, Jare Ajayi, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
According to Ajayi, the need to reiterate the sacrosanct nature of February/ March choices came imperative incompletely due to the alarm note sounded by the spokesperson of Arewa Consultative Forum( ACF),Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, on possibility of using the court to baffle the electoral process, as well as difficulties being foisted on Nigerians through the naira exchange policy and energy failure, whose consequences may be used as reason to jeopardise the ongoing civil rule.
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Ajayi said “The simulated pains can be seen in the unabated instability, heightened difficulties in getting energy, in getting new naira notes and in getting other energy sources similar as electricity, gas, kerosene and diesel. However, their( peaceful) expression of frustration may be used as an reason to want to tinker with the popular trial going on, If the difficulties being endured in these areas continue and Nigerians begin to reply. similar would not be respectable in any way.”
Recall that Baba-Ahmed, at the weekend, said there were imputations that the choices might not hold “ and some kind of unconstitutional gimmick may be forced on Nigerians after May this time. ”
The Afenifere spokesperson stated that the organisation is on the same runner with ACF in its warning that “ Nigerians won’t accept to live under any arrangement that offends the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. ”
Afenifere further called on the bar not to allow itself to be used to hazard republic through harmful and frivolous actions similar as the one brought by one Chief Ambrose Albert Owuru wanting to stop the forthcoming presidential election.
“Luckily, the case, which was heard by Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo of a Federal High Court in Abuja was dismissed on Monday, ”he added.
But displeased with the idea of staggered choices, the Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria( SCSN) has asked the Federal Government to prevail on INEC to hold all the forthcoming pates in one day, while expressing fears that violence may mar the staggered general choices.
The Council said that violence might be imminent because some hopeless politicians are formerly warming up to beget extremity to stop the choices, knowing that they may lose the contests.
Addressing a press conference in Kaduna, the Secretary General of the Council, Nafi’u Baba- Ahmed, said “ A security source verified to the Council that security agencies may not be suitable to repel the brewing political violence. ”
According to him, “ there is high probability of the alternate election not holding because of violence from the first election. The first election is the presidential and National Assembly choices. Our fear is that in the light of precarious security situation in the country and the admission by security agencies that they’re overstretched, it’s relatively possible, in fact largely probable, that some hopeless politicians who might lose the election will spark political violence to the extent that the posterior choices may not hold. ”
Pat Utomi, Convener, Big Tent Coalition for Obi- Datti Presidential Ticket, said INEC must insure the choices are devoid of child voting and vote buying. The political economist stated this in Lagos at a news briefing to flag- off the Big Tent Door- to- Door crusade civil for the Labour Party presidential aspirant, Mr Peter Obi.
Utomi said INEC must use the general choices as occasion to redeem its image. He noted that trust deficiency in the relationship between INEC and the Nigerian people had visited the legality of choices conducted so far.
He said that INEC should put its integrity to bear by conducting believable election and icing that under-aged children weren’t allowed to bounce as witnessed in former choices in corridor of Nigeria.
Utomi noted that stopping under-aged voting was easy with preface of the Bimodal Choosers Accreditation System( BVAS) that would make it insolvable for children below the age of 18 to bounce.
“Election observers should look out for under-aged choosers and call INEC’s attention to it for verification, ” he said.
AHEAD the choices, the European Union( EU) has stationed 40 foreign spectators and another 60 original spectators to cover the pates. The Chief Observer of the European Union Election compliances Mission( EU- EOM), Andrew Barry, during a press conference, in Abuja, revealed that they’re in the country following assignation from INEC.
He said 11 experts with capabilities in colorful aspects of election arrived the country three weeks agone, including political, legal and election judges, bystander fellow, data and media judges, press officer and social media critic. ”
He revealed that for the first time, the charge has a devoted election technology critic to assess the use of technologies, especially in verification of votes and the transmission of result.
Barry stated that during the election, the EU- EOM would be observing and assessing the legal frame and its perpetration, the equity and performance of the election administration, the degree of an open and fairly queried crusade and crusade finances, among others.
Other areas the delegation would be observing include the part of state institutions and civil society, the universal ballot swung to choosers, especially to women, youth and vulnerable groups, conduct of the media, including social media, access by political parties and campaigners to state and private media.
