Nothing to celebrate by Nigerians, says Ekiti PDP
As Nigerians celebrate June 12 Democracy Day, members of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), under the aegis of Osun Civil Societies Coalition (OCSC) and social activists, yesterday, during a peaceful procession in Osogbo, Osun State capital, charged President Bola Tinubu to address the prevailing hunger, hardship, insecurity and other challenges plaguing the nation.
They noted that 31 years after the late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola paid the supreme price for the enthronement of civil rule, his manifesto on the provision of basic amenities for citizenry remains elusive.
The groups, while challenging the leadership of the country on responsive governance, underscored the need to urgently address the prevailing hardship occasioned by the Federal Government’s economic policies, insecurity and hunger, which they noted, had put the masses on the edge.
Chairman of Osun Civil Societies Coalition, Waheed Lawal, while addressing journalists during the protest, said: “It is 31 years of the twist of fate. The historic June 12, 1993, presidential election annulment is still fresh in our memory. The annulment has remained a murdered opportunity to set Nigeria on the right track for all-encompassing development.”
Also speaking, the Secretary of Osun Civil Societies Coalition and also the Chairman of Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Osun State chapter, Emmanuel Olowu, called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on agriculture, stressing that without such step, the nation’s economy will remain in doldrums.
MEANWHILE, the Ekiti State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed the June 12 celebration and the Democracy Day as a mockery of the spirit of democracy and the suffering of the helpless masses of Nigeria.
The PDP, in a statement made available to journalists by its spokesman, Raphael Adeyanju in Ado-Ekiti, yesterday, said that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was an embodiment of anti-democratic tendencies and therefore not qualified to supervise Democracy Day celebration in Nigeria.
Adeyanju, who urged the electorate not to lose hope as their own time of celebration will come when the PDP will wrestle power from the ruling party, also called on the Ekiti State people to rise to give the PDP all necessary support needed to wrestle their state from the grip of the ruling APC.
