Politics
Come out with your PVCs, make the best of bad situations – CCGI urges Nigerians
Come out with your PVCs, make the best of bad situations – CCGI urges Nigerians
By Ifeoma Ikem
PVC– The Elders under the aegis of the Civic Consciousness Global Initiative (CCGI) group, a non governmental organisation has urged Nigerians to make the best of worst situations come February general elections by coming out to vote for the right candidates.
The Eminent personalities said this at a press conference in Lagos.
They said the meeting was as a burden to counsel and warn the Nigerian Nation towards the coming election.
Rev Solomon Adegbolagun, the Chairman of CCGI said Nigeria is currently passing through the worst curve of her evolution as a nation.
“We have had unprecedented escalation of our challenges, economic downturn, profligacy of our scarce finances by government agencies and persons, massive corruption, debilitating foreign debt burden to the tune of about 77 trillions.
“We have problem of inflation, unemployment, ethnic cleansing, collapsed moral, spiritual and educational standards, religious fanaticism domination, terrorism, massacre of innocent citizens , destruction of village settlements, displacement of millions of people, to mention but a few.
“Our younger generation and professionals who ought to develop the country are fleeing their homeland massively to overseas in order to seek safer and greener pastures”.
Adegbolagun said the above combined ills have clearly made Nigeria become a failed nation.
“These have combined to threaten our nationhood and put the hopes of both present and upcoming generations in great jeopardy which is further complicated by lack of creative and pragmatic leadership.
“As we approach the next elections in a few weeks from now, it appears that many Nigerians are not alarmed by the aforementioned precarious woes of the country.
“They still carry on with attitude of nonchalance, frivolity, praise singing , bribing electorates, hiring crowds at campaign rallies, dancing on stage , use of gutter languages as they attack each other instead of discussing pragmatic ideas that will solve Nigeria’s problems.
“People are campaigning for same politicians who participated actively in ruining this country and who are suspected to be active culprits and agents in bringing the nation to its knees in all indices of our failure and current maladies”.
He frowned at how politicians carry on with entitlement mentality as if the nation’s leadership is their birthright.
“The Church leaders themselves have not mobilized to defend the interest of the church which has suffered unimaginably from persecutions and wanton killing of its members and pastors.
“Although, CAN has taken its stand on the forthcoming elections, we as a body of concerned elders of the Church find it expedient to amplify this position by advising Nigerians in general and Christians in particular to be very careful and not make mistake of choices that will completely destroy our lives , constitutional rights and survival as a nation”.
According to him, Nigeria is fast regressing to a state of complete Islamization, with Muslims dominating majority of all major sectors of governance: Executive, Legislature and Judiciary.
“Same applies to almost all security departments, military and para-military, same dominance by one ethnic group in Nigeria.
“The configuration and postulation in the coming elections suggest a direct or indirect perpetuation of this anomalous political dominance.
“Therefore, this must change, Nigeria belongs to all Nigerians and no tribe will internally colonize others by the grace of God.
“Nigeria belongs to the youthful population who are the leaders of tomorrow. They must at this time exercise their franchise in choosing good leaders at the next elections.
“We are most worried about the killings in Nigeria. Innocent blood of people are continuously being shed with impunity and our security agencies appear not to be able to protect us anymore, failing in the primary responsibility of a government”,.
He said they are worried that this state of anarchy may worsen and it may become most difficult to practice one’s faith and live in one’s communities safely if we make the grave mistake of choosing and enthroning evil-intentioned leaders at the next elections.
“Trust is broken and the government has lost it with the people. Our hope of rebuilding the nation lies in our ability to rebuild trust.
“This particular voting is very crucial for all citizens of this nation and we should never allow apathy to deny us of making our choice of leadership in the next dispensation.
“We advise the electorates especially the youths to cautiously consider candidates’ track records on how they fared: on integrity scale, justice for all, on corruption index, freedom of religion, commitment to secularity of the state, obedience to court rulings and provision of security to all in every part of the nation.
“They must watch out for leaders whose body language are suggestive of division of the country to nations of the South or of the North and must deny such, their votes”.
The elders also advised the government to suspend the currency politics and address the issue of small scale traders and daily earning business man”.
Breaking: Speaker Obasa Debunks Allegation Of Spending N17b On Assembly Gate
The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, on Thursday described the allegation that the House spent N17 billion on the fixing of a gate as spurious and funny.
A self-proclaimed group, Lagos State Anti-Corruption Coalition, had accused the Assembly of spending the amount to construct a gate. The group also sought investigation of the claim.
Speaking at plenary, Dr. Obasa said the allegation stemmed from the fear of some people over 2027 which is still more than two years away.
Obasa further debunked the claim that the House spent N200 million on its recently organised 22nd thanksgiving service for staff.
“It is so funny. How much is the allocation of the Assembly in the whole year that we will decide to spend N17 billion on a gate? They even claimed that we expended 200 million on thanksgiving that did not hold.
“We are aware that at a period like this when we are approaching elections in 2027, we should expect such things. I think some people are scared and I don’t know why.
“This House did not and has not embarked on any such project. We are not that reckless. We had our thanksgiving last Friday and dignitaries from various parts of the State attended it,” the Speaker said.
Addressing further claims by the group about the alleged relationship between him and the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, the Speaker denied attending the latter’s screening and confirmation by the National Assembly.
“They said that I was at the National Assembly when they were confirming the EFCC chairman. I want to believe that there are CCTV cameras at the National Assembly to identify those who attended the event. The press must have written about it too. So the group should do more to confirm if I was there.
“This is just to deny the allegations in the interest of the public and not the writers because the writers are not those we should be joining words with,” the Speaker said.
Earlier, the House, through its spokesperson, Hon. Stephen Ogundipe, had addressed the allegations noting that the Assembly bases its activities on integrity, transparency and accountability.
“It is ludicrous the claim about constituency intervention funds and constituency project funds and their handling by Speaker Mudashiru Obasa and Clerk of the House, Barr. Olalekan Onafeko as claimed by the group.
“One would have expected a self-acclaimed anti-corruption crusading group to do its groundwork before jumping across the fence with conviction that it hit a jackpot to malign an institution of repute in the name of politics.
“Simply put, the Lagos State House of Assembly does not have any such funds. The Assembly does not embark on constituency projects. Instead, once every year, the House holds stakeholders’ meetings simultaneously across the state where constituents have the opportunity to tell the lawmakers their expectations and make requests for the betterment of the state.
“These requests and expectations are compiled and sent to the executive arm of government for consideration as inputs in subsequent budgets. If this is what the group takes as constituency intervention or project funds, we are sure this explanation has given the required education, moreover, it is common knowledge that it is the responsibility of the Executive arm to execute such projects,” the earlier statement by Ogundipe read.
Eromosele Ebhomele
Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly.
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