ambo describes Plateau, Borno crises as threat to democracy

By Taye Obateru
Jos—The security challenges in Plateau and Borno states have been described as threat to the country’s democracy which must be nipped in the bud.

Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, stated this in a message to the inauguration of the Senior Executive Course ‘33’ of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPPS, Kuru, Plateau State yesterday.

Represented by the Head of Service of the Federation, Professor Oladapo Afolabi, the Vice President said the crises in these states could lead to a subversion of democracy, hence government was determined to do everything necessary to put an end to them.

He re-affirmed government’s determination to get those behind the crises and bring them to book, stressing that it was in demonstration of the commitment to resolving the issues that President Goodluck Jonathan instructed that this year’s course should focus on Managing Nigeria’s Pluralism for Peace and National Development.

According to him, “Some of our critics believe that Nigeria’s democracy is characterised by electoral fraud and political violence, but we are committed to changing these perceptions with recent institutional reforms within INEC and Mr. President’s resolve.”

Sambo said the administration was doing everything to prove skeptics who do not believe that a credible election is possible in the country wrong, urging Nigerians to join in the crusade to bring this about.