The Nation Newspaper

Tag: 2019 general elections.

  • We’re battle-ready for troublemakers – Police

    The 2019 general elections kick off today with the Presidential and National Assembly polls in all parts of the country. Expectedly, the police would be playing a critical role in engendering a peaceful conduct of the elections. In this encounter with our correspondent, FAITH YAHAYA, the spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), ACP Frank Mba, says arrangements have been put in place to ensure a hitch-free election, stating that officers have been admonished to be professional in the discharge of their responsibilities during and after the elections. Excerpts:

    How prepared are you for these elections? We are adequately prepared for these elections. We have done everything that we ought to do. In the run off to the elections, we conducted massive training and re-training for our personnel on the best practices for managing the security of electoral processes. We conducted trainings on human rights and every other kind of training that is relevant in the conduct of elections of this magnitude. We also carried out security threat analyses across the length and breadth of this country, and on the strength of those analyses, we were able to device and fashion out deployment strategies. Our Standard Operational Procedures (SOP) also took cognizance of the result of those analyses. We have been able to identify, isolate and neutralise, significantly, a lot of the threats that were discovered in the cause of the analyses and we have also been able to create customised deployment plans for each state of the federation.

    This tailored-to-suit deployment strategies are designed to take care of both general and specific threats that were identified in different parts of the country. I would say, in a nutshell, that we are good to go. We have also taken care of the welfare of our personnel and their allowances were adequately captured in the budgeting for the elections and what IGP Muhammed Adamu has directed, is that, the allowances of the men must be paid directly into their salary accounts to avoid issues or questions of them not getting their allowances or getting the allowances through the third party.

    On the issue of our strength, we will not have any issue covering all the polling booths, polling points, collation centres and others, primarily because we are working with our brothers and sisters from other security agencies. We will be joined by operatives from the DSS, Customs, Immigration, Civil Defence, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and Prison Services. The beauty of this joint operation is that, it will deepen a sense of inter-agency friendship and inter-agency collaboration across all borders. Another advantage that comes with it is that, it will help to fill in the deficiencies that would have been recorded in terms of shortfall in the strength and number of the NPF. Thirdly, our colleagues coming from other agencies will be coming with some sense of comparative advantage in some areas. So, all of us will be coming in with different skills, competences and it is our belief that by the time we are able to merge all these skills and competencies together, we will be able to provide Nigerians a more robust security service.

    Beyond that, they will also be coming with their own logistics, which will strengthen our own logistics. So, generally, Nigerians don’t have any reason to fear as there would be enough manpower to cover the entire area. You mentioned enough manpower, how many personnel would be deployed? I have deliberately refused to give out figures because, sometimes, figures can be misleading. If I tell you for example, that, we are deploying 2,000 men in FCT, you may come around and not see 2,000 personnel because asubstantial number of those deployed will be covert deployment; and because we are deploying overtly and covertly, I will not want to give figures. But the only thing I will tell you is that, we will deploy maximally, both our human and material resources. What is your message to those who may want to foment trouble? My message to all potential troublemakers is to keep clear. The security forces are adequately prepared to deal with any person or group of persons that may try to test the collective will of Nigerians. We have had elections in this country in the past that were all successful and 2019 will not be different. We will draw on our experiences in the past elections. We will draw on our experiences in policing so many conflict and post-conflict regions of the world, where we participated in peacekeeping operations.

    Nigerians must remember that we have a lot of experience policing electoral systems in conflict and post-conflict areas. We were in Namibia, Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Darfur, Ivory Coast, Bosnia Herzegovina, and in all these countries, officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force played critical roles in engendering their democracy. We will do even better in policing our own electoral system. Despite your word of assurance, some people are scared and they are of the opinion that it is better to remain in their houses to avoid violence. What is your message to them? I want to leave them with these words: ‘election is not war.’ It is an opportunity for us as a people and citizens to exercise our civic responsibility. It is a strong tool in our hands to determine our future and we must not fail to utilise the opportunity that this cycle of general election gives us to be part of the decision making process in determining our future. I want to reassure Nigerians that the Nigeria Police Force working with other security agencies are adequately prepared, adequately mobilised and adequately motivated to do the right thing. What message do you have for the policemen that would be on election duty? Go out there, be the wonderful cops that you have always been.

