Our Fault lines are Widening – Ekweremadu Laments …Tasks INEC on Outstanding Rerun Elections
Our Fault lines are Widening – Ekweremadu Laments
…Tasks INEC on
Outstanding Rerun Elections
The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has
expressed deep worries over the widening of the nation’s fault lines,
saying such was not healthy for the nation’s democracy and
development.
Ekweremadu stated this in his Democracy Day message to the nation, maintaining that whereas ethnicity and other diversities within
Nigeria were healthy realities that should actually make the nation
thick, the poor management of such diversities and their exploitation
for political and other selfish advantages had continued to polarize the nation, thereby constituting a major stumbling block to her
progress.
This was even as he tasked the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) on the conduct of the remaining rerun elections in
the country.
The Deputy president of the Senate, who rated the 2015 general
elections as the most divisive in the nation’s history, expressed
concern over the lack of clear and deliberate steps to soothe frayed
nerves and wield the country together, one year after.
He said: “I congratulate fellow Nigerians who have made sacrifices to enthrone and also sustain the current democratic dispensation. Indeed, 17 years of uninterrupted democracy is a great achievement for a country that had never experienced anything close to it.
“2015 was particularly defining moment for us as a nation. Left for the prophets of doom, the world would probably have been doing a one-year post-mortem on Nigeria, but God pulled us from the brinks.
“We must, therefore, take clear and deliberate steps to weld the
country together. “It is good to talk about the infrastructure or
other achievements we have recorded in the last one year, if any, but it needs to be emphasised that more than anything else, we need to
reinforce peace, unity, and patriotism. With these, we can take
Nigeria to unimaginable heights”.
Senator Ekweremadu urged those in authority to see the entire country
as their constituency and ensure fairness, equity in the distribution
of projects and opportunities to give every constituent part a sense
of belonging irrespective of their political choices.
This, he said, was in line with the Oath of Allegiance and Oath of
Office, which every political leader swore to on assumption of office.
“Global experiences have shown that people who feel unfairly treated
or embittered will never be interested in peace or in wholeheartedly
contributing their quota to national development; it is certainly not
what we want for our nation”, he added.
The Deputy President of the Senate also enjoined INEC to immediately
conclude rerun elections in Rivers State, and conduct outstanding
rerun elections in Imo North and Kogi East Senatorial Districts, among
others.
Describing the affected areas as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
strongholds, Ekweremadu noted that the continued vacancy of the seats
was, therefore, a huge subtraction not only for the affected
constituencies, but also for the PDP.
Ekweremadu wished Nigerians a happy Democracy Day anniversary.
