HUMAN rights activists and constitutional lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, has berated the National Assembly over the passage of the Electoral Act Amendment that forbids the electronic transmission of results.
The renowned lawyer while faulting the lawmakers for their action, noted that they have murdered democracy in the country.
Speaking, Saturday, in Abuja while delivering a special lecture at the 2021 graduation ceremony/prize-giving ceremony of the Pace setters’ School, Abuja, Chief Ozekhome regretted that the concept of democracy was no longer in practice in the country.
Describing the action of both chambers of the legislature as a national tragedy, he regretted that the ruling class was never considered the interest of Nigeria and its people at heart.
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“The national tragedy in the last two days at the National Assembly is for the sole interest of politicians in order to rig election. ‘
“Vote is meant to be counted and it is meant to count. Where you do not allow it to count then you are not having a government of the people, you are having a government of the few.
“Why do we chose to kill electronic voting when across the world, even the Democratic Republic of Congo there are using it. You are even now making INEC no longer independent. Why are we killing this country? Why are we on a journey of no destination?” He said.
Speaking also at the event, former Minister of Education and ex-Vice President of the World Bank’s Africa Region, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, said economic evidence has proven that nations, where citizens are not at the centre of development, have ended up being at the bottom.
“For our continent to make it, education and human capital has to be the epic centre of our economic strategy, education must be the new oil,” she added.
On his part, the governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, commended the proprietor of the school for ensuring quality education for children across the country, saying it was now the responsibility of the government to embrace it and set the standard for all the children.
While charging the students to be good ambassadors, he stressed that the potential of Nigeria lies greatly in the children.
Director of Pace Setters ‘ Academy, Kenneth Imansuangbon, earlier in his welcome remarks, urged the students to be hardworking.
According to him, what their parents achieved does not matter, but the mark they are able to make in the world.
He expressed hope that with the calibre of children the school was producing, “there is a great hope for the country.”
