Buhari to Jonathan: Reduce Poverty, Restructure INEC

By Agha Ibiam in London

Former military head of state and co-founder of the recently formed mega opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari, has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to immediately address the issue of poverty ravaging many Nigerians, saying that poverty is not their ‘birthrights’.

To actualise that, he recommended that government should revive both the manufacturing and agricultural sectors to generate business and employment, thus provide opportunities for more than 100 million Nigerians.
His point he said was buttressed by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, which revealed that a lot of people were living in poverty below $2 per day.

Buhari, who spoke from far away London where he delivered a keynote address at the British Houses of Parliament, Gladstone Conference Room, titled, “Stable Democracy and Nigeria’s Economy,” also said that government should as a matter of urgency reconstitute the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to enable it conduct free and fair election in the coming years and avoid electoral fraud.

Turning to the judiciary, he opined that for it to be effective, it must seem to deliver judgement with impartiality and as at when due. He accused the judiciary as allegedly being one of the institutions slowing down the pace of democratic progress in the country.

Buhari, accompanied by former Minster of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, noted that in 2011, the South-South and South-East states votes were recorded by INEC at between 85 – 95 per cent, when the media reported that there were poor attendances at polling booths.

The former head of state went further to state that in many areas in the South-South and South–East, votes cast and counted exceeded registered figures and wondered why such a thing should happen under the watchful eyes of INEC.

Democracy according to him could best thrive when there is a considerable number and level of educational accomplishment or literacy exists in the country.  His argument was based on the fact that huge number of voters must be in a position to read and write and be able to determine which candidate to vote for during elections.

“Obviously when one does not know where to vote, it would be difficult to arrive at a free choice and would even be more difficult to hold elected office holders accountable when they under-perform,” he said.
Thisday