The Alliance for the Defence of Democracy, a new national political coalition of the Third Force Movement, has said that it will embark on a nationwide mass action in defence of democracy in Nigeria.
The lead convener and spokesperson of the coalition, Prof. Anthony Kila, disclosed this while reading a communiqué of the inaugural meeting of the pan-Nigerian Political coalition in Lagos.
Kila, the Director of Studies, Centre for International and Advanced Professional Studies, said that the coalition was to rescue Nigeria’s constitutional democracy and the forthcoming general elections from
onslaught.
According to him, the coalition’s mass action, which will hold within a week, is meant to influence the 2019 elections.
He said, “This group is made up of people with different political parties and affiliations. It consists of and will continue to work with members of professional bodies, leaders of thoughts, community and religious leaders. We invite these different people with the understanding that the only way we can live together peacefully and find prosperity is to safeguard our
institutions.
“There must be a group of people who, beyond partisan quest, ethnic affiliation, religious inclinations, stand for the defence of institutions. There must be a group of people on this country, who beyond any other thing, stand to defend the democratic institutions. We must be ready to denounce anybody, who does not respect democratic principles. In the next one week, we shall be having nationwide mass action and presentation in defence of democracy in
Nigeria.”
The professor said institutions, the rule of law, adherence to due process, and respect to diversity were principles that were best represented in the idea of democracy.
According to him, the coalition feels that corrupt individuals are threatening these principles.
He said, “It has also been threatened by systems and offices that would not respect the laws that bind us. Democracy is not common sense, it is not good intention. It is adherence to principles, rule of law and agreement. It is important to remember that the essence of democracy is the respect for the limits that have led to separation of power. Limits that led to conformity to laid down process and require consultation.
“In democracy, anytime people take shortcut, the likely point of arrival is dictatorship or anarchy. We are coming today to remind ourselves that, for no reason in the world should the tenets of democracy be impugned. We are forming an alliance made up of leaders of thoughts and conscience, men and women of goodwill, who understand that electoral process is only valid when it is free and fair, when there are no suspicions that some people are tampering with it.”
Kila added that the country was in a state of distrust, “people do not trust the power, we are becoming a nation of relativist.”
He said that the group would commence consultations with different bodies to make sure that democracy was not negotiable and not for sale.
“We shall not negotiate our democracy for those who are proposing corruption, neither for those who want to bye-pass the rule of law. We shall stand for democracy because that it how we can stay together,”
he added.
He said that the group would write a letter of commendation to the High Commission of the United States and the United Kingdom in Nigeria and to the European Union for their intervention in the Nigerian constitutional crisis and appreciate their concern.
He urged the people to collect their permanent voter cards, remain peaceful and vote wisely.
Also speaking, the leader of the mobilisation committee of the coalition, Dr. Olu Agunloye, said that an alternative party was needed in the country to defend democracy.
Agunloye observed that the coalition wanted people to vote for those that would safeguard the nation’s democracy.
The Head, Secretariat of the Coalition, Hon. Olawale Okunniyi, who said the date of the mass rally would soon be announced, urged people to support the move to safeguard democracy in Nigeria.
The parley was attended by various leaders of thought, select presidential candidates, stakeholders and Allies of the political ‘3rd Force’ in
Nigeria.
Several stakeholders in the parley took turns to call for the adoption of a presidential candidate genuinely committed to restructuring and uniting the country.
The coalition, made up several members of the Nigeria Intervention Movement (NIM) and professional bodies, called for strong mobilisation and strategies to defend democracy.