The Nation Newspaper

Category: Politics

  • Electoral sanctity and integrity of voters’ register

    Electoral sanctity and integrity of voters’ register

    The Independent National Electoral Commssion (INEC) has uncovered 100,000 fictitious names in the voter’s register for the November 16 governorship election in Anambra State. In this piece, Doyin Odebowale examines what the development portends for the electoral process.

    At last, after countless cases have been hotly contested and decisions wrought, after stupendous resources in terms of human and material have been expended by litigants, lawyers and judges at various election tribunals, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, on forensic arguments as encapsulated in oral testimonies of witnesses, documents, written addresses, briefs of argument, since the commencement of this democratic experiment in 1999, the electoral umpire, INEC, has finally admitted, through its Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, that a fundamentum in the electoral process, without which no credible election can be conducted, the Voters’ Registers in all the states, especially the one around which the forthcoming elections in Anambra State will be organised, has been heavily compromised. INEC, according to him, has discovered over 100,000 fictitious names in the Voters’ Register to be used for that election.

    Many Nigerians may be unconscious in regard to the full import of this admission by the INEC Chair. It is instructive to note that for the first time, the electoral body, through its chairman, has admitted that conducting a credible election remains a great challenge in the country. He has equally extinguished, effectively, any misplaced aspiration geared towards the emergence of the popular choice of the people with a further admission of the illegal injection of over 100,000 names into the Voters’ Register just a few months to the Governorship election in Anambra State. This news should be of serious concern to Nigerians. If the integrity of the Voters’ Register has been compromised to such an extent, the outcome of the forthcoming election is already known. What remains to be discovered are the names of the major beneficiary of the electoral heist. It is surprising that major politicians in the state have not protested till date.

    A disturbing pattern is being established gradually. The last gubernatorial election organised by INEC in Ondo State in October, 2012 is still a subject of litigation at the apex court in the country on the same ground of illegal injection of almost 200,000 names into the Voters’ Register. INEC, in its processes filed as a Respondent in the Ondo State Governorship petitions by the candidates of the defunct ACN, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN and PDP, Chief Olusola Oke, at the Election Petition Tribunal, unequivocally, admitted that over 100,000 names were injected but claimed that these clearly fraudulent tampering with the register was done legally. It should be noted that INEC adduced no evidence in support of his averments in support of the injected names. No rebuttal came from it on the positive charge of fraud made by the petitioners. The Tribunal, unfortunately, held that the established fact of these illegal injections, did not affect the outcome of the result substantially to have warranted its invalidation of the Voters’ Register and the election conducted with it.

    Section 148 of the Electoral Act forbids any inquisition by a court of law in regard to who any voter cast his or her ballot for at an election. The raison d etre behind this legislation is the protection of the sanctity of the electorate’s choice. Therefore, the statute protects all eligible voters with respect to their choice in an election. Consequently, Nigerians may never know the beneficiaries of these illegalities and the extent to which they were favoured by an ostensibly biased umpire. They, however, know, by the admission of INEC, that over 100,000 illegal names were included in the register and going by the contention of the petitioners that almost 200,000 names were injected, the results would have been altered, fundamentally. In the same vein, the declared winner of the election in Ondo State would have come third if the 100,000 illegal votes, as admitted by INEC, are withdrawn. The tragic import of this scientific electoral robbery finds expression in the emasculation of the electorate in the whole process of representative democracy. Impostors and charlatans who owe their “victories” to persons and groups other than the people will emerge as their leaders. And since there is a disconnect between them and the people, ab initio, asking them to be accountable becomes unrealistic.

    We are currently faced with another unfolding tragic-comedy in Anambra State. The INEC Chairman’s pronouncement that the register has been heavily compromised through this brazen act of criminality bears with it a nagging foreboding on the imminence of an untoward occurrence in that state. Its witnesses at the Ondo State Election Petition Tribunal admitted the injection of over 100,000 new names when there was no registration of voters shortly before the election. It also admitted that, in contravention of the Electoral Act, Section 19, which mandates INEC to publish the names of eligible voters for public scrutiny at least five days before the election, it failed to do so. The lower Tribunal’s decision that this would not have affected the outcome of the election substantially has been criticised by the Court of Appeal which also held that INEC erred in not publishing the list before election, as required by statute, but proceeded, curiously, to affirm the decision of the lower tribunal taking refuge in the ostensible impregnable fortress of substantial compliance.

    The ease with which the Voters’ Registers are manipulated by unscrupulous officials of INEC to satisfy the highest bidder is alarming. Nigerians ought to be genuinely concerned when the head of an institution saddled with the responsibility of conducting elections to reflect the wishes of the electorate admits publicly that his organisation gets itself enmeshed in all manner of shady deals aimed at subverting popular will. He then explained this grave occurrence away by reassuring Nigerians that some electoral offenders would soon be arraigned in court on the charge of multiple registration. He has, however, been eloquently silent on the identities of those found culpable for the illegal injections in Anambra State, assuming without conceding, that the transparent dishonesty in Ondo State Governorship election was legal.

    In a period of pervasive apathy of the electorate, a situation engendered by bad governance over the years, which candidate will defeat a contestant who is lucky enough to have a hundred thousand votes ahead of others before ballot? The infusion of almost 200,000 names into the Voters’ Register in Ondo State made nonsense of the claims by INEC that it conducted a credible election. It confirms that the candidate declared as the winner of the election lacks legitimacy until the doubt is cleared. The fact that the declared winner was allotted about 41% of the total votes cast underscores the enormity of the fraudulent activities of certain individuals within INEC. He could not have won without the illegal injection.

    An announcement by Prof Jega that permanent voters’ cards will be issued by December 2013 to persons whose names are captured in the heavily tainted register is disquieting. This is putting a final stamp of approbation on fraud. Rigging would have been perfected even before any election takes place. The perpetrators of fraud will wield tremendous influence as they will become the de facto king makers, killers and makers of political careers. Any aspiring politician must be subservient to them. The role of the electorate as the crucial decider of the political fate of politicians would have been annulled. In vain will be the efforts of contestants to sell their programmes to the populace. The best candidate will never win.

