Shola Adekola
The National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), USA has urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to set up booby traps for the incoming government with last-minute policies and projects that he would not midwife.
The group stated this against the backdrop of recent bills assented to by the president, particularly those bordering on the devolution of powers and restructuring of the country.
The NADECO USA Executive Director, Lloyd Ukwu, in a statement issued today, lamented how the president had rebuffed appeals by concerned Nigerians at home and abroad to restructure the country under his leadership in the last seven years.
The NADECO chief called on citizens to be wary of Buhari’s recently signed constitutional amendment law allowing states in the country to license, generate, transmit, and distribute electricity.
According to Ukwu; “After seven years plus of Buhari vehemently stonewalling and opposing all incessant calls by well-meaning groups and citizens to embark on restructuring as a way to save Nigeria, all of a sudden the President has gone into a frenzy of signing last-minute bills in step with restructuring. NADECO calls into question the motive behind President Buhari’s newfound interest in taking steps at restructuring at this late hour of his presidency.
“Buhari should stop assenting to so many midnight bills he had ignored before 2023. These bills appear to have ulterior agendas or motives.
The timing of signing these bills has been programmed to occur while the political class and citizens are distracted by the ongoing sham elections and power shifts. The motives are self-serving and public attention must be paid to them, hence NADECO’S cry.
What could be his reason for taking this step in support of restructuring on the eve of his 2023 departure from office? Nigerians should keep their eyes open here too. Along with the Civil Society Organization; they should be vigilant because a president who was unable to conduct simple, routine elections should not continue to pile up assignments with potential disasters that could continue to haunt the country after he has left office in May 2023,” Ukwu added.
NADECO USA has also joined numerous other bodies both in Nigeria and abroad in condemning the March 18th, 2023, gubernatorial and state Houses of Assembly elections held in Nigeria.
It called for an outright cancellation of highly disputed polls saying the products of such elections cannot and should not be considered worthy to be called leaders or representatives of the Nigerian people.
“NADECO is sufficiently alarmed and indeed concerned by the revelations of one of the key members of the ruling APC, and former Director-General of the Buhari Campaign Organization, Mr Chibuike Amaechi that the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmoud Yakubu is an appointee of Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu whose purported announcement as ‘president-elect’ is widely unacceptable to the electorate.
This gives credence to NADECO’s earlier request for the international community to place a ban on the electoral umpire, and not to recognize any products of the sham elections that produced Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the president-elect, because it is an illegitimate mandate of a flawed process.
This outgoing Administration and Nigerians should concentrate on resolving election issues first and foremost. There can be no moving forward without knowing who will lead Nigeria in the next four years after May 29th, 2023,” it added.
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