An All Progressives Congress, APC, Lawmaker, Senator Dino Melaye, on Wednesday, has lamented that his party, the APC, has done more harm than good to Nigerians.
The Lawmaker, made this disclosure, while giving his remarks at the 2017 Nigeria Democracy Day Lecture, organised by the Save Democracy Group Africa, in Abuja.
Melaye lamented the appointment into government, of people without the requisite experience, noting that the government is largely to blame for some of the ills recorded in the first two years of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
“Democracy is defined as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, but what we had in the time of Jonathan was greedocracy, which is the government of the greedy, by the greedy, and for the greedy. Today, we have criminocracy, a government of the criminals, by the criminals, and for the criminals.
“Wrong appointments led to the emergence of the former (suspended) Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, who became a grass cutter”, he said, adding that: “When you appoint a man who has no experience in civil administration as SGF, he is bound to misbehave.”
Melaye urged Nigerians to note that a legitimate clash of interest exists between the Legislature and the Executive arm, and as such, the National Assembly should be allowed the liberty to carry on with its statutory duty without hindrance.
“There is nowhere an Auditor and the man who runs an organisation are friends. There’s something wrong when the two are seen taking tea together”, he argued.
He further noted that, those calling for the restructuring of the Nigerian State are right, adding that: “We must discuss and agree to be Nigerians. We have not discussed, and we have not agreed.”
The only way, in the opinion of the Lawmaker to curtail agitation for secession, is for Nigerians to trust their leaders, saying for this happen, leaders must lead by examples.
“Generators should only been used at emergency centres like hospitals and mortuaries, so that when there is no light in Karmo (a suburb of Abuja), there will be no light also at the Villa”, he said.
Melaye, further advocated for the removal of the immunity clause from the nation’s Constitution, while urging the government to take care of hunger and unemployment, to put a stop to agitation for the break-up of the nation by some marginalized ethnic nationalities.
Earlier in his keynote address titled, “Sustainable Democracy and the National Question”, Barrister Mike Ozekhome, SAN, urged leaders not to take the unity of the country for granted, even as he argued that agitation for secession is a right recognised by International Law and the United Nations.
He said: “To sustain democracy, we must not take Nigeria’s unity for granted. Let us go back to fiscal federalism, through devolution of power to the federating units.”
Present at the Lecture were: Senator Babafemi Ojudu, who represented the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, Senator Femi Kila, Chief Chukwuemeka Eziefe (ex-Anambra State Governor), Muhammed Abba Gana (former Minister, Federal Capital Territory), and a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ghali Umar Na’aba, among others.
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