    Of greater worry should be the decision of the Tribunal and the Court of Appeal to hold that the last gubernatorial election conducted in Ondo State was in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act. The lower tribunal trod a very dangerous path when it held that the issue of the voters’ register is a pre-election matter and ought to have been challenged in the regular court. The Court of Appeal disagreed with it and even went further to hold that the electoral umpire, INEC, erred by failing to publish the list of eligible voters for public scrutiny as required by statute. It, however, proceeded, curiously though, to uphold the grandiose fraud on the ground that it did not affect the outcome substantially and that the petitioners failed to determine how the injected names affected them adversely. It would appear that the burden of proof which rests squarely on INEC to discharge has been shifted to the petitioners who were short changed by sharp practices.

    All eyes are now on the Supreme Court for the final determination of the matter. The pronouncement of the apex court on the propriety or otherwise of conducting an election with a compromised register is eagerly awaited. The duty imposed on INEC by statute to publish the names of eligible voters, I submit with respect, can never be waived. The general conduct of this electoral body has been that of utter disgrace. It has been prosecuting the defence of electoral malfeasance with unimaginable vigour. It acts as a contestant in the election and not the unbiased umpire which is expected of it. The petitions of Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN and Chief Olusola Oke against the declaration of Dr Olusegun Mimiko as the elected governor of Ondo State will serve as a test case in our quest for a free and fair electoral process. It will go a long way to determine whether we are deeply concerned with the protection of the sanctity of the process.

    The people of Anambra State are in for another “Ondo treatment”. It is surprising that the politicians in the state led by the ventriloquist governor, Peter Obi, have been chasing shadows. None of them has reacted to the revelation by Prof Jega. They will soon discover that they have been swindled by INEC and those who suborned its officials. I also believe that this scenario will be replicated in virtually all the states where elections will be held soon. The credibility of any election can only be guaranteed when the process is devoid of any manipulation. The Voters’ Register is the basis of a transparent election. No one should expect any credible process when all manner of characters, fictitious names, under age voters, symbols, among other devious ways through which politicians, with the active connivance of INEC, rig elections with impunity and the judiciary seems acquiescent to the fraud.

    The electoral body has metamorphosed since the country’s independence through the Second Republic to the charade organised by Babangida which culminated in the annulment of the June 12 presidential election in 1993, down to the current democratic experiment which commenced in 1999. A common strand runs through the trajectory of its existence. Each time the activities of this body gave provenance to crises which eventually truncated the government, transformation which usually followed was limited to a change in name but not its questionable attitudes. The current acronym is laughable. The body is anything but independent.

    The Supreme Court will deepen the current democratic experience by protecting the sanctity of the ballot. A compromised Voters’ Register cannot form the basis upon which a credible election should be conducted.

  • ‘Power should shift to Ekiti South’

    ‘Power should shift to Ekiti South’

    Former Group Managing Director, Wema Bank Plc and governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2014 election in Ekiti State, Mr Adebisi Omoyeni, has said that former governor of the state, Ayodele Fayose, and the Minister of Police Affairs, Caleb Olubolade, are not in the race for the PDP gubernatorial ticket.

    Omoyeni, who spoke in Lagos, said he has never considered the duo as posing stumbling block to his clinching the PDP ticket.

    “I have said it elsewhere before now, that both Caleb Olubolade and Ayodele Fayose are not in the race.  Any party that picks a candidate from the South has won the election by 50 per cent in Ekiti State because people are ready; they know it is their time. And you know that we, the Ekiti people, don’t compromise. We don’t allow cheating and things must be properly done. There is an agreement in place and that agreement must be followed to the letter,” he said.

    Omoyeni said that it took him about two years to agree to the challenge to seek election “because I’m a very busy person with work to occupy my time 24 hours of the day,”. He added that his acceptance to run for in the next election was part of his service to the people of Ekiti State.

    “I am going there as service to my people. But, if we start talking of consensus, that means there must be criteria put in place. It is similar to going for an interview where specific criteria are used to assess every candidate, such as capacity, capability and integrity and I know I can scale through every one of them.

    “Also, another thing you have to realise is that, even in the South, Ikere is one local government and it is both Ikere and Ado-Ekiti by the strength of their votes – being the largest towns in Ekiti, that decide who becomes a governor. I’m from Ikere and my mother is from Ado and I have been a good child, not just to both local governments, but to the whole of Ekiti,” he said.

    Omoyeni said that, with what God has done through him, when he didn’t have any ambition, he believes that “the coast is clear; it is divinely arranged, it is beyond me.”

    Asked if he can still work with Fayose, whom he had previously served as deputy, Omoyeni said that, of all the aspirants, he is the only one that is not controversial.

    “I’m the only one that relates with everybody because a leader must be a leader and not to be seen teaming up with A to fight B and even, when they fight, you should be able to reconcile them,” he said.

  • ‘North’s cry of marginalisation unfounded’

    Niger Delta activist and former Secretary General of Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), Mr. Udengs Eradiri, in this interview with reporters said the North’s allegations that they are currently marginalised was baseless. Excerpts

    Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, recently accused President Goodluck Jonathan of playing ethnic and religious politics. What is your take on that?

    The claim by Mallam Nasir el-Rufai that the North is marginalised is unfounded because most of the key agencies and parastatals of the Federal Government are headed by northerners: is it the Customs, Immigration, Central Bank or the Police? Most of the main agencies of government are manned by northerners. Also, 95 per cent of oil blocs in this country are owned by northerners. How would you describe that as marginalisation of the North? If we say there is federal character; how come that a few individuals from one ethnic group own more than 95 percent of oil blocs?

    They have always tried to frustrate the efforts of the Jonathan administration from day one, so I am not surprised. But I am challenging Nigerians to insist that Jonathan should be the oldest president that we would have henceforth. After Jonathan, we cannot go back to someone who is over 70 years.

    We see Jonathan as a young president and if there are lapses on his side, the youths who are majority of the electorate in this country should rise and tailor him to the right track because there is no perfect being.