    Respect the rights of Nigerians. Protect the fundamental rights of Nigerians to equality, freedom and liberty. Enforce the electoral laws to the letter and refuse to compromise on your oath of office. What is your message to politicians and other stakeholders in this election? Politicians, particularly; we want to see them to be more patriotic. We want to see them change their narratives and send messages of hope to Nigerians. We want to see them desist from making hate speeches and inflammatory statements. We want to see them put the collective interest of Nigeria and Nigerians above whatever is their personal interest. We want to see them rein  their supporters to be law-abiding. We want to see them discourage all forms of electoral offences, vote buying, vote selling, thuggish behaviour, ballot box snatching and all forms of malfeasance capable of impacting on our electoral systems negatively.

    For the ordinary people on the street, we want to reassure them that we are committed to providing them with adequate security. The good thing here is that our duties in these elections have been clearly cut out for us by law. Fundamentally, it is our responsibility to provide adequate security for INEC officials, both adhoc and their permanent staff, and in this regard, we will be paying special attention to their adhoc staff particularly the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members, who we consider very vulnerable. It is also our responsibility to provide adequate security for INEC materials, both sensitive and non-sensitive. It is our responsibility to provide adequate security for candidates standing in for this election irrespective of their political parties.

    It is also our responsibility to provide security for election observers, monitors, and journalists covering this election; and it is our responsibility to provide security for the electorate, so that they will be able to leave their homes, go to thepolling centres, cast their votes and return home safely, and while doing all these, it is also our responsibility to continue to protect critical national infrastructure and provide general policing services to the people. We will not leave anywhere vacant. We will continue to police Nigeria irrespective of the fact that we are giving priority to the election processes and it is on this point that we should be judged. You said you will protect candidates vying for various offices during the election, doesn’t that contradict the order from the IGP that no VIP should be escorted to the polling units? The fact that we are safeguarding the candidates does not mean that they will go around with policemen. No way! No policeman will be allowed to escort any one to the polling station, we will enforce that, and our personnel are aware of that, and I am sure they will keep to those rules and directives.

  • Retirees, pensioners to give party 100,000 votes

    Pensioners and retirees in Kwara State have promised to work for the success of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in tomorrow’s and March 2 general elections.

    They also promised to give the party at least 100,000 votes.

    The Chairman of Concerned Retired Kwara State Civil Servants, Alhaji Mohammed Abioye, spoke yesterday in Ilorin, the state capital, during an interaction with Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed.

    Abioye said: “It needs be mentioned that we have come together in order to join hands with other well-meaning Kwarans who have been working to put a stop to the downward socio-economic development of the state due to poor governance in all ramifications, especially since 2003 till date.

    Read also: Union praises Fed Govt for tackling influx of ‘expatriates’

    “We are concerned because this ugly trend has come about because the civil service, which is supposed to be the engine room of government, has been largely bastardised. The reason for this ugly trend is traceable obviously to poor service conditions, lack of respect and regards for the service and its personnel, both serving and retired.

    “We must not allow this ugly trend to continue. We need to work with other progressive-minded Kwarans to terminate the current political dynasty that is the major promoter of the various governments whose output has made our state the headquarters of poverty in Nigeria.

     

     

  • Zamfara: PDP faults AGF on letter to INEC

    Calls for free, fair, transparent poll

     

    The Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) has faulted the Attorney General for the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami on his letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    In the said letter, Malami had advised INEC to postpone the general elections in Zamfara State, to accommodate a ruling of the Sokoto Division of the Court of Appeal, purportedly directing the electoral body to allow the Zamfara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) field candidates for the upcoming elections.

    INEC had barred the state chapter of the APC from fielding candidates for elections for submitting names of its candidates after the expiration of the deadline prescribed by the Electoral Act.

    However, after series of legal rigmarole initiated by the leadership of the Zamfara APC, the Appeal Court purportedly gave the go ahead to the chapter to submit the lists of its candidates to INEC for the governorship and state assembly elections scheduled to hold on March 2.

