The Nation Newspaper

Tag: 2015 poll

  • 2015 poll: Mimiko wanted me to prosecute Buhari for certificate forgery – Adoke

    2015 poll: Mimiko wanted me to prosecute Buhari for certificate forgery – Adoke

    … Jonathan was under pressure not to leave power – Mu’azu

    A former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke ( SAN ) said on Thursday that ex- Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, mounted pressure on him to prosecute President Muhammadu Buhari for certificate forgery few months before the 2015 presidential election.

    Adoke, however, said he resisted the pressure because Buhari was more than qualified to contest the poll.

    These facts were contained in a written statement by the ex-minister on what transpired behind the curtains before the 2015 poll.

    Adoke’s statement was read in Abuja by a columnist, Mr. Dele Momodu, at the presentation of a book: “On a Platter of Gold: How Jonathan won and lost Nigeria,” written by a former Minister of Sports, Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi.

    The ex-AGF said: “Further to our discussion sir, I hereby confirm that what Bolaji wrote in his book in respect of Mimiko putting pressure on me to issue a fiat to prosecute PMB (Buhari) is true.

    “A lawyer had previously written to seek my fiat to prosecute PMB for forgery and I declined on the ground that there were no materials placed before me to exercise my discretion and that the request does not satisfy the legal threshold for me to exercise my discretion to grant fiat to prosecute Gen. Buhari.

    “Subsequent to that, I was called by Governor Mimiko who tried to prevail on me to issue the fiat for political expediency and I refused by making it very clear to him that the legal threshold for the exercise of my discretion has not been met and that in any case assuming Gen. Buhari has no secondary school certificate, he has the equivalent of a school certificate as he is a retired General and a former Head of State and thus satisfied the prequalification requirements of the constitution to contest the office of the President.

    “I further informed him that the Court of Appeal, Benin, has settled the law in that aspect. I left him and proceeded to brief the President on my encounter with Governor Mimiko and my response to his request. President Jonathan agreed with me and said I should uphold the letters of the constitution and the law.”

    “And l added that he (Buhari) attended the War College in the United States as a serving General and as such more than qualified to contest.”

    The presentation of Adoke’s clarification drew applause from the audience who felt elated.

    Also, a former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ahmed Adamu Mu‘azu, said ex-President Goodluck Jonathan was under intense pressure from different friends and associates not to give up power.

    Momodu, also related the encounter he had with Mu‘azu on how Jonathan almost changed his mind to concede defeat to Buhari.

    He said: “l have also read accounts of how President Goodluck Jonathan nearly changed his mind after congratulating the winner and wanted to use PDP operatives and apparatus to challenge the authenticity and validity of the election results in the courts but the PDP Chairman, Alhaji Ahmed Adamu Mu‘azu, blatantly refused to support such a move.

    “When we spoke last week, he (confirmed it was a true account of what happened and said President Jonathan was under intense pressure from different friends and associates not to give up power. He insisted that his decision was to save his flag bearer from agents of chaos and save Nigeria from even bigger and unnecessary catastrophe!

    “He said President Jonathan had achieved what has never happened in Nigeria and would have lost so much had he rescinded his early and earlier congratulations to President-elect Muhammadu Buhari.

    “Rather than accuse Mu’azu of betraying his party, he should be commended for promoting the finest tenets of democracy; if you lose election, please GO IN PEACE. He‘s proud that through his patriotic act, President Jonathan has successfully joined the distinguished company of world’s statesmen and he is much respected for that status throughout the world today.

    “I must note that Bolaji has done a very painstaking job in this book and I believe we must all endeavour to learn lessons from the tragedy that befell PDP and the Jonathan government. One of the biggest problems bedeviling our country is that of our inability to learn any lessons from history.

    “I gave up on the Jonathan administration the day Bolaji Abdullahi was sacked without any reasonable justification. I was sad and miserable for Nigeria and wept silently for our collective future.

    “Today Bolaji is back triumphantly. Great men like Bolaji can only be delayed in their journey of life but I am sure he will ultimately arrive at the destination designed for him by the Almighty.”

  • EFCC arraigns INEC staff over 2015 poll bribery scandal

    EFCC arraigns INEC staff over 2015 poll bribery scandal

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday arraigned the Administrative Secretary of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Gombe State, Tarkumbur G. Gregory and two retired staff of the electoral body, Yunusa Ali Biri and Bunu Mulima.

