Civil Societies Seek Good Governance in Nigeria

Emma Okonji and Nosa Alekhuogie

Members of the civil societies have called on Nigerians to exercise their rights by holding the Nigerian government accountable in all of the things they do, stating the government get away with a lot of things they shouldn’t be getting away with.

The convener of the Civil Society Situation Room, Ene Obi, who made the call, noted that civil society had been over burdened and stressed the need for the rule of law to takes its place always.

Ene spoke yesterday on the Morning Show of ARISE NEWS Channel, the broadcast arm of THISDAY Newspapers. She expressed her disappointment in the present administration, stressing that there is a lot of insecurity around the country.

She explained that she was particularly worried that about the issue of gender based violence as women and girls are not living their lives the way they should.

“ Our leaders are the parents of the country. What are they doing about the insecurity and this is likely to play around into the elections. Standing upright for

Nigeria is what we are asking for and it needs to start with our leaders .Citizens are trying to stand up right and on our part, as civil society organisations are trying to organise to play our role. It is very important for the rule of law to be put as a change maker and that is why we are standing,” Ene said.

On his part, the Deputy Chairman, Joint Action Force, Achike Chude, also said they were not happy with the refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the Electoral Act Bill.

He, however, said they are hopeful that if the President does not change his mind, the National Assembly would over ride his decision not to give assent to the bill.

He said: “If they decide that the major issue could be the direct primaries, they can look for a way around it so that the essential and pivotal elements of the bill will be preserved.

“Looking at electoral reforms, what is left for the president to do in the next 16 months left for him will not change the verdict of history because this miracle has not been done in six years.

“ He can do something about this particular issue which will stand him in a good stead in terms of how history looks at him.

“ Today, when you talk about the Nigerian state, people look at it as the will of the president of the country.”

He further stressed that the President needed to be reminded of the verdict of history.

The Chairman, Transition Monitoring Group, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani also expressed his concerns about the harassment and intimidation of the civil society in 2021 as all they are demanding is accountability, justice and reforms.

“We are worried that in 2022, there is going to be more intimidation of civil society groups and this is not going to help democracy because if you silence civil society organisations for demanding responsible leadership in the country and you consider that as their crime, then there is a more serious problem at hand, he said.

He further explained that democracy is about the rule of law which must be upheld.

“Right now Nigerians have no confidence in the electoral system because of the rigging and politicians using stolen money to finance political activities in the country.

“The country and civil space is shrinking and this is affecting Nigerians. The civil society is saying we cannot continue this way, we must take pro active measures to reform electoral processes,” he further said.