2023: Make Statement With Your Votes, Lawyer Urges Nigerians

As the build up to the 2023 general elections gathers momentum, a Port Harcourt based legal practitioner and Public Affairs analyst, Barr Precious Dike, has urged Nigerians to consider making a definite statement of how to run going forward with their votes.
Barr Dike, who stated this in an exclusive interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt advised the electorate to jettison the practice of allowing sentiments to dictate their choice of leaders.
On the contrary, he urged Nigerians to be purposeful, clear minded and focused in deciding who gets their mandate to run the affairs of the country in next year’s general elections, adding that their choice should reflect their yearnings and aspirations.
“As much as we do have the right to vote whoever we like to vote, there should be necessary indices that should inform our decision”, he said, noting that “Number one, we should look at the antecedents of those who are vying for various offices”.
Barr Dike, who is also the Publicity Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Port Harcourt Branch, urged the electorate to be guided by information already in the public domain about the candidates in making up their minds.
“In fact, we know them; we know that it’s been a recycling thing, so I expect that the voters should look at the content of character; look at their position on issues prior to their requesting for this office; and look at their position currently on trending or contemporary issues”, he emphasised.
“These are the kind of things we should look at. We should not look at any body who has stolen enough to waste millions of naira in purchase of presidential form. That is not the qualification. The qualification should be what have you done prior to this time? How have you been able to serve this country when you did not have political power? When you were saddled with power, what positive change did you bring into the system?”, he said.
“So, I caution Nigerians, this particular election should be such that our vote should reflect our true yearnings in the corners of our streets; we should use our vote to make a statement in the coming elections. I want to recommend that Nigerians should be well guided in voting; let it not be business as usual”, he reiterated.
The legal practitioner, while congratulating the nation on the occasion of this year’s Democracy Day celebration, called on leaders at all levels to strictly adhere to the rule of law and the strengthening of institutions to deliver democratic dividends to the people.
“As the country is celebrating yet another day of democracy, let us allow the people to indeed feel the impact of democracy; let the dividends of democracy trickle down the lane.
“ We have reports of persons embezzling huge amounts of money. Let them be prosecuted. There shouldn’t be political prisoners. There shouldn’t be clamping down on judges and the judiciary. Those are not tenets of democracy we’re yearning for. Democracy is about the rule of law. Let them allow the law to rule over us and not by the whims and caprices of individual leaders”, he submitted.
On the unprecedented number of persons that indicated interest and also bought forms as presidential aspirants in the various political parties, the legal practitioner blamed the development on the performance of President Muhammadu Buhari in office.
This is a manifest pointer to the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari has failed woefully; he has brought governance and administration to it’s lowest ebb. Never have we witnessed it this low in the history of this country. That is why every Tom, Dick and Harry are jostling to come and correct the anomaly.
“I mean, if the president had taken administration to a standard, it would have been difficult for anyone to say I want to succeed him, I want to improve because it would be a very Haculean task; he would have been leaving a bogus shoe for anyone to succeed him. But as it stands now, everything is in disarray; anybody can come and start making amends”, he pointed out.

By: Opaka Dokubo