Agbakoba to Presidential candidates: Look beyond election victory, focus on challenges ahead

Olisa Agbakoba, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has challenged all political parties and their presidential candidates to look beyond the possible victory and hand over date of May 29, 2015 and focus more on what to offer the people of Nigeria after the inauguration of the new government. Abakoba said what was paramount was the programmes of the parties and not necessarily whether to win the election or not, lamenting that most of those jostling for one post or the other are motivated by desire to go into office to make easy money.

The legal practitioner and Development Law partner in the Olisa Agbakoba Legal (OAL), made the observation while speaking with journalists in Lagos on ‘National Order and 2015 Agenda.’ “Beyond the elections, the big question is what comes on June 1 after May 29? Either a new government entirely or the incumbent is re-elected, what are we going to see on June 1st in terms of new ideas; in terms of how better to run government? The country is structurally imbalanced; how is the incoming government going to address this? “I am looking for a president who will answer Bola Ige’s immortal questions- ‘Do we want to remain as one country? If the answer is, yes, under what condition?’ It is our view that to answer these questions in the positive, we must revert back to the core issues of the National Order that is ‘balanced federation’. That is the biggest issue we are going to face. I don’t think the media has helped in this area,” Agbakoba said. “It is a big shame that neither the PDP nor the APC has given us the clear cut idea of where they are taking the country to after May 29. Instead of showing their good work, they are showing us money to bribe people to vote for them. They hire thugs, goons because they have got nothing upstairs to offer Nigerians. And these youths who have been hungry over five years, and now are being given some money jump at it to do the bidding of those who hire them,” the legal practitioners said.

Agbakoba, who jointly ad- dressed the conference with Willy Mamah, of the same chamber, expressed worry that in the face of economic realities, security challenges, among others, some presidential candidates were shying away from coming out in a debate to tell Nigerians how they hope to address the myriad of challenges besetting the country, if elected into office. On the lingering insinuation that President Goodluck Jona- than could sack Attahiru Jega, chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the elections, Agbakoba said he should be allowed to conduct the elections within the