*Decries persistent low voter turnout, seeks true federalism 

*APC: Opposition leaders weaponising grudges against President 

*Ruling party insists Atiku, Obi, El-Rufai, failing to provide leadership for their parties 

*Catholic church, ADC condemn disruption of Owerri lecture

Chuks Okocha,  Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja and Amby Uneze, Tony Icheku in Owerri

A former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, at the weekend insisted that there are more poorer Nigerians in the nation today than during the period of the country’s independence in 1960.
El-Rufai, a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) said if the Nigerian government makes it a priority, it can end poverty like China and India, which he said, are in the process of beating the social menace.
The politician, a key member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) disclosed this during an interactive session in Owerri, Imo State, titled: “Moving Forward Together”.

In his speech at the event, the former governor said that while other countries like China and India have largely conquered poverty, Nigeria has no master plan yet to achieve the same.
“For the sake of our people, we need to have a roadmap for beating mass poverty. It is deeply embarrassing that, judging from the population estimate in 1960, there are now more poor Nigerians than there were Nigerians at independence 65 years ago. China has beaten mass poverty, while India is on a path to ending it.

“We too can do it, if we make it a governance priority to move our people out of poverty. We need an economic programme to achieve this important human goal, a programme that is pragmatic in execution but ambitious in its goal.

“ In this regard, what is needed is not new agencies of poverty alleviation or ‘humanitarian affairs’ with a massive bureaucracy, but innovative ways to make honest, hardworking citizens more productive and better-rewarded, while discouraging rent-seeking and other ‘get-rich-quick’ schemes in our society,” El-Rufai argued.
However, THISDAY check revealed that in 1960, Nigeria’s population was estimated at about 45 million as against over 220 million currently.

While there are no reliable statistics available on Nigeria’s poverty rate specifically for 1960, the very year of independence, THISDAY’s checks showed that most poverty data began in later decades—with the earliest comprehensive measure around 1980, when the poverty rate was approximately 27.2 per cent.
But by 2024, more than 54 per cent of Nigerians were estimated to live below the international extreme poverty line of $2.15/day, capturing about 129 million people.

Despite recent government efforts, the disparity between rural and urban poverty has been especially pronounced, with rural regions often exceeding 75 per cent.
Besides, El-Rufai questioned the persistent low voter turnout during elections in Nigeria, explaining that between 2003 and 2023, the proportion of Nigerian voters fell from 60 per cent to 30 per cent.

“In my view, one of the most pressing items for elite consensus is how our governments emerge in a democratic process. We need to agree on how to build trust in the electoral process and promote citizen participation. Our country has since 1999 conducted national elections as at when due.

“Given our stormy history, 25 years of unbroken rule by elected governments indicates that our country is on a pathway to democratic stability. But voter turnout at presidential elections has been declining since 2007. Less than 30 per cent of registered voters bothered to vote in 2023, down from over 60 per cent in 2003!
“Also, the integrity of every presidential election result from 1999 to date has been challenged in the courts, except in 2015 when President Goodluck Jonathan personally and commendably chose not to. Low voter turnout should worry every democrat because apathy by citizens who feel alienated from the political process could lead to unwelcome fragility.

“We should engage our citizens to find out why so many consistently forfeit their constitutional right to vote. We should try to ascertain what could encourage them to resume exercising that fundamental democratic right. This, in my view, should also include measures to assure them that the election process is free from threats of violence or coercion, while ensuring that the results would accurately reflect the preferences expressed by voters at the ballot box,” he pointed out.

He emphasised that there was a need for an elite consensus around free and fair elections, stressing that adopting a wholesale electronic system of voting as well as real-time transmission of results was central to having transparent polls.

“I do not see any compelling argument or unbridgeable barrier to adopting electronic voting and transmission of results for the 2027 elections. Based on our experience in preparing for and conducting local government elections in Kaduna State in 2018, I believe there is adequate time today, for INEC to acquire and deploy the hard and soft infrastructure needed to deliver this for the entire country at a much lower lifecycle cost than the current, unreliable system that has repeatedly been subject to human manipulation,” El-Rufai stated.

According to him, Nigeria can adopt electronic voting machines that are designed and configured to do at least five functions: Integrating the simultaneous identification and verification of the voter; providing a paper trail of votes cast at every polling unit and shutting down of the system at the predetermined deadline.

Besides, he called for the provision of a printout of the polling unit result for each party agent, presiding officer, the media and the security agencies, and a seamless transmission of the polling unit results on the conclusion of voting.
To him, there is an urgent need for the current and prospective office holders to focus not just on an ‘arithmetic’ of power, but on a national programme that addresses and solves societal problems as well as true federalism.

“This country was founded as a federation, but it appears that there are very few committed federalists in Nigeria. Recent experience would seem to suggest that federalism is a concept often touted by those seeking power who promptly forget about it once suitably empowered.

“ Our experience in the First Republic, as well as the consensus of scholars have credited federalism with helping to advance inter-ethnic unity, democratic stability, and socio-economic development. The intrusion of a unitary, centralising mindset from the 1970s onwards appears to have limited these well-known attributes of federalism.
“My personal view is that promoting federalism is in the interest of Nigeria’s progress and development. The attempt to run Nigeria as a unitary polity runs contrary to its founding constitutional structure and denies its rich diversity.

The federal government has since the 1970s acquired more powers and resources but it does too much but too little well.
“More powers, resources and responsibilities should be devolved to the states, including policing. I welcome the progress made in the 2023 constitutional amendment that moved electricity and railways to the concurrent list, thereby allowing states to own, operate and regulate entities in those sectors. But we should go further and implement the recommendations made in 2018 by the APC Committee on True Federalism which I chaired,” he suggested.

