Rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has said there is no indication that Nigerians are prepared for the general election commencing on Saturday, February 25.
Falana spoke while appearing on Arise TV programme, on Tuesday.
Read Also: 2023: UK Advises Critical Stakeholders, Political Parties To Ensure Violence-Free Poll
Speaking on the concerns raised by the scarcity of the naira and its attendant hardship as well as the security situation across the country, Falana said there was “no indication” that people were ready for the elections.
He maintained that, rather than having assurances from the nation’s military, assurances of security for the elections should come from the Nigeria Police Force and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Falana further stated;
By now, Nigerians should be fully prepared for the election. But unfortunately, there is no indication, and people are still saying will the election hold or not,
The Chief of Defence Staff has no business with respect to our election. We are under a democratic system of government, and it should be the IGP that should be speaking about security. Because, it is the police, under the law, that will man the polling units. The armed forces are only asked to stand by.
Let us all appreciate that we are operating a civilian dispensation and the military must go back to their barracks. The person that should be doing the talking is the INEC chair, who has said the commission needs cash to take care of some logistics.
But has the money been released? No. Even the armed forces and the NSA spoke about the effect of cash scarcity on counter-insurgency campaigns. Those areas have to be addressed. And for the masses, it is only when you have access to your money that you can be happy and ready for the election. We must be ready and all these will have to be taken seriously.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom, UK has advised critical stakeholders and political parties to ensure a violence-free poll.
The UK’s Minister of State for Development & Africa, Andrew Mitchell, gave this advice in his statement to Nigerians and made available to our correspondent on Tuesday.
