Senator
yesterday told the federal Government of Nigeria to provide good Governance and
strengthen the electoral system in order to avoid a military coup like
the one executed in Mali.
Malian soldiers mutinied on Sunday and toppled president Amadou Toumani
Toure, alleging failure of the government to adequately equip them to
tackle the Touareg insurgency in the northern part of the country.
Yesterday, the Senate debated a motion on the Malian coup, sponsored by Senate leader Victor Ndoma-Egba (PDP, Cross River), and urged the mutineers to restore power to the democratically elected Toure.
During the debate, senators said the
only way Nigeria could avoid the Mali experience was to ensure good
governance and improve the electoral system.
“Nigeria should draw lessons from the
unfortunate incident in Mali which had a sustainable democracy for about
32 years. We need democratic deliverables and a strong action against
military insurrections to prevent such occurrences in Nigeria,” Deputy
Senate Leader Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central) said.
Senator James Manager (PDP, Delta South)
said the Mali incident should serve as an eye-opener for Nigeria and
other African nations.
He said for Nigeria to avoid a similar
experience, President Jonathan’s administration must provide good
governance to permanently keep the military in the barracks.
For his part, Senator Ganiyu Solomon
(ACN, Lagos West) urged for the strengthening of the nation’s electoral
system as a way of sustaining democracy.
Senator Muhammed Sani Saleh (CPC, Kaduna
Central) said Nigeria must not send troops to Mali because the soldiers
are already overstretched at home.
“The Nigerian military is overstretched.
We should not deploy our military personnel to Mali because they are
already overstretched in internal operations,” he said.
“Otherwise, what happened in Mali might
happen here. We need to equip and strengthen our military to be able to
assist us more in maintaining law and order.”
Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP, Abia South) said the coup in Mali had serious security implications for Nigeria.
“Beyond condemning it, the Nigerian
government should wield all its influence and power to pressure the
mutineers to restore the democratic government,” he said.
Opening the debate earlier, Ndoma-Egba
said, “Let’s treat the Mali example as a mutiny and insurrection to
allow the government of Toure to continue. The mutineers should be given
two weeks within which to comply, failure of which President Goodluck
Jonathan will sever diplomatic relations with Mali.”
The Senate resolved to urge the
mutineers in Mali to restore the democratically elected government
immediately. It said regional body ECOWAS, European Union, African
Union, United Nations and other international bodies would impose
appropriate sanctions on the country if the soldiers refuse to give up
power.
Rounding up the debate, Senate President
David Mark said, “Nigeria needs to show exemplary leadership by deeds.
Coup plotters are always spurred by undemocratic civilians.
“Military coup used to be infectious in
the past, but now, it has been considered an aberration all over the
world. If the military come in, they will be forced to go and if they
don’t do, they will be forced out. The assurance by the Chief of Army
Staff that the military will not take over the control of government in
Nigeria is correct.”
The Senate also commended the just
concluded presidential election in Senegal, where opposition candidate
Macky Sall defeated incumbent Abdullahi Wade in a run-off.
The Senate said the election of Sall, a
Christian in a country with over 95 per cent of the population being
Muslim, should serve as a lesson to Nigerian leaders on the need for
ethno-religious harmony.
Via Daily Trust
Via Daily Trust
