Friday, 13 February 2015

“Election postponement: A coup against Nigeria” - NANS

NANS

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has condemned the decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria to postpone the 2015 general elections originally scheduled to hold on February 14 and 28 to March 28 and April 11.

In a statement signed by the Vice President (External Affairs), Ogunkuade Oluwatosin titled “Election postponement: A coup against Nigeria”, the association said that by the postponement of the elections, President Goodluck Jonathan had subjected Nigeria to world-wide ridicule and disgrace. The association also said that the reason given for the postponement of the elections was simply a fraudulent attempt to subvert the democratic process.

The statement reads: “To us, the postponement of the election has not only regressed us as a nation but also depicting a similarity of how the popular June 12 presidential election won by Chief M.K.O. Abiola was subverted by the General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida led military regime in 1993. We want to state emphatically that the security challenges faced in Nigeria cannot be more precarious than that of Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, Somalia, South Sudan, Ukraine, etc where in the midst of civil armed struggle election still held.

“By this action, President Goodluck Jonathan has once again exposed the underbelly of the Nigerian nation to a most unpardonable ridicule across the globe. Never in the over 100-year history of the country has elections been postponed in such a ridiculous manner.”

The association said that the postponement of the elections was planned in order to ensure that the Jonathan led administration remained in power despite its unpopularity. They warned that any attempt to postpone the elections further than the scheduled date would plunge the nation into crises.

“This ill-conceived action is a confirmation of the fears and suspicion which the Nigerian populace had nursed all along; that the President Goodluck Jonathan led Government will truncate the planned elections to ensure that the unpopular government remains in power for as long as the Commander-in-Chief is in control of all forces of intimidation, coercion and terror and also to ensure that status quo where corruption, impunity, mismanagement of public funds, etc. remains unchanged.
“We want to warn that the peaceful manner in which we swallowed the bitter pill of the postponement should not be taken for granted because any attempt to fraudulently shift the poll again will throw our great nation into an unimaginable catastrophe”.

On the issue of education, the association maintained that although so much praises had been sung for the strides Jonathan was supposedly making in the Educational sector, they were yet to feel the impacts of his achievements. NANS complained that despite the expensive tuition fees students were being subjected to pay, the institutions still lacked modern facilities.

The association also urged INEC to use the extension period to ensure that the outstanding Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) are made available and distributed to eligible and registered voters before the elections. NANS said that it had also mandated all her affiliate unions to commence voter’s education in all campuses.

NANS commended the courage of Professor Attahiru Jega for stating the challenge of insecurity as the reason for the postponement of the elections. They also warned that any plot to unseat Jega from power before the March 28 elections would be met with stiff resistance.

NANS said that the Federal Government/PDP should desist from intimidating the opposition leader, Bola Tinubu through the Nigerian army as such practices were undemocratic.

“We use this medium to admonish the Federal Government to stop the Nigerian Army from laying siege on the residence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the National Leader of All Progressive Congress as this is not descent under a descent democratic practices.

NANS further demanded for the resignation letters of security chiefs in the country who despite the huge financial and human resources expended to boost the security architecture couldn’t guarantee security for the elections.

“For our security chiefs to have acknowledged their incompetence publicly both within and beyond Nigeria’s shores also considering how our national security has declined in the last six years juxtaposing it with missing 219 Chibok girls. It then behooves on our security chiefs to tender their resignation on moral and constitutional grounds”

Furthermore, the association condemned war threats by ex-militants as well as reckless political utterances by political and ethnic leaders. The association said that they were disappointed at the inability or unwillingness of security agencies to indict the individuals.

“Our attention has also been drawn to the reckless and treasonable statements credited to some political and ethnic leaders and others that they will declare war on Nigeria if President Goodluck Jonathan is not eventually declared winner in the forthcoming elections. What is still surprising to us is that the security agencies are yet to invite them over the provocative statements credited possibly as a result of their close relationship with specific candidates. As a critical stakeholder in the Nigerian project, we want to state categorically that the Nigerian students are battle ready against any individual or groups of individuals working sinisterly to derail the democracy won with the bloods of innocent tertiary students”.

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