Former Rep describes politicians as selfish, fraudulent
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- Category: Politics
- Published on Thursday, 27 May 2010 09:03
- Written by Admin
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Former member of the House of Representatives and Delta North Senatorial aspirant in the forthcoming election, Hon Ned Nwoko has taken a swipe at the political class in the country, describing them as selfish, insincere and fraudulent.
Nwoko spoke to newsmen yesterday in Aniocha North Local Government Area (LGA) of Delta state.
According to him, Nigeria ’s political woes stemmed primarily from the fact that power structure is over-centralized.
"We must reduce the powers of the federal government in order to make Abuja less attractive. You can see even with the level of power and the amount of resources the federal government controls today, there is still problem of proper management".
According to him, over concentration of power has had an undermining effect on the development of democratic processes in the country.
He said one of the greatest challenges of the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan should be to effect general reforms with a view to eliminating all traits of "business as usual". "There is, of course, the impediment that in a democracy, or any other form of politics, political debt has to be repaid even at the price of costly compromise".
Nwoko however, expressed happiness that the president had declared that "We cannot continue business as usual" and that "is a simple but a bold statement which needs action.
He regretted that people, who individually and collectively had been responsible for the several adversities by the nation were being given a new lease of life.
"This is a moment for sober reflection, a time Nigerians would have the opportunity again to review the current democratic project. Almost 50 years after our independence, the country is still grappling with myriad of problems that present actors on the political scene inherited from the past governments.
Topmost of these problems is the failure of the political class to correctly interpret their role as representatives of the masses and to initiate projects that would genuinely ameliorate the yearnings of the people.
"It is not strange that even at this critical stage our political gladiators still do not appreciate the principle of separation of powers as enshrined in the constitution?"
He spoke before a crowd of party supporters, leaders, friends and well-wishers adding that, the purpose of the gathering was to formally signpost his race for Delta North Senatorial seat.
"I am the most qualified to be there, I have been to the House of Representatives where I participated actively in lawmaking. I am determined to win the election. I know the Almighty God is by me always.
Nwoko was unequivocal about his mission. He said "my mission to the senate is to influence my state the relevant institutions, attitudes and values that would make for massive physical infrastructure development, human development, accelerated industrialization and modern agriculture."
