The Nation Newspaper

Tag: 2019 polls

  • 2019 polls: political parties to sign code of conduct

    SIXTY-eight registered political parties will today sign a new code of conduct for political parties to guide their conduct before, during and after the 2019 elections.

    Speaking at a validation workshop, where the code was adopted yesterday, the Chief Operating Officer of the Political Parties Leadership and Policy Development Centre of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Prof. Habu Galadima, said the code was subjected to rigorous expert review before being presented to the parties to deliberate on and agree upon.

    Galadima said the code is a voluntary Code of Conduct that provides a set of rules of behaviour for political parties and their supporters relating to their participation in the election process.

    He said that centre is a beneficiary of a grant of 2.7 million Euros, under the European Union Support for Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EUSDGN) to implement component three of the project aimed to enhance pluralism, tolerance, internal democracy and equality of opportunity of political parties.

    Project Director of the European Centre for Electoral Support, Davis Le Norte, described political parties as the primary stakeholders in the political system.

    He noted that their conduct impact considerably on the electoral process and outcomes and by extension, the stability of the democratic system.

    “Building a virile political party system in which actors will play politics according to the rule and regulation, and subscribe to minimal ethical standard and code of conduct is therefore a basic condition for consolidation of democracy,” he said.

     

     

  • President ‘ll have an easy ride in 2019 polls, says minister

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari will have an easy ride to the Presidency in the 2019 general election, Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed has asserted.

    Buhari administration, the minister said, has kept on delivering on its campaign promises.

    Mohammed spoke yesterday during an inspection of the Section 2 of the dualisation of Ibadan-Ilorin road, which covers between Oyo-Ogbomoso road.

    The minister noted that government is undertaking projects that impact directly on the lives of the people.

    According to Mohammed, the projects have endeared the administration to the public.

    He said: “There is only one way you can get the electorates to vote for you and that is simply by keeping your promises, delivering your promises and embarking on projects that will touch their lives. And I am confident that our re-election will be easy because either in terms of infrastructure or in terms of social intervention, we are everyday working for the common man in the country.

    “As of today, we feed 8.2 million primary school students across the country, we have employed a total of 7,000 cooks in about 24 states covering 62,000 primary schools just in the area of social intervention. Our response to critics is not to exchange banters with them, but by showing them what we have done.”

    The funding for the road project, the minister said, was accessed through the Sukuk loan, where it was able to draw N100 billion, which is divided into six equal parts, for the six geopolitical zones.

    He explained that the share for the Southwest region is being used to complete the Oyo-Ogbomosho section of the road.

    The minister added that “funding will no longer be a challenge to many of our critical road projects”.

    If there is any challenge, Mohammed noted that N199 billion presidential infrastructure fund has been set aside for the benefit of projects.

    Federal Controller of Works in Oyo State Omotayo Awosanya, an engineer, said the section 2 of the Ibadan-Ilorin dualisation road was awarded in June 2010 with an initial completion period of 40 months but could not be achieved for lack of funds.

    Omotayo noted that if funding is sustained, the road will be completed between middle and the end of next year.

    He said the road is 58 per cent completed.

    He gave the contract sum of the project as N47.5 billion and that contractors have been paid N26 billion so far.

    The Federal Controller of Works noted that about 700 workers were employed for the project.

    On the importance of the road, the engineer said: “The road is a corridor of the extension of Lagos- Ibadan road and the traffic that is generated in Oyo, going towards the North, will pass through this road. So, the importance of the road cannot be over-emphasised.”

     

     

  • Ndigbo ‘should not boycott 2019 polls’

    The Southeast Political Summit (SEPS) has urged Ndigbo not to boycott the 2019 general election.

    It said this would enable them occupy the political space meant for them.

    The group’s leader, Mrs. Eberechukwu Anigbogu, told  a news conference in Enugu that the apathy, cultural surrender and political ignorance that ravaged Igbo land in the last 20 years had made Ndigbo spectators.