    The accused persons are facing trial before Justice Abubakar Jauro of the Gombe State High Court on three-count charge bordering on alleged receipt of gratification to the tune of N138 million to influence the outcome of the 2015 presidential elections.

    According to a statement issued by EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, the  “offence was committed between March and May, 2015, in contravention of Section 9 (1) (2) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

    The statement said: “The defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges read to them. In view of their plea, the prosecution counsel Abubakar Aliyu urged the court to fix a date for trial.

    “While adjourning the case to 1st and 2nd November, 2017 for hearing, Justice Jauro admitted the accused persons to bail on the terms of the administrative bail earlier granted them by the Commission.”

    INEC had announced some disciplinary measures following an expanded meeting of its Appointment, Promotion and Disciplinary Committee on the EFCC Interim Report on Bribery, Corruption and Money Laundering charges during the 2015 general elections.

    It said that out of N23billion poll bribery cash,  N3,046,829, 000 was traced to some of its staff involved in the 2015 general elections.

    The commission also referred a National Commissioner and five Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), who were implicated in the bribery scandal, to the presidency for disciplinary action.

    INEC said it has suspended 205 officials pending the final determination of cases they have with the EFCC.

    But following insufficient information, 70 other staff had been referred back to EFCC for further investigation.

    Also, additional 80 serving officials of the Commission, who were not named in the EFCC report but whose names came up in the course of the investigation, were also queried and interviewed.

     

  • How we defeated PDP in 2015 – Tinubu

    How we defeated PDP in 2015 – Tinubu

    The National Leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday revealed how the party defeated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 general elections.

    Tinubu spoke on a lecture at the 25th Course of the National Defence College held in Abuja.

    The theme of the lecture was: Strategic Leadership: “My political Experiences.”

    The former Lagos State governor said events leading to the 2015 general elections showed that the people were ready for change and his party developed a strategic leadership and determination to achieve the change.

    Tinubu said he realized that standing as separate parties; the opposition stood no chance in defeating the ruling party.

    He said, “We had tried that path before; it led to defeat in 2011. A strategic rethink was needed, to attain the goal of ousting the PDP and placing Nigeria on the road to progressive governance. The strategic linchpin would be the merger of opposition parties.”

    “Time is inadequate to recount the complex journey toward the merger.  My firm position was that only a merger would work. Anything short of that would disintegrate due to a combination of PDP enticement and the internal pressures arising from the strong identification of many politicians with their legacy parties. An ad-hoc alliance would be put asunder by these factors.

    “Our push for a merger of the old parties into a new entity carried the day.  We would join hands to form a collective identity. The CPC and my party, ACN, ANPP along with progressive elements of the APGA formed the party. Key elements of the PDP would later join.  For this amalgamation to work, it had to be more than an anti-PDP gathering. It had to present a genuine and positive message that spoke to people’s hopes and aspirations.”

    The APC leader said the new merger then needed a theme of change that would resonate with the mood of the country.

    He said sweeping out the old and bringing in the new became a priority.

    “We developed the theme of change as our strategic message. The broom became an apt party symbol. We would sweep out the old, sweep in the new and work hard towards prosperity for our country.

    “We fashioned a tripartite campaign and strategy message – security, economy and corruption.  We would drive these three messages home as if with military artillery. However, we have only our leadership and strategic hammer,” he added.

     

     

  • 2015 Polls: EFCC arrests REC,4 others over N650m scam

    2015 Polls: EFCC arrests REC,4 others over N650m scam

    •Anti-graft agency probes large scale bribery

    Alleged corruption in the 2015 general elections is back in the news following the  arrest   of the   Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission( INEC) in Cross River State, Gesila Khan and four others  by the  Economic and Financial Crimes Commission( EFCC).

    The suspects are being held for a N650.9million 2015 poll bribery scandal, EFCC sources said last night.

    Sensitive election materials for the 2015 presidential and senatorial polls were also retrieved from the residences of some of the suspects as were many documents on financial and landed properties.

    Some of the documents are receipts of payments made into their accounts.

    The suspects allegedly committed the poll bribery fraud in Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states.

    There were indications that many INEC staff and Ad hoc workers benefitted from the bribe-for-poll results scandal.

    Khan, who was the REC in Rivers State during the last general election, allegedly pocked N185, 842,000 out of the bribe sum under probe by the EFCC.

