Former military President, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida
and his counterpart, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo have relentlessly
expressed their respective opinions on the state of the nation
vis-à-vis the forthcoming presidential election.
In their views, Babangida openly, but diplomatically advised
President Muhammadu Buhari to withdraw his interest for the 2019
election to enable younger generation take up the mantle, whilst on
the other hand, Obasanjo punctured the performance of the present
administration which he rated so low, and therefore vowed that
President Buhari must go back to his house at the end of his first
tenure to enable capable hands take up the challenges.
Incidentally, whilst Gen. Babangida’s views sound more
patriotic, Obasanjo’s may not on account that the People’s
Democratic Party (PDP) he led as President for two tenures and was
forcefully estopped from elongating his tenure to stay in power for
third term recently zeroed the party’s 16 years in power and
tendered apology to Nigerians over colossal failures of the
party.
It is also on record that Obasanjo after his failed third term
bid imposed himself as the PDP’s chairman of the Board of Trustees
(BoT) until overpowered by a stronger force and therefore cannot be
exonerated from the party’s failures.
It therefore implies that Obasanjo has no moral justification to
advice a political party that is yet to complete a term in office.
It is also irrational that the comparison of PDP and APC loans/debt
profile didn’t distinguish them clearly as PDP’s loans were for
consumption and payment of salaries while APC’s were strictly
anchored on infrastructural development which is a conventional
norm, and therefore inevitable for significant attainments.
Above all, the provisions of the 1999 constitution lays down the
requirements for citizens aspiring to contest elective positions
including the office of the President of the country. It is
therefore anti-democratic to publicly charge any eligible citizens
not to contest except communicated privately. The acceptable
mechanism for determination of who occupies elective positions is
the electorates’ votes through Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs).
Interestingly, the use of card readers has drastically reduced the
possibility of riggings and other manipulations that were in vogue
in the past.
Thus, the appropriate and patriotic actions shouldn’t be to
unnecessarily heat up the polity by public advices and advocacy.
Democracy is a game of numbers, and therefore opens doors for any
dick and harries to test acceptability, credibility, capability and
integrity through elections.
Participatory democracy opens doors for the electorates; high,
middleclass and masses to freely choose their leaders and not for
former presidents to decide as witnessed in the 16 years of PDP
that put the nation in colossal retrogression. It is thus, absurd
to openly mandate any aspirant to withdraw from a race contrary to
constitutional provisions which connotes inferiority complex.
Presently, over a hundred political parties have been registered;
hence mobilization alongside sensitization is the key.
Umegboro, public affairs analyst writes from Abuja.
(umegborocarl@gmail.com / 07057101974 SMS only)
Former military President, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida
and his counterpart, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo have relentlessly
expressed their respective opinions on the state of the nation
vis-à-vis the forthcoming presidential election.
In their views, Babangida openly, but diplomatically advised
President Muhammadu Buhari to withdraw his interest for the 2019
election to enable younger generation take up the mantle, whilst on
the other hand, Obasanjo punctured the performance of the present
administration which he rated so low, and therefore vowed that
President Buhari must go back to his house at the end of his first
tenure to enable capable hands take up the challenges.
Incidentally, whilst Gen. Babangida’s views sound more
patriotic, Obasanjo’s may not on account that the People’s
Democratic Party (PDP) he led as President for two tenures and was
forcefully estopped from elongating his tenure to stay in power for
third term recently zeroed the party’s 16 years in power and
tendered apology to Nigerians over colossal failures of the
party.
It is also on record that Obasanjo after his failed third term
bid imposed himself as the PDP’s chairman of the Board of Trustees
(BoT) until overpowered by a stronger force and therefore cannot be
exonerated from the party’s failures.
It therefore implies that Obasanjo has no moral justification to
advice a political party that is yet to complete a term in office.
It is also irrational that the comparison of PDP and APC loans/debt
profile didn’t distinguish them clearly as PDP’s loans were for
consumption and payment of salaries while APC’s were strictly
anchored on infrastructural development which is a conventional
norm, and therefore inevitable for significant attainments.
Above all, the provisions of the 1999 constitution lays down the
requirements for citizens aspiring to contest elective positions
including the office of the President of the country. It is
therefore anti-democratic to publicly charge any eligible citizens
not to contest except communicated privately. The acceptable
mechanism for determination of who occupies elective positions is
the electorates’ votes through Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs).
Interestingly, the use of card readers has drastically reduced the
possibility of riggings and other manipulations that were in vogue
in the past.
Thus, the appropriate and patriotic actions shouldn’t be to
unnecessarily heat up the polity by public advices and advocacy.
Democracy is a game of numbers, and therefore opens doors for any
dick and harries to test acceptability, credibility, capability and
integrity through elections.
Participatory democracy opens doors for the electorates; high,
middleclass and masses to freely choose their leaders and not for
former presidents to decide as witnessed in the 16 years of PDP
that put the nation in colossal retrogression. It is thus, absurd
to openly mandate any aspirant to withdraw from a race contrary to
constitutional provisions which connotes inferiority complex.
Presently, over a hundred political parties have been registered;
hence mobilization alongside sensitization is the key.
Umegboro, public affairs analyst writes from Abuja.
(umegborocarl@gmail.com / 07057101974 SMS only)
Read more https://nairalaw.com/2019-ibb-obasanjos-outbursts-are-anti-democratic-by-carl-umegboro/