An ad hoc platform of some of the pro-democracy activists who played a frontline role in the anti-military of the late 1980s and 1990s which styled itself Think -Tank for Democracy has called on those who are backing the idea of Interim government to perish the thought as it said it will resist such a move with all within its power.
Addressing a press conference in Lagos, the group through its Chairman, Professor Lucky Akaruese and the Secretary, Sylvester Odion- Akhaine said
the idea of Interim government is a sad joke which must not be allowed to be carried too far before it is arrested and nipped in the bud.
“We asked the backers of an interim government to perish the thought as we are ready to resist in ways democratic any attempts to truncate the fourth republic. Need we remind them, as some statesmen have opined, that the long-term advantages of democracy far outweigh the short-term failings; and optimism is required to navigate our present democratic impasse”, the group said.
Speaking about the 2023 poll, Think -Tank said despite some discontents of the process, somehow, actors at play have won some forms of victory.
It said ” The leading opposition parties won some elective positions other than the presidency. To be sure, there are noticeable positive developments in the process that we should run with and further transform. One of them is the magic of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to the effect that it negates every act of over-voting and moderates the inclination towards over-voting and outright manufacture of election results.
“This should be deepened to allow real-time declaration of results which is the point at the issue of those aggrieved with the just concluded process.
“The massive interest shown by the younger segment of our voting population is tonic for our democracy, and this must be canalized into concrete formations to harvest future opportunities. The path of political wisdom dictates the embrace of the remedial mechanisms that the organic law of the land provides to address disputations arising from the electoral process”.
It said Nigeria is plagued by many problems which include poverty, unemployment, insecurity, separatist agitation; debt overhang; corruption, poor infrastructure, and above all, skewed power distribution approximated by the 1999 Constitution.
“Indeed, the polity is badly divided, and it needs healing. The incoming administration of Asiwaju, Ahmed Bola Tinubu needs to address these problems. It needs the support of every Nigerian to do so; it requires honesty of purpose; above all, it must assemble the best and brightest in the land to do so beyond an assemblage of party partisans”, the group said.