    The trend across the world is that young people are taking over, why should ours’ be different? Don’t we have intelligent young men and women who can lead this nation out of the woods? These people parading themselves today should not fail to realise that we have not forgotten that they are responsible for the precarious situation that we have found ourselves in.

    When you talk about looting of the treasury, Jonathan administration has made claims to doing its best in the fight against corruption. How would you assess the administration in that sector?

    You should realise that it takes time to achieve result and there are steps that a true democratic government cannot take. You don’t expect a government that respects the rule of law to be tying people on the stakes like the military junta. Besides that, I ask the question: Are we ready for change? How can we swallow western practices hook, line and sinker? Can’t we adopt the Chinese model which is anchored on their culture? Like I have always said, a true federal system is the only way forward for this country. The process for Nigerian foundation is and until we correct that anomaly, we will continue to see indices from international organisations reminding us of the level of poverty and corruption in Nigeria.

    How do we correct the faulty foundation when the National Assembly has refused calls for a national conference, insisting that it is constitutionally empowered to amend the constitution?

    For me, the ethnic nationalities should refocus their agitation towards a unified agitation for the convocation of a sovereign national conference. If Nigerians rise and insist on a national conference, the members of the National Assembly cannot stop it. What credibility do they have to say no to that request, a group of people who will sit down and pass a bill for my three-year old daughter to be married by a 70 year old man? They have really lost credibility and I don’t see them being in a position to decide whether we should have a sovereign national conference or not.

    We should realise that power is not given on a platter of gold. We should stop window-dressing the issue as we are doing now. Also, we should beware of those who use the agitation to gain recognition. We have seen what happened in other parts of the world where the people came out to demand for their right, but in Nigeria, it is a different thing. For now, we are not ready; may be when the suffering gets worse, we may rise to demand for our right.

    What are the chances of the President in the 2015 elections?

    He stands a better chance than any other candidate that would be contesting the presidency because we are talking about achievements. Also, thanks to God that Nigerians are becoming more politically enlightened. He recently presented the scorecard of his first two years and asked for more support for the last lap of his first tenure; that’s how it should be. Don’t forget that we are coming from a background of decayed infrastructure, which those who are parading themselves as saints at the moment were responsible for.

    Don’t forget that Jonathan is building Almajiri schools in the North, so that those kid-beggars will not continue to depend on the so-called past leaders for survival. Northern youths have started questioning the positions of their so-called leaders and the credit must go to Jonathan. Nobody wants to beg and see his children beg in the future.

  • ‘How Fasheun hijacked revived UPN from me’

    Ola Olateju, an honorary lecturer at the Department of Political and Cultural Studies, Swansea University, United Kingdom, in this brief encounter told Andrew Oyafemi that Oodua People’s Congress founder, Dr. Frederick Fasheun, hijacked the idea of reviving Unity Party of Nigeria ( UPN) from him. 

    Mr. Ola Olateju an honorary lecturer at the Department of Political and Cultural Studies, Swansea University, United Kingdom, has accused Dr. Fredrick Fasheun of hijacking his idea of reviving the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).

    In an encounter with The Nation in Lagos, Olateju said, “I initiated the idea of Unity Party of Nigeria. Early this year, after looking into the political terrain, I found out that virtually all the political parties dominating the political landscape of Nigeria are not different from each other. Ideologically, they are barren, programme wise, they are not different, and when it comes to party ownership I found out that virtually all the political parties are owned by individuals or group of leaders and not by the people.

    By the time I looked at all these scenario, I felt that something must be done, and I felt that if we don’t know where we are going to, we should know where we are coming from. So, I invited few Nigerians, who are either doing their PhD or working in UK, we all agreed to go back to Nigeria with some benefit for the people. I don’t believe it is until you buy cars or lots of materials that they say you have brought something back to the people. Why don’t you go back with ideas for the people. We have been there, we have seen how their system works, we have seen our political parties operate, why don’t we now learn from this and take it back home. Virtually everybody agreed that we should go back and get something done, but then where do we start from? That was the fundamental question we put across that day and then we looked at various political parties. We found out that if we  go  to any of them, we will end up being swallowed, because the parties won’t belong to the people. So, I sowed the idea of going back to Unity Party of Nigeria. We agreed there is no law in Nigeria that says an old party cannot be resuscitated. I don’t see why people are trying to cut off with the past, trying to start something fresh. Why can’t they go back to say NPN, PRP GNPP, UPN, go back and start from where they stopped and move the political terrain forward?

    We know that Balarabe Musa did it in the north by bringing in PRP, even though PRP had been deregistered because of lack of resources to win election or mobilize people. I am also aware that NAP was resuscitated by Tunji Braitwait. So, if those two can do that, what has made those of us that call ourselves Awoists to abandon our Awoism? That is why I said let us go back to Unity Party of Nigeria.

    On how OPC leader, Dr. Frederick Fasheun came into the picture, Olateju said, “Some of us were saddled with the responsibility to come to Nigeria to talk to people here and there, to sensitise people about the project and when we got good feelers, they asked me to move on. I was made the National Coordinator from the beginning because I initiated the idea, and because I still have my PhD programme in the UK, I felt we should have some elders, especially the old Awoists, so that they can come and continue while we provide the foot work for them and source resources here and there. It was on that basis that I went to Dr. Fredrick Fasheun, even though I knew he was never an Awoist. He was never a member of UPN and even if he was, he must have been an ordinary supporter or voter. But because of my love and respect for him as a person, out of the three names suggested, I picked Fasheun. I went to him.

    I went with Barry Salau and others to acknowledge his leadership. I also wrote a letter to Mama Awolowo, informing her that we were about to resuscitate UPN, and I told her that our leader, Dr Fasheun, Publicity Secretary, Barry Salau, with the others and I will be coming to visit her very soon.

    “So, Fasheun accepted to be leader, but we did not know he accepted the offer to take away the party from us and personalise it.