In a similar development, the Administrator of the Maria Assumpta Catholic Cathedral, Owerri, Imo State, Rev. Fr. Martin Ohajunwa, has condemned the ‘act of hooliganism’ exhibited by some hired thugs at the weekend to disrupt the Odenigbo Lecture that was going on at the premises of Maria Assumpta Catholic Cathedral Owerri.
The Imo State Chapter of the African Democratic Party (ADC) also frowned on the inglorious act as it called on the Imo State Government and the police to fish out the perpetrators and punish them.

In a sermon on Sunday at the Maria Assumpta Catholic Cathedral, Owerri, Ohajunwa described the  brigandage as a ‘slap on Igbos’ noting that Igbo people should rise up and live above such condemnable acts.
He warned the youths of Igbo extraction to find something meaningful to do instead of getting involved in political thuggery that would eventually damage their future.

According to him, those who sent the youths to Maria Assumpta Catholic Cathedral Owerri made a very big mistake because from the history of the church, dating back to the civil war, all attempts to bomb the place were unsuccessful.
He stated that some of the hoodlums that were arrested by the Church security revealed the identity of their sponsors and warned them to desist forthwith from smearing the premises of the church, adding “the wrath of God would descend on them.”

THISDAY reliably gathered thugs were sent to disrupt the speech of the former governor of Kaduna State, El-Rufai, who came on a private visit to the state and decided to attend the church function.
Meanwhile, the ADC, Imo State Chapter, has condemned the desecration of the Odenigbo Lecture organized by the Assumpta Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri, describing the act as deeply alarming and threatening to the peace, stability, and moral fabric of Imo State.

The party’s press release signed by the State Public Secretary, Chief Macdonald Amadi, stated that such acts of lawlessness are unacceptable and must be addressed decisively.
“We condemn this blatant display of thuggery in the strongest possible terms. The perpetrators’ actions are not only a direct affront to the Catholic Church but also a threat to societal harmony, particularly as the nation approaches critical electoral exercises. The rule of law must prevail over chaos and intimidation.

“The ADC Imo State Chapter calls on the Imo State Government and all security agencies to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators to serve as a deterrent against future acts of lawlessness, ensure the safety and security of citizens, particularly during religious and civic events and uphold the rule of law and protect the sanctity of places of worship and public gatherings.

“We further urge all citizens to remain calm, peaceful, and disciplined. The strength of Imo State lies in its people’s respect for law, tolerance, and civic responsibility.
“Imo State has always stood as a beacon of peace, learning, and hospitality. Our people are industrious, tolerant, and deeply rooted in republican values that celebrate dialogue, engagement, and respect for law and order.

“We will not allow fringe elements, paid provocateurs, or acts of violence to redefine our heritage or tarnish the image of our state. Ndi-Imo remains steadfast in discipline and civility, showing that true strength lies in ideas, integrity, and peaceful action, not in chaos or intimidation,” the release stated.

But the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that opposition leaders,  including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Governors of Kaduna, Sokoto, Anambra and Rivers states,  El-Rufai, Aminu Tambuwal, Mr. Peter Obi and Mr. Rotimi Amaechi have failed to provide leadership, purpose, direction and vitality to their parties.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Morka in a statement issued yesterday said rather than focus their attention and touted leadership abilities to building viable opposition parties, they prefer to play the blame game, pointing fingers at the APC for failure that is entirely their own.  

Morka noted that a justification for democratic political opposition exists essentially in its role to hold the government accountable to govern in accordance with the rule of law and democratic norms.

Morka, while reacting to a recent interview where Tambuwal accused President Bola Tinubu and APC of plotting the destabilisation of opposition parties in the country, said he  offered no substantiation of his bogus claims.

He noted that it was now clear to Nigerians that the present crop of opposition leaders have lost focus aside from their compulsive and obsessive crave for power and patronage that feed their ego and greed.

He added: “Opposition politics is not simply about membership of a political party different from the ruling party. It is not just about the freedom to zap in and out of political parties based on purely selfish political calculations.

“ It is also not about the freedom to bandy false narratives, peddle lies and engage in smear campaigns designed to sow discord and mislead the public. Opposition politics is certainly not also about weaponising grudges disguised as opposition critiques.

“It is perplexing that these opposition leaders – the likes of Tambuwal, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Mr. Peter Obi and Mr. Rotimi Amechi – who have occupied some of the highest political offices in our country have failed, horridly and disgracefully, to provide leadership, purpose, direction and vitality to their parties.

“It is also about the duty of opposition leaders to take responsibility and accountability for their failure as leaders of their parties.”

Morka maintained that without effective leadership, opposition parties cannot perform their ascribed role of promoting accountability of governance or its role to provide credible policy alternatives or extending cooperation to the ruling party in pursuit of progress, and achieving the common good.

He wondered how anyone could take present day opposition leaders seriously as capable of leading Nigeria at this moment in the nation’s history when they have proved so grossly incapable of leading their parties.

“Opposition leaders remain in denial while their parties drift, rudderless at sea, as their members peel away in droves. The opposition’s attempt at building a coalition remains a figment that is not coalescing due to the hostile takeover of the  ADC that is now unraveling in crippling dimensions, and the competing selfishness, desperation and arrogance of its leaders.”

The spokesperson said the ruling party would continue to strengthen its internal democratic systems to stand stronger, and serve Nigerians better

He said  that as a government, Tinubu remained resolute and focused on rebuilding generationally neglected foundations of its economic life and repositioning the country for sustainable progress.

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