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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