By Peter Duru, Makurdi

The Middle Belt Forum, MBF, has dissented from the call by Chief Afe Babalola that the 2023 general elections be put off and an interim government put in place to restore normalcy in the country, insisting that the call was not tenable in a democracy.

The National President of MBF, Dr. Bitrus Pogu in his reaction to the suggestion in Makurdi, said the call was an impossible political statement.

Dr. Pogu said: “I do not think that is a possibility. There are some calls that are just political in nature. In a democracy that is not tenable.

“The problems we are facing are not insurmountable, as far as I am concerned the government has the capacity but it is just that the government is not willing to deploy its capacity to end the challenges.

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“So this government should rather sit up and address the problems so that we can have a peaceful period before elections. That is the answer rather than saying that there should be an interim government.

“And of course you might also considered the issue of the constitution. The 2019 Constitution is flawed, it has so many challenges and unfortunately the military foisted it on us and we are grappling with it. And the way it can be amended is through the same process that produced the National Assembly which is still flawed.

“So whether this government has the guts or not, we would have resolved that easily by adopting, with modifications, the 2014 Conference Report. That would create a stable acceptable system for Nigeria including a constitution that will be acceptable to Nigerians.

“So rather than calling for interim government, yes it is a political statement, but Chief Afe Babalola knows it is not going to work, we should look towards the 2014 Conference Report.

“We all know that these leaders will not even resign when they know very well that things are not working. So we better put pressure on them and insist that they must correct these things because they have the capacity to do so.”

Vanguard News Nigeria