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The
presidential ambition of former military leader, Ibrahim Babangida,
came under attack at the weekend as a shadow parliament, convened by
Nigerians resident in the United States, passed a resolution urging the
Federal Government to prosecute him for annulling the June 12, 1993
election.

The parliament,
which unanimously passed the resolution at its second session, held at
the LaGuardia Crowne Plaza in New York, also approved a motion that the
former military president should be banned from holding any public
office in the country for his role in the derailment of what is
believed to be the freest and fairest election in Nigeria’s history.

The Nigeria
Peoples’ Parliament in Diaspora, an initiative of the Nigeria
Democratic Liberty Forum, a New-York based pro-democracy group, is a
platform for citizens in the Diaspora to “cross fertilize ideas” and
suggest solutions to the country’s myriad problems. Its first plenary
was in March this year.

The resolutions on
Babangida, at Saturday’s session, deliberately scheduled to coincide
with the 17th anniversary of the annulled poll, followed an extensive
debate on the significance of the 1993 election in Nigeria’s democratic
journey.

After more than
half of the over 80 parliamentarians at the session had spoken, (most
of them paying glowing tributes to the winner of that election, Moshood
Abiola, and those who were killed and incarcerated in the battle to
de-annul the election), the Speaker, Okey Ndibe, a professor of
Literature at Trinity College, Connecticut, called for motions.

Omoyele Sowore,
publisher of Saharareporters.com, an online news medium, and Alex
Kabba, publisher of African Abroad-USA, a New York-based newspaper,
moved “That IBB be banned from public office indefinitely.”

In the motion,
seconded by a certain Bukola Shonuga, Messrs Sowore and Kabba argued
that Babangida had made himself a criminal by derailing Nigeria’s
democratic journey and setting the country many years back. They,
therefore, want him arrested and prosecuted.

“The time has come
for punishment to be meted on the criminals who annulled that
election,” Mr. Sowore said. “We must also find out from Babangida those
who put a gun to his head and asked him to annul the election. They
should all be identified, interrogated, and appropriately punished.”

After the motion
was passed, several others followed in its wake. NDLF’s chairman,
Adegboyega Dada, a physician, moved that Mr. Babangida should be
declared an enemy of democracy and of the Nigerian people while “June
12 should be declared Democracy Day and be so recognised by the
Nigerian government.”

The motion, seconded by a Mr. Dimeji Ayanwale, was unanimously passed.

Then Haziz Ajayi,
who came from Chicago, proposed that to honour Mr. Abiola, his
photograph should replace that of former Central Bank of Nigeria’s
governors on the N1000 note. Gbenga Agbaje moved that the late
businessman-cum-politician should be posthumously declared winner of
the election.

Chukwuma Okadigwe,
Emmanuel Onasile, Dimeji Lawal, Ololade Lacrown, Biliaminu Faleti,
Benjamin Obiajulu Aduba, and Mutiu Leshi proposed different motions
asking the government to declare June 12 a national holiday and erect
monuments in honour of Mr. Abiola and other heroes of the pro-democracy
struggle that arose from the cancellation of the election. All the
motions succeeded.

Monitor the elections

Earlier, during the
debate on the anniversary of the annulled election, Mr. Ndibe described
June 12 as “one of those moments that the promise and prospect of
Nigeria as a viable political entity came alive.”

In a prepared
speech he gave before the parliament began its deliberation, Mr. Dada
lamented the annulment of the 1993 election and urged Nigerians “to
renew your spirit in readiness for the task ahead. Together, we can do
new things. Remember, patriots never keep mute.”

Before closing the
session, the parliament received and deliberated on the report of its
electoral and constitutional review committee.

The seven-member
committee, chaired by Bolaji Aluko, a professor of chemical engineering
at Howard University in Washington, recommended that the electoral
system used for the 1993 election should be adopted for the 2011
elections.

The committee also
suggested that the Independent National Electoral Commission should
have an oversight board comprising representatives of political
parties, and that Nigerians in the Diaspora should be eligible to vote.

Another highlight
of the 30-point recommendations urged the National Assembly to adopt
the Justice Uwais report, which stated that the National Judicial
Council, rather than the president, should have the responsibility of
appointing INEC official.

The parliament announced that it would raise a well-equipped team
that would travel to Nigeria to monitor the forthcoming general
elections.