Some prominent Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the country and lawyers have declared that politicians are deliberately using campaigns for 2027 to distract Nigerians from core issues that need urgent attention.
They noted that the politicians were consciously disturbing the psyche of citizens with irrelevant issues thereby abandoning serious and worsening insecurity that included kidnappings, killings, maiming of hapless Nigerians, hunger, unemployment, high-rate inflation, diseases, squalor, abject poverty and deteriorating economy in the country.
They noted that rather focus on how to tackle the plethora of challenges facing the nation, politicians are mainly interested on how they will capture or retain power in 2027 which is far away.
In his comment, the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Comrade Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, said that it was disappointing that the concerns of Nigerian politicians have never been about responsible governance, effective management of the economy, addressing insecurity, and stability in the country.
Rafsanjani said; “The whole idea is not to be involved in elections for effective and responsible governance. It is more of a transaction or business to capture power at all means to continue to siphon the tax prayers’ money and to involve in impunity and recklessness.
“That is what election in Nigeria is all about. It is not about delivering good, responsible or transparent governance or accountability.
He also noted that instead of focusing on the challenges facing their states, governors of both the ruling and main opposition parties were busy endorsing the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of President Bola Tinubu for a second term so that they would continue with their unholy alliance against Nigerians.
“Governors of the APC and the PDP appear to be endorsing the continuation of the ruling party for the collaboration to continue in emasculation of Nigerians.
“The citizens know that we are running a wrong democracy that has no ethics, no value, no public ownership and participation,” he stressed.
Also speaking, an Abuja-based lawyer, Emmanuel Ayongul, said any politician, elected political office holder or his supporters talking about 2027 is already a failure as there are a legion of challenges ranging from insecurity to a biting economy.
Ayongul argued that it is not even up to two years since the present leaders were elected into office, stressing that it was not right for them to even start talking about the next election when there are a lot of governance issues; security issues and social issues to be tackled.
He said; “If you hear any person or their supporters talking about 2027, he or she is already a failed person. So, for me, I think there are more critical issues to be handled by these people and anybody talking about 2027, you should know the person is already a failure because the insecurity in Nigeria is just too much to be mentioned.
“If you look at what is happening now, the ambition of the politicians is what is killing governance. Once they come in, they start looking at the next position they are going to occupy and then they will not be doing that which they are supposed to do for the benefit of the people”.
In his own position, Austin Aigbe, the advocacy officer of West Africa Democracy Solidarity Network (WADEMOS Network), noted that development is common with Nigerian politicians as they ensure that the next election begins with the previous one.
Aigbe specifically noted that the government was not sincere about stopping those who started the early campaigns, adding that the attitude of politicians in Nigeria is that the next election began with the previous election.
He further said; “So, what you see them doing, particularly the incumbent leadership, talking about the APC, and even the PDP, once they are in power, the moment it is two years before the next election, campaigns start.
“Campaign started because everyone wants to be playing a role for the president or the governor to see that they are the ones who began the campaign ahead of the next election, recognising that incumbent power is very powerful, because you should understand that ‘after God, it is government.’
“That’s why you see right now, the same way we saw with the PDP, we are seeing that of the APC. We saw that in the 2019 election with former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“You are not prosecuting the people who are doing it. Are there not pictures on those billboards? Can’t you go after those people who have put those pictures on the billboards? They have their names there. Why must you tell us you are not ready for the campaign whereas your names are used for the campaign and there is somebody’s picture under who is sponsoring it. There is a group which is sponsoring it. Look at Abuja airport road; billboards are full with a campaign organisation with a name on it. Are you telling me you don’t know that name?
“The sincerity is not really there because they always use non-state actors to campaign so that you don’t get tied up with their political parties. That is also how they avoid campaign financing. That the president is not supposed to spend beyond N5 billion but you and I know that N5 billion in Nigeria for the president will be too small.
“They register all kinds of pseudo-organisations and use them to sponsor campaign posters. That is what is happening now. The government is not directly involved but those billboards are from individuals; they are from so-called citizens but I tell you, they are all funded and you can’t count it as part of campaign financing because campaign finance regulation does not include what is happening at this time,” he noted.
…Sourced from Leadership Newspaper
