Former Chief Security Officer to the late military head of state, General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (retd), has called on Nigerian youths to use their voter cards to unseat bad leaders.
Al-Mustapha spoke in Abuja on Monday at the commemoration of the International Youth Day Celebration 2024 by the Social Democratic Party, SDP.
Al-Mustapha accused politicians of being disconnected from the people.
He said: “They’re not connected to the villages and do not know how the councils and local governments functioned before and that is why the LG system was crippled.
“This is part of the crisis the federal government is trying to handle today. If the LGs were functioning, we would not have the food supply chain cut off because the foods are being produced at the community and LG levels.
“Today, insecurity, kidnapping, barbarism and the failure of leadership have crippled our communities. They cannot even farm. The crop of leaders from 1999 who are not career politicians queued in and hijacked the system and this is the only reason a governor will tell you that the state resources belong to him and say, ‘It’s my money’.
“This situation, we have the capacity to change it and we can change it through only one way. In a democracy, the day of the election is the day of coup and the weapon for coup is your fingers. You change bad leaders by voting them out, not with guns.
“And then, all of you here, you have your weapons, you have your guns – your fingers. Now, if you don’t use it, who would you blame? People rig elections where they’re not popular. Nobody will rig if you cast your votes and work together to protect them. I’m happy that the era of rigging is gone.
“If you see millions of youths on the streets, you will assume that the world is coming to an end. You can’t afford the injustices in Nigeria that have kept us where we are today.
“I read the recent report released by the MBS; our judges are the most corrupt judges in the world. Get your PVC. That is your greatest weapon. Don’t be deterred. Don’t let anyone intimidate you. This is our country.”