    The other suspects  and the bribe cash against their names are Fidelia Omoile (Electoral Officer in Isoko-South Local Government Area of Delta State)–N112,480,000; Uluochi Obi Brown ( INEC’s Administrative Secretary in Delta State)–N111,500,000; a former Deputy Director  of INEC in Cross River state, Edem Okon Effanga—N241,127,000 and the Head of Voter Education in INEC in Akwa Ibom, Immaculata Asuquo–N214,127,000.

    According to investigation by our correspondent, all the suspects and their accomplices have made useful statements to EFCC.

    A top source said: ” During the preliminary grilling of Khan, she admitted that she went to a bank to identify one Peter Popnen (who is on the run) to collect N185, 842,000.

    “We have launched a manhunt for Popnen to ascertain how the deal was struck. As far Fideli Omoile, we discovered that her signature and driver’s license were allegedly used for some of the N112.48m transactions.

    “Regarding Uluochi, investigation confirmed that she had $75, 857 in her account with the Bank of America as at February. This indicated that she laundered some of the N111.5m poll bribery cash abroad.

    “In any case, EFCC is quizzing her on why she is operating a foreign account in violation of the Code of Conduct Act.”

    Another source in the commission said those who benefitted from the scandal appeared to be many.

    The source gave more details on the confessions of some of the suspects.

    “On his part, Effanga told interrogators that although he cashed the N241,127,000 at a branch of Fidelity Bank in Calabar, he only got $290,000 as his share.

    “But from his testimony, many INEC staff and Ad hoc workers benefitted from the loot. We are probing the sources of these slush funds which were deployed in some of these states to bribe INEC staff. Certainly, we are looking into many accounts which were used by some INEC staff.”

    Asked about Immaculata Asuquo, the source added: “She said she was directed by the REC in Akwa Ibom to go and identify Effanga in order to cash the N241,127,000.”

    As at press time, it was gathered that all the suspects had been granted bail but they could not fulfil the conditions.

    The source said: “EFCC may have no choice than to approach a court for a warrant to detain them.

    “I think we may go to court on Monday accordingly.”

     

  • Ex- minister: Jonathan handed over power to avoid bloodshed

    Ex- minister: Jonathan handed over power to avoid bloodshed

    A former Minister of National Planning, Dr. Abubakar Sulaiman, on Sunday said ex-President Goodluck Jonathan handed over to President Muhammadu Buhari to save the lives of many Nigerians.

    He also said Jonathan had sufficient evidence to remove the former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, but he exercised restraint.

    Delivering a paper on the 2015 power transition in Nigeria at the annual Zik dinner  lecture  /award in Abuja,  Sulaiman said it was not external pressure that forced Jonathan to hand over to President Buhari.

    Sulaiman said contrary to general belief, there were cases of compromise by INEC

    He said:  “Few months to the general elections, there were calls from some quarters for the sack of the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attairu Jega.

    “There were sufficient grounds for such calls but President Goodluck maintained a position that taking such decision would altercate the process and create an impression which only an insider would understand. There were indeed cases of compromise on the part of the commission, but as the president so wished, let the sleeping dog lies.

    “Invariably, the decision to maintain the status quo in the commission by the administration was one decision that further led credence to the peaceful outcome of the electoral process. We must not forget that the president in his exercise of his constitutional power has the authority to fire the chairman and replace him with any of the National Commissioners to preside over the commission.

    “Nobody should be on the illusion that the president lacked the gut to exercise such power. After all, Gen. Babangida annulled the June 12 election, thereby depriving Chief M.K.O Abiola of his awaiting victory.

    “It is within context of this remarkable gesture and unparallel leadership style of the president that I found it disturbing when the APC led government sometimes grudgingly acknowledged this fact or believed that it was the external pressure that accounted for such political accomplishment.”

    The ex- minister said if Jonathan had wanted to scuttle Buhari’s election, he would have used the incumbency factor.

    He said: “The extent to which a political transition is peaceful and credible depends largely on variance of factors. We have however demonstrated the import of leadership factor has been consequential to the outcome of any electoral process. Is it the leadership that was out to tame the process or the one that respect the sanctity of the electoral body and other agencies?

    “This paper has successfully argued that more than any government in the past, the Jonathan administration has demonstrated penchant for rule of law, freedom and untainted electoral process.

