OAA development law group speak on 2015 elections; deferment, disorder & the Survival of Nigeria
Members of the Development Law Group at Olisa Agbakoba & Associates, have called on all eligible voters in Nigeria to consider the postponement a wake-up call to do the right thing.
Speaking on the deferment, disorder & Survival of Nigerian at this time, the firm’s Partner and Head of Development Law, Dr. Wilfred Mamah, and Associate, Derin Fagbure, who commented on the postponement of the 2015 general elections, stated that after studying the official reasons as well as the constitutional arguments marshaled for the postponement, they were convinced that the issues involved in the postponement are beyond the textual interpretation of the Constitution and the Electoral Act.
Referring to the public disquiet occasioned by the sudden postponement of Nigeria’s General Election 2015, by the INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, Dr. Wilfred Mamah said, “The Nigerian people, as the embodiment of Laws, should be the benchmark for testing the reasonableness of this postponement.”
According to her postulation, INEC’S admitted un-readiness, after four years of costly preparation, depicts a clear demonstration that the Nigerian people who have been counting on February 14th, 2015 as the day to exercise their ultimate power of choice have not received value for their money.
“The fact that Nigerians were led to believe that INEC was ready for the election raises serious questions of transparency and credibility. This postponement, therefore, raises a structural challenge of disorder and lack of accountability in Nigeria.”
Both development law experts maintained that by creating this uncertainty, INEC has shown itself to be either incompetent or grossly negligent; stating that this action and inaction by INEC, has occasioned serious psychological dent on Nigerians home and abroad. The attendant social, political and economic costs are massive, they claim.
Associate Derin Fagbure, also had this to say, “Internationally, INEC’s lethargy gravely affects our national image and fuels the growing perception of corruption and disorder. In an ordered society, there should be a price to pay for incompetence or negligence. Therefore, it is right and proper that INEC be reprimanded for this breach of trust.
“For all the political parties, this delay and general disquiet it has caused should send a clear signal that there is a higher stake in the 2015 elections. That stake is the very survival of the State itself. Therefore, all political actors must cautiously guard their words and actions,” she said with a note of finality.
Establishing that ‘delay was not denial’, they called on the polity, to consider the postponement a wake-up call for all eligible voters to pick up their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) and prepare to exercise and defend their ultimate right to affirm or revoke power.
“For the Federal Government of Nigeria, it is very crucial that 29 May 2015 handover of power remains consecrated. No further defilements or deferments should be contemplated. The incumbent President and government owe it as a solemn duty to the over 160 Million Nigerians to secure our State and democracy. “The labours of our heroes past shall never be in vain!”