CIVIL LIBERTY ORGANISATION SCORES JONATHAN HIGH ON HUMAN RIGHTS

The pro-human rights group, the Civil Liberties Organisation, has said the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan deserves commendation for advancing the frontiers of fundamental human rights in the country.

The group, which addressed the press in Lagos on Tuesday, said Jonathan should be lauded for his commitment towards the entrenchment of democratic ideals and values in the country.

The CLO President, Igho Akeregha and Executive Director, Ibuchukwu Ezike, who jointly addressed the press, said that by creating a more democratic and freer political space, Jonathan's administration had been able to stem the tide of politically-motivated assassination as was witnessed in the recent past.

It also cited the signing into law of the Freedom of Information Act, the independence of the judiciary, observation of the 35 per cent affirmative action on women's participation in governance and the recent National Conference as gestures which exemplified Jonathan's commitment towards the respect for the sanctity of citizens' fundamental human rights in the country.

It said, "It is worthy to note that the state of basic and fundamental rights have generally improved under the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan…The CLO also observes that there is still a long way to go in consolidating the human rights situation in Nigeria but is encouraged by the resilience of the current administration in entrenching democratic ideals and values in governance processes.

"In the area of political assassinations, the country has witnessed remarkable progress as there is hardly the occurrence of the ugly incident. The cases of the late Harry Marshal, Bola Ige, Funsho Williams, Dipo Dina, Daramola in Ekiti, Dr. Ogbonnaya Uche in Imo and many others are sad reminders of the past."

The organisation, however, expressed concern over the spate of political violence in the build-up to the general elections in spite of the Peace Accord recently signed in Abuja.

It warned that pre-election violence could easily undermine the democratic gains recorded by the country in the last 16 years.

It said that if Nigerians were not reassured, there might be a low turn-out on the Election Day, a situation which it said might put a question mark on the credibility or general acceptance of the eventual winner of the poll.