Abbas Jimoh
17 April 2009
President Umaru Yar'adua would have accomplished a lot to Nigerians' satisfaction if he reduces his much talked about Seven Point Agenda to only one thing-election reform, two-times presidential flagbearer of the All Nigeria Peoples Party [ANPP] General Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday.
Speaking at a one-day strategic meeting of the Civil Society Coordinating Committee on Electoral Reform in Abuja, Buhari said the holding of credible elections should be the one-point agenda of President Yar'adua.
The event was organised to launch the collation of 20 million signatures of Nigerians in pursuance of the organisers' quest for the full implementation of the Justice Lawal Uwais Electoral Reform Committee (ERC) report.
"Nigeria has become what it is today because the leadership has not been doing the right things. What Nigerians are asking for is that they need people in leadership who are going to make things right. Nigerians do not need the seven-point agenda. What they need is just one-point agenda which is credible election," Buhari, represented by former Minority Leader of the House of Representatives Alhaji Farouq Adamu Aliyu, said. On his part, Alhaji Faruq said he would provide open register in all the local government areas of Jigawa State, where he hails from.
After the launching of a campaign to collate 20 million signatures of Nigerians to press the federal government to fully implement the Uwais report, Emma Ugboaja of the Alliance for Credible Election (ACE) read the sub-committee agenda report titled: Nigerian Peoples Campaign for full implementation of Justice Uwais Report on Electoral Reform.
He said the vision of the committee is: "To present the widely held view of support from all segments of Nigerian society for the full implementation of the Justice Uwais Report to the National Assembly in pursuance of the democratic ideals enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution with particular reference to creating a level playing field for electoral succession politics."
He listed the objectives as: "Mobilize Nigerians at home and abroad to support and actively demand for the full implementation of the report; Co-ordinate and concretize widespread public support for the untainted and undiluted Uwais Report and collate 20 million signatures of Nigerians aged 18 years and above and Present the Electoral Reform Draft Bill on Electoral/Constitutional Reforms and the collated signatures of Nigerian people to the National Assembly for passage into law in pursuance of the democratic ideals enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution, among others."
Speaking at the event, former presidential candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) Chief Olu Falae, represented by Engr. Ade Adesina, said option A4 should be modified and endorsed for future elections. "It was the openness of the option A4 that made the election where it was applied to be credible. This will make democracy and leadership credible," Falae said.
Gloria Okolugbo of the Restore Initiative, who represented the Coalition of Women in National Development said, "Yar'adua, you are a leader of Nigeria and not that of the PDP. We (women) are tired of queuing to vote and our votes do not count."
Former Senate President Ken Nnamani, who insisted that the National Judicial Council (NJC) should be the one to shortlist and recommend for appointment the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, also said the fight and struggle for credible electoral process is not against President Yar'adua but about credible election and the avoidance of deceptive leadership. Dr. Sam Amadi represented Nnamani.
Mike Osekhome said that it is wrong for the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and Council of State to mutilate the Uwais report despite the collation of over 140,000 memoranda submitted by Nigerians before the report was prepared. "One of the things that should not have been tampered with is the recommendation that no elected officer should assume office until his electoral fate has been decided. Nigerians should change their mindset to ensure that they make the electoral process to work," Osekhome said.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Daily Trust. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