    When we fixed the EXCOs, they met in his hotel on May 19 of this year and the EXCOs were ratified and they all signed the INEC registration form and gave it to the secretary, Abubakar Sokoto, now the Ag National Chairman and I travelled back to the UK, without knowing that my leader and comrade, Dr. Fasheun had another intention.

    “The moment I left, he retrieved the INEC form from the secretary, and then went to make fresh copies of the INEC forms. Then, he handed others over to a contractor who only saw the advert of UPN, now picked him as the national coordinator, handed over the forms to him and two other guys and asked them to start looking for fresh people that can be presented to INEC as the officers of the party.

    So, Fasheun sidelined all of us who put together the party and chose fresh hands to be registered but INEC disappointed him by not registering the party. On that basis, we quickly put in place a new set of EXCOs and set Abubakar Sokoto as the Ag National Chairman of the party

  • ‘South-West leaders passionate about devt’

    ‘South-West leaders passionate about devt’

    Dipo Famakinwa is the Director-General of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission, the development coordinating the regional integration agenda of the states of western Nigeria, comprising Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo states. In this interview with Assistant Editor, Augustine Avwode, Famakinwa says the political leaders in the region are passionate about DAWN.

    What inspired the DAWN programme?

    The Development Agenda for Western Region (DAWN) is a programme for development. That is what matters to us. Essentially, as a people, this is what matters to us. Historically, we are consumers of innovations and development programmes; programmes which bring welfare that changes the lives of the people. Therefore, it is something that has been in the consciousness or what you can call the DNA of the people of this region.

    To us, when you talk about development, it is like preaching to the Pope. So, anything that we can do to ensure that we find the methodology to develop our space, we will gladly do. And of course, we are not saying that in isolation of the development of Nigeria. We are saying that there is so much that can be done from this region that can lead to the development of the region as a whole.

    Therefore, it is a process to ensure that development comes into this part of the country. When you talk about inspiration, it must be said that at a point, we started going in a direction that was completely at variance with what would bring development to our region. And the yearnings for development became really topmost in the minds of our people. And it just happens that at this very period in our time, we think that we have found the right environment, the right space and possibly the right set of people who can help push that programme that we need to midwife development in this region.

    When you say the right environment and space, what exactly do you mean?

    You know every development takes place in a context. The people who want to midwife development must, first of all, believe in the process they want to midwife and also be committed to that process and must also have the capacity to midwife that process. I think what we have found at this moment in the history of the people of Western Nigeria is that we have a set of people who are committed to development. People, whose trajectory, as individuals; and I am talking of people who are in position of governance today, they are people who committed their lives to fighting for the development of this space. They have committed their resources, they have committed their energy and talent to ensure that we have development in this region. And once we have such people in position of authority, we can then begin to see that the yearnings for development, even from the people’s demand for development, will become higher than what it has been. And that is what I mean by the space of development.

    Don’t forget that the people of this region have seen and tasted development and that was in the context of regionalism. That was in the days when the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his colleagues led governance in the region. We continue to refer to that era as the glorious days of the West. People have continued to look forward to the day or time when we can re-enact those days. And this looks like the most appropriate time to do so.  And I must say that when you look at the historical trajectory of the country called Nigeria, you will discover that the best days of the country was when regionalism was allowed to have a good foothold as they were all allowed to develop according to their own priorities and conviction.

    In the short run, what should the people of the region look forward to?

    It is important for us, first and foremost, to believe that it is possible for us to move from the level at which we have found ourselves right now and begin to do things or experience development better than we have had it. The first thing is that the people themselves must commit themselves to this process, believe in it, they must demand from those who are leading them that they go in the direction of development that will bring about improvement in their lives. Then they should demand accountability from them.

    The requirements of our people are not unwieldy; they are very simple. They want their children to be well educated; not education for the sake of it but that which propels development in the society, health care and infrastructure that serves the requirement of the people. They want even their social orientation to be rebuilt because it is something that needs critical attention.

    What would you say are the challenges at this time?

    Of course there would be challenges because this is a programme that is driven by all kinds of sentiments. But what is important is that we have found enough political will and compelling reasons to say this is the way we should go. And with the political will that we have found, especially among the political leaders in the region at this material time, we are sure those challenges are surmountable. Of course there will be challenges in terms of consensus building,  on agreeing on certain directions, there will be challenges in terms of stakeholders inclusion, challenges in terms of financing, and getting the process in the direction that will immediately deliver the kind of impact that we want. And I want to say that all these challenges that I mentioned are surmountable given the willingness of the people in charge and the political will of the leaders in the zone to pursue the programme to a logical end.

    Would you say the issues of ethnic and linguistic homogeneity and geographical contiguity have helped in promoting an immediate acceptance of this agenda?

    Those are things we should consider as our assets and leverage as a people. The issues of common language, heritage and geographical contiguity, common beliefs and orientation, those are critical assets that we must harness and this is why DAWN has become imperative at this point in time. Of course, taking good advantage of these things has become imperative because the sentiment of the people; their orientation as a people, at this time, tends towards how we can take our destiny in our hand as a people. And I think those assets that you mentioned must be leveraged at this point in time to get to where we want to be.

    Critics say DAWN is a creation of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) which controls the region politically. How would you react to that allegation?

    No, they are not correct. It is not the creation of any political party. It just happens that at this time, we have six states and five of those states are controlled by the defunct ACN, now All Progressives Congress (APC). And they are the ones who talk about it more, therefore, it is likely for people to think that it is an agenda of the party. DAWN as an agenda transcends any political party. It transcends partisanship but it has to be done through the instrumentation of those in power. It is not an agenda that is hanging in the air. And it will not deliver by itself. Fortunately, those in power at this time believe it is an agenda that can push us forward as a people.  Therefore, they are committed to it and they have supported it, they have spent their time and energy to promote and pursue it. So, it will not be out of place, if some people say it is an agenda of the party. But we believe this is an agenda beyond partisanship.

  • Anambra guber race: Ngige raises the bar

    Anambra guber race: Ngige raises the bar

    As All Progressives Congress (APC) names Senator Chris Ngige its candidate for the November governorship elections in Anambra State, Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, reports that the entrance of the former governor has raised the stakes.