    She said: “We have decided that it is time to sensitise and mobilise our people to rise up and occupy our political space.

    “We are not a party. SEPS is not another political pressure group. It is rather a mass movement geared towards re-inventing political consciousness in Southeast.”

    According to her, there is a burden placed on SEPS members to chart a new course for Ndigbo.

    Anigbogu recalled that pristine Igbo society operated the best democracy the world ever knew, stressing that in those days, people gathered at town squares to deliberate.

    She noted that at such meeting, families, clans, age grades and elders picked the most trusted and virtuous to represent them.

  • 2019 polls ‘ll be best, says Yakubu

    THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is determined to make the 2019 election the best ever in the country, its chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said yesterday.

    He spoke during the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria’s (BON) 69th General Assembly at Oriental Hotel, Lagos.

    Yakubu, who spoke on the “Role of media in the Nigeria electoral process”, urged stakeholders to support the efforts.

    He said the commission needs the support of the media.

    The INEC boss said the planning process for the 2019 polls had been concluded with the 2017-2021 strategic plan and programme of action.

    Yakuba noted that critical planning process like the Continuous Voters Registration and collection of Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) have been transparently handled.

    He urged the media to create the necessary awareness and promote voters’ participation in the elections.

    Yakubu said: “It is possible that the 2019 general election would be one of the most intensive media focus event in our political history. Stakeholders are likely to rely heavily on broadcast media as well as social media.

    “For this reason, combating hate speech, fake news and other forms of reporting likely to inflame passion and trigger crisis will be of critical importance to the peaceful conduct of the election.”

    Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, who was represented by his deputy, Dr. Idiat Oluranti Adebule, said the media’s role in information management was critical to ensuring a hitch-free election.

    He said with over 23 million people living in Lagos, government could not afford to ignore the media in sustaining the tempo of growth.

    “As a government, we know the potency of the media and its conception. So, we cannot afford to play idly because the media is the means to engage the public. It will assist the government to achieve its aims and aspiration.

    “Right now, we are at a critical stage in the process of governance and wish to call the media to play their part. The media should help INEC to disseminate all the information needed to ensure success.

    “In this critical time, the media in general must be objective in its reportage. The media as the conscience of the people cannot not afford to fail in its responsibility to the people. It should create numerous partners for the dissemination of knowledge,” Ambode said.

    Another guest speaker, Dr. Christopher Kolade, who spoke on “Hate Speech and Nigeria Broadcast Industry”, said Nigeria must avoid comments that could tear the country apart.

    He added that hate speech was negative expression people had in their mind, which they ventilate against others.

    Kolade said hate speech would not promote peace and unity that the country sought.

    “Therefore, to stay together, we must avoid hate speech. Incidentally, the media has been liberalised, which allow comments to get across easily through social media and the conventional methods.

    “The broadcast industry should, therefore, engage the people on the negative consequences of hate speech. We have to conduct ourselves like people in a democratic society because democracy is the ability to organise ourselves in acceptable ways.”

    BON Chairman Mr. John Momoh said the media would continue to play critical role in the country’s electoral system, noting that the media and politics have close ties.

    He explained that media’s agenda-setting provides perspective for political debate, stressing that the media must illuminate issues that would promote the success of 2019 election.

    “As the country approaches electioneering campaign period, it will not be out of place to remind ourselves that the election period can best take place in an environment of peace and tranquility.

    “In crisis situation, it is the responsibility of a broadcaster not to fuel the situation by broadcasting divisive rhetoric that threatens and compromises the corporate existence of Nigeria as a sovereign state,” he said.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Imo APC endorses Buhari for second term

    The Imo State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Monday endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term bid.

    The party also passed vote of confidence in the state Governor, Rochas Okorocha, for his “performance and contributions to the growth and sustenance of the party both at the state and national level.”

    The state Chairman of the party, Dr. Hillary Eke, and the Secretary, Hon Ireagwu Obioma, with the 27 local government chairmen of the party signed the communiqué confirming President Buhari’s endorsement and vote of confidence on the governor.

