TAMBUWAL RAISES ALARM OVER 2015 THE SUN NEWS WED, 26th June 2013 [HEADLINES] -PASS BUDGET BILL NOW, JONATHAN BEGS NATIONAL ASSEMBLY -WHY OBAMA SHUNS NIGERIA –US -KESHI GOT IT WRONG –OLISEH [TAMBUWAL RAISES ALARM OVER 2015] --------------------- The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Tambuwal, yesterday raised the alarm over what he called a dangerous trend ahead of the 2015 general elections, alleging that some politicians are introducing doctrines that are alien to democracy and destructive to peaceful, social co-existence in a civilised society. Addressing members of the Lower Chamber of the National Assembly at the resumption of plenary after their two-week annual break, Tambuwal accused some politicians of being busy fanning embers of partisan hate and strife. Giving details of the political trend that is fast taking root, Tambuwal said: “It is a political offence for a member of one political party to exchange greetings with someone in another political party. It is indeed a heinous crime for one to visit, attend the burial, birthday, coronation, wedding or any such ceremony of someone in an opposing political party.” He said; “proponents of this shameful doctrine not only offend our sensibilities, they constitute an affront to the whole essence of democracy and civilized co-existence and must be halted before they do incalculable damage to our polity. My dear colleagues, we refuse to be students of this school of thought.”According to Tambuwal, the dangerous trend was aiding a dichotomy between politics and governance. He said that there should be a “difference between a candidate in electoral contest on the platform of a political party and an elected official, who has assumed a non-partisan responsibility and taken oath to protect and preserve the Constitution, to serve the people and the nation”. The Speaker lamented, “again, while we are clamouring for the deepening of democracy including internal party democracy, there has arisen a new group championing the obnoxious cause of the deepening of internal party autocracy and demagoguery. “This is inexcusable and indeed, reprehensible at this time of our history. Dissent is a healthy element in any democratic setting and those who equate loyalty to sycophantic followership not only miss the point, but put democracy at risk.” Advising the lawmakers to show more commitment to good governance through oversight of projects, Tambuwal said the masses were looking up to the National Assembly to speak for them, noting that “the quagmire of a highly depleted and fast dwindling public image, confidence and goodwill, the process of redemption called for unmitigated self-sacrifice and absolute commitment to the pursuit of the public good. “In togetherness, we willingly chose modesty and self-discipline as a deliberate operating strategy. God who deciphers the inner conviction of man, prospered our cause and thus, while we may not yet have attained the object of total image redemption, in togetherness, we are told we have, at least, arrested the drift.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 07:54:53 +0000
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