Human Rights group under the aegis of Pro Democracy Group for a Better Nigeria has faulted the comment of former President Olusegun Obasanjo on the status of Democracy in Africa.
Obasanjo was quoted to have said that Democracy was not working for Africa while delivering his speech on ‘Rethinking Western Liberal Democracy.’
The former President was quoted to have suggested a non-existing “Afro-Democracy” as an alternative idea but did not give any guideline to support theory.
However, the pro-democracy group in a statement by its National Coordinator, Awa Bamiji, described his comment as nothing but a campaign of Calumny against Africa.
Obasanjo, according to the statement, refused to commend democracies of South Africa, Liberia and others that stand as shining examples in this same African continent.
It posited that when the system is not favourable to some political leadership in the country, they would look the other way round.
The statement reads, “Leadership of the opposition parties are fond of castigating and maligning the Judiciary and Electoral umpire whenever they either lost at the poll or Supreme Court.
“We have the strong feeling that none of these Opposition Leaders and their core Loyalists is ever ready to openly accept the Appeal Court verdicts after identifying technicalities that these Justices are using to knock their cases down one by one, right from the Supreme Court Judgement on the Presidential election based on what Constitution says.
“The issue of Mr President inability to win 25% votes in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; reality or otherwise of Chicago State University credentials, Over voting, Discovery of counting of thousands of ballot papers without stamps and Signatures, fraudulent primary elections, having non-membership of a party that sponsored you for election and inconclusiveness of election were all used to decide the fate of various cases.
“These are the flimsy reasons why Judiciary today is compromised.
“These same People described Judiciary as “hope of a common man” in 2019, when the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) lost the entire Zamfara State victory after elections, National Assembly, Gubernatorial, Houses of Assembly, the first of its kind in the history of Supreme Court Judgement; Bayelsa State Gubernatorial mandate, a day to inauguration of the Governor-Elect and All Rivers’ State National Assembly’s Tickets to contest, to the PDP, through Apex Court judgements.
“This Government is just 6 month old and we are seeing its struggles to make things get better, especially in areas of Security, wooing foreign investors, Palliatives’ distribution, dialogue with Labour Unions, gradual decline in Naira/Dollar rate, raising hope of resumption of our local refineries starting from next year and more. Therefore, 2024 holds something better in stock.”
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then