Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last election, Atiku Abubakar, says those that think he would go away after the election should perish the thought.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Monday, he said: “I am not going away. For as long as I breathe I will continue to struggle, with other Nigerians, to deepen our democracy and rule of law and for the kind of political and economic restructuring the country needs to reach its true potential.
“That struggle should now be led by the younger generation of Nigerians who have even more at stake than my generation.”
The former Vice President also said our democracy must mean something; it must be substantive. it must be expressed through free, fair and transparent elections that respect the will of the people.
“We must make electronic voting and collation of results mandatory. This is the 21st century and countries less advanced than Nigeria are doing so already. It is only bold initiatives that transform societies.
“We must provide that all litigation arising from a disputed election must be concluded before the inauguration of a winner.
“The current time frame between elections and inauguration of winners is inadequate to dispense with election litigations. ”
Seeks single term of six years for presidency
He also said Nigeria needs a single term of six years for presidents to curb desperation.
According to him, “in order to reduce the desperation of incumbents and distractions from governing and also to promote equity and national unity, we need to move to a single six-year term for President to be rotated among the six geo-political zones.”
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