JUNE 12: Our Politics, Elections require improvement — Ize-Iyamu

A governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress APC in Edo state, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu has called for an improvement in the nation’s style of politics and conducting elections.

Ize-Iyamu in his Democracy Day message said in spite of over two decades of unbroken democracy, it was not yet Uhuru for Nigerians due to certain militating factors.

He said; “As many have pointed out, it is not yet Uhuru for us. Certain challenges remain that have made it difficult for all Nigerians to enjoy the dividends of our democracy equally.

Our elections and politics require obvious improvements to better reflect the will of the people, while governance still has a great distance to cover in addressing the challenges of economic inequality and social injustice made worse by a pandemic that brought the world to its knees.

“Yet, in spite of these challenges, and without minimizing their impact and urgent need to proffer solutions to them, what we have achieved before must give us hope for what we can do tomorrow.

In 2015, this nation, for the first time, recorded a transition of power from an incumbent government to the opposition. And since then, the winner of that election, President Muhammadu Buhari has made great strides in electoral reform, economic transformation, social welfare, and securing the lives of our people. We must keep faith in him even as we hope and demand greater dividends”.

He said the attitude of Nigerians during the June 12, 1993, presidential election “was a fine expression of democracy and an unblemished display of our ability to adapt and embrace a unifying message of hope, even in the face of cynicism and great challenges”.

“Today, over two decades on that journey, we look back and recount progresses made, obstacles that persist, and how we can further perfect our democracy. There couldn’t have been a better choice of a day to carry out these deep, and important, reflections than June 12.

And by selecting this day and honoring the sacrifices of Chief MKO Abiola and other heroes, by challenging our nation to carry out these reflections against the background of the high – and low – points of June 12, President Buhari affirmed not only his commitment to democratic ideals without which true governance is impossible, he also showed loyalty to his message of being the President of all”, but he also added.

On his part, a former Chief Executive Officer of Sun Trust Bank, Jibrin Muhammad Barde has commended President Buhari “for steering the country out of the woods of corruption and bad governance that has hindered our national development”.

In a statement he personally signed on Friday, Barde said “the president took over the administration of the country at a most difficult period adding that the country’s pride and dignity have been restored and the battered image of the country rebranded making it truly the giant of Africa”.

He urged state governments to emulate the sterling examples of the President by putting the interests of the people ahead of theirs and to demonstrate their commitments by implementing the policies of the Buhari-led government.

Barde also appealed to the people of his home state, Gombe not to give up but to be resilient and prayerful hoping that their expectations would be met now or in the future.