Ahead of the general elections,
scheduled to begin on Saturday, March
28, 2015, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji
Muhammad Sa’ ad Abubakar, yesterday,
warned the gladiators, especially
President Goodluck Jonathan and Major
General Muhammadu Buhari against
taking the election as do-or-die affair.
Jonathan, the incumbent president, is
running on the platform of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), while Buhari is
the presidential candidate of the
opposition All Progressives Congress
(APC).
The elections, initially slated to hold on
February 14 and 28, generated heat in
the polity before they were rescheduled
for March 28 and April 11.
The Sultan spoke on a day Governor
Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State
urged politicians to defend the nation’s
democracy.
Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos
State also urged elder statesmen and
national leaders to speak out against
issues that could provoke violence
during the general elections.
Abubakar told Jonathan, Buhari and
other contestants in the general
elections that winners of polls had been
pre-destined by God, wondering why
some of them view elections as a do-
or-die affair.
“While they struggle for electoral
success, they should also consider the
well-being of the country after
elections,” the leader of the Muslim
community in Nigeria and also the
President, Nigerian Supreme Council of
Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), stated.
The Sultan spoke when the Director-
General of the National Youth Service
Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General
Johnson Olawumi, paid pre-election
advocacy visit to his palace in Sokoto.
He called on security agencies to protect
corps members and other personnel that
will be involved in the conduct of the
general elections.
Speaking, yesterday, while delivering the
keynote address at a National
Integration Roundtable Summit
organised by the International Summit
Group Nigeria, Uduaghan stressed the
need to protect democracy in the
country.
The Delta governor enjoined politicians,
regardless of their party affiliation to
avoid action that could negatively affect
the nation’s democratic process.
His words: “Let me also admonish
political gladiators on the need to
safeguard the nation’s nascent
democracy we are currently enjoying
and ensure that Nigeria does not
disintegrate as predicted by some
prophets of doom.
“Let us continue work together to
promote the welfare of our people.
Posterity will judge us if we fail in our
duties to meet the needs of our people.
“I must point out that the challenges of
incessant disagreement between ethnic
and religious groups has become quite
discouraging.”