    Everyone expects the November 16 governorship election in Anambra State to be an epic battle. But our investigation shows that most of the key players and stakeholders did not imagine the political theatre would, by now,  have become as electrified as it turned out to be since Wednesday, August 21, 2013, when All Progressives Congress (APC), in the words of one top politician in the state, “ played a fast one on the rest of us.”

    Feelers from the state confirmed that APC really jolted other political stakeholders that day when it announced former governor, Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige, as its candidate for the governorship elections.

    The shock, according to a source, was partly because of the belief of both the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) that the newly merged political parties in APC would find it difficult to arrive at an acceptable candidate. “We also did not expect a candidate like Ngige to emerge and to emerge so fast. We had reckoned on the emergence of a more neutral and perhaps less experienced candidate. The emergence of Ngige, I will admit, requires more work on our part,” said one of the strategists of a leading PDP governorship aspirant.

    Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, who broke the news of Ngige’s nomination, aware of such expectations from their opponents, had said the South-East caucus of the party agreed on the candidature of Ngige, adding, “The choice of Ngige was reached through a consensus. Those who thought we shall not succeed today have been disappointed.”

    Even with Okorocha’s pronouncement, The Nation learnt that some stakeholders initially doubted the development. A source close to Senator Annie Okonkwo- led team confided that their opponents were taken unawares. “They thought Oga (Okonkwo) and Ngige had fallen apart and would not work together. So, when they learnt that Oga supports Ngige’s candidature, they were devastated.”

    To confirm that they meant business, Ngige, the next day (Thursday)  formally notified the Senate of his intention to contest in this year’s Anambra State governorship election.

    In a letter written to the Senate President, Senator David Mark, Ngige said,

    “I have concluded my consultations, and now find it necessary to officially inform this Senate that I will be an aspirant, and hopefully a candidate in the November 16, 2013 governorship election in Anambra State. Please wish me luck and offer your prayers for me, even if you are not of my party…

    “I intend to use the vehicle of the Progressives – our newly merged political party – The All Progressives Congress (APC),” he said.

    With his emergence, the political equation, ahead the November election, has changed tremendously.

    His reason for joining the race

    Ngige gave the first official reason for joining this years’s governorship race in Anambra State as far back as late March 2013. It was during a quarterly constituency briefing and distribution of gifts to his constituents in the Anambra Central Senatorial District, where he assured supporters that the hitches the progressives were facing then in their merger plan would “neither affect its purpose nor dampen the zeal of the founders to liberate the Nigerian masses.”

    As the chairman, Steering Committee of APC in South-East then, Ngige expressed confidence that the party would wrest power from PDP at the centre and reposition the country to the path of development.

    It was at that stage that he first opened up on his ambition for the coming governorship election, declaring that circumstances were compelling him to join the race.

    He recalled that he came into the Awka Government House with a blueprint out of which, he said, he was able to do 20 percent before his exit through court judgment.

    As he puts it: “Circumstances are compelling me to run for Anambra governorship election because I came to Government House with a blueprint and I was able to do 20 percent.

    “Another government came in and did just seven percent in seven years and I want to ask who is going to do the remaining 70 percent?”

    Also in the middle of June, Ngige again reiterated his agenda and why he is in the race. He said he is in the governorship race to help “uplift the people and give them a sense of belonging.”

    He said this while addressing members of his federal constituency, Idemili North and South, during a thank you meeting at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Nkpor. “There is no big deal about being a governor any longer; I have been one before. My only urge in public offices is service. I seek to touch your lives in a positive way, so that you will smile again. By the end of this month, we will formally launch the All Progressives Congress (APC) South-East zone in Awka and we believe that it is the party that will make a difference here. APC will form the next government in Anambra State,” he said then.

    In his speech at the event hen, the member representing the federal constituency, Charles Odedo, told their supportrs not to be deceived by people claiming that Ndigbo have no place in APC, stating that Ngige is one of the members of Board of Trustees of APC.

    His political strength

    Born 61 years ago (August 8, 1952), this medical doctor-turned politician is arguably considered, by his admirers and the leadership of APC, as one of the single most influential and popular politician in Anambra State today. Even his political opponents, according to grassroots electorates, do not seem to doubt this claim.

    After his graduation from the University of Nigeria,  Nsukka in 1979, he began public life as a civil servant, serving at the National Assembly and State House clinics at different times. He retired in 1998 as a Deputy Director in the Federal Ministry of Health and soon joined partisan politics, first as a founding member of PDP. By 1999, he was Assistant National Secretary and Zonal Secretary of the party in the South-East.

    In 2003, Ngige was elected governor of Anambra State in very controversial circumstances, which ironically led both to his temporary downfall and later, to his soaring image as a political giant.

    It all began when he suddenly broke ranks with his political godfather, Chris Uba. This action resulted to multiple allegations and counter allegations. It also led to embarrassing revelations about the modus operandi of the political godfathers in Nigeria’s political kingdoms. As a result, both Ngige and his estranged political godfathers were criticised and ridiculed.

    The unfortunate political drama peaked after Ngige, as the sitting governor, was kidnapped in broad daylight in an embarrassing but unsuccessful attempt to have him removed from office. What followed was a series of political battles, show of political power and battle of wits as was never witnessed in the political history of the state before.

    Ngige’s intriguing 33 months tenure as governor was to end, however, in August 2005, when an election tribunal, led by Justice Nabaruma, nullified his 2003 victory. Ngige appealed to the Federal Court of Appeal but the annulment was confirmed on March 15, 2006, in a judgment awarding victory to the now outgoing governor, Mr. Peter Obi of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

    Since then, Ngige, who later won a senatorial seat on the ticket of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), has, in spite of the scandals that literally swallowed the period he governed the state, remained affectionately loved by the commoners, grassroots and the electorate in the state. One critical test of his popularity was during the last senatorial election in his Anambra Central Senatorial District. In that election, Ngige’s major opponent was a very popular former Director-General of National Agency for Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) who later served as Minister of Information and Communications, Professor Dora Akunyili. Besides her popularity as NAFDAC boss, Akunyili’s other edge was that she contested on the ticket of the ruling party, APGA. After what was described in the media as a “clash of the Titans,” Ngige, who flew the flag of the ACN, was declared the winner.

