Former Nigerian Vice president,Atiku Abubakar have called for an accelerated electoral reforms to address the lapses in previous elections.
In a statement titled “My Message To Nigerians On The Occasion Of The 21st Anniversary Of Democracy Day”, which was released via his Twitter account, Atiku said that the electoral process needed to be improved to ensure that votes are not only counted but that they do count.
Atiku said “It is clear that the problem of leadership is at the epicentre of governance issues that have afflicted Nigeria since the restoration of this democratic dispensation,” he said.
“To get at this problem would require the voting citizens of the country to undertake a more critical evaluation of national leadership recruitment – a rare gift which democracy guarantees through the instrumentality of periodic elections.
“It is when we do that, that democracy can pass as a self-correcting mechanism and when it is denied, we are left with a pseudo-democracy which is counterproductive to the notion of participatory democracy.
“Just like the late Bashorun MKO Abiola continues to be the symbol of the June 12 struggle, there are many others like the late Chief Alfred Rewane; my mentor, Tafida Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola..”.
.”..and many more too numerous to mention who lost their lives in order for us to have a democracy.”
“Yet, there are so many other heroes who remain unsung. They are Nigerians who have fallen victims of bad governance.”
“While we may have a day dedicated to celebrating democracy, it remains saddening that we have not delivered enough dividends to our people to be happy over.”
“1999 to the present time, our democracy has thrown up all shades of characters at the leadership levels. Many, if not all of them have tried their best to deliver good governance to the country.”
“But the results of their efforts, judging by what we have at hand today, clearly shows that our best has not been good enough thus far.”
“As we celebrate today our 21st anniversary of unbroken democratic rule, it is necessary that we canonize the memories of our heroes of democracy by expanding the application of democracy as a mechanism of good governance by making sure that ballots cast during an election are sacrosanct in order for leaders who represent the true aspirations of the people to emerge.
