The new face of tazarce

Isa:  My scouts in the field have been sending me regular reports. From my watch tower, I can see all sorts of scenarios unfolding in an attempt to promote a tazarce agenda.Ayo: What is tazarce? I have heard that word before but am not sure of the meaning.Isa: It means tenure extension in Hausa and […]

Isa:  My scouts in the field have been sending me regular reports. From my watch tower, I can see all sorts of scenarios unfolding in an attempt to promote a tazarce agenda.
Ayo: What is tazarce? I have heard that word before but am not sure of the meaning.
Isa: It means tenure extension in Hausa and it was popularised during the resistance against the third term agenda of our leaders. Pro-democracy activists mobilised the communities, printed posters and local musicians sang about it.  I am told that the current tazarce cabal have hatched plots to scuttle the elections scheduled for March 28 and April 14 2015. I heard former Senator, Jonathan Zwingina, saying they must stop Buhari before he sends them to jail while the Governor of Ekiti state, Ayo Fayose said ‘Mark my Word, Buhari will never be President.”
Lucy: They have every cause to fear, Fayose has Ekitigate election rigging scandal to worry about while Zwingina was involved in the alleged collection of 54 million naira bribe to clear Nasiru el-Rufa’i as Minister of FCT.
Isa: My scouts said the anti democracy cabal is having sleepless nights because General Muhammadu Buhari is pulling crowds where ever he goes and people are insisting that they want a change. The Permanent Voters Card and card reader will make rigging impossible so they want to push for the use of temporary voter’s card. One plot is to use the certificate issue to stop Buhari, the other is to use the Boko Haram war to postpone elections, while another is to create a fake Shekau who will now confess that Buhari is his sponsor so they can then arrest him. That will be used to stop elections! The last plot is installing an interim government.
Ayo: They can hatch all their plots but Nigerians are insisting on having free, fair and credible elections. Nothing else will do. In fact I suspect that the election was postponed with the intention of creating crisis and it failed just like all the other plots will fail.
Habiba: We attended a meeting of concerned citizens who are coming together to fight anti democratic forces. They are called Nigerians United for Democracy (NUD). On February 26 2015 the NUD held a press conference in Abuja. The NUD traced the history of citizens’ struggle against anti- democratic forces and warned that any attempt to postpone election will be resisted. ‘In rejecting the manipulation of the political transition, the Nigerians United for Democracy (NUD) will continue with its rallies at Abuja, Kano, Lagos, Oshogbo, Port Harcourt and Imo to condemn the conspiracy of the ruling clique against Nigerians.’
Lucy: The NUD also said ‘the postponement of the elections at the instance of service chiefs cannot be justified in law. It was a plot to undermine the democratic process and prevent Nigerians from exercising their right of franchise. Having fought the war on terror for six years, there is no indication that the Boko Haram sect would be wiped out in six weeks. Since the operation is limited to 14 local governments there was no basis for not holding election in the remaining 760 local government areas in the federation and the 6 area councils in the federal capital territory’.
Chinyere:  I am happy that a former President Chief Obasanjo has cried out against the plan of the federal government to cancel the election and install an interim national government. The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Mohammed Adoke, SAN, has however stated that there is no provision for interim government in the Constitution.
Lucy: It is the same Attorney General that filed affidavits to undermine the use of permanent voter cards (PVCs) in the country’s forthcoming elections, which the main purpose is to perfect plans to rig the March poll.
Ayo: Another source of concern is the submission of the INEC chairman, Professor Jega, to the Senate last week. He said only the service chiefs could guarantee that the rescheduled elections would hold.
Habiba: NUD called on the National Assembly to extract a firm undertaking from the NSA and the security chiefs that the General Elections would not be further postponed or disrupted. The undertaking ought to be made publicly by the security chiefs in view of the categorical pronouncement of the Court of Appeal that the armed forces have no role to play in the electoral process. Since all authorities and persons are bound to obey the verdicts of our courts, the President and the security chiefs should demonstrate their commitment to follow the rule of law by withdrawing soldiers from election duties.
Ayo: We are warning those who are planning to install an interim government or a coup de tat to discard the idea. We have had enough of dictatorial regimes in Nigeria.
Isa: We need to prevent any tazarce agenda and a slide into anarchy; we need to take our destiny in our hands; we are insisting that nothing must change the new dates of March 28 and April 11. Elections must be allowed to hold on these dates. Nigeria is on the march again, this time; no one will be able to halt the decisive will of the people for democracy and sustainable livelihood.