Why Nigeria won’t get credible leaders at 2023 Polls – Afe Babalola
Senior Advocate of Nigeria Chief Afe Babalola, says the 1999 Constitution will not guarantee the emergence of credible leaders at the February general elections.
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“Unless a new Constitution is put in place, similar to that of the 1960 and 1963 Constitutions, with the required changes, none of the contenders, and indeed no angel, can save Nigeria from complete collapse,” he stated
The proprietor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, made the declaration on Wednesday at the Ekiti State capital at a news conference. Reacting to the adoption of Mr Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“On April 18, 2022, I urged the Federal Government to suspend the 2023 general elections and to raise an interim government of six months that will fashion out a new Constitution for the country.
“I still stand by my suggestion that any election conducted under the 1999 Constitution cannot, and will not produce new leaders with new ideas.
“Babalola said, any election conducted under the 1999 Constitution will merely result in recycling the same people who brought Nigeria to grinding poverty, mass unemployment, underfunded education, insecurity and huge external debts”.
He noted that under the present constitutional arrangement, only a moneybag; and not the credible candidates could win the February presidential election.
He clarified that former President Obasanjo’s decision to endorse the LP presidential candidate was his right of expression and may have been influenced by the candidate’s well-known, spotless reputation and solid educational background.
He emphasized that the 1999 Constitution wasn’t designed to generate the kind of change agent and developmental leader Obasanjo had in mind since it was unfair and flawed.
“I am an elder statesman, a SAN, the highest taxpayer in old Ondo State, the highest taxpayer in present Ekiti, owner of the best private university in Nigeria and many more.
“If I contest for political office today, I will fail, not because I am not qualified, but because the system will make me not to win.
“I have no sympathy for any Nigerian aspiring to rule Nigeria in any form, whether as a legislator, governor or president.
“The 1999 Constitution, in great part, maintains the country’s current source of economic, social, political, and religious issues.
“Our experience since 1999 has taught us that we are in urgent need of a new Constitution.
The new Constitution should stipulate strict requirements for candidates, particularly for the presidency and the National Assembly, in terms of their age, academic credentials, character, and personality, as well as their family background. (NAN)
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