Don’t truncate our democracy – ex-ADC presidential candidate warns

Dumebi Kachikwu, the former presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), on Sunday asked protesters to sheath their swords in the spirit of peace and survival of the country. Kachikwu pleaded with those aggrieved to wait for the next presidential election to slug it out with the incumbent. He also asked the opposition to […]

Dumebi Kachikwu, the former presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), on Sunday asked protesters to sheath their swords in the spirit of peace and survival of the country.

Kachikwu pleaded with those aggrieved to wait for the next presidential election to slug it out with the incumbent.

He also asked the opposition to proffer solutions to the problems of the country instead of instigating violence and seeking overthrow of the democratically elected administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

But he advised Tinubu to be broadminded and consult widely instead of running the affairs of the nation alone.

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Kachikwu, who made his position known on the state of the nation in a statement in Abuja, said it was time to stop blame game in the country.

He said: “We can’t continue killing ourselves. Our streets flow with the blood of the innocent. Over 19 killed in this scam of a protest, all for what? No child of any politician or big man was killed. Just the poor, average Nigerian. Only their family members will cry and mourn for them quietly while those who have made billions from this scam laugh to the bank.

“We are witnessing unprecedented hardship right now. The poor can barely eat a meal in two days. Most of us can no longer afford the necessities. The population of the poor is increasing by the minute. We as leaders need to come to a table of equity, justice and fairness to address the plight of the downtrodden immediately.

“It is not Tinubu’s problem alone and Tinubu must stop acting like he can do it all by himself. He must show leadership and reach out across party lines to get the best and the brightest to a solution roundtable. God himself reconciled all men to him through his son Jesus Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

“We don’t burn our houses because we want to kill rats and cockroaches: sometimes we just need to make our houses clean so that rats and cockroaches will leave on their own. My earnest prayer is that Nigeria will soon work for every one of us.”

Kachikwu, known for his daily NUGGETS on the state of the nation, faulted the opposition for indulging in abusing Tinubu instead of proffering solutions to the nation’s problems.

“The job of the opposition now is to oppose and propose but what we are doing is only opposing without providing any solutions to our problems. Watch any advanced democracy and see how the opposition behaves. They have their stand and solution on all issues, and they will debate you night and day but here all we want to do is abuse Tinubu without offering any concrete solutions. This is not leadership.

 “Nigerians lost a golden opportunity by not insisting on credible debates. Joe Biden has pulled out of the race because a single debate spotlighted his deficiencies but here in Nigeria we don’t care. President Buhari fumbled in all the debates, but he won two elections. His government set us back three decades, but yet we didn’t protest bad governance when he was President.”