Na’Abba backs the National Assembly on direct primaries by parties and urges the President to assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
The former Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Ghali Na’Abba, has said that the Federal government must do more in the direction of expanding the country’s economy.
He also calls for deregulation of politics by freeing the political parties from the stranglehold of state governors.
Na’Abba noted that Nigeria as a country never had a perfect constitution, adding that it was a work in progress.
Vanguard reports that Na’Abba made the calls at the Maitama Sule Leadership Lecture Series, with the theme: “Constitution, Constitutionalism and the future of Nigeria”, organized by the Student wing of Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi, on Thursday.
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According to the former Speaker, “Nigeria politics must be deregulated because you cannot expand an economy without deregulating politics and this deregulation comes in the form of the control that political parties have been subjected to by the Governor in the States.
“The economy has not grown and social mobility has become impossible. Therefore, we must expand the usage of our forces. We must deregulate politics because that will now release economic potentials for the benefit of Nigerians.
“I believe in what the National Assembly or what the legislature proposed in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill that there must be direct primaries. The proposal must be upheld by the President. No matter the cost. I believe we need good leadership. The imperative of good leadership is much higher than the cost involved.”
He urged the president to assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, saying “Nigerians have a pulse, and I don’t think it will augur well for the country; if Nigeria’s democracy continues to be held ransom by our governments.”
The guest lecturer, Barrister Muzammil Yahaya, in his presentation, said the removal of oil subsidy has to be looked at from various dimensions.
On the state of the nation’s democracy, he explained that Nigerians ought to be involved in every decision to be considered.
“Inasmuch as I see subsidy removal as a necessity, but it’s the wrong time for such a policy. So, I urged the federal government to consider more opinions and to hear from Nigeria’s Federal issue here louder,” he said
On his part, Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) Spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, said It’s time for the younger generation to rise, struggle and walk to the place this leader who thinks power is their birthright. Mobilize young people during elections and leave us divided.
He said: “You cannot change a system unless you have to be in the system. Gone is the day when our students would be dictated to their actions and they would be decided by people who have dominated or prefer to use the word manipulate them.”