    But in a swift reaction on Thursday, the National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus described the AGF’s letter to INEC as part of APC’s design to arm-twist INEC and the judiciary to take illegal actions in their favour.

    Addressing a news conference at the Legacy House, the party’s Abuja campaign office, Secondus said what the AGF was seeking is not backed by law.

    According to the party chair, the AGF is an interested party in this matter and thus has no moral right to advice INEC.

    Secondus said, “The inability of the APC to field candidates due to self-inflicted crisis when other parties did within the stipulated period for the election is not covered by section 38 & 39 of the Electoral Act 2010 which the AGF is relying on for his dubious advice.

    “I, therefore, call on INEC to follow the dictates of the law and continue in its plan to achieve a credible election”, adding that the 2019 general elections, more than any other in the past, provide an opportunity for the country to get on the right path.

    “The challenge that we now face is one of expectation. Those entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that the expression of the people’s will is made manifest, have time and again failed to demonstrate good faith. We expect better than we are getting,

    “A sick narrative has emerged, one of systemic and systematic rigging, manipulation of the true record of the voters register and a cabal you can no longer trust with the trajectory and growth of our democracy and nation.

    “This is the evidence of bad faith by those managing the election and the government of the day”, Secondus said.

    The party chair accused the electoral body of failing to clean up its register of voters before it published same, against the practice under previous INEC administrations.

    He also faulted the voting arrangements put in place by the electoral body whereby accreditation and voting will go on simultaneously.

    It’s a departure from arrangements in previous elections where voters were first accredited and allowed to vote only after the end of the accreditation exercise.

    According to the party chairman, the new continuous voting regime this was meant to facilitate multiple voting by APC members in their numbers.

    Also, Secondus alleged that the voter register compiled by INEC contained data of dead voters for whom Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) were printed and distributed nationwide.

    Quoting official government data, the party chairman said the gross death rate in the country stood at 12.5 per 1000 lives, adding that from available evidence, over 1,050,051 dead persons would vote in the upcoming elections.

    “The decision that dead voters will cast ballots has been taken by INEC and the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    The idea of ghost voters is consistent with the nature of this virtual President.

    “There has been a coordinated approach to register foreigners as voters, mainly from Niger and Cameroon. That is why INEC has established so many polling units along the borders with Cameroon and Niger. That is despite the fact that population data did not justify the move”, Secondus said.

    Read Also: APC, PDP in two-horse race: How the states may vote

    Speaking on Saturday’s presidential election, the party chairman cited multiple “intelligence sources” available to the PDP showing that the APC, in conjunction with INEC, through the ICT situation room, have concluded plans to manipulate the outcome of the election.

    He said, “By deliberately corrupting the INEC voter’s register to induce voter suppression in PDP strongholds and operations areas with the aim of disenfranchising at least four voters through corrupting of their four names on the voters register.

    “The strategy is to create artificial problems wherein at least four registered voters can be disfranchised in PDP strong hold areas. The target is to adequately limit the estimated members of PDP who would want to vote in their areas.

    “There is a deliberate ploy to disrupt Internet services and jam cell tower coverage ostensibly to prevent Nigerians from covering the elections via social media.

    “There is also confirmed intelligence showing that critical PDP players in this election are to be earmarked, arrested and quarantined to a particular location to give way for the elections to be rigged.

    “The other intelligence available to the party also shows that some uniforms of para-military and military operatives, particularly the Army and Police, have been produced in large numbers for use by civilians during the voting period.

    “To send faulty card reader machines to certain identified PDP strongholds and record a deliberate slow screening of voters to frustrate and discourage them.

    “They have packaged large sums of foreign currency to induce voters and security and INEC operatives.

    “We also have on good authority that all the electoral frauds via the ICT, which the APC has mapped out, are being coordinated by a highly placed government official (body bag) with the help of some foreigners inside an apartment in the government House and other locations in Kaduna state.

    “We have deep respect for our security personnel who are sworn to protect and defend our constitution and the integrity of our nation. President Buhari administration however, is determined to subvert the impartiality of our security agencies.

    “It has recently moved personnel to areas along the borders, where they will be employed to create violence, stuff ballots and aid non-Nigerians to vote in a predetermined manner”.