    The party also noted that “the influx into the APC by eminent Nigerians and the phenomenal growth of the party all showed how well the party is doing and also the administrations under its control at all levels.”

    The communiqué reads: “The entire APC structure in Imo State affirms implicit support to the endorsement of Mr. President’s second term in office by the 24 governors of APC extraction. We wholeheartedly align with this progressive agenda as it is the only way to sustain the gains of credible and transparent governance which have been the hallmark of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, especially in sustaining the fight to restore the integrity of the country by lifting her from the cesspool of corruption.

    “We commend the visionary and dynamic leadership provided by His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha, OON, which has continued to drown the opposition in Imo State. We commend the state Chairman, Dr. Hilary Eke and his team for their support to the governor in his drive to position the South East geo-political zone in the front burner of national politics. We retain implicit confidence in them.

    “All APC faithful are hereby enjoined to mobilize massively to ensure successful congress for the continued progress of our great party.

    “All party faithful and indeed all Imolites are to ensure maximum mobilization of the grassroots to produce a resounding victory for APC at the forthcoming local government elections scheduled to hold in July 2018.”

     

     

  • Buhari: Age may not matter in 2019 polls, says Onaiyekan

    Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese John Cardinal Onaiyekan said yesterday that age may not matter as President Muhammadu Buhari seeks a return to office next year.

    He said what should be of importance to those seeking to rule should be their concern for others and service to the people in the name of God.

    Although he said there was need to give room to younger people to rule, he expressed regret that from experience, the young people put in office had not performed.

    The Cardinal, who spoke at the post-humous launching of the autobiography of a former Foreign Affairs Minister Chief Mathew Mbu, said those seeking re-election must give cogent reasons.

    The book, “Dignity in Service,” was written by Mbu before his death about six years ago.

    The cleric said: “At the end of the day, maybe it is not a matter of the age but a matter of your own mind, your intention, your love for doing the right thing, especially concern for others, politics and service to the people in the name of God.

    “If we start to take these things seriously, then probably, it would not matter whether we declare to seek reelection at 79 or whether we don’t.

    “The important thing is:  what do we want power for? Why do you want to seek re-election? We are waiting to see because we are told that we are going to see new things in the next year, I am looking forward.

    “New things can come from old people, you know and people can change.  People can have a change of heart. We are looking forward to that.”

    Notwithstanding, Onaiyekan sought opportunity for younger people to be in power in the country.

    He added: “M.T. Mbu is a good Catholic and you know we Catholics love ourselves very much.  In 1953 when he was a young minister, I was in standard three in primary school and we all knew M.T. Mbu as a minister.  There were not too many ministers then unlike today where you have to cover the whole 36 states. In those days, we didn’t have such problem.

    “The point I want to make is this, today, when you hear that a young boy was a minister, my mind always goes to those days too and I ask, how many people were old then? The people we now see as ancestors were all young people. I will like to find out the age of Tafawa Balewa and even Awolowo at that time.

    “They were all relatively young and when Awolowo and Azikiwe broke grounds then, they were young. I think this is the story we need to tell to our younger people but the question is, where is the space for our younger people when old people like me are still hanging around?

    “We have to find a way of giving room to younger people to show what they can do also. Mbu has shown that young people can perform but we have also had experiences of young people who have not performed.”

    A former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Ignatius Olisemeka, described Mbu as a pacesetter and a hero.

    He said:  “I met him in London but I wouldn’t want to dwell on his personality but I will like to call attention to the issues Mbu represented as a man.

    “I had the privilege of flipping through the book and I will like to draw your attention to page 73. M.T. Mbu was such a meticulous man that when he purchased Nigeria House in London as our pioneer High Commissioner, he paid £35, 000 and he noted that in the book.

    He also noted that few years after, the property which still stands for which he paid £35, 000  was refurbished with £12.5 million. That tells of what he noticed. In the later years, he wanted to buy a residence for our High Commissioner in London and we had a bargain for the residence for £4 million. That was the going price. A few years after he left, the same residence was bought for £12 million.”

    Nigeria’s former Ambassador to the United States (U.S.) Ambassador George Obiozor expressed regret  that Nigeria was not good at honouring its heroes.

    He said: “Our country is a country of anti-heroes. We have to look for heroes and honour them. May we pray that a hero will come and salvage our country.”

    The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who was the chairman of the launch,  said: “I have learnt about his brilliance, honesty and hard work.”

    He added: “I thought I broke the record of being the youngest governor in Nigeria only to read that Mbu  became a Minister at 23. So,  I ask the question, what stops us from getting there now? Is it that his father was a rich man or what? The answer is hard work. If we work hard, we will get to where he got to and if we don’t,  we won’t attain  his height. The next thing I can attribute to him is his believe in one Nigeria.

    “Some of us are beginning to ask for the disintegration of Nigeria, I feel that whatever the issues are, they are things that can be discussed and they are things that changes can help propagate the difference that we have.

    Those at the book launch included the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Usani Usani;  a  former Minister of Defence, Gen. Aliyu Gusau; ex-governors Liyel Imoke (Cross River) and Lucky Igbinedion (Edo); the Chairman of NDDC, Sen. Victor Ndoma-Egba;  the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Sen. Ita Enang, Amb. Ahmed Umar, who represented the Emir of Kano; Sen. Rose Okoh (who represented the President of the Senate) and Sen. Musa Adede, among others.

  • Don’t mar 2019 polls, Buhari tells politicians

    •‘Dapchi, Chibok girls soon to be freed’

    President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to politicians to play by the rules as the country mioves towards the 2019 general elections.

    He urged them to resist any act  that could tarnish the integrity of the elections.

    He also raised hope on the release of the remaining Dapchi and Chibok schoolgirls in Boko Haram custody.

    The President gave this admonition in his Easter message released yesterday, adding that all the North East schoolgirls would be secured.

    He said “I am optimistic that with God on our side, the dark days of Nigeria’s elections being manipulated by violence and rigging by corrupt politicians and their agents are over. They are confined to the dustbin of history where they rightly belong. I remain committed to bequeathing a legacy of supremacy of the people’s will through the ballot box.

    “May this year’s Easter celebration bring us renewed hope and confidence as a great nation.” he said

    “Thankfully, our Dapchi schoolgirls who were safely released recently after 30 agonizing days in the hands of their abductors, have been reunited with their families. I am very optimistic that all others, including the Chibok girls who are still in captivity will be safely released unconditionally to their families. I urge you to continue to pray for their safe return.

    “In the meantime, I have given clear instructions to our security agencies to prioritise safety in schools in areas where the humanitarian and security situation are still dire, in addition to ensuring adequate protection of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

    “I am indeed delighted to join our Christian brothers and sisters to commemorate this year’s Easter celebration.

    “We thank the Almighty God for granting us the opportunity to celebrate another Easter at a time of great promise and hope for our dear nation, despite the challenges we also have.

    “Easter, the season in which Christians mark the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, represents the triumph of good over evil; and life over death. It is also a time to show love, forgiveness, compassion and renewed hope in the Grace of God.

    The President added: “While we enjoin law-abiding fellow compatriots to work for peace and social justice in our beloved country, let there be no doubt of our resolve to firmly resist others who may want to make cheap political capital out of current national security challenges.

    “Our programmes and policies in the last three years have resulted in bringing down the prices of staple crops; gradual improvement of road, rail and electricity infrastructure; and making Nigeria the preferred destination for investors.

    “More than ever before, we are ready to consolidate on these gains and ensure that we improve the lot of our communities in the years ahead.”

  • Govt tasked on legal frameworks for 2019 polls

    The Transition Moni-toring Group (TMG), a coalition of over 400 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), working to entrench electoral integrity and democratic governance in Nigeria, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly to place the interest of the country above all other concerns.

