Democracy Day: Jonathan, Tambuwal Disagree Over Gains

President Goodluck Jonathan
and speaker of the House of
Representatives Hon Aminu
Tambuwal yesterday
expressed divergent views on
the attitude of the two arms
of government to their work.
Jonathan and Tambuwal, who
spoke at a national symposium
entitled “Our Democracy:
Progress and Challenges” to
mark the 2012 Democracy Day
at the Presidential Villa, Abuja,
made conflicting remarks on
the level of progress in the
country’s democratic
process.
Tambuwal, who was the first
to speak at the event, said
democratic rule as practised in
the country so far was a
failure on the grounds that
the elected leaders have
failed to play by the rules.
He said: “There is a tendency
sometimes to denigrate the
gains of our democracy, a
tendency to reel out the
disappointments, the areas in
which democracy has failed to
change people’s lives. It is a
tendency to conclude that
democracy has failed.
“It is true that after a dozen
years of multi-party rule our
people are still poor, the crime
rate is still up, and millions are
still jobless. It is even true
that democracy has brought
its own special type of
problems, yet democracy has
never been an end in itself
but a process. And, like all
processes, it is expected to
produce certain results only if
the rules are followed.
“Unfortunately, we have not
always played by the rules.
Some of the basic rules include
free and fair elections,
popular participation in
governance, a cocktail of
freedoms, separation of
powers, and good governance.
Once the process is sabotaged
by circumventing any of
these, democracy is
undermined and all sorts of
problems begin to manifest.”
But Jonathan disagreed
completely with the speaker,
reminding him that while the
country was celebrating 13
years of stable democracy,
present at the symposium
were past leaders like Alhaji
Shehu Shagari who won
election with his vice, Alex
Ekwueme, but were not
allowed to complete their
second tenure.
Noting that the worst
democratic government is
better than a dictatorial
government, Jonathan said:
“We have tenure and
democratic government which
gives a little more elasticity
for people to criticise
government. That is why
people believe that the worst
democratic government is
better than a dictatorial
dispensation. I want to talk
about three areas because
we are talking about
sustaining democracy. How do
we practise democracy and
people will get the dividends
of democracy? That is the
kernel of this democracy.
“One thing is clear: I have not
seen somebody who contested
presidential election and have
100 per cent of the votes. In
some cases, even to win in
the first round is difficult. We
got that experience in Liberia,
Senegal and, recently, in
France, which means that if
you win the election, you may
not have total per cent of
the vote. You hardly get 60
per cent of the vote in a
democratic setting. Whoever
wins the election should be
allowed to do his work
because he has a tenure.”
Tambuwal decried the
arbitrary manner in which the
executive arm of government
has been frustrating the
investigations and probes
carried out by the National
Assembly into critical areas of
the country’s economy.
He said: “The revelations have
no doubt been startling. We
wish to emphasise that the
object of these investigations
is not to witch-hunt anybody
but to ensure that the
principle and practice of public
accountability is moved from
the realm of sheer rhetoric to
that of reality. These
investigations are fundamental
constitutional duties of the
legislature.
“It is however important to
state, for the benefit of the
public, that under the
doctrine of separation of
powers, once the legislature
has passed resolutions on the
recommendations of such
investigative reports turned
in by its committees,
implementation is the
statutory duty of the
executive.”
Democracy should be a
way of life – Mark
Meanwhile, the president of
the Senate, David Mark, has
urged Nigerians to participate
actively in the democratic
process and collaborate with
government to strengthen
the institutions to reach the
Eldorado, saying that there is
no alternative to democracy.
Mark, who stated this in a
remark to mark this year’s
Democracy Day, said it was by
deliberate decision and design
that Nigeria chose democracy
as the best form of
government suited for our
pluralistic society.
Mark, therefore canvassed
that Nigerians owe it a sacred
duty to nurture and sustain
the democratic institutions.
He noted that democracy
should not be seen or
perceived as those in
government versus those
outside government, saying
“we must all keep faith”.
Senator Mark stressed that
democracy is participatory
and representative enough to
cater for all interests where
no one or group would be
marginalised or oppressed.
He said: “All we need is to
ensure that the tripod of
presidential system of
government – the executive,
the legislature and the
judiciary arms – are all alive
and responsive to their
assigned constitutional roles.
Democracy remains the
best – Atiku
Also, former Vice-President
Atiku Abubakar has said
despite the challenges facing
Nigeria’s current democratic
order, the citizens should not
lose faith in the system of
government.
In a message to Nigerians on
the occasion of Nigeria’s
Democracy Day celebration,
through his media office in
Abuja, the former vice-
president noted that, while it
is natural for disappointed
expectations to lead to
despair, Nigerians should not
give up because democracy
remains the best form of
government, despite its
limitations from one society to
another.
While commending the
sacrifices of the ordinary
Nigerians who had to endure
lengthy hours at the polling
units to cast their votes, the
former vice-president also
reminded elected officeholders
that “democracy should not
begin and end at the polling
booths”.
He maintained that the
tendency of leaders
forgetting their oath of office
or their covenant with the
people can lead to
disillusionment, a situation
which should not be allowed to
dampen popular morale about
democracy.
Tukur: PDP is ready
On his part, the national
chairman of Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji
Bamanga Tukur, has said that
the party is determined to
transfer wealth to the masses
in the country.
Tukur stated this in a
statement issued by the
party`s national publicity
secretary, Mr. Olisa Metuh,
and made available to
journalists yesterday in Abuja.
The statement said that the
party was also determined to
establish a strong and
sustainable middle class as
defined in its ideology.
It said, “Nowhere in the world
has true democracy and
economic transformation
evolved overnight; it takes
time, sacrifice and patience.
However, for the first time in
the history of this great
nation, we have had 13 years
of an uninterrupted journey
to the promised land.
Tinubu: We must chart a
new course
Meanwhile, former Lagos
State governor and national
leader of the Action Congress
of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola
Tinubu, has said that Nigeria
needs to chart a new course
to move forward in solving
her problems.
“Nigeria is not moving forward.
We are stuck in improving
power generation. Millions of
Nigerians are slipping into
poverty. “We must begin to
chart a new course for Nigeria
now. We must stop this
reversal and rally all
progressives to the national
cause of liberating Nigeria.”
Tinubu spoke on the
opposition’s plan to capture
power and turn Nigeria in the
direction of growth and
development. He decried the
lack of capacity in governance.
“Without capacity, you will end
up with a visionless and
directionless government.
Right now we are headed in
the wrong direction and our
current leadership must apply
itself to the task of nation
building,” he said. “Thirteen
years of PDP leadership have
seen us making little progress.
We have had years of waste
and little growth. How can
Nigeria still be fluctuating
between 1,200MW and
4,000MW? We have witnessed
deficiency in leadership,
intimidation and abuse of rule
of law and transparent
corruption.”
Tinubu said Nigeria is worth
dying for and urged all
Nigerians not to give up on
the country. “Democracy
remains the best framework
within which we can resolve
our differences, choose our
leaders and send some
packing and above all develop
our country,” Tinubu said.
The politics of 2015, he
stated, “must not be used as
an excuse to distract us from
putting the feet of those in
power to the fire”. He harped
on electoral reforms,
expressing worry that the
INEC of today under Jega is
far from being independent.
“INEC gradually is becoming the
appendage of the ruling
government, PDP. We must
return to the Justice Uwais
Panel report on judicial
reform. It’s the blueprint we
need.”
Source: Leadership Newspaper