Says Election rigging greatest form of corruption<\/p>\n
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, has explained
\nthat it is as part of efforts to ensure that democracy in Nigeria is not
\nthreatened by violence that he sponsored a bill in the House that seeks to
\neliminate the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Speaking when he received a delegation from Security Sector Reform of Civil
\nSociety Organisations in Nigeria and Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre at
\nhis office, he noted that small arms and light weapons fuel conflicts,
\nwhich in turn impale our societies, truncates development in any society
\nand when introduced in politics, sets the nation back.<\/p>\n
He expressed deep concern that in the build-up to the 2019 elections
\nviolence is beginning to take root, adding that if care is not taken, with
\nthe influx of these small arms and light weapons, it is going to get worse.<\/p>\n
\u201cElections happen in virtually all governments, but not all elections are
\ndemocratic. We are talking about promoting democratic elections; these
\ndemocratic elections have some criteria: they are supposed to be fair and
\nfree, they are supposed to be inclusive, and they are supposed to be
\nperiodic. Where you hold elections in an environment of intimidation and
\nviolence; it cannot be free and fair. Once it is not free and fair, it
\ntherefore means it doesn’t pass the criteria of a democratic election. So
\nthat it’s the challenge, and the truth is that there is no corruption that
\nis more than truncating the will of the people through elections into
\ngovernment positions. This is because that is the essence of representative
\ngovernance, as the people have elected their representatives and it is
\nthose representatives that they have elected and having taken positions in
\ngovernment that can deliver the goods.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, where you have violence and intimidation, or all other forces
\nthat are against democratic norms, they tend to frustrate that and ensure
\nthat those who are masters of the game of violence are able to supplant the
\nwill of the people take center stage, as against the people putting them in
\npositions, they are the ones who have manipulated the system in order to
\nget themselves into positions. Where you have these kind of issues,
\ndemocracy is sure to malfunction. It is our collective responsibility to
\nguard against these kinds of scenarios.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are aware of the fact that if this Bill is quickly translated into Law,
\nas we are running into the 2019 general elections, if we are able to set up
\nthis Commission, we will combat this illicit dealing in weapons of war, we
\nwill be able to provide a very conducive environment for the 2019 elections
\nto take place.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are democratic leaders and for us to ensure the sustenance of
\ndemocracy, we need to eliminate violence. Where violence prevails in any
\nsociety, development will always take the back stage. That is not the kind
\nof politics that we seek to implant for our dear nation. We want
\ndevelopment to take the centre stage of our politicking. That, therefore,
\nmeans we have to eliminate or reduce the incidence of violence in our
\nsociety.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the most cases, when conflicts happen, instead of us taking them as
\nopportunities to begin anew, to transform such conflicts to situations that
\nshould lead to better understanding, with better workings of our
\nInstitutions that promote peaceful\u00a0 co-existence and so forth; we tend to
\npursue conflicts violently. Where you have the influx of these small arms
\nand light weapons they tend to enhance the situation. So it is in
\nrealisation of that, which was brought to my notice by a small committee of
\nexperts that visited me that I undertook myself the duty of sponsoring the
\nBill, this Bill that we are talking about.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are committed to the fact that we need to pass this, not because of
\nanything, but for the fact that we are democratic leaders and for us to
\nensure the sustenance of democracy; we need to eliminate violence. Where
\nviolence prevails in any society, development will always take the back
\nstage. That is not the kind of politics that we seek to implant for our
\ndear nation. We want development to take the center stage of our
\npoliticking. That therefore means we have to eliminate or reduce the
\nincidence of violence in our society.\u201d<\/p>\n
The speaker affirmed the commitment of the House to ensure that this Bill
\nis quickly transmitted into law, hopefully before they go on our annual
\nrecess in July, while adding that another aspect the House will look at is
\nthe weaponisation of democratic institutions going into 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether it is the Police, or the Courts, whatever it is, weaponisation of
\nthose Institutions to be used against Political opponents, I believe also
\nthat there is a place for the civil societies in terms of advocacy to
\nreally enlighten our citizens, and to ensure that we remain vigilant so
\nthat our democracy is not threatened. The truth is that if democracy is
\nthreatened, it is not the politicians that are threatened, even the civil
\nsocieties are threatened. Because you may wake up one day and discover that
\nyou can’t even think or write what you want to write, you can’t even go on
\nadvocacy, except you get a Commission from some quarters, and that is why
\nwe really have to wake up and work for the preservation of our democracy
\nand freedom. As it is written and said: a free man when he fails blames no
\none. So at least if you are alive and free; you have the right to invest
\nyour freedom in the pursuit of happiness regardless of the conditions. When
\nyou are not free however, you don’t have the tools, you don’t have the
\nmeans to pursue happiness, you are cut-off completely from the proceeds of
\ndemocracy,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Earlier, leader of the\u00a0 delegation, Mr Clem Nwankwo, informed the speaker
\nthat the country today is undergoing serious threats to its security, hence
\nthe urgent need for setting up a commission on small arms and light weapons
\nin Nigeria to check its influx.
\nHe also said ECOWAS had adopted a convention on small arms and light
\nweapons and mandated countries in the region or sub region to set up a
\ncommission to tackle the problem and while almost all of the countries in
\nWest Africa have set up this commission and are putting all efforts to
\ngiving priority to this issue, unfortunately, Nigeria, which should be a
\ndriving force for this, together with Gambia, are the only countries in the
\nsub region that have not set up this commission, which is not a very good
\nexample for the country.
\nWhile commending the efforts that have now been made by the House, he
\nurged the National Assembly to take action that is needed to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Says Election rigging greatest form of corruption Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, has explained that it is as part of efforts to ensure that democracy in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n