Lagos — Opposition was again on the rally in Abuja on Thursday to sensitise Nigerians on the need for credible elections, the antidote to keeping the country one amid insurrection North and South.

Just as the sound of bombs from the Joint Task Force (JTF), which carried out a major campaign against the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) began dying down, religious insurgency in the North began on Sunday, throwing the polity into another wave of anxiety.

These and the loud grumblings of Nigerians crushed under the weight of poverty and absence of basic infrastructure are the signs of bad governance fostered by poor leadership, opposition politicians reiterated in Abuja on Thursday.

The canvassers of this position included former Head of State, Mohammadu Buhari; former Governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu; former House of Representatives Speakers, Ghali Na'Abba and Aminu Bello Masari; and Action Congress (AC) Vice Presidential candidate, Ben Obi.

They spoke at the inaugural meeting of the Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform (CODER) which seeks to sensitise Nigerians to force the hands of lawmakers to change the electoral laws, so as to ensure credible elections, the springboard for national growth.

Other attendees included former Governor of Edo State, John Oyegun; former Minister of Power, Ibrahim Hassan; former Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Solomon Ewuga; and former Minister of Labour, Musa Gwadabe.

Former Governor of Oyo State, Lam Adesina; former Minister of Housing, Iyabo Aniselowo; AC Secretary, Usman Bugaje, former Minister of Health, Adenike Grange; AC Governorship candidates Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) and Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) were also in attendance.

Former member Board of Trustees (BOT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Abubakar Iro Dan Musa, chaired the occasion.

Buhari, who said he was not only ready to work for the enthronement of credible electoral process in the country, but die trying, urged Nigerians to change their attitude to their affairs, especially in elections, by ensuring that they are never cheated again.

The way to achieve this, according to Buhari, who was represented by the National Secretary of The Buhari Organisation (TBO), Buba Galadima, is that task must be undertaken by Nigerians at home and abroad.

Arguing that the people must develop the will to challenge the current system where anti-democratic forces lord it over them, he said no matter how good the number of laws, elections would continue to be flawed if the people do not develop the right will.

Tinubu vowed that nothing would stop the current movement from taking root and for the goals to be achieved, saying posterity would never be kind to the current players if they keep quiet in the face of fresh enslavement after dislodging Western colonisation.

His words: "This is not about us. It is not about our political parties. If you have 150 parties or you have one single mega party, if you don't have a credible democratic process, the party is mushroom, rubbish; and our children will curse us. I pray it will not be so. So, even if it requires our blood, so be it, even if it is hunger, so be it.

"Let our children be free. Let the people of this country, so blessed with abundant human and natural resources, be made to appreciate fundamental values; let our passport be respected across the nations, let our flag be the true symbol of our independence."

Oyegun expressed regret over the attempt to doctor the Muhammed Uwais Electoral Reform Report by anti-democratic forces at the helm of affairs.

Na'Abba warned that the battle the group is about to undertake would not be a tea party, and that without it the nation would be doomed forever.

"This is our last card. It is up to us to work to rejuvenate our system. In 1999, we had six petitions in the National Assembly, but in 2007 we recorded 1117. It shows what we are battling against," he said.

His views were echoed by Masari, who said the group must fashion out a procedure for pushing the agenda, because 90 per cent of the Uwais Report, which it wants adopted wholesale, would require Constitutional amendment, which has become an Achilles' heel.

National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) President, Ramatu Usman, said the campaign to re-brand Nigeria would come to naught without starting at home, adding that leadership has failed at all levels.

Obi, who said former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, supports the current effort, wondered how President Umaru Yar'Adua could have found the spirit to jet out of the country at a time it is burning, if he was truly elected by Nigerians, citing the recent case of how a similar insurrection got his Chinese counterpart to abandon the G8 meeting in Italy.