    Now that he is to fly the flag of the mega party, which include ACN, part of the ruling party in the state (APGA), ANPP, CPC and others, interested observers are wondering if his political stature would lead to a defeat of the ruling APGA and PDP?

    Ichie Udochukwu Izuchukwu, a retired civil servant and now community elder from Orumba told The Nation that the choice of Ngige is the only factor that can defeat the argument of zoning, which would demand the next governor coming from Anambra North. “You know Ngige is one politician that made great impact on all Anambra people. I can assure you that Ngige will win substantial votes from Anambra North not to talk of the remaining two senatorial districts. This is because in spite of the political show of shame that threatened his tenure, Ngige was busy constructing quality roads, opening up long forgotten rural communities in every part of the state. So, zoning or no zoning, Ngige is a strong candidate that should win Anambra election any day,” he said.

    It would be recalled that the state has 21 local government areas with three senatorial districts in the state, namely, Anambra North, comprising Awka North and South, Njikoka, Dunukofia, Anaocha, and Idemili North and South Local Government Areas (LGAs); Anambra Central, made up of Onitsha North and South, Ogbaru, Oyi, Ayamelum and Anambra East and West LGAs; and Anambra South, consisting of Orumba North and South, Aguata, lhiala, Ekwusigo, and Nnewi North and South LGAs.

    Ngige, who hails from Anambra Central would, according to insiders, base his faith on his performance in the 33 months he governed the state before.

    A source close to Awka Government House, however, described the choice of Ngige by APC as “a sweet mistake.” The source, a top state government official, said any party that ignores the call to zone the next governorship ticket to Anambra North has missed it from onset.

    It remains to be seen how far Ngige’s popularity and his party, APC can go to prove that claim wrong. Investigations reveal that even before the final registration of the party, when it did not have a specific flag bearer in the state, APC’s registration of new members has been very successful in all the three senatorial districts. Now that Ngige has been handed over the flag, it remains to be seen how other parties like APGA and PDP would attempt to counter the APC offensive.

  • ‘In Edo, you don’t hear of PDP anymore’

    ‘In Edo, you don’t hear of PDP anymore’

    Edo State Deputy Speaker, Hon Festus Ebea, in this interview told INNOCENT DURU that People’s Democratic Party (PDP) does not exist in the Edo State anymore following massive defection from PDP to All Progressives Congress (APC). Excerpts

    There seems to be a  very robust relationship between legislators and the executives in Edo State, what is the secret?

    The secret is everybody knowing his bounds. The executive knows its bounds, legislators know their bounds and the judiciary too. But again we all know that we are working towards a common goal. The people come first. In as much as none of the arms of government is relegating the people to the background, there cannot be any problem or quarrel.

    How well would you say the laws made by the Edo State House of Assembly have been of benefit to the people of the state?

    Well, seeing is believing. If you have visited Edo State, you will know that the laws that have been coming out from the state assembly have helped the executive to give what we call good governance and dividend of democracy to the people of Edo State.

    How would you describe the registration of APC at this point in time?

    I am very  happy that finally APC has been registered. It now gives a very bright hope that we are going to have a very challenging democracy in our country Nigeria. We are going to have a very robust democracy whereby you now need to know that you are not alone.The PDP has been feeling that it is alone. Anytime they want to bring candidate they bring people who cannot even lead their families to come and lead the people, but this time around, I believe they would be further challenged to know that any party that is going to feature any candidate in any election now would bring people that we know can be trusted, people that have track record of performance in their chosen careers.

    What difference do you think the party would make in Edo State and Nigeria as a whole?

    In Edo State, you already know that when you talk about the forebears of APC, the state is fully involved. The governor has been part and parcel of the emerging trend. We also have our national leader, Chief Tom Ikimi, there. We have former South-South vice chairman of the party, Pastor Iyamu there, we also have Chief OdigieOyegun there.

    When you look at Edo State, do you foresee members of other parties defecting to the APC?

    They are already joining us. In fact, in Edo State, we don’t really talk about PDP anymore. More members of the PDP are coming in because they are tired of the opposition and they have been able to use the microscope to see very far, that it is very very difficult for the PDP to come back to the saddle in the politics of Edo State not with the  very robust performance occasioned by the administration of our comrade governor, Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole.  People in the PDP have started reaching out to us that they want to come and join us. The more the merrier. We don’t deregister people.

    Before the merger, it was quite easy for the various parties to pick candidates that represented them. Don’t you think it would be a herculean task now that you have more interests to cater for?

    It is a political party, it is not a one man show. If in the course of going through due process of picking candidates and the person picked was duly picked, it is not a challenge to anybody. But we want to ensure that whatever would be done would be done well.

    The APC governors have said the autonomy of local governments is not the business of the National Assembly but that of states. Is this view correct?

    They are right. The National Assembly  will need to get the contribution and of course the final endorsement from the state assemblies. So, APC governors’ position is not wrong. Whatever the National Assembly is doing, they must come back to the state assemblies to get their endorsement.

    Do you think APC can take over power from the PDP at the centre in 2015?

    Very well.Very very well. Nigerians are craving for it. Nigerians want a change; they are tired. Nigerians duly want a change and they know that the APC would engender that change.

    When you look at a party like the PDM that has also come up, don’t you think they would whittle down the influence of APC in the country’s politics?

    Why are you saying it is going to wither the influence of the APC? Why are you not saying it is going to wither the influence of the PDP? This PDM you are talking about, are they APC members that formed PDM? PDM members, as you know from time, are from the PDP. They are the real people that came together to form the PDP abinitio. So, now that they have come out to say they want to be identified as a separate party you will find out that it is going to affect the PDP not APC.

  • Ondo politics: Supreme Court in the web?

    Ondo politics: Supreme Court in the web?

