Saturday 17 May 2014
Postpone 2015 Elections by 18 months- Confab Delegate to Jonathan, INEC
A Delegate representing the South
South geo- political Zone of the country at the
on- going National Conference, Chief Okon
Osung has called on the Federal government and
the Independent National Electoral Commission,
INEC to postpone the proposed 2015 general and
Presidential elections by at least eighteen (18)
months, just as he said that the nation’s
democracy must be preserved.
Addressing Journalists in Abuja yesterday, Okon
Osung noted that with the present Nigeria’s
National history and the insecurity challenges
with Boko Haram engaging in massive killings of
persons and wanton destruction of property in
some parts of the country as well as cases of
kidnapping, holding elections February next year
was no longer feasible as it has become
imperative for Nigeria to have a declaration of a
Presidential or National Assembly politico-
administrative moratorium.
Osung who is a member of Committee on Public
Finance and Revenue and former Chairman,
Nigeria Election Monitoring Group during the
June 12, 1993 Presidential election and declared
that the annulled election was free, fair and won
by late Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, noted that
the proposed temporary postponement of the
elections would help guarantee security and
peace throughout the Nigerian Federation.
The former National Vice President of the
Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ who noted
that the issues raised were purely personal,
however warned that if the present crises in the
country were not properly managed and
elections conducted, it would be a deadlock and
the probability for military intervention is high,
adding that after the 1979 election where the
defunct Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN was a very
strong opposition to the defunct National Party
of Nigeria, NPN, this period opens up another
strong opposition with the emergence of All
Progressives Congress, APC to strongly
challenge the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP
and there appears to be a serious desperation
among the parties and politicians to win power
come 2015 that may result to flash points.
The Delegate who noted that Nigeria was at a
cross road and at the threshold of such a
momentous decision- making moment, said,
“There comes a time in the life of a nation when
weighty but life-changing decisions that have
prospects for bringing about turning points for
the good of society must have to be taken. Our
country, Nigeria, is at the threshold of such a
momentous decision-making moment. Such
critical moments occur not only in the lives of
developing nations such as Nigeria but also in the
evolution of advanced industrialized countries.
For instance, faced with excruciating
circumstances such as confront Nigeria today,
and in compliance with the National Emergencies
Act of 24th January 1995, President Bill Clinton
of the United States signed the Executive Order
Number 12947 whose actual import was not a
declaration of a general emergency but a limited
embargo on trade with “Terrorists Who
Threatened To Disrupt the Middle East Process”,
which national emergency was expanded in 1998
to include such additional target as Osama Bin
Laden.
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