2011: Clock ticking for Nigeria –UK •Sets agenda for Jega

Written by Christian Okeke, Abuja Thursday, 17 June 2010

AHEAD of the 2011 elections, the United Kingdom, on Wednesday, said that there was no much time for Nigeria to waste on the conduct of the elections and tasked the leaders on good conduct and leadership. United Kingdom’s High Commissioner in Nigeria, Mr Bob Dewar, who gave the charge in a statement made available to Nigerian Tribune in Abuja, also described the nomination of the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, as well as the commissioners of the Commission as an important move, but noted that there were many urgent things to be done for credible elections in 2011.

Britain specifically said that the commission, for a start, needed a budget and plan while the electoral register needed updating.

Mr Bob Dewar, in a statement made available to the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja, noted that there was need to fix things fast in the commission in order to set the ball rolling for the election as, according to him, time was running out.

Mr. Dewar observed that there was need for a level playing field for all candidates and political parties for the election while the parties needed to show internal democracy in their primaries.

According to him, all political parties and other leaders need to stand out against violence.

“From the outset, politicians need to practise good conduct and leadership, showing by their behaviour that they really want to deepen Nigeria’s democracy. Africa and the world are watching. The clock is ticking,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Coalition of a New Nigeria (CNN) has urged Professor Jega not to allow himself to be used by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to perpetrate electoral fraud in the 2011 elections and insisted that identified card-carrying members of the PDP nominated as national commissioners in INEC should be dropped forthwith.

The group had met in Abuja to fine-tune plans on how to project consensus candidates for all the elective positions in next year’s polls.

Members of the coalition include Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC)), Labour Party (LP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), National Conscience Party (NCP) and the Justice Party (JP).

In a press conference at the end of the meeting jointly addressed by the chairman of the coalition group and national chairman of the Progressive Action Congress (PAC), Chief Charles Nwodo; the secretary, Mallam Yunusa Tanko, and the national chairman of Labour Party, Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, Chief Nwodo stated that the goal of the group is to wrestle power from the ruling party which he accused of providing bad leadership.

He recalled that the coalition with membership of seven parties in 2007, fielded a joint presidential candidate and expressed hopes that with the increase in number, the chances are brighter in 2011.

Chief Nwodo lamented that the country is still in its state of helplessness, 50 years after independence.