    Following the brouhaha that attended the last governorship election in Ondo State, it is not surprising that the losers are at the temple of justice to seek final pronouncement on the credibility of the process that threw up Dr. Rahman Mimiko for a second term as governor of the state. Both Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of the Action Congress of Nigeria and Chief Olusola Oke of the Peoples Democratic Party have challenged the results in the courts, asking the tribunal and the Appeal Court to determine if it could indeed be said that Mimiko won in substantial compliance with the laws of the land.

    At the tribunal, both men lost. On appeal again, their prayers were refused. That left them with a last chance of proving their cases-the Supreme Court. Without prejudice to the merit of their appeals, the men deserve to be allowed to run the full gamut. The Electoral Act has prescribed that election cases referred to the apex court be determined within 60 days of the judgment delivered by the court below. Before the last set of cases after the 2011 were laid to rest, lawyers had seen the provision limiting hearing periods as progressive.

    However, when the Supreme Court took a narrow and highly technical view of the matter, insisting that the courts had no say in the matter but to strictly and literally apply the law, whatever the circumstances, a torrent of criticisms followed. Why should the law be used to deny litigants and petitioners justice? Why should a court, knowing that it is not the fault of a petitioner deny him justice just because, for example, the court below failed to release the record of proceedings in good time? Why deny the people their choice based strictly on technicalities of the law?

    In many other cases, the Supreme Court had held that technicalities should not stand in the way of justice. In the Benue State 2011 governorship election, the Supreme Court elected to abdicate its responsibility in finding out who actually won the election or whether Suswam was qualified to run as the PDP candidate. Their lordships opted rather to play Pontius Pilate, threw their hands in the air and admonished the ACN candidate to lick his wound. Many others suffered the same fate across party lines in different parts of the country.

    In Ondo State, Akeredolu and Oke deserve to be heard. The people deserve to know, finally, if Mimiko truly won the election. It is easy to advise the petitioners to put the matter behind them and move on. It is even logical to advise the contending parties to plan for the next opportunity. It makes sense to argue that impartial analysts had given the election to the PDP ever the poll date since the 2011 legislative elections were swept by the ruling party. But, no one could say that the redress available to Oke and Akeredolu should not be availed them.

    The decision of the Supreme Court to hear the appeal on September 24 could amount to a travesty of the law after all. The 60-day window left for petitioners to get the apex court to review proceedings and verdict of the court below is well known to their lordships. They know the window would have been shut by August 29. They equally know that the petitioners have discharged the burden on them by getting to the court within the time stipulated, then, why would the Justices choose to slap Oke and Akeredolu in the face so brazenly and blatantly? Why would they leave room for speculation that a lot might be happening under the table?

    In the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians, the court should reexamine the hearing date and do justice in the matter. It does not matter if the Justices, having gone through the appeal feel that the petitioners stand no chance. What matters is that justice must not only be done in the matter, but seen by all to have been done. Whatever is done today will leave after all participants. When, in 1979, the Supreme Court ruled in a presidential election petition and held that the principle of precedence be shelved in that instance, it did not reckon that matters of such weight are not just for the law reports; they are not just cited in courts by lawyers, but exist to historians, researchers and general leaders who, in reviewing the events of the era comment and analyse the roles played by individuals and institutions.

    The future is just a step away. Justice is for the good of the people and the society. If it is no longer available in the courts, then, it is probably time to look beyond the judiciary for justice.

    Rivers: NJC in the mix?

    It is in the interest of every Nigerian that the judiciary is still trusted to deliver justice for all, especially the underdog or underprivileged in any cause or situation. While the other two arms of government are politically active and could afford to compromise the due process, the judiciary, and indeed, the media should be available for the larger society in pointing out the flaws and ensuring compliance with the law.

    The judiciary is too important an institution to throw into the fray. The contention for the soul of Rivers State is already threatening to consume the sacred branch of government. It appears that the people now know which of the judges is likely to give verdict in favour of whom and what ever before matters are filed.

    It is my view that Amaechi is playing his role well. It is his duty to appoint the most senior judge in the state as Acting Chief Judge and this he has done. Politics should have no place in the matter.

  • Umeh hails INEC over denial of PPA’s change of name bid

    Umeh hails INEC over denial of PPA’s change of name bid

    The National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Sir Victor Umeh, has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for not allowing the Progressives Peoples Alliance (PPA) to change its acronym to All Progressives People Alliance (APPA).

    In his reaction to the INEC decision, through his Special Assistant (Media), Mr. Stan Okeke, Umeh said it was noteworthy that the commission, without any formal protest to it, took that decision, knowing that the acronym PPA intended to use in its aborted effort to change its name, had semblance with the APGA acronym.

    He said the decision of INEC not to agree to the change of name, confirmed his initial fears that PPA was out to create confusion, but that INEC decided to take the bull by the horn by taking this decision, based on constitutional laws guiding INEC.

    “The news of the refusal of the change of name by INEC came to all members of APGA as a huge relief. It is instructive that INEC came to this fair and just decision without any formal protest from us. The commission, in taking this decision, was guided by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, and the Electoral Act,” Umeh stated.

    According to the APGA National Chairman, the INEC decision was a clear demonstration by the leadership of the commission, of its readiness to discharge its duties without fear or favour, and in complete compliance with the rules.

    He added: “the attempt by PPA to change its name and acronym to All Progressive Peoples Alliance (APPA) was a clear intent of mischief to confuse the electorate with the two similar acronyms of APGA and APPA,” emphasizing that it was even more dangerous when one considered the fact that “based on alphabetical order, APGA and APPA would have appeared next to each other on the ballot paper.”

    Umeh had on July 18, 2013, at the stakeholders meeting with INEC, raised concern when Chief Sam Nkire introduced himself as the National Chairman of APPA. Umeh at that meeting, protested the announcement, citing, among other reasons, that the acronym was similar to that of APGA and African Peoples Alliance, APA.