    “The power of a president is such that if he had wanted to truncate the process or manipulate it, he could have done it. Contrary to the opinion of many that perhaps he could not have done it or had no option not to do otherwise.”

  • 2015 poll: Jega opens up, says I was not afraid

    2015 poll: Jega opens up, says I was not afraid

    The immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, said that despite of plans to scuttle the March general elections, he was not afraid.

    He also said although a former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, attacked INEC, his team was determined to ensure the tabulation and announcement of the Presidential election’s results.

    Jega said contrary to some insinuations, the contract for the production of the card readers was awarded almost three years before political permutations began.

    He spoke in an interview with  Zero Tolerance, an in-house publication of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC).

    Asked if he had any fear during the polls, Jega said: “No! Anybody who is afraid for his life will not do this kind of job.

    “As you know, they say ‘death is a necessary end. It comes when it will come’. So, we did our best, knowing that if God wills, people can drop and die; but as long we are alive, we will continue to do our best under all circumstances.”

    He said Orubebe did not succeed in scuttling the outcome of the presidential election because INEC management team was determined to conclude the computation of the results.

    He said: “The fact of the matter is that all of us in INEC were determined to conduct free, fair, credible and peaceful elections and by the time we came to collation, it became evident that we had done our best professionally.

    “So, we were determined to ensure that no matter the provocation we would ensure that the result were tabulated and announced. There were all sorts of allegations and accusations, but we knew we had not done anything to warrant such allegations and accusations.”

    The erstwhile chairman of INEC defended the use of card reader and rated its success higher.

    He said it was an innovation that had come to stay.

    He said: “The Card Reader was a fantastic innovation that has added tremendous value to the integrity of our electoral process. There were challenges. Anytime you are intoducing a new technology there are bound to be challenges, but I must say that the chalenges we saw were minimal. In fact, a lot of the challenges we believe were on account of the activities of those who did not want the card reader to be used in the first place.

    “For example in places where on the first day of the presidential and National Assembly elections, people were saying the card readers had failed. But we took the staticstics and saw that the failure rate was less than 0.25 per cent.

    “So, if you are doing something major and substantive like that and you had only less than half a percentage point as so called “failure” that is insignificant. We identified what some of those so-called failures were and we addresed them before the governorship election. You could see that nobody complained about the use of the card reader during the governorship elections.

    “There were areas where people didnt want the card readers to be used, and worked very hard to ensure those card readers were not used. They now turned around and made it appear as if the card readers failed to work.”

    Asked “(Laughs) those are allegations that remain unproven. In any case, the time we gave this contract for the production of the card readers was almost three years. So, at that time, the political permutations and configuration had not become established.”

    Jega admitted that corruption has crept into the nation’s electoral system.

    He said: “I find worrisome the use of money in politics particularly in the electioneering process in Nigeria.

    “Increasingly, use of money in politics seems to be enticing to voters because of what they receive rather than choosing those they believe can deliver.

    “I think the use of money in Nigerian politics is becoming such a worrisome phenomenon that a lot needs to be done in order to minimise it, because it is capable of undermining the integrity of the entire exercise.”

     

  • Agbaje gets tribunal’s permission to inspect poll materials

    Agbaje gets tribunal’s permission to inspect poll materials

    The Lagos State election petitions tribunal has granted leave to the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, to inspect all polling documents and devices used for the April 11 election in the state.

    The tribunal chairman, Justice Sylvanus Oriji, granted the prayer of the petitioner while ruling on an application filed by Agbaje through his counsel, Clement Onwuenmonor.

    Justice Oriji also ordered the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) to provide certified true copies of all polling documents including printed data from card readers in each polling‎ units in the state.

    The two orders were given out of five prayers filed by the petitioner‎ before the tribunal.

    The tribunal had earlier ‎taken the submissions of Agbaje’s counsel and that of the All Progressive Congress, Ademola Sadiq.‎

    ‎In his reaction to the ruling, the APC counsel noted that the ruling was made on point of law.

    ‎Meanwhile, Justice Oriji has warned lawyers against delaying the petitions before it.

    He said the tribunal would not tolerate strategies aimed at delaying the expeditious hearing and determination of petitions by lawyers.