    Secondus also alleged extravagant use of money at APC campaigns through advertisements, billboards and the use of state media as an instrument of the party, adding that the use of public resources for partisan purposes is unprecedented.

    The chairman similarly faulted the decision by INEC not to transmit election results electronically, saying this was caused by the refusal of President Buhari to sign the law that would have made this possible.

     

  • 2019: Katsina Women pray against vote buying, insecurity

    Ahead of the 2019 General Elections which begins Saturday February 16, Women in Katsina State on Tuesday trooped out in the numbers to the NYSC Arena by the Arts and Craft village in Katsina to pray against electoral devices including vote buying, insecurity, insurgency, and to usher in peaceful election and co-existence in the state and Nigeria

    The Commissioner For Women Affairs, Dr Badyya Mashi whose Ministry organized the event said It has become necessary for the state and the country to seek the face of God in the march towards the impending elections and ensure that the country march forward as one progressive united entity, after the elections

    She condemned the practicing of vote buying and selling and urged the women to shun such evil electoral practice saying that every true Muslim that remains God fearing knows that vote buying and selling is a sin against God and Humanity

    She said ’’Whenever you are approached or called upon you should shun vote buying and selling, every one that attend this prayer meeting should take the message home for those who are not here’’

    ‘’Those approaching you with money for vote represents evil and do not wish our country well so I charge you in the name of God to reject them with a clean conscience and self denial, lets vote for continuity and wellbeing of this nation under god’s watch.

    Read Also: Atiku promises Katsina people’s jobs, security

    ‘’We know that the Government of President Muhammadu Buhari and Aminu Bello Masari have been fair and just to all and have prioritized our expectations, we must support and re-elect them in the impending elections’’

    Governor Aminu Bello Masari who attended the event as a special guest urged the women to protect their votes, shun vote buying and selling and ensure that they re-elect President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday.

    The Women Commissioner also appealed to Mothers to check the movements and activities of their children on Election Day, to ensure they were not used to perpetuate violence and thuggery. The Prayer event was also attended by notable Islamic Clerics including Sheik Labaran Imam Salauwa, Dayyabu Inam; others were Hajia Zanmzam Hadi Balarabe and Malama Lami Jibia

  • As we go for elections

    The much awaited 2019 general elections are around the corner. Nigerian voters will this week, troop out in their numbers to cast their votes for their preferred candidates and political parties.

    Going by the time-table for the elections, voters will be making their choice in the first round involving the presidential and National Assembly polls. This will be followed in March 2, by the governorship and state assembly elections.  Expectedly, candidates of the various political parties have in the last couple of weeks been selling their manifestoes to the electorate to persuade them as to why they remain the best alternative in addressing the myriads of challenges currently buffeting the country.

    Many promises have been made and issues traded. But, the campaigns have remained largely issue-based even as we have had a surfeit of allegations against the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC and the federal government of working in concert to compromise the outcome of the election.  Given the nature and character of politics on these shores, accusations have been levied with varying degrees of plausibility. The political landscape has been home to speculations ranging from the good, the bad and the ugly all in a bid by political parties to outsmart the other.

    This has had the net effect of charging the political temperature of the country. But by far, a key challenge that has continued to dominate the political space is the ability, capacity and preparedness of the electoral umpire, INEC and the government in power to allow free and fair elections a free reign. Concerns have been mounting on the commitment of the INEC and the government to conduct free and fair polls. This apprehension is to be understood given that before now our electoral history had been replete with rancorous disputations often resulting to violent destruction of properties and loss of lives.

    Given this invidious electoral history, mounting concerns as to whether the elections could follow the same predictable but odious pattern are not out of place. But for the 2015 elections that ushered in the Buhari regime, virtually all past elections on these shores especially at the presidential level had been dogged by one controversy or the other. That is not to say however, that that election was without its own challenges. Of course there were challenges. But they were well managed and put at bay by the commendable and visionary disposition of the incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan.

    That election stood out in more ways than one. It was the first time in our electoral history an incumbent president was defeated at the polls. It also marked the first of its kind that a serving president would concede defeat and even go further to congratulate his opponent even before the final outcome of that election was announced.