  • 2015: Onoja, Presidency plot to checkmate Mark

    2015: Onoja, Presidency plot to checkmate Mark

    The expected move by a chieftain of the defunct Arewa Consultative Forum  (ACF), Maj. Gen. Lawrence Onoja, to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) if not well handled, could rupture the current relative peace in Benue State politics, reports Remi Adelowo

    Former Military Governor of Plateau State, Lawrence Onoja, a retired two-star general of the Nigerian Army has been in the news lately.

    After two years of being in a political hiatus of sorts, Onoja, a former Principal General Staff Officer (PGSO) during the regime of the late General Sani Abacha, suddenly reappeared from the blues to drum up support for the speculated second term ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Prior to the 2011 general elections, Onoja was constantly in the news. He had contested the Benue South senatorial election on the platform of the defunt ACN against the incumbent senator, who is also the Senate President, David Mark of the PDP.

    It was a bitter electoral contest that nearly threatened the peace of Benue State.

    The first battle between the two generals was fought in the primaries of the PDP to pick the senatorial candidate for Benue South. Mark secured 1,680 votes to Onoja’s 317 votes.

    Not satisfied, Onoja left PDP for ACN where he was handed an automatic ticket to challenge Mark at the general election.

    The ‘war’ got so messy that on a particular day after the end of a campaign rally, Onoja escaped death by whiskers after some unidentified political thugs allegedly shot at the Toyota SUV conveying him, shattering the glasses in the process. Though he was alive to tell the story, Onoja sustained injuries on his right hand and was subsequently hospitalised.

    It was a baptism of sorts for Onoja in the politics of his home state. Not unexpectedly, Onoja pointed accusing fingers at Mark as the alleged mastermind of the attack on him. The spate of violence in the state during this period culminated in the invitation of prominent politicians in the state by the State Security Service (SSS).

    The anti-climax of sort was Mark’s victory at the general elections defeating Onoja by 149,923 votes to 79,433 votes.

    Onoja cried foul and challenged the election result up to the Appeal Court, which finally affirmed Mark’s victory.

    With his fate finally sealed by the apex court, Onoja recoiled into his shell, perhaps to wait for another opportunity to actualise his political ambition.

    Some weeks ago, Onoja, who is also the Chairman of the Strategic Mobilisation Committee of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), granted media interviews where he declared the support of the Middle Belt region to the alleged second term ambition of the president.

    In a statement that clearly contradicts the position of the ACF, which has been at the forefront of the return of the presidency to the North, Onoja was quoted as saying, “Middle Belt of today is different from the Middle Belt of the 60s when we were categorised as part of the core North.”

    Onoja, who is also a member of a political pressure group, Congress for Equality and Change, added that Jonathan was constitutionally qualified to run for a second term in office if he so wishes.

    According to him, the Middle Belt region would back the president for a second term in office.

    His words: “There could be anger in certain parts of the North. But there is no anger against Jonathan in my own Middle-Belt part of the North. We support Jonathan for his second term. Every group has the fundamental right to agitate for power.

    “The groups that are talking, the Northern Elders, Arewa, are not political parties. They are socio-political cum cultural associations. So, they probably cannot install a president. At best, they are talking of supporting a candidate from the North. You don’t blame me for saying that my own people support Jonathan.”

    Speaking further, Onoja, an Idoma, said his people were not regarded as core northerners even by the so-called North.

    He voiced his conviction thus, “Assuming the power comes to the North today, would you tell them to concede power to the Idoma people where I come from? This is because I am a minority in the North and Jonathan is a minority from the South-South.”

    The retired general added, “I want to say categorically that it is not yet time for power to shift to the North. Mr. President has not done his second term. All the other presidents were given opportunity to do their second terms and Mr. President, by virtue of the fact that he is a minority like me, it would be unfair and an injustice to stop him from doing his second term. If he finishes his second term in 2019, then other areas or blocks can now begin to agitate for power shift.”

    These were, no doubt, sweet music in the ears of the power brokers in the Presidency.

    Speculations that Onoja may be on his way back to PDP further heightened when he was part of the delegation of the Middle Belt Elders Forum (MBEF), led by a former Senate President in the Third Republic, Ameh Ebute, on a recent visit to the president. During the visit, the support of the Middle Belt to Jonathan was further reiterated.

    Sources say the stage is set to receive Onoja in PDP any moment from now after the Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam, reportedly received a directive from the Presidency to that effect.

    A few days ago, Suswam met with some Benue PDP stakeholders to intimate them of Onoja’s return to PDP.

    The Nation, however, gathered that not all the major PDP stakeholders have bought into this plan. One of them is Senate President David Mark, who has yet to reconcile with Onoja over their political differences.

    Sources in the state revealed that Onoja’s planned return to PDP was part of the Presidency’s alleged plan to checkmate the influence of Mark, whose relationship with the president has been described by sources as lukewarm at best.

    The Presidency, according to findings, is allegedly not happy with Mark, the reason which may not be unconnected to the hardline stance of the Senate and the House of Representatives on certain government policies.

    Some members of the president’s kitchen cabinet are also not happy with Mark over the proposal by the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 constitution, which recommended a single term of six years for the president and governors.

    Though the proposal did not scale through eventually, it generated an angry reaction from the president’s Special Adviser on Political Affairs, Ahmed Gulak, who fell short of accusing the Senate of plotting to frustrate his boss’ alleged second term ambition.

    According to sources, not a few of the president’s men believe that Mark is secretly nursing a presidential ambition in 2015, a development that has compelled his being placed under a close watch.

    Currently in his fourth term as a senator, a record by any Nigerian politician, Mark is also serving a second term as Nigeria’s longest serving Senate President.

    The Idoma-born retired one-star general of the Nigerian Army Signal Corps, is allegedly positioning himself as a compromise candidate in the event that power shifts to the minority tribe in the North, as it is being canvassed in certain political quarters.

    But the big poser is: does Onoja who is allegedly still interested in contesting for the Senate in 2015 has the political weight and structure to dislodge Mark?

    Also, will the Presidency sacrifice Mark, who has not openly spoken in support of the president’s alleged second term bid for Onoja in its calculations for the 2015 general elections? These puzzles will surely be unravelled in the months ahead.