Groups plan mass action over insecurity, NASS crisis

Some 20 civil society groups have announced plans to mobilise Nigerians for street protests against the backdrop of insecurity in the country and alleged disregard for the law by the Federal Government.

The groups, which formed an alliance called Nigerians for Survival of Democracy, in a press briefing on Tuesday, said they were worried about recent political crisis in the country.

National Coordinator of the alliance, Mr. Raji Rasheed, said the Jonathan administration had failed to convince Nigerians that it was capable of delivering good governance to Nigerians.

He said, “The level of insecurity and terror activities has reached an unprecedented level in the Northeast of the country, after more than 18 months of state of emergency. There are compelling reasons  to doubt the sincerity of this government since, many times, our soldiers on the battlefield have complained of lack of incentives which culminated into chaos and suspicion among the Army hierarchy.

Rasheed, who said the groups would organise protests in all the state capitals on December 4, 2014, called on Nigerians not to be deluded by the promise of a free and fair election in 2015.

He said the groups were not interested in a bloody revolution because many Nigerians had lost their lives to the Boko Haram sect.

He said, “Nigerians should not be deluded that this administration is sincere in delivering a free and fair election in 2015. One only needs to look at the events of the last two years to understand the dangerous and unprecedented level of division, deceit, corruption, anarchy and lawlessness that was either perpetrated or unequivocally supported and promoted by this government. With recent events, we are more than convinced that a free and fair election in 2015 is almost impossible.

“Just as we thought this may never happen, we saw just last few days how the same ruling party in Ekiti State locked out 18 members of the legislative arm and used the remaining seven to impeach the Speaker of the Assembly. The Nigerian Bar Association was quick to condemn this illegality but to us, it is a sign of worst things to come.”

Secretary of the NSD, Mr. Kazeem Adekanye, also accused the Independent National Electoral Commission of irregularity in the way it handled the voter registration.

Adekanye said the groups were burdened by the fact that many Nigerians may be disenfranchised in 2015, owing to mistakes in the registration.

“The NSD would initiate a legal action against INEC if the issues are not addressed with 72 hours from today. We have also resolved to embark on a mass action across the country on December 4, 2014 to press home our demands,” he added.