    Nigeria, through that outing, gained considerable mileage in the rungs of the democratic ladder. This was more so given that the election was fought along the fault lines of our federal existence. All primordial and parochial cleavages were at an all time high as one group after the other issued threats regarding the eventual consequences should their expectations fail to materialize. But all those threats were to collapse like a pack of cards when Jonathan, who had said his election was not worth the blood of any human, threw in the towel and accepted defeat.

    With that enviable outing, a lot of interest has been aroused all over the world in Nigeria’s electoral process. As another round of elections inches closer, this interest is getting very keen as opposition political parties trade allegations of plans to compromise the outcome of that election. Both the INEC and the Buhari government have assured time without number of their commitment to free and fair polls. Even as these assurances are issued, doubts continue to mount that they will be observed in their breach.

    But one singular development that again raised the bar of this suspicion was the unconstitutional suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria CJ, Walter Ononghen by President Muhammad Buhari over assets declaration issues. This illegal action ruffled political feathers and raised further suspicions that it is a subterfuge to emasculate the judiciary and compromise the outcome of the elections.

    The international community did not take kindly to it as the United States of America US, the United Kingdom UK and the European Union EU rose in concert to condemn the unilateral action. They were also very unequivocal in stating that the attack on the judiciary could adversely affect the credibility of the elections. Elsewhere, other motives have been read into that executive interference in judicial matters especially given the initial refusal of Buhari to have the appointment of Ononghen confirmed.

    The confirmation of the suspended CJN’s appointment was only effected by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo when he acted as the president while Buhari was away to London on medical tourism. But as soon as Buhari returned from his medical trip, speculations were rife that he wanted the CJN out. Sadly, all those speculations have been given ample credence by the turn of events.

    It is clear the federal government is yet to find a handle to the muddle in the CJN’s suspension. The government is so rattled by the reactions of the international community that some of its officials have resorted to statements that compound matters. One of such unguarded statements came from the erratic governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El Rufai, when he said in a television programme, “those that are calling for anyone to come and intervene in Nigeria, we are waiting for the person that would come and intervene, they would go back in body bags”. El Rufai was apparently uncomfortable with unfavorable remarks by the international community on the likely consequences of the suspension of the CJN on the outcome of the elections.

    But his statement has been interpreted as a threat to levy violence on the international community. El Rufai has made very feeble attempts to clarify his position. But no matter what clarification he now makes, the purport of the statement is not lost on the international community as has been evident from the reaction of the EU.

    Before now, the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed had also alleged that the opposition was lobbying foreign countries to discredit the outcome of the February 16, presidential election if President Buhari wins. According to him, the opposition was planning to send a 19-member delegation to some countries to sell the idea that the Buhari presidency would not hold credible elections.

    All these have had the combined effect of casting slur on the credibility of the coming elections. The opposition is alleging that the government plans to manipulate the elections. And the government is alleging that the opposition is lobbying foreign countries to discredit the outcome of the elections should Buhari win. Implicit in these allegations is that all may not go well with the elections. By extrapolation, its outcome is bound to be contentious whichever way the pendulum swings. That is not something to cheer. It is unfortunate we found ourselves through actions or inactions in this odious pass.

    For now, all these remain at the realm of accusations and speculations. It remains to be proven between the opposition and the government which is saying the truth. But one thing that has emerged is that the credibility of the elections is assailed by serious challenges. All would therefore depend on how the actions and inactions of the government and INEC are perceived to have influenced the direction of the election outcome.

    Both the government and the opposition have wittingly or unwittingly created doubts that the elections may not reflect the collective will of the electorate as freely expressed at the ballot box. But whatever doubts there are, still stand the chance of being cleared if INEC handles the elections in a very transparent and uncompromising manner.

    It must not only detach itself from government influence but must be seen to have done so. The world is watching. We have another chance to consolidate on the gains of the 2015 elections by ensuring that the collective will of the electorate as freely expressed at the ballot box is neither abridged nor compromised.

  • Osinbajo endorses APC candidates in Edo

    …says Next Level agenda ‘ll secure better future for Nigerians, at Edo APC rally 

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has called on Edo State residents to vote for All Progressives  Congress (APC) candidates in the state in the 2019 general elections, noting their support was needed to sustain progress being recorded in the state and the country at large.

