Asking Aspirants To Undergo Drug Test Absurd, Political Parties Reply NDLEA

The umbrella body of all political parties in Nigeria, the Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC), has rejected the call by the chairman/chief executive officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), that political aspirants undergo drug tests, labelling the call absurd and an affront to politicians.

Speaking with newsmen on Thursday, IPAC chairman, Alhaji Yabagi Sani, said, “We believe it is absurd. We believe it is an affront to the political class,” Sani said, describing it as rascality of the highest order.

“I’ve never heard of a country where people who want to rule the country are asked to undergo drug tests.

“Marwa should not tell Nigeria that kind of thing. Contesting an election is serious business. That pronouncement is outlandish,” Sani added.

Meanwhile, NDLEA has said the proposed drug integrity checks for all aspirants in 2023 across political parties is not targeted at stigmatising anyone.

Speaking to newsmen, spokesperson of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, said the intention of the proposed drug test was to ensure that people of sound mind are elected into public offices.

He also revealed that staff of the NDLEA are subjected to routine drug tests and nobody had been exposed or stigmatised.

Recall that NDLEA boss, Marwa, had revealed last Wednesday that he had written a letter to the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Sen Abdullahi Adamu, requesting that officials of the agency be allowed to conduct drug tests for aspirants in the forthcoming elections.

Marwa also said that he would write to all the other political parties on the same matter