Posted by By Vincent Ujumadu on
UMUAHIA - ABIA State commissioner for information, culture and tourism, Chief Anthony Agbazuere, at the weekend described as another political fraud the Interim National Government.....
UMUAHIA - ABIA State commissioner for information, culture and tourism, Chief Anthony Agbazuere, at the weekend described as another political fraud the Interim National Government (ING) being canvassed by some Nigerians, urging the people to be prepared for another battle similar to the failed third term bid.
Speaking in an interview in Umuahia, Agbazuere said that from all indications, the present administration does not want to leave office, neither does it want to conduct a credible election next year.
'If one looks at the fact that the federal government says that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will conduct the 2007 election in April when the handover is in May, it means that they are not prepared to hand over. One month will not be enough for litigation and other things. So, it could be seen that from day one, the present administration never intended to hand over.
The government started this third term project which later collapsed when Nigerians became aware of the fraud. Now that it has collapsed, they came up again with the second option for tenure elongation which is to set up ING.
'The idea of planning to hold election in April and to hand over in May is not workable. What it means is that the president wants to cash in on the Constitution which provides that the national assembly can allow a serving president to continue in office for another six months to scuttle this democratic experiment by ensuring that the election is inconclusive. The president appears not to tired, but just like Nigerians rose to the occasion to stop the third term agenda, the ING bid will also collapse. There is no need for ING. The civilian government is in place and somebody is talking of ING.
'If he is sincere about leaving office after his tenure, he should conduct this election in February, 2007 so that there will be two full months to handle election petitions for the elected people to be sworn in on May, 29, 2007."
Agbazuere said further that the recent resignation by the minister of external affairs, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, from the federal cabinet was a clear indication that there is confusion in the president's camp, while the killings in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) shows that the party has lost relevance. He urged all the presidential aspirants to come together and forget the issue of who will win the election to fight the second option for tenure elongation.
capable of forcing the military to stage a comeback. And if they come back, it will be worse for everybody.""