News Investigators/ The Presidential Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 general election, Adewale Adebayo, says there is no alternative to democracy as it remains the best option for electing the country’s leaders.
Mr Adebayo said this during a visit to residence of MKO Abiola by members of Pro-June 12 Movement and the Patriots in Ikeja on Thursday.
Mr Adebayo noted that even though democracy,as of now, might be imperfect, it still remained the fairest and surest way by which the minority could have their say and the majority, their way.
The politician said though democracy might not have met expectations, Nigerians still enjoy freedom of speech and association as well as the right to elect their leaders.
He said: “For us, our Democracy Day represents a statement of intent, irrevocable decision and irretraceable step in our march to freedom from military rule and dictatorship.
“Although the practice of democracy in our country may have fallen below the expectations of not a few, we take solace in the fact that we have freedom of speech and association and we elect our leaders fairly, even though not perfectly.
“In spite of the imperfections of our democracy, it remains the best option for us in electing our leaders.
“In light of this, the task before us as a people and as a nation is to strive towards perfecting our democracy, especially in critical areas such as transparent and credible elections, accountable governance and citizen participation.”
The presidential candidate charged public office holders to serve the people with humility, reminding them that government was not a place for revenge, personal reward, egoism.or aggrandisement.
According to him, rather it is a place of to serve the rest of the citizens, who cannot converge on the State House or the National Assembly or judge every case in the judiciary.
Mr Adebayo warned those in public office to be mindful of the fragile nature of the country, adding that
many heroes had passed away while many of the players were still alive.
He said Nigerians had learnt many lessons, as there were citizens’ lessons, political parties’ lessons, and civil society lessons.
The SDP candidate said there were institutional lessons for the military as well as lessons for the government of the day.
Adebayo, however, urged the electorate to hold leaders accountable, noting that poor governance could be challenged and changed through the ballot every four years.
NAN