    Speaking to a mammoth crowd of APC supporters at the party’s campaign rally in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of the state, on Thursday, Osinbajo said the Next Level Agenda was about the careful and wise allocation of the nation’s resources to secure a better future for Nigerians.

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    The candidates of the APC in the state are Hon. Patrick Obahiagbon, who is contesting for the Edo South senatorial seat; Hon. John Inegbedion, Edo Central senatorial seat; Hon. Osaigbovo Iyoha for Oredo Federal Constituency seat at the House of Representatives; Dennis Idahosa for Ovia North East/ South West seat in the House of Representatives; Hon. Joseph Ikpea, Esan South East/ North East seat in the House of Representatives; Hon. Johnson Agbonayinma for Egor/Ikpoba Okha Federal Constituency seat, among others.

    Osinbajo said that  Edo people’s votes for the Next Level Agenda of the APC will allow for the sustenance of effective allocation of the nations’ resources.

    He explained that the ruling APC government at the federal level has been able to do more despite less resources due to the high premium the government places on accountability and probity.

    “Corruption is one of the reasons our country is backward, Buhari is not corrupt and he will not allow anybody to steal our money,” the VP said.

    Osinbajo listed the creation of more jobs, improved power supply and other infrastructure as well as credit intervention as some of the things that the APC intends to do through its Next Level agenda.

    He assured that the federal government is increasing the number of N-Power beneficiaries from 500,000 to one million, adding that the Entrepreneur Bank will money available for youths interested in business.

    He further said that the federal government was working with the Edo government to establish its own independent power plant to support the state’s economic development, and urged the electorates to vote for the party’s candidates vying for different positions in the forthcoming elections to enable the APC-led government consolidate on its achievements.

    Earlier, Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, expressed appreciation to Edo people in Ikboba-Okha local council which has the largest turnout of voters in the state, and said he was counting on them to ensure victory for candidates of the APC in the 2019 elections.

    “Ikpoba-Okha has about 260,000 voters, so I am counting on you to deliver all our candidates in the elections,” the governor said.

  • Presidential candidates back suspension of Onnoghen

    The forum of Presidential Candidates and Political Parties for Good Governance (PCPPGG) on Monday backed the suspension of Justice Walter Onnoghen as Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).

    The candidates said it will not have any negative effect on the forthcoming general elections.

    The presidential candidates addressed a press conference in Abuja and said that the alleged offence for which Onnoghen was suspended does not warrant the intervention of the National Judicial Council (NJC).

    Read Also:Onnoghen’s suspension not signal to dictatorship – FG

    The chairman of the presidential candidates, Alhaji Shittu Muhammed Kabir, said: “The Forum of Presidential Candidates and Political Parties for Good Governance believes strongly that President Muhammadu Buhari’s suspension of Hon.Justice Onnoghen as CJN is proper and timely.

    “Majority of Nigerians have now realised that but for the pre-emptive move by the President, Onnoghen would have proceeded to constitute the Election Petition Panels.

    “No wonder some interested elements are shocked that their game plan has been punctured. Desperate disease needs a desperate treatment. President Buhari acted in the overall interest of the masses of Nigeria.

    “So much is required from the judiciary since they hold the power of life and death. Judges are therefore expected to live above board and be incorruptible. It would have been unfair to Nigerians to have someone who is carrying a clear baggage of corruption on his head to continue to preside over a sensitive arm of government like the judiciary, just because some elements would wish to use legal technicalities to cover up or moderate an obvious misdeed.”

    He however said as responsible actors in Nigeria’s political system, they have concluded, “That the offence allegedly committed by Hon. Justice Onnoghen is not judicial that could have warranted the intervention of NJC.

    “That the constitution recognises the holder of the office of CJN as the 1st public officer in Nigeria.

    “That the suspension of the CJN cannot be equated with removal as envisaged in the constitution. The suspension by the President does not, therefore, require the input of the NJC and the National Assembly.

    “That we do not believe the action taken by the President will have any negative effect on the forthcoming general elections.

    “That we urge the National Assembly, as it reconvenes, to view the President’s action as non-partisan or motivated by any mundane consideration, but taken purely in the best interest of Nigeria.

