Insecurity isn’t enough to put off elections in 2023 – Moghalu

Former Presidential candidate Kingsley Moghalu has stated that the current condition of insecurity in Nigeria is insufficient to prevent the general elections from taking place in 2023.

Moghalu said he supports President Muhammadu Buhari’s insistence on holding the 2023 election despite the alarming concerted assault on INEC facilities and other parts of the country during a press conference in Abuja on Monday.

“I believe we must recognize that we, including America, have a commitment to democracy during wartime elections. I will not support the kind of mentality that permits us to hide behind reasons to stifle democracy simply because the country is insecure.

“Even the president, Buhari, has indicated recently, in a more controversial remark, that elections must take place in 2023, and I believe it is a good position, and I believe that is the stance we should all embrace,” Moghalu added.

The leader of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) made five proposals to the current administration in order to help the country get back on track and form a united front for Nigerians.

He proposed the formation of a truth and reconciliation commission, which he said should be made up of seven independent members, one from each geographic zone, and one foreign member appointed by the UN or South Africa.

He went on to say that both entities, which have extensive experience in TRC matters, have been given a six-month mandate to look into the events of January 1966 to January 1970, invite witnesses, survivors, and key players still alive to make statements, and make findings and recommendations that will promote national reconciliation by turning historical memory into a positive force for mutual forgiveness.

The former CBN governor urged Buhari to convene a national conversation with secessionist agitation movements in order to resolve verifiable issues and establish a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution for the country.

“President Buhari should appoint a panel of historians, with equal representation from the north and south of Nigeria, to review and agree on a curriculum of contemporary national history, including the Nigerian Civil War, to be taught in primary and secondary schools, with a focus on lessons learned, national healing, and reconciliation;

READ ALSO: There will be no extension for 2021 SSCE, Says NECO

“Establish May 30 as a national holiday to remember the millions that died in the Nigerian civil war,” he further recommended.

In addition to this, Moghalu spoke about the need to localise the country’s policing and embark on constant training for officers to enhance professionalism in the force.

He acknowledged the role of separationist groups in the cases of attacks in the southern parts of the country but factored in the possibility of politicians using the region to fight their political battles in the 2023 election.

“I see a lot of political motivations in all of the instability in the country; in some situations, it’s simply plain criminality,” says the author. We are aware that some separatists have admitted to being responsible for the country’s insecurity. There’s a variety of stuff going on.

“There is another theory that the violence in the region is to discredit the region in the coming election,” he said.

Moghalu has declared to run for Nigeria topmost seat in the coming election, but he is yet to declare the party on whose platform he would do so.