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MBF, PANDEF say Afe Babalola’s interim govt option untenable, unfortunate

MBF, PANDEF say Afe Babalola’s interim govt option untenable, unfortunate

The president of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Dr Bitrus Pogu, has faulted Chief Babalola’s call for the suspension of elections in 2023 and the institution of an interim government to conduct the polls under a new constitution.

He described Bababola’s suggestion as an impossible political statement.

Dr Pogu said: “I do not think that is a possibility. There are sometimes calls that are just political in nature and not tenable in a democracy. The problems we are facing are not insurmountable. As far as I am concerned the government has the capacity but it is just that the government is not willing to deploy its capacity to end the challenges.

“So this government should rather sit up and address the problems so that we can have a peaceful period before elections. That is the answer rather than saying that there should be an interim government.

“And of course, you might also consider the issue of the constitution. The 1999 Constitution is flawed, it has so many challenges and unfortunately, the military foisted it on us and we are grappling with it. And the way it can be amended is through the same process that produced the National Assembly, which is still flawed.

“So whether this government has the guts or not, we would have resolved that easily by adopting, with modifications, the 2014 Conference Report. That would create a stable and acceptable system for Nigeria including a constitution that will be acceptable to Nigerians.

“So rather than calling for the interim government, yes it is a political statement, but Chief Afe Babalola knows it is not going to work, we should look towards the 2014 Conference Report.”

Babalola’s position unfortunate —PANDEF

The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has described Babalola’s call for an interim government is unfortunate.

National publicity secretary of PANDEF, Hon Ken Robinson, said what Nigeria needs at the moment is a smooth transition from the present administration to a better one.

He said: “When elder statesmen like this talk, we don’t outright condemn it. But the truth is that Nigeria does not need an interim government. Nigeria needs a peaceful transition from this APC government to another government, whether it will be a PDP or an APC government is another matter.

“Nigeria needs to move away from this Buhari presidency to a presidency that will be for all Nigerians; a presidency that will throw off the nepotistic tendencies and biased posture of this government and unite Nigeria.

“What Nigeria needs most now is how to address the worsening state of insecurity to diffuse the disaffection and the feeling of alienation by sections of the country, and not whether it is an interim government.

“If we have an interim government and the characters end up like that of Buhari, what have you done? You would have truncated Nigeria’s democracy for nothing.

“That suggestion, sincerely speaking is completely out of place, it is unnecessary, a distraction. We want a transition that will produce an electoral process that will involve the electronic transmission of election results.

“We want INEC to conduct elections with results transmitted from the polling units to the INEC centre across Nigeria. Note that in some parts of Nigeria there will be the electronic transmission of results while in some other parts they will say there is no network and they would do a manual transmission. We want electronic transmission across Nigeria. People are making phone calls across Nigeria. Bandits are making phone calls even in Sambisa Forest. So, INEC has no excuse.”

 

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