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ASO ROCK WATCH: Buhari’s 2023 assurances. Two other talking points

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President Muhammadu Buhari, last week, before world leaders, promised that he would ensure a free, fair election, and peaceful transfer of power in 2023.

We also have two other stories from the Presidency for your reading delight.

1, Buhari’s assurances

Speaking at a virtual Summit for Democracy organised by President Joe Biden of the United States, on December 10, Buhari said: “As we countdown to our next General Elections in 2023, we remain committed to putting in place and strengthening all necessary mechanisms to ensure that Nigeria will not only record another peaceful transfer of power to an elected democratic government but will also ensure that the elections are conducted in a free, and fair transparent manner.”

Buhari’s assurances provide a framework of deliverables on which the President could be measured, as the political class engages in power tussle and the government prepares grounds for a succession plan ahead of 2023.

For most political watchers, it also offers a promise of hope by the President that he would play an impactful role in deepening, and strengthening the place of Nigeria as a model of democracy in Africa.

Beyond Buhari’s assurances lie the need for him to set the right modalities that would guarantee its fruition, and a significant step would be to ensure that he signs the Electoral Amendment Bill into law, a piece of legislation considered by many as germaine to the conduct of transparent and credible elections in Nigeria.

To withhold his assent will amount to grandstanding before the world leaders.

Two other talking points

2, Investing amidst insecurity?

The Presidency, on December 6, expressed optimism that security challenges bedevilling Nigeria will not stop foreign investors from coming into the country to do business.

Speaking during an interview on national television, Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media, and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said: “If you were thinking like an investor, you will know that it is in challenged areas that it is best to invest. Because when you invest in challenged areas, you go in at very attractive rates because of those challenges and when those challenges are surmounted, you will then make a lot of quick returns on your investments.”

While Adesina’s submission is arguable, it is fair to admit that no investor plunges headlong into a territory without a long term risk analysis of the environment.

Read also: ASO ROCK WATCH: As Presidency hits back at SERAP. Two other talking points

This is why, in spite of Adesina’s postulations, Nigeria is presently not on the list of the top 10 best African countries to invest in, a clear pointer to any discerning mind that all is not really well with Nigeria’s investment landscape.

Adesina’s spin-doctor role is appreciated but there certainly are limits to calling black, white.

3, Endless promises on insecurity

On December 8, President Buhari stated that he was saddened over the gruesome murder of travellers by bandits at Isa Local Government Area of Sokoto State, and vowed that the perpetrators would not go unpunished.

“…I assure that the security agencies will continue to give their all to bring to an end the operations of these despicable people,” Buhari said in a statement issued by his media aide, Femi Adesina.

Buhari’s endless promises to crush, and flush out bandits in Sokoto and elsewhere, have now become irritatingly itchy in the ears of most Nigerians.

The slaughter of innocent citizens have continued unabated, an evidence that insecurity in the country is deteriorating and not improving as the Presidency wants citizens to believe.

Sadly, the massacre of innocents offers a hint that the country might actually be on the road to a failed state. Hence, it accentuates the need for a thorough review of the country’s security architecture which currently places ultimate control of the armed forces on the President, effectively ignoring the role of federating units.

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