A former Managing Director of the defunct Bond Bank, John Darlington has urged every Nigerian to participate in the ongoing electoral process in order to usher in a new dawn, a new beginning, and a new season from next year.
Darlington, who spoke exclusively to BusinessDay, advised politicians to see themselves as sportsmen who must play by the rules and avoid rancour.
“As citizens, as politicians, as people, we are all stakeholders in one nation and one country. As it is today, we all have interest to preserve our nation in peace and unity. Therefore, we all should do what is right. Politicians must know that election is not a do-or-die; they must be fair in playing their politics; let decency; let common sense, let love for neighbour; let respect for neighbour prevail in their conduct, in their campaign,” he said.
According to him, “We, the ordinary commoners must do our own bit; register, have your card; go and vote. Now, every vote will be counted at the polling units. Stay there and wait until they count the votes in your unit. Do not rush home. Once you wait and see your vote being counted in your unit, your vote will count.”
Expressing the optimism that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would live up to expectation of conducting a credible general election, which according to him has begun to show from the handling and assurances so far, the former banker said: “We should also commend INEC for making this possible now. We all have a stake. We all should participate; we all should be calm; we all should be respectful of each other’s interest and just be decent and play with dignity and do your own bit and we will have a good election; we will have a good result and hopefully, the best leader will emerge which I am concluding to say that that person out of the three today, is Bola Ahmed Tinubu; a man with courage; a man with vision; a man with understanding of the environment; a man with commitment and track record for impactful government. A new dawn, a new beginning, a new season will emerge as from next year, God helping us.”
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On the possibility of the floods that ravaged some states in the country affecting the activities and preparations of the INEC, Darlington said: “Yes; the flood situation is sad, and the flood situation is not new. Again, the question is what do we do before the flood came? We have what is called the dry season; the rainy season and we have what is called climate change which is now reality.
“We can see what the western world is investing in that space now; are we taking it seriously? No. That’s why I hope a credible government like Bola Tinubu’s would come in and start addressing this menace; because it is a reality – the weather has changed; the climate has changed; and it will impact us and that is what we are seeing. And when we make budgetary allocation, we should make sure it goes into the project we want it to tackle, that’s where accountability, credibility and focus become necessary. Will the floods impact the election? Certainly. A man that has no roof over his head; what is election to him? But will that make the general election not credible? No. But we must quickly reach out to the victims; give them succour where possible; issue them new cards (PVCs) so that they can participate in the exercise that determines their future for the next four years.”
