Buhari ‘ll be Nigeria’s most democratic leader — Tony Momoh
Lawyer, veteran journalist, politician, royal dignitary and former Minister of Information, Prince Tony Momoh was a central player in the political change that eclipsed the dominance of the former ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, having been national chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, CPC.
Having related with Buhari at close quarters, he speaks on the evolving changes in the country, expectations from his party stalwart, President Muhammadu Buhari and some other sundry national issues. Excerpts:
By Bashir Adefaka
What is your idea of democracy in Nigeria?
The road map in Nigeria is the Constitution and Section 14 of the Constitution says, “Sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria.” And from the Constitution, government derives all its power and authority, which means that the Constitution, as I have always said, is a documentation of delegated power.
During military rule, there was no politics. We have chosen democracy as our highway. Therefore, we must obey the rules of democracy.
So, once we say we have chosen democracy, then there must be election because all the people cannot go to parliament and all the people cannot take decisions. Therefore, in our way of doing it, we structured Nigeria into three: the national level, the state level and the local government level which is why we say we have three tiers. In these three tiers, elections must be conducted to the National Assembly where you have the Senate and House of Representatives, to the state assemblies, to all the executive offices including the 36 governors and, of course, the local government chairmen. And section seven of the Constitution is clear that all local government officers must be elected.
But in many states instead of elected local government chairmen we have administrative secretaries or caretaker chairmen who are appointed?
That is indiscipline. There is no provision for administrative secretaries or caretaker committee chairmen for local government administration. So, you can now see that because we are practising democracy, we have political associations that are registered to canvass for votes. Having been registered to canvass for votes and you will now be called political parties then you must play politics.
Then you must have a manifesto where you make promises, and the Constitution itself in Chapter Two gives you how to package your manifesto. You must state what you want to do for Nigerians since sovereignty lies with them and, therefore, you will have to make the promise of what you will do for them if you are in government as a political party. What will you do for them politically, educationally, economically, culturally, environmentally, and in the area of foreign policy? There is a guideline in the Constitution. As a political association you will say what you want to do, and that is what you package as your own manifesto.
Lawyer, veteran journalist, politician, royal dignitary and former Minister of Information, Prince Tony Momoh was a central player in the political change that eclipsed the dominance of the former ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, having been national chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, CPC.
Having related with Buhari at close quarters, he speaks on the evolving changes in the country, expectations from his party stalwart, President Muhammadu Buhari and some other sundry national issues. Excerpts:
By Bashir Adefaka
What is your idea of democracy in Nigeria?
The road map in Nigeria is the Constitution and Section 14 of the Constitution says, “Sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria.” And from the Constitution, government derives all its power and authority, which means that the Constitution, as I have always said, is a documentation of delegated power.
During military rule, there was no politics. We have chosen democracy as our highway. Therefore, we must obey the rules of democracy.
So, once we say we have chosen democracy, then there must be election because all the people cannot go to parliament and all the people cannot take decisions. Therefore, in our way of doing it, we structured Nigeria into three: the national level, the state level and the local government level which is why we say we have three tiers. In these three tiers, elections must be conducted to the National Assembly where you have the Senate and House of Representatives, to the state assemblies, to all the executive offices including the 36 governors and, of course, the local government chairmen. And section seven of the Constitution is clear that all local government officers must be elected.
That is indiscipline. There is no provision for administrative secretaries or caretaker committee chairmen for local government administration. So, you can now see that because we are practising democracy, we have political associations that are registered to canvass for votes. Having been registered to canvass for votes and you will now be called political parties then you must play politics.
Then you must have a manifesto where you make promises, and the Constitution itself in Chapter Two gives you how to package your manifesto. You must state what you want to do for Nigerians since sovereignty lies with them and, therefore, you will have to make the promise of what you will do for them if you are in government as a political party. What will you do for them politically, educationally, economically, culturally, environmentally, and in the area of foreign policy? There is a guideline in the Constitution. As a political association you will say what you want to do, and that is what you package as your own manifesto.
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