Posted by From JACOB EDI AND ISAAC ANUMIHE, Abuja on
Abia State Governor, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu has described election rigging as amounting to a coup just as he says it is improper for the people to be ruled against their will.
Abia State Governor, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu has described election rigging as amounting to a coup just as he says it is improper for the people to be ruled against their will.
Kalu made the remarks on Thursday while commissioning the multi-million naira Abia House in Abuja.
'Rigging an election is a coup. No human being should be ruled by people against their conscience," the governor said.
Governor Kalu stated that actual democratic process would begin after the May 29 inauguration of President-elect, Umar Musa Yar'Adua.
'After May 29, the fight will go to the courts. We cannot build a serious democracy without the rule of law. Nigerians must fight for their votes," Kalu told a cheering crowd at the Abia House located at the Central Business District area of Abuja .
According to him, the in-coming National Assembly members have a huge task and they must begin the process of electoral reforms without delay soon after their inauguration.
While stressing that the era when the National Assembly accepted bribe to take decisions were over, the Abia governor insisted that 'they must make legislations to benefit the people."
Kalu accused such democratic institutions as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and related Offences Commission (ICPC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), among others, of having been compromised and too weak to stabilize democracy.
He pledged to devote his time to fight for an enduring democracy in the next dispensation.
'I will spend the next four years as a lobbyist at the National Assembly. Part of my office will be at the National Assembly so that I can fight for democracy. Those who think they can cow us are jokers. I challenge those who want to rule us to adhere to the rule of law or there will be problem," Kalu stated.
He warned against any act of violence and advised that people should seek constitutional ways out of problems. According to him, the aim is to develop political process and not leadership, stressing that 'there must be respect for the rule of law."
He expressed gratitude to God for the successful completion of the Abia House. He said the project which took off in 2005 gulped N1.584 billion on completion. The initial cost was N1.2 billion.
The seven-floor building contains two underground parking spaces with the capacity to accommodate 82 cars.
Built on a space of 7,167 sq. meters, the Abia House with 82 offices, two power-generating sets, a water tank with a capacity of 110,000 litres was roofed with aluminium flagging. The building was designed and built by Zerox Construction Company.