THOUGH CONFAB WAS INITIATED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, BUT NIGERIA NEEDS BETTER LEADERSHIP COME 2015~TAMBUWAL House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal yesterday said Nigeria deserves a better leadership to make progress. The Speaker said Nigerians should see themselves as the primary instrument for achieving national progress. He said Nigeria is vast for anyone to perpetrate himself in office, adding: “No matter one’s political ambition, the constitution is supreme in a democracy and every citizen must obey the laws of the country and act according to the constitution.” Disabusing the minds of Nigerians on the proposed amendment of the constitution, recommended by the National Conference, Tambuwal said altough the conference was initiated by the Federal Government, but “we legislators will have to subject every recommendation to due process of legislation, as it were”. The Speaker urged registered Nigerian voters and those of voting ages to get their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs). Tambuwal spoke yesterday in his home town Tambuwal after picking his PVC at the Alhaji Hadi Waziri Ward. The Speaker said only free, fair and credible elections would earn the confidence of Nigerians who he said were ready to elect better leadership in 2015. He said: “We cannot hide under any guise or excuse not to conduct free, fair and credible elections. “If nations like Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq can conduct peaceful and credible elections under its challenging atmosphere. We have no reason not to as well.” Tambuwal hailed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for trying to improve the electoral process, despite inadequate facilities. He said: “It is an improvement on the past, and this should be continued by the commission until we get it right.” According to him, INEC should leverage on its independence to earn the confidence of the electorate. Tambuwal said: “We, as legislators and government, are working towards a more effective legal frame work that would guarantee INEC autonomy backed by resources through possible amendments of the Act establishing it.” The Speaker noted that this would enable the commission to maintain a first line charge to guarantee its financial independence. He added that the National Assembly would soon conduct a public hearing to enable INEC perform better.
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 20:20:26 +0000