     

  • Sambo, Aremu, others congratulate El-Rufai

    Sambo, Aremu, others congratulate El-Rufai

    Vice President Namadi Sambo has on Monday afternoon called Kaduna State Governor – elect, Malam Nasir El-Rufai to congratulate him for emerging victorious in last Saturday’s governorship election.

    El-Rufai’s spokesperson, Samuel Aruwan disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen in Kaduna Monday, adding that, Governor Yero has also written an official congratulatory message to Malam El-Rufai, even after he had called on telephone Sunday afternoon to concede victory to the APC candidate.

    In the same vein, Secretary-General of the National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), Comrade Issa Aremu has congratulated El-Rufai over the victory at the Governorship poll.

    Sambo, according to Aruwan, wished El-Rufai a successful tenure in office and urged him to use his wealth of experience for the peace and development of Kaduna state and Nigeria at large.

    Sambo further appealed to the citizens of the state to give maximum support and cooperation to Malam El-Rufai.

    In his own message, Aremu said, “On behalf of the National Executive members of the National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) we congratulate the new Governor elect of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai on his victory at the Kaduna State Governorship elections held on Saturday April 11, 2015.

    “We commend His Excellency the Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero for conceding defeat and accepting the outcome of the State governorship elections.

    “Given his antecedent in governing a cosmopolitan FCT, we have no doubt that the Governor-elect, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai will deepen the peace process in Kaduna traumatized through avoidable blood-letting in recent times. Peace process must go hand in hand with sustainable development which must start with urgent re-industrialization of kaduna state and mass employment of the army of the youths.

    “We will partner with the incoming administration to take necessary steps to revive the ailing industries in Kaduna State especially the textile industries with a view of creating jobs for the mass of unemployed youths in the state.

    “As a private sector union and affiliate of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and a critical stakeholder in the development of the state and the country in general, we wish to pledge our support, and cooperation in the great task of moving Kaduna State and indeed Nigeria to a greater height.”

    Meanwhile, celebration continued at the campaign office of the governor-elect with crowds of party members and supporters dancing and singing into the second day.

  • APC wins governorship election in Bauchi

    APC wins governorship election in Bauchi

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate in Bauchi State, Mohammed  Abubakar, was on Sunday declared winner of the state governorship election.

    Announcing the result of the election on Sunday in Bauchi, the Reurning Officer, Prof. Mohammed Faruk, said Abubakar polled 654,934 votes, to defeat nine other contestants.

    His closest opponent, Mr Mohammed Jatau of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), secured 282,650 votes.

    Declaring Abubakar as the winner, Prof. Faruk said that the APC candidate had satisfied Section 179(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, having garnered highest number of total votes cast, and also secured the minimum number of votes required in each of the 20 Local Government Areas of the state.

    With official announcement of the result, the state now has Barr. Mohammed Abubakar as the governor-elect, with Nuhu Gidado , as his deputy.

    Abubakar, born on 11th Dec.1956,attended Native Authority Primary School, Jos and Tudun Wada Primary School, Kano, from 1963 to 1969; Government College, Kano, 1970 to 1974.

    In 1974, he enrolled for the one year programme  of the School of Basic Studies, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, after which, upon successful completion of the programme, gained admission into the institution to study law in 1975.

    The governor-elect completed his law studies in 1978, attended the Nigeria Law School from 1978 to 1979, had his mandatory National Youth Service Corps  and joined the services of Bauchi state government as a Pupil State Council, Ministry of Justice.

    Key positions he held while serving with the state government were Head of Legal Drafting Department, Bauchi State House of Assembly (1983), Director, Public Prosecution, Ministry of Justice (1988) and Commissioner of Justice (1990 to 1993.

    He was also the Chairman of Nigeria Bar Association, Bauchi State,from 1996 to 1998.

    After leaving the services of the state government, Abubakar was at different times, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kogi, Delta, Plateau and Rivers , and afterwards elevated to the position of National Commissioner in charge of Borno, Jigawa and Yobe.

    The deputy-governor –elect, Nuhu Gidao, was born on 5th October, 1958.

    He attended the then prestigious Barewa College, Zaria, from where he proceeded to ABU Zaria to bag a degree in Building Engineering.

  • PDP leads in Cross River

    The Peoples Democratic Party leads in three local governments so far released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The local governments are – Akpabuyo, Calabar South and Calabar Municipality.

    The PDP is leading with 52, 009. The All Progressive Congress is second with 14, 857. The Labour Party has 6, 294.