Senate President, David Mark, has expressed optimism that despite the growing anxiety and challenges ahead of the 2015 general elections, Nigeria would come out stronger and more united as a nation.
Mark, who spoke when the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Nigeria, Michel Arrion, visited him in Abuja yesterday, added that government has improved and indeed strengthened political institutions to withstand any storm no matter the circumstances.
The Senate President, according to a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, said, “Our political situation is steadily progressing. All Nigerians are now more conscious and indeed aware of elections and the processes. Both the government and the governed are now doing the right thing to guarantee a free, fair and credible election.
“Steadily, Nigerians have learnt how to play the game according to the rules. I have no doubt that the 2015 elections would be better than our previous elections. It would comply with international best practices. It is going to be exciting and the whole world would appreciate that Nigeria is on the right track democratically.”
He, however, appealed to the international election observers to report facts about the exercise without sentiment or narrow perspective, saying, “election observers should be able to go round in order to get the true position rather than a situation where reports would be based on just a visit to one or two polling units.”
Mark pleaded with the EU to assist Nigeria tackle the unabating security challenges, pointing out that terrorism is no longer an internal affairs of a nation, but already assuming international dimension.
However, the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, said yesterday that the party is concerned about what he described as unnecessary charged political atmosphere in the country.
He also said attempts to destabilize states like Edo and Rivers were signs of what to expect in February 2015.
Speaking when he received the ECOWAS Fact Finding team to Nigeria led by former Ghanaian President, John Kuffour, the APC Chairman said the coming together of the opposition parties to form the APC is making the ruling Peoples Democratic Party jittery, resulting in a charged political space in the country.
He also expressed fear of possible militarization of the electoral process like in the case of elections in Ekiti and Osun States and the attempts to announce fake election results in Osun State, saying “our prayer is that they don’t try to replicate that at the national level.”
He said: “We have a party in power that has been there for about 16 years. Naturally, given the reality of a growing opposition movement, they have become jittery for the first time in our recent democratic process. They become jittery and it has resulted in an unnecessary charging of the political space. This has manifested itself in the near brutality which they have wielded all the powers available to the national government in terms of security agencies, in terms of economic power and the rest of them.
“So, the atmosphere is already naturally charged and we could see this displayed in Ekiti State and they tried to display it in Osun State. We saw the attempt in Nasarawa State and the attempt in Adamawa was successful. You can see it being displayed in the destabilization of states like Edo and Rivers States. We are very happy that the sub region is interested in the welfare of democracy in Nigeria and has dispatched somebody of no less status of the former President of Ghana. “Really, what we are trying to do is to politically and in a democratic sense ensure that the voting population are made aware that power truly belong to them and that they can hire as they wish and fire when they so wish. That is the basic reason for the APC,” he said.