By Temidayo Akinsuyi
LAGOS – Chief Olabode George, a former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has said that Nigeria is practising a military form of government in a democratic setting.
George noted that with the situation of things, Nigeria was becoming a failed state and could crumble if nothing urgent was done to address the country’s challenges.
He called on President Muhammadu Buhari to revisit the report of the 2014 national conference and use the recommendations to address the myriads of agitations, protests and insecurity challenges in the country.
Speaking exclusively with Daily Independent, George, who maintained that the implementation of the Confab report was the only way out for Nigeria, said President Buhari should quickly consider the report before the commencement of the 2023 general elections.
The CSOs under the umbrella of ‘Speak Out Africa Initiative’ made their position known in a letter dated May 4 and signed by its legal adviser, Ikechukwu Ezechukwu, SAN.
The letter was directed to the President, the Chairman of Nigerian Governors Forum, the National Assembly and the 36 state Assemblies, among others.
They spoke just as a former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, described the establishment of the anti-corruption agency as dead on arrival.
The CSOs said: “The agency will do so to the exclusion of every other body or authority see sections 13(3) & (5). Section 13(3) reads: ‘the Commission shall upon commencement of this law takeover the anti-corruption and financial crimes cases involving the finances and assets of Lagos State government being investigated by any other agency’ while section 13(5) confers the power of exclusivity to the Commission in handling such financial crimes,” the coalition added.
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Senator representing Borno South and Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Ali Ndume has said it would be defeatist for the Nigerian government and the people to live with the impression that they have been overwhelmed by the terror group, Boko Haram.
He made the submission, on Tuesday, while speaking with journalists shortly after presenting a Bill on the establishment of Federal College of Education Gwoza, Borno State, which passed second reading on the floor of the Senate.
Senator Ndume who equally alerted the nation of the resurgence of the Boko Haram in the North-East states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, however, maintained that the untoward activities of the group were not enough to tag the zone as ineligible for federal presence particularly in the area of education.
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Former Deputy National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has kicked against the recent Anti- Corruption Bill passed by the Lagos State House of Assembly and signed into law by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, which he said seeks to shield criminals from being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), describing it as unconstitutional and retrogressive.
Chief George expressed this view on Monday in Lagos at a press conference titled: “Nigeria: Time to Chart a new direction,” which he addressed during the welcome party, organised to celebrate the recent victory recorded by the party at its recently concluded zonal Congress in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.
Tue May 04 2021
A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, said yesterday that Nigeria cannot afford to go to war.
According to him, negotiation and dialogue remain the solution to the country’s current challenges, especially insecurity, which he said has become a “national malady”.
Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, he tasked President Muhammadu Buhari to find a lasting solution to the insecurity in the land.
He said the buck stops at his table as the commander-in-chief, adding that it is regrettable that Nigeria has become a large killing field. He stressed the need for the decentralisation of the policing system to tackle the spate of insecurity in the land.