Why do you want Nigeria to break up? – Oshiomhole

The national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has asked those predicting that Nigeria will break up why do they want the country to break up.

Oshiomhole speaking in Abuja at the 20 Years of Democracy Conference by Tell Magazine on Wednesday said ‘It is unfortunate that a man in his 80s will say Nigeria may break up. Why do you want Nigeria to break up? Don’t you want your children to enjoy it?

‘These are people who dismantled the regions, created additional states and gave us the current structure. Now, they are calling for restructuring. Who gave us the present structure?

‘We must be careful of who cannot win elections in their own localities,”

This came as the former Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega said:“A lot has been said about the deployment of security during we should recognize the fact that in Nigeria, we are faced with systemic security challenges.

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‘The presence of security is to ensure that the people have the peace of mind to come out to vote freely.

“The most important thing is to ensure that the security deployed is impartial and non-partisan. They should be professional in their conduct.”

He also said, “Perhaps the clearest evidence of this loss of trust and confidence in the electoral process the declining voter turnout in elections since 1999.

‘The reported data of voter turnout as a percentage of registered voters for elections are 52.3 per cent (1999), 69.1 per cent (2003), 57.3 per cent (2007), 55.4 per cent in 2011, 44 per cent in 2015 and 37 per cent in 2019.”

Jega also warned of a possible reversal of fortunes in the 2023 elections if money bags continue to believe in the use of thugs and money to buy votes.

“The political parties and candidates, indeed the political class must give electoral democracy the seriousness that it deserves.

‘They must eschew the ‘do-or-die’ with which they engage in electoral contests and see electoral contests as something you can only win or lose; and if you lose, you accept the result, congratulate the winner and live to prepare to contest again at the next available opportunity,” he added.

Also speaking the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu called on the media to ‘hold leaders accountable at all time’

Magu who was represented by Tony Amokeodo, said: “Let me use this platform to challenge the press to rise up to the occasion as they play their role as the Fourth Estate of the Realm.

‘You must hold leaders accountable at all times. You must, above all, be responsible in the discharge of the delicate task placed on your shoulder. There is no room for flippancy on your part.

‘This is why you must from time to time self-check to expose and purge yourself of spoilers who hide under the banner of the media to spread fake news, hate messages and misinformation. You cannot afford to fail Nigeria.”