Vice Presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Datti Baba-Ahmed, has said the constitution must be followed to the letter in electing Nigeria’s president.

Datti stated this at a conference organised by the Coalition of Nigerians living in the United Kingdom, yesterday, with the theme “Nigeria on trial: Does democracy matter?”

He said democracy must be practised to the letter and that without adherence to the constitution, there would be no democracy.

The LP vice presidential candidate said: “I believe in democracy, I don’t believe in dictatorship and what I believed in more is that democracy must be practiced well? What is democracy? It is not an arbitrary act of government. What is democracy? It is the constitution and without it, you simply do not have democracy.

“The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is different from the Electoral Act. I am speaking about ‘We, the people’. I am speaking about the supremacy of the constitution. I am speaking about how the constitution provides that the judiciary, the armed forces, the police and the National Assembly must exist.

“I am speaking about a constitution which says what must happen before there can be a validly elected president. I am here to encourage your sense of nationalism. I don’t have much to say as you very well know that the very little that i have said has rattled the system. So, out of respect for those who have advised before now, I won’t say much. Democracy belongs to the people who can practice it and the dividends of democracy belongs to the people who can extract it. Struggling to practice democracy is very healthy. I am speaking in general terms so that no minister will fly to New York and make allegations against me,” he said. (Daily Sun)

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