By Joshua Egbodo
Abuja
Unless Nigeria is careful in the handling of the fast approaching general elections, the dark days may return, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has warned.
Addressing a delegation of coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) which paid him a courtesy visit at the National Assembly yesterday, Tambuwal said that it was already “clear that some individuals are not interested in free and fair elections,” adding, however, that the verdict of the people must be respected.
He said: “We should always remember that power belongs to God, and He gives it to anybody whenever He wishes.
“We must, therefore, not rely on our whims and caprices, for if you want to obtain power, you must first have a country. Just a paltry 10 per cent of Nigerians are politicians, and that care must be taken by those seeking power that the interest of the remaining 90 per cent is not threatened.”
He said questions should be directed by the CSOs to those calling for an interim government, if they were planning a coup since such had no place in the constitution of the country, arguing that “should need be to declare that the nation was in war to the extent that elections could not hold, it is only the National Assembly that can do so, and through a resolution supported by at least two-third majority of members.”
He said the call was unnecessary and a handiwork of those taking advantage of their positions in the society.
On the alleged plot to remove Prof. Atahiru Jega as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Tambuwal recalled the unceremonious removal of a former Governor of the Central Bank, and now Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the effect of which he said was still affecting the naira, adding that he was yet to see any basis on which the planned action would be justified.
“Report of the Financial Reporting Council cannot be applied in this case. The Civil Service Rule cannot be applied here, or are they (Jega and other members of the commission) civil servants? They are not, so we should not jeopardize our electoral process.”
Also, on the political hate campaigns currently rife in the electronic media, Tambuwal advised heads of such organisations to think about their days after they leave such places, as well as the future of their children.
Earlier, the leader of the team and Executive Director of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Mr Clem Nwnakwo, expressed the concerns of the CSOs, flowing from the alleged plot to once again postpone the coming elections, adding, “The consequences of a further shift in the elections would be very tragic” for the country.
He said political parties and their supporters had found new games of making comments that seemed to derogate the independence of INEC, pointing out that the tenure of the current INEC under Jega would only elapse on June 30, 2015, and so the alleged plan to send its members on terminal leave was unconstitutional.
While urging the support of the National Assembly to ensure that the elections are conducted as scheduled, Nwankwo warned that a shift would create a constitutional crisis.
Also speaking in similar vein, another member of the delegation, Mr Festus Okoye, said institutions of democracy, to which INEC is one, must be respected and protected, adding that the parliament was in the right position to protect the electoral umpire even in the face of its noted lapses.