President of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Comrade Muhammad Garba, has called on the political class in the country to guard against making inflammatory comments that could overheat the polity and truncate the democratic system, according to Thisday
In an interview with reporters in Kano on Sunday, Garba said only free, fair and credible polls could avert crisis in the 2015 elections, affirming that the attitude of deriving pleasure from derogatory remarks was a recipe for disaster.According to him, it is high time for the political elite to put their house in order, especially now that the rest of the world are closely watching the unfolding political drama in the country.
He stressed that Nigeria is the one to to have set the ball rolling for a free and fair democratic experiment in Africa.
Garba however stated that the conduct of the recent primaries by the major political parties in the country leaves much to be desired.
He lamented that 70 percent of what was seen on ground was flawed and called for a proper scrutiny by the political actors.
The NUJ President stated that the political elite are also facing the challenge of addressing the rot in the economy and the abysmal security situation, saying that with the high level of corruption becoming endemic, the cardinal thrust of democracy will be defeated.
He maintained that the media have a spectacular role to play in enlightening the politicians on the concept of decency and decorum in a democratic setting, stressing that the burden of such a crusade was largely that of the broadcast media who sometimes give access to some politicians to wash their dirty linen on air.
Culled from Thisday
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