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By Anayo Oyeoka:

Mr. Ndubisi Anakweze, the Chief Executive Officer, Managing Director Realprice International Ltd and a chieftain of Awka Development Union (A.D.U) based in Abuja, has bemoaned lack of democratic principles in Nigeria’s current administration.

He said this in Abuja in a chat with our correspondent on the current state of governance in the Nigerian nation.

Ndubisi said that since we have moved away from military administration things should be done in a democratic manner. He said that as a federation which Nigeria is, every part of the country should be carried along.

In his opinion, “As for me, since we have moved from military era to democracy, everything ought to be done democratically. As Nigerians if we still see ourselves as federation, then everybody should be carried along. For democracy to be fully in operation, if there are those who have not been given a fair share of what should go to them, it should be given them. As a result of these imbalances and of course due to diversity nature of Nigeria that the federal character commission was introduced in all arms of government; ministries, agencies, parastatals with inclusive of military and Para-military. Therefore if we really want democracy to entrench, sense of belonging should be extended to all and since democracy has come to stay, we should therefore avoid doing certain things as if Nigeria is still in the era of military government”.

He likened the idea of a true democracy to the doctrine of separation of powers among the three arms of government, executive, legislature, and judiciary. He stated that any attempt by one arm of government to box others to a corner is tantamount to a mockery of democracy which is unacceptable. He said that the executive should strive to act within the powers the constitution has apportioned to them as there are fatal consequences for acting beyond powers.

His words: “One of the cardinal principles of democracy is the separation of power between the Executive, parliament and the judiciary. Hence any attempt by the Executive to dictate, impose or muzzle the rest is wrong and unacceptable! The executive should strive to be under the dictate of democracy and stop assuming and arrogating excessive and inordinate power to itself and officials, to the detriment of others because such excessive powers do boomerang like a consuming fire! You may think that you are free and without restriction to exercise enormous power because you are in the seat of power today without prudent that tomorrow someone else would replace you”.

He observed that Senator Chris Ngige was booed at the Enugu Town Hall meeting because he was trying to cover up for President Buhari’s lopsided appointments. He therefore expressed support for those who booed Ngige for trying to “cover the naked truth.

And he ends by saying: “Just ponder on the present situation of things, it’s like we are degenerating from chaotic state to a state of quagmire. We are in economic recession, hunger is everywhere, many homes hardly eat once in a day, no job and business is no more thriving, and worse still the high cost of goods and services”.