    “That politicians and interest groups should desist from misinforming the people on the patriotic move by the President.”

    He noted that the Nigerians and the international community should appreciate the need for the bold action by government and give the needed support to ensure that the country evolves an unblemished and egalitarian society where all citizens are treated equally and fairly, irrespective of their status.

  • 2019: Kwara APC urges members to shun violence

    All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara state has urged members, supporters and loyalists to eschew any form of violence before, during and after the 2019 general elections in the state.

    The party admonished members to exercise their civic rights by casting their votes in a peaceful manner, saying they should guard their votes jealously.

    State Coordinator, Buhari/Osinbajo (Project 4+4), Mohammed Y.L Idiopopo told THE NATION in Ilorin, the state capital at the sideline of special prayers the group organized for the success of President Muhammadu Buhari and his Vice Prof Yemi Osinbajo, APC governorship candidate in the state and all other candidates at all levels Idiopopo, an engineer said “piece of advice for all the APC supporters is for them to eschew violence before, during and after the elections, we don’t want anybody to disrupt the electoral processes.

    “I urge everybody to go out on the day of the election to go out and exercise their franchise. I also admonish them to cast their votes and let the votes be counted in your presence.”

    On the chances of APC at the polls, the coordinator said: “We are confident the APC will emerge victorious in the state and at the federal level. Other states that were created alongside Kwara have gone pass us.

    “We are sick and tired of all this underdevelopment. Vast majority of Kwarans are tired of retrogression and that is why they are saying ‘enough is enough.’ APC will win at all levels by the grace of God.

    Read Also: Kwara APC, Ahmed disagree over N70b rice project

    “The revolution is not about APC or any candidate. It is a movement to change the status quo that has held us down over the years.

    “The gathering of today has been put together by the Kwara state chapter of Buhari/Osinbajo 2019. The aim of the programme is to sensitise our people on the forthcoming general elections on the need for them to cast and guard their votes jealously.

    “We also organized a special prayer for President Muhammadu Buhari and his Vice Yemi Osinbajo for victory at the polls. We also extended the prayer to the state governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and other candidates at all levels in the state.”

  • Historian warns youths on selling their vote

    Weeks to the commencement of the 2019 general elections, Africa’s foremost Historian, writer and scholar, Prof Toyin Falola has advised Nigerian youths to take advantage of their huge population to vote in credible politicians in this year’s general elections.

    He also warned the youths against being induced by money but to vote according to their conscience in the interest of their future.

    The African culture enthusiast spoke on Wednesday at a one-day conference where he made a public presentation of his new book entitled, “In Praise of Greatness: The Poetics of African Adulation” which held at the Conference Centre of Lead City University, Ibadan.

    The conference was organized by Pan-African University Press in collaboration with Lead City University, Ibadan and Faculty of Arts of the University of Ibadan.

    The conference chaired by Professor Femi Osofisan was attended by literary giants and scholars including Pro-Chancellor, Lead City University, Prof Jide Owoeye, Executive Chairman, Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy (ISGPP), Prof Tunji Olaopa, Prof Adeyemo Aderemi, Prof Demola Da’Silva and Prof Michael Oladejo Afolayan who delivered the keynote address.

    Professor Falola said, “Our youths should not see politicians as their role models but they should stop them from looting the country. Do not imitate them. Do not collect money from them. Poverty does not mean the absence of dignity and that dignity as I said people must cherish, sustain, maintain and reproduce.”

    Falola, the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in Humanities at the University of Texas, Austin, United States of America blamed politicians for jettisoning  African value system and corrupting the youths, saying politicians have failed to be role models because of their uncontrolled appetite for acquisition of wealth and the manner they allegedly retain themselves in power.

    He noted that it is saddened that there are no ideological based political parties among the two major contending national parties in Nigeria, describing both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the same.

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    “Unfortunately, the two parties are not emphasizing ideas, because they are not ideological parties. APC is populated by people who belonged to the PDP and vice versa. So these are not parties of ideas. They are just parties of calculations, ethnic calculations; their interest is to have access to federal resources.

    “And a new disturbing pattern has emerged, an outgoing governor wants his friend or crony to replace him, and he would go to Senate and continue to claim relevance. They are planting their children in various political places, they are making their children the managers of stolen money, they are even stealing for the next generation and this stealing has become so legendary. They don’t mind stealing the whole resources of the entire country”, the Don lamented.

    Speaking on what informed the writing of the 1,056 paged and 17 chapters book, the renowned international scholar said, “the central idea of the book is to take on a number of scholars to look at the bigger issues on the concept of praise, adulation and greatness. And the target is not actually the people I have written about but the younger people coming behind. I want to use the book to motivate the younger generation of Nigerians to rethink the concept of greatness and heroism.

    “They should not be worshipping fake gods and they should be careful with the people they try to imitate. Don’t follow people because there is money for you but let us rethink the people you follow, the intellectuals, the great thinkers, great scholars, this is not about money. You have to respect men of ideas. One of the things this book has done is to stop them as using them as heroes.”

    In his remarks, Osofisan described Falola as a man of “prodigious productivity” who has used his energy and resources to encourage the youth, saying “Prof Falola is not the only scholar we have in the Diaspora but he is the only one bringing his energy back to encourage the youth.”

    While calling on Nigerians to cultivate the habit of celebrating living heroes, the literary critic lamented that the culture of Nigerians is to celebrate people only when they are dead.

    He said, “Our people do not celebrate heroes while they are alive. When Chief Obafemi Awolowo was alive, many people did not support him. But after his death, people began to sing his praises. You can hardly say two sentences today without mentioning Awolowo.”

     

  • PDP faults plan to create polling centres in Chad, Niger

    …Accuses INEC, Buhari of plots to rig election

     

    The People’s Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organization (PPCO), has condemned plans by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to create polling centres in Chad and Niger Republic.

    INEC had announced plans to create polling centres in the two neighbouring countries with the view to enabling thousands of Nigerian refugees taking shelter in the two countries to vote in the 2019 elections.

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    Most of the refugees are persons displaced by the Boko Haram insurgents from their homes in towns and villages in Northeastern Nigeria.

    But the PDP has declared the proposed polling centres in the two countries as illegal, accusing Presidency and the INEC of plots to rig the 2019 general elections.

    In a statement Thursday by the spokesman of the PDP Campaign Organisation, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party protested the plan to create polling centres outside the shores of Nigeria.

    Ologbondiyan said it’s a total violation of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), inexcusably criminal and exposes part of the plot to corrupt the electoral system and massively rig for President Buhari.

    The statement said, “President Buhari, INEC and all Nigerians know that there are no provisions for Diaspora voting under our system.

    “By the extant laws guiding elections in Nigeria, it is very clear who is eligible to vote, as well as the centers statutorily designated for elections. There is no provision for any special arrangement whatsoever.

    “It is therefore reprehensible that President Buhari, in his desperation to rig the elections, is now trying to hide under the guise of making special provision for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) outside the country, to illegally create rigging centers outside our country and import contrived figures into the election results.

    “This clandestine arrangement further validates the alarm earlier raised by the PDP, in April this year, of INEC’s plot to secretly create 30,000 illegal polling centers in some remote areas, through which they plan to allocate millions of votes to President Buhari and the APC.

    “Nigerians can now see that the APC and its candidate are not committed to peaceful, credible, free and fair election. Having realised that there is no way he can win in a peaceful and credible election, Mr. President is now seeking means to enmesh the 2019 elections in constitutional crisis, public confusion and trigger an imminent violence that is capable of derailing our entire democratic process.

    “Moreover, by seeking to open polling units outside the country, the Buhari administration has now agreed that it does not have full control of Nigerian territory and cannot provide security for Nigerians to freely participate in the elections.

    “If President Buhari is in any way inclined towards diaspora voting, he should send an appropriate bill to the National Assembly for approval to accommodate not only Nigerians in Chad and Niger Republic, but also those in other sub-Sahara countries as well as Europe, America and other parts of the world, who have been agitating for Diaspora voting.

    “Finally, the PPCO cautions the Buhari Presidency and INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, not to set our country on fire by engaging in provocative actions in desperation to rig the 2019 Presidential election for President Buhari.”