27 years of uninterrupted democracy Nigeria’s only achievement – IPAC

Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) says the most obvious achievement of Nigeria’s democratic journey is the 27 years of uninterrupted civilian governance in the country.

The IPAC National Publicity Secretary, Martins Egbeola stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Thursday.

He, however, argued that the democratic experience had not translated into meaningful development.

Egbeola noted that insecurity, poverty and corruption had worsened compared with what was witnessed during the past military regimes.

According to him, Nigerians have not fared better under democracy.

Egbeola said that the country ranked among the worst in global terrorism index, poverty rate, corruption perception index and number of out-of-school children, which he put at over 18.3 million.

Assessing the impact of the 27 years of uninterrupted democratic rule, Egbeola maintained that the political class since 1999 had failed Nigerians, adding that they were the only beneficiaries of the democracy.

He stated that Nigeria was not making progress with the current structure and the leaders it had produced since the Fourth Republic, adding that it was time to restructure the country.

He said that the country must intensify efforts at tackling corruption, uphold civil liberties, promote transparency, reduce governance costs, curb nepotism, strengthen institutions and respect the rule of law.