‘Elections will produce right leaders’

The British-Nigerian Law Forum has expressed optimism that Nigerians will vote for the “right’’ leaders in the April polls.

BNLF Chair, Babatunde Akinyanju expressed the view in an interview with the Europe correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria in London.

Akinyanju, who spoke on the state of preparedness of the Independent National Electoral Commission and the electorate for the polls, said that though the situation was fair, it was still far from the ideal.

He said, “It is far from the ideal but I think it is the reality of Nigeria today and as long as the process is fair, we will get the right leaders for the next four years.

“Since 1999, we have survived as a democracy and I hope that we have learnt lessons from previous elections and the right persons will be elected.”

Akinyanju, however, said that for elections to be credible, all votes must count.

“The days of rigging and ballot snatching must be a thing of the past,’’ he said, pointing out that Nigerians deserved good governance, better living conditions and added.

“Government must ensure security for people who are going to cast their votes.

“People must feel confident that if they leave their houses to vote, they will return home unharmed,’’ Akinyanju stressed.

He appealed to the judiciary to play a positive role in its dispensation of judgements on election petitions by dealing with them urgently and fairly.

He said, “If there is a challenge to the electoral process before the judiciary, the issues must be dealt with as quickly as possible.

“Waiting through the years to say that somebody won a governorship election three years ago as we witnessed in this dispensation makes nonsense of the whole electoral process.”

Akinyanju called on the government to provide adequate resources to the judiciary to carry out its duties promptly.

The BNLF, with more than 500 British-Nigerian lawyers, was formed following the British Council’s first African British Law Week held in Abuja in May 2001.