Human Rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, on Thursday, expressed concern over the forthcoming general elections. He said they were possibilities of no election in 2023, because parts of Nigeria are in a state of civil war.
This was confirmed in a presentation by Falana, condemning the rate of impunity in the country.
The SAN described the ongoing process of ammending the 1999 constitution, as an exercise in futility that cannot achieve any meaningful result.
Falana in his presentation said, “Our country is ruled by the rule of rulers, and not the law. People commit all manner of crime, and get away with it because there are no sanctions. This must change, but must also work, so that jobless people can get stipends, pending on when they get full employment.
“What can we do very quickly to save this country, which is on the verge of collapse? If you don’t want people to break away from Nigeria, we must give them confidence, and a sense of belonging, don’t declare war.
“Therefore, for the constitutional ammendment to be fruitful for us; to have geniue outputs from this meeting, peace must reign. We must also give people the confidence of peace and inclusion, if we must kill the cries of secession, don’t declare war.
“Infact, in some parts of the country, the 2023 elections are already threatened.
“INEC offices are being burnt, police station are being burnt. In that kind of atmosphere, we cannot pretend that there is political stability in the country.
“Essentially, I am making a case for the poor, the masses of our people, who are generally not represented in fora of this nature, which are most times for the elites and privileged among our people.
“Unless we are prepared to make these provisions justifiable, and enforceable, this country will know no peace.
“Whatever constitution will come forth, after now, must make justicisble, the fundamental objectives and directive principl of state, without which there will be no political stability in Nigeria,” he maintained.
Ijeoma Njoku reporting, Obinwannem News | May 28, 2021