    The election observation group, while reacting to the ongoing debate over President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to decline assent to the amended Electoral Act as transmitted by the National Assembly, called on all actors in the political space to tread with caution by adhering to due process.

    According to the TMG Chairperson, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi: “The best interest of the Nigerian voter, not political brinkmanship, should determine the outcome of the amendment process.”

    She noted that a court of competent jurisdiction has ordered that all parties in the suit filed by the federal government to seek judicial interpretation on the amendment should stay further action pending the determination of the merit of the case. Akiyode-Afolabi also called on political actors across the executive and legislative arms to ensure that the rule of law prevails as they advance their various positions on the amendment process.

    “It is imperative to make the Nigerian electoral system better and it is our considered view that the best way out of the logjam is to put the quest of the Nigerian voter for free, fair and credible elections at the fore front of the discussions,” the TMG chairperson advised.

    She also said that there is a need for all relevant actors to immediately begin moves to de-escalate the growing controversy, and work harmoniously towards putting in place an appropriate legal framework for the 2019 polls. “Discharging that responsibility means removing the air of uncertainty precipitated by the current amendment controversy, and ensuring that all is in place to make the votes of all Nigerians count, come 2019,” she pointed out.

  • Nobody can rig 2019 elections – Ekweremadu

    Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, said on Thursday that with vigilance of Nigerian youths, nobody would be able to rig the 2019 general elections.

    He also assured that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in the National Assembly would not be intimidated from holding the government accountable.

    A statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media to the Deputy Senate President, Uche Anichukwu, said Ekweremadu gave the assurances on Wednesday evening when he received the national, zonal and state Youth Leaders of the PDP in his office.

    He said: “Nobody should be deceived that they will rig election in 2019. The international community will also be watching; and like the late Sam Mbakwe said ‘if you are awake, the rat would never take your fish.’  So if we ‘shine’ our eyes, nobody will rig us out.

    “I’m sure some of you are now conversant with the misrepresentation of my statement on the floor of the Senate last week where I cautioned against brigandage, impunity and thuggery and I said as leaders and politicians we must do the correct thing before we endanger our democracy. That is what I said.

    “Never bother about their propaganda. We will continue to speak the truth. We will continue to defend our democracy and urge our leaders to always do the right thing.

    “Sometimes, we may be misunderstood, but we will remain unrelenting. It was the great Nnamdi Azikiwe, who said that the best judge of human conduct is conscience. Keep saying the right thing. The person you are speaking to is hearing you; someday his conscience will prick him and he will do the right thing.

    “We will not allow anybody to truncate this democracy because we believe that your own future is here now. Nobody will take his future in the past and come to continue your own future.”

    Ekweremadu warned the youths against any form of electoral violence, describing it as “an ill wind that blows no man any good.”

    “The days of violence are gone. We have to put on our thinking cap. Do not match any person violence for violence; but match them ideas over violence. It is ideas that rule the world,” he added.

  • ‘There will be revolt if church shows apathy towards 2019 polls’

    ‘There will be revolt if church shows apathy towards 2019 polls’

    A former Special Adviser on Media to the former Enugu and current Oyo State governors, Dr. Festus Adedayo, has said there may be a revolt among the congregation, if the church does not get involved in the election of God-fearing persons into government in the 2019 elections.

    Adedayo spoke in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, where he delivered a lecture at the seminar series of the Ibadan Anglican Church Diocese at the Comfort Akinfenwa Events Hall, Molete.

    Dignitaries at the evenjt included the Bishop of Ibadan Anglican Diocese, The Most Revd Joseph Akinfenwa.

    Adedayo noted that because governments are proving incapable of and are showing helplessness at solving people’s problems, they run to the church for succour.

    He said: “Governments are literally throwing their hands up in surrender. The perils and pains are proving intractable for secular powers that be to handle. Unemployment has reached a crescendