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Tag: Opadokun

  • We should return to Uwais Report, says Opadokun

    We should return to Uwais Report, says Opadokun

    National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) Secretary Ayo Opadokun has called for the full implementation of the report of the Uwais Committee on Electoral Reforms to end the trend of inconclusive elections in the country.

    He also called for the establishment of the ‘Electoral Offences Commission’ to halt malpractices and punish offenders.

    Opadokun called for the liberalisation of political party formation, adding that the guideline that stipulate that parties should have offices in two-third of states in the country is untidy.

    The convener of the Consensus Peoples Rights Foundation spoke at the foundation’s maiden colloquium in Lagos as part of the activities marking the 23rd anniversary of the June 12, 1993 election. He spoke on the theme: ‘June 12 and the necessaity for a new election management body.” It was chaired by Chief Fred Agbeyegbe, lawyer and poet.

    Opadokun lamented that, since the historic poll was annulled, subsequent elections have not met the people’s expectation, despite the centrality of democratic elections to legitimate rule and transparent government.

    He said: “If the people in government realise that, based on their performance or non-performance, they can be rewarded to remain in office or punished by being voted out, then, the fear of the popular will of the people will fundamentally alter the shape, the content and the character of governance in Nigeria.”

    Lamenting the trend of inconclusive elections, Opadokun said the unfortunate development was due to the rejection of the highly credible and comprehensive Justice Mohammed Uwais Electoral Reform Panel Recommendations.

    He said until the report is fully implemented, solutions to the electoral perfidy may continue to elude Nigeria, making it to grope in the dark.

    Reflecting on the lack of neutrality on the part of the electoral commission, he wondered why the president, whose party is contesting elections, should appoint the umpire.

    He said, apart from granting independence to the electoral commission through its appointment by the National Judicial Council (NJC), which is as body outside the presidency, the commission should be able to advertise and recruit its own administrative staff that will be responsible to it.

    Opadokun stressed: “Let INEC be truly independent along the recommendation of Uwais Panel. The rot in the NJC must be cleansed. Fresh and credible legal minds who have not always been in public employment and self-respecting legal minds who did not get to thee highest position in the judiciary influence peddling, dubious promotions and loyalty to successive governments should be sought for and courted to accept critical appointments to serve our country.”

    A rights activist, Comrade Mashood Erubami, said the law should allow independent candidates to run for elective office so that parties can cease to be the only platform for sponsoring candidates.

    On electronic voting, he said: “The INEC, in furtherance of its adopting electronic processes in its elections, should halt all manual conduct of voting in 2019s with modern technology so that Nigeria can begin to conduct its elections electronically.”

  • How to restore security, by Opadokun

    How to restore security, by Opadokun

    Convener of the Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform (CODER) Ayo Opadokun has urged the government to adhere to the constitutional provisions to attain lasting  peace.

    He spoke at a national summit on Peace Building and Conflict Prevention, organised by Journalists for Democratic Rights (JODER) in collaboration with Ford Foundation.

    Opadokun explained that it is the gross disobedience of the constitution that resulted in various incidences of violence, noting that constitutional breaches has further divided the polity.

    He said: “Lack of adherence to the constitution is affecting the state. Again, corruption as a national calamity has overrun the nation to the extent that no public institution has been spared. All essential public organs that can develop, sustain democracy and the rule of law have been significantly subverted.

    “To make matters worse, Nigerians have always allowed the military to run to barracks on their own terms, whenever they recognised that they could no longer be allowed to remain directly in charge of political administration.”

    Opadokun said many politicians are surrogates of the military, noting that they are stinkingly rich in the face of the highest national poverty and economic mystery.

    He urged the media to adhere to its constitutional role of holding government accountable, stressing that it must also promote the cause of unity in the country.

    “If the Nigerian state understands the wide implication of the cattle herdsmen of deliberate grazing their cattle by feeding on native farmers crops and the consequently reported support and backing of the Nigerian security forces against native farmers, perhaps they would have a rethink.

    “The law could be amended to give greater sense of belonging in the country. If the sensitivity to the feelings of others is promoted, it can always reduce incidences of violence. Many boundary disputes that have resulted to violence and too many lost of lives are avoidable.”

    Speaking on sustainable peace, Coordinator of JODER Wale Adeoye said. The issue of security has been confined to the domain of government for too long, adding that everybody must rise to the occasion.

    “There are too many killings going on and these have been happening since 1960s, to  the extent that we had a civil war that lasted 30 months. Except the people on their own come together and agree that they want to put a stop to the incessant killings going on around the country, it might escalate.

    “In the past, we used to have government unleashing violence on the people, but these days it is the people unleashing violence on themselves. There must be a platform for constructive engagement among ethnic group to stop the unnecessary blood letting scenario in the country.”

    He called on warring ethnic groups  to consider the lives of innocent people being killed in thousands because of the quest for power, stressing that what the country needs at the moment is unity in order to achieve socio-political and economic progress.

  • Opadokun berates lawyers

    A chieftain of the defunct National  Democratic Coalition (NADECO) and President of the Value Restoration Movement, Chief Ayo Opadokun, has described the bar and the bench as working against President Mohammadu Buhari’s fight against corruption.

    Speaking during the dedication of an ultra modern First Baptist Church cathedral in Offa at the weekend, he also took a swipe at religious organisations, which he said provide safe havens for the corrupt elite.

    Opadokun, who lamented the high rate of corruption in the country, blamed many lawyers,  judges and church leaders for promoting the menace.

    According to him, they connive with private individuals and government officials to perpetrate corruption in all sectors of the economy.

    He said: “Two major institutions are extremely destructive in our value system. I mean the bar and the bench. There has been wide media report of  N2 billion in the account of a sitting judge. In a sane society, that judge ought to have been removed and jailed.

    “Lawyers are milking money from their clients to gratify the judges and they are talking about the rule of law. It is also sad that some religious organisations accept blood money. They don’t bother to find out sources of the money that people bring to the church. All these encourage corruption.”

    On Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram two years ago, he acknowledged President Buhari’s effort to free the girls from captivity but urged him to do a lot more.

  • Opadokun seeks special courts to try corrupt officials

    Opadokun seeks special courts to try corrupt officials

    Former National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) Secretary Ayo Opadokun yesterday called for special courts for the trial of corrupt officials.

    He urged the Federal Government to initiate an amendment to the law on corruption to permit the creation of special courts to fast-track corruption trial.

    Opadokun said: “In spite of the grave exposure of graft, no one has been successfully prosecuted till date. That is not helpful to the struggle.

    “The new Criminal Act Legislation 2005 is a good template, but needs further amendment to prevent the deliberate and needless delay caused by intervening motions, which they have been using, even up to the Supreme Court, to prolong the trial of their clients.”

    In his view, the graft agencies need support and more personnel because they have been overwhelmed by expanding discoveries of corruption cases and continuous interrogations.

    The NADECO chieftain spoke with reporters in Lagos at the unveiling of his national campaign platform: ‘Movement for Value Restoration (MVR).

    The convener said the group would serve as a platform for campaigns against corruption and restoration of values in public life.

    He lamented that “some lawyers have been speaking from two sides of their mouths” by supporting the anti-corruption war and at the same time promoting a fanciful pretentious meaning and application called the rule of law over and against public interest”.

    Chiding some members of the bar and bench for alleged corruption, Opadokun said the group would compile list of persons involved in these acts for submission to the National Judicial Commission (NJC) for appropriate constitutional actions.

    He urged Nigerians to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-graft crusade across the sectors on public interest, stressing that if the momentum is lost, Nigerians may regret it.

    Opadokun said: “If we fail to support the Buhari’s government’s anti-corruption war, we should not be surprised that the war will lose its vibrancy and focus and the supporters of corruption, who have subverted public institutions and are possibly plotting how to take out Buhari or eliminate him will receive a boost.”

    The pro-democracy activist decried the move by some elements, who view the war against corruption from ethnic and religious lenses, saying it was counter-productive.

    He said elected politicians, who abandoned their legislative duties and give dubious solidarity to their leader, who was answering criminal charges in court, were agents of corruption, whose attitudes were embarrassing to the younger generation.

    Reflecting on the herdsmen/farmers clashes, Opadokun lamented that “the natives, who suffer from the destruction of their crops, are also killed, punished and disgraced by the police and the army”.

    He urged the Federal Government to revisit the national question, saying the ethnic nationality dialogue is long overdue.

    Opadokun added: “Devolution of powers, fiscal federalism and its implications are a necessity for national restoration. The national consensus and political stability will be difficult to be attained, until a genuine democratic conference of ethnic nationality holds to discuss and agree on the rule of engagement and modus operandi for our national existence.”

  • Opadokun: Past govts bred corruption

    Opadokun: Past govts bred corruption

    The Convener, Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms (CODER), Ayo Opadokun, has faulted the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan for promoting corruption and breeding impunity.

    He said the country would have moved forward if it was not saddled with corrupt leaders.

    Opadokun condemned the alleged corruption perpetrated under former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Jonathan.

    He said the duo contributed retrogressively to the present economic downturn.

    Speaking with journalists during the 13th edition of Ayo Opadokun’s 2015 Christmas Carol in Offa, Kwara State, Opadokun said unless the country killed corruption, the citizens would continue to suffer through maladministration and mismanagement.

    The CODER convener described the N6.08 trillion 2016 budget presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari as the best in the nation’s socio-political and democratic history.

    Opadokun said the contents and contexts of the budget were practically pro-masses.

    He said with the allocation of a larger proportion of the budget to capital expenditure, Nigeria was moving on the track of real change, transformation, growth and development.

    Opadokun recalled that Nigeria had never allocated such a huge resources to physical infrastructure.

    On the breakdown of the budget, Opadokun said with the 30 per cent votes for capital expenditure as well as a reasonable proportion for education, Nigeria was on a  journey of certainty and reality.

    He held that the budget gave adequate attention to all sectors and represented the wider interests, aspirations and wishes of the people.

    The activist, who lamented how the nation’s  resources had been badly mismanaged, said with the N6 trillion budget, Nigerians would begin to benefit from true dividends of democracy and the change they voted for.

    According to him, no government in Nigeria ever adhered diligently to principles of the United Nations Education, Cultural and Scientific Organisation (UNESCO) on education.

    He attributed the decay and rot in some sectors to “palpable corruption and obnoxious impunity that have become the order of the day and tradition in most of the sensitive institutions in the country.”

  • Ex-military leaders responsible for Nigeria’s woes, says Opadokun

    Ex-military leaders responsible for Nigeria’s woes, says Opadokun

    Former Secretary General of pan Yoruba social organisation, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Opadokun, has attributed the pervasiveness of corruption in Nigeria to the misadventure by the military.

    The fiery activist also blamed the late General Muritala Ramat Mohammed/General Olusegun Obasanjo regime for the elevation of corruption in Nigeria.

    Opadokun, who is the Convener of Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms (CODER), spoke in Offa, Offa local government area of Kwara State after delivering a lecture as part of activities to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Offa Descendants Union (ODU).

    Opadokun spoke on the topic titled, ‘Offa: Yesterday, today and tomorrow.’

    He said: “Generals Mohammed Ramat Mohammed and Olusegun Obasanjo made corruption to become a phenomenon, while General Ibrahim Babangida came to institutionalised corruption.

    “The starting point was the wrong measures, the un-well rehearsed measures Murtala/Obasanjo regime took by sacking public officials on radio with immediate effect. That is what led people to always prepare for their tomorrow as they perceived that their jobs were no longer permanent.

    “Since then, you can hardly organise a project or contract that the senior civil servants will not have their world built up around it. Babangida only came to institutionalise corruption, no doubt about it.”

    Speaking on President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti corruption agenda, the former member of National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) said while “the body language” of the president has begun to send fears down the spines of some people, the federal government must also come up with a clear policy direction that would address the myriad of challenges confronting the country, adding, “There must be policy measures put in place to guide the next phase of our lives. So I am of the opinion that the President ought to fasten his belt.”

    On the perceived frosty relationship between Buhari and current Senate, Opadokun is of the opinion that the president is vested with enormous powers to function, saying, “The president has all the powers the constitution has empowered him to enable him preside over our country. There are so many things he could do to ensure that he makes his appointments without having any problem with the Senate.

  • Opadokun urges APC members to remain united

    Opadokun urges APC members to remain united

    Chief Ayo Opadokun, Convener of the Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms (CODER), on Monday urged members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stand firm and remain united.

    Opadokun spoke with newsmen in an interview at the State House, Alausa, shortly after a private meeting with Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State.

    He chided federal lawmakers over the recent election of the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, urging the APC to resist any attempt by the opposition PDP to wrest power from it.

    “APC may lose the sympathy of Nigerians if it loses the National Assembly to the PDP; for me what happened at the National Assembly is a disaster,’’ he said.

    Opadokun said it was unfortunate that the PDP was able to get the Deputy Senate President slot.

    “I think that the party must take a very strong stand, if they don’t, they will lose the sympathy of Nigerians,” he said.

    Opadokun also justified the agitation of many Nigerians on their expectations from President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration saying they had the right to be impatient.

    “Nigerians have the right to be impatient due to many years of wicked governance over them, but they should just take it easy with the government.

    “This is because what has been wrong for almost 25 years cannot be made right in one day,” he said.

    Opadokun said that President Buhari was capable of tackling the social ills bedeviling the country, which according to him are indiscipline and dishonesty.

    “Buhari represents an effective antidote for the two major ills of Nigeria.

    “I believe very strongly that Buhari will bring into governance in Nigeria self-actualisation of discipline and because he will do that, Nigerians will follow him,” he said.

    Opadokun also described Ambode as a focused and a brilliant gentleman that would deliver on the pact he signed with the people of Lagos.

    He called on the people of the state to cooperate with the governor to take the state to the next level.

    “He needs the cooperation and the assistance of Lagosians because this is the centre of everything.

    “The economy of Lagos is more than the economies of about 30 African countries put together, but I know that as a first class brain, he will deliver,” Opadokun said

  • Harassment of opponents counterproductive, says Opadokun

    The Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms (CODER) yesterday warned against the harassment of political opponents by the Federal Government, stressing that it is counter-productive.

    The group said that when victims of oppression, victimisation and repression are pushed to the wall, they may resort to self-help.

    Its Coordinator Mr. Ayo Opadokun, told reporters in Lagos, it is curious that security agents are deployed to victimise leading opposition figures during the electioneering, thereby sending clear signals that the government is afraid of legitimate contest.

    He lamented that senior military officers have embraced partisanship by becoming a tool for subverting and undermining democratic culture, adding that it is a disservice to the cause of patriotism and professionalism.

    Opadokun also alluded to the danger of the over-involvement of the military in partisan struggles, saying that it conveys an impression to the soldiers that civilian leaders are incapable of providing effective leadership.

    He said the misbehaviour of the political leadership has also sent a signal to pro-democracy activists to gird their loins and return to the trenches because participatory democracy is falling.

    He added: “The political operators are busy undermining the growth and maturity of public institutions. They should know that when they have so compromised public institutions for temporary gains, they would be the first to be consumed by the inadequate and inefficient performance of our public institutions.

    “The military officers should stop acceding to the political operator’s attempt at fooling the public by denying their recent harassment of political opponents, just as President Putin of the Soviet Union is doing in Eastern Ukraine. When the equation changes, they will be the first casualties.”

    The pro-democracy activist recalled that Nigeria had passed through the inglorious path under the military between January and June 12, 1993, adding that the leadership was disgraced out of office, following popular uprising.

    He urged Nigerians to brace for the March 28 and April 11 elections, which he said, will be a turning point in the march of democracy.

    Opadokun urged leaders to learn from history to avoid repeating the mistakes of the party.

    He added: “Using the military to intimidate opponents is their negative institutionalised crude tactics. In 1984, the home of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo in Ikenne was for sometime had a lorry load of fully armed military, stationed on the street in front of Papa’s home. I remember visiting Papa every morning to witness what they were up to.

    “I remember passing by their vehicles many times and questioning what they were set to achieve by their crude activities. They stopped coming when I got some of our people to keep surveillance on them. The media focus on the invasion made them to leave.

    “If anyone in temporary sojourn in political office wants to return to crude tactics as Abacha did, such a fellow or group of political adventurers should remember that they cannot win against the people’s will. Warring against Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and other leaders of the opposition is an avoidable desperation that the local and global audience will rise up to resist.”

  • Opadokun to electorate: expect less from politicians

    Opadokun to electorate: expect less from politicians

    The convener of the Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform (CODER) Ayo Opadokun has urged the electorate not to expect too much from politicians, if they must be treated with respect and dignity.

    Opadokun, who was a guest speaker at the Mushin Stakeholders Forum yesterday, stated that politicians were taking advantage of the many demands by the electorate to shelve their communal responsibilities.

    He said: “The electorate is part of the greater problem because they expect too much from the elected officers. They besiege the offices or homes no sooner they were elected with personal problems both visible and invisible.

    “Public office is not meant for business but for the good of the community. Anybody who wishes to make money should go into business not public office which primary purpose is to serve the people,” he said.

    He further urged the electorate not to compromise their conscience in 2015 as that would determine the dimension life would take after the election.

    Opadokun maintained that the legislature must redouble efforts in its oversight function, to enable the country make progress, nothing that the country is not on course because the lawmakers have not taken advantage of their vantage position as enshrine in the constitution.

    “What we have today is not good for the development of democracy. The legislature is supposed to command a superior stance than it turns out today. If our legislature perform, life will be better than what we have presently.

    “When you compare Nigerian presidential system with others around the globe, the Nigerian President has become the most powerful man in the world, who does what he likes without subjecting his actions to legislative approval.

    “Our people are guilty of opportunistic collaboration with evil doers. Any society that has the bulk of its people as pleasure seekers will not make progress; our people are fun seekers who are not bothered with how some people manage their lives or the lives of their children, it is time Nigerians are concerned,” he said.

  • On Uwais report we stand, says Opadokun

    On Uwais report we stand, says Opadokun

    The Convener of National  Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms (CODER), Mr Ayo Opadokun, in this interview with AUGUSTINE AVWODE, calls for the full implementation of the Justice Uwais report.

    There are some outstanding issues that are yet to be re-solved in the crusade for electoral reforms. What have you to say from the angle of CODER?

    The first thing I want to say is that Nigeria wasted a very big opportunity in the inconclusive digitalized voters register. The most important thing that we could have realised from a properly digitalized voters register was frustrated by the authorities of the Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC). What do I mean, it was expected that the different voters that registered in the different voting units, should transferred to the local government area, through computer and they will be transferred to the state level. At that state level, there is a very necessary, significant programme that ought to have been done. It is called Automatic Voters Information Scheme (AVIS), it was not done.

    What is your take on the Justice Uwais Report?

    Of all the recommendations by the Justice Uwais Electoral Reforms Committee, the one that INEC should be self accounting or should be on the consolidated revenue is the only that has been accepted by the government at the centre. The other recommendations have been jettisoned. The appointment of Prof. Attahiru Jega by Dr Goodluck Jonathan has not conferred any credibility on the electoral umpire. Secondly, there is also the recommendation that there should be an Electoral Offences Commission, that will have the power to prosecute offenders, either at the federal or state levels, the rejection of this one also is to facilitate the desire to rig elections because nobody can stop them. Besides, Uwais recommended that nobody should be allowed to assume office if his election is being challenged until all judicial interventions have been concluded. That also was not taken.

    What is the way out?

    The way out is for Nigerians to be ready to reject fraud in any election, for them to say enough is enough. The time to ensure that their votes count is now. The time to protect their votes is now. Nigerian must stand up and insist on the Justice Uwais report if we want our elections to be credible, free and fair. It only be insisting on the Uwais report that Nigeria can hope to make her elections credible and meet international best practices. All elections in this country outside the recommendations of the Uwais report is just a façade.