Democracy Day: Nigeria will be better sooner than later – Senator

Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, on Tuesday, expressed optimism that things would get better in Nigeria in spite of current challenges.
Speaking at the backdrop of the 19^th anniversary of democracy in the country, Ohuabunwa told News Agency of Nigeria that because God was with the Nigeria, it would overcome prevailing hard times sooner than later.
He said: “I am Christian and the Bible says for everything, we should give thanks to God and for this country still being a country, we have cause to say ‘God, thank you for 19 years of uninterrupted democracy’.
“This is the first time we are having uninterrupted democracy for this length of time and as an optimist, I know it will continue this way. I believe that tomorrow would be better.”
The lawmaker, who represents Abia North Senatorial District on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party PDP, said that no system of government was as good as democracy.
According to him, any other form of government is a misnomer, and the world over, it is democracy that is ruling the world.
Ohuabunwa said: “That is why some who are critical about the issues and things happening, we have always said that nobody should joke with the Parliament because it is the heart-beat of democracy.”
On the relationship between the Legislature and the Executive, Ohuabunwa said it was part of the country’s learning curve.
Another senator, Joshua Lidani, a member of PDP from Gombe, expressed concern over recurring issues between the Legislature and Executive, saying that happenings around the country appeared to take it back to the days of military regimes.
Lidani said: “The institution that separates dictatorship from democracy is the Parliament, but we all know what is happening.
“For the first time in the history of the nation, some people invaded the Parliament and got away with it.
“We hear of senators being arrested and detained for a long period of time without trial.
“We have a situation where the presiding officer of the National Assembly is being accused, taken to court and tried.
“Senators are being hounded everywhere, so where is the democracy. We had democracy before but now I am not sure.”
Leader of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, told NAN that Buhari administration met a lot of abuses and embezzlement of public funds.
He said that the situation, though spurred the fight against corruption, it also accounted for the seeming slow nature of the fight in the last three years.
Lawan, however, expressed conviction the administration would not relent in the anti-corruption battle.
He said: “The administration, immediately after taking over office, started to prosecute people who were alleged to have embezzled public funds for personal gains rather than public good.
“Right from the beginning of the fight, those who are directly affected or indirectly affected by the fight started to condemned it.
“Some tried to fight back while others decided to discredit the fight, saying it was targeted only at members of the PDP.
“The PDP was in government for 16 years, so the tendency to have more people arrested from the PDP is quite high and it is not unusual.
“I believe that the administration has remained focused though seriously challenged because you need additional legislations in some cases and the buy-in by the Judiciary for the fight to be successful.”
Lawan admitted that the government had not achieved as much as it would have because of delay in court processes and other factors.
He said that corruption was the evil that had kept Nigeria in its present position, stressing that it accounted for poor infrastructure, increased mortality rate and other challenges in the country.
He said: “Our number one enemy in Nigeria is corruption. What we have been able to achieve in the last three years in infrastructure and other sectors of the economy, surpass what PDP did in 16 years with more money.
“I know it will not be an easy fight but it is a worthy fight and we have to support the administration.”