Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the February 25 presidential election, has urged Nigerians to put in efforts to make our democracy work. His clamour comes as the country grapples with post-election intraparty political dramas, issues of fulfilment of the constitutional requirement to become president, and legal cases to address issues of legitimacy.
Baba-Ahmed made this call at a symposium titled “Nigerian on Trail: Does Democracy Matter?” held in London on Monday, where other speakers such as Pat Utomi and Aisha Yesufu spoke on the subject matter reflecting on the 2023 general elections.
The former senator who represented Kaduna North senatorial district in the 7th assembly urged Nigerians to put in more effort to protect the nation’s young democracy, insisting that our lacklustre approach towards defending our democracies is the main reason why the political elite continue to enrich themselves at the detriment of the masses.
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Unlike more developed democracies, African democracies, especially Nigeria, have focused on the self-wealth and enrichment of the political elite and political jobbers. Datti-Ahmed argued that mounting debt, mismanagement of the country’s resources, and general insecurity are the dividends of democracy on the continent.
“Democracies belong to those who will exact it. Human rights and civil liberties belong to those who insist on claiming them and achieving them. So the struggle to practise democracy is very healthy, and I want to use this medium to encourage all of us; nobody said it would be easy,” he said.
“I believe in democracy; I don’t believe in dictatorship, “Datti-Ahmed said. “But what I even believe in more is that democracy must be practised well.”
“What is democracy?” he asked. “It is not having three arms of government. What is democracy? It is the constitution. If you don’t follow the constitution, you simply do not have democracy,” he answered.
“The constitution of Nigeria is different from the electoral act, and I repeat, I am not speaking of the 2023 elections; I am speaking about we, the people. I am speaking about the supremacy of the constitution of Nigeria, which states that any law that is in variance with the constitution should be declared null and void,” he voiced out.
He said that he was speaking about how the legislative, executive, and judiciary share their existence in the constitution of the country. “I am speaking about what must happen to be duly elected president of Nigeria, and then, interestingly, I have spoken about the failures about how these conditions are not fulfilled.
“Without abiding by a constitution, you do not have a democracy. A Constitution well interpreted becomes simple and understandable. The Constitution is meant to be followed as far as the office of the president is concerned. So the constitution of Nigeria is a federal document, while the electoral act is a different document,” he noted.
“My principal has gone to court, and we will wait patiently to decide. If your constitution is violated and you sit watching, democracy is not for you,” he said, demanding that Nigerians fight to get democracy working, taking the rudder of the ship of democracy from the political elites who are leading the country in the wrong direction.
He made reference to the mass protest actions carried out by the Israeli public over actions they felt weren’t democratic and in the interest of the people.
He also lambasted Nigerians concern about the state of the country’s democracy by only writing letters to powerful nations instead of acting in such a way to address violations of the constitution.
He ended his speech by saying, “Nigerians, go and make your democracy work.”
