By Joshua Omoloye, Politics Editor
National Chairman of the National Conscience Party (NCP), Dr Yunusa Salisu Tanko has warned that President Muhammadu Buhari would be endangering the nation’s democracy should he refused to sign the Electoral Bill into law.
The party chairman admonished the President not to be mislead by the third force who are desirous of derailing the nascent democracy.
He said “Mr President had a golden opportunity to write his name in diamond which he should have done late last year but he didn’t”.
Dr. Yunusa addresses a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday.
He raised an alarm that reactionary forces were attempting to derail the democratic process, by trying to insert or remove clauses that may make it difficult for President Buhari to sign the amended Electoral act into law .
Yunusa said “the Nigerian people will hold this government responsible if the signing of electoral bill is further truncated.
“Borrowing the words of Comrade Ariyo “Although the bill has been amended and tailored to the President’s request, feelers have however suggested that the AGF acting to feed Gen. Buhari’s interest, may advise against his assent because the Consensus clause was defined by the National Assembly, thereby barring any loophole for manipulation.
“On the advice of the AGF, the President has declined the signing of the Electoral Bill for a record 5 times in the last six years, making it difficult for the country to improve on the legal framework of its electoral process.
“This is the sixth time, the bill has been retransmitted to the President for his assent, yet there are indications that the AGF is about to ask him not to sign it .
“This will be a coup against an improved legal framework for election management will not allow the new electoral bill to become operational.
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“The president should see himself as a state that is answerable to the people in general, not an individual or a selected group of people who may want to distract him from his good intentions
“The President should not be perceived to be insensitive to how Nigerians’ attitude to democracy under his watch and Nigeria’s leadership absence and failure are aiding undemocratic elements in Africa to threaten civil rule and democracy.
“The attitude of the President should not be disappointing, discouraging and injurious to the interest of the people”
He urged the president to find courage and sign the document into law to safe Nigeria’s democracy.
Speaking on the recruitment process for preferred presidential candidates in 2023, the NCP chairman said the country need a stabiliser and a unifier .
“With the nation so divided and the cleavage having widened under the present government, a uniting factor who can be trusted across the country
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“The leader the country needs after this government to re-instill that patriotic feeling, rekindle a sense of belonging with empathy and love of the nation in across the geopolitical zones and prepare the country for development.
“We must have a president chosen for merit and capacity, and we do have them all over the country but for unity , coexistence and parity we should have a southern President come 2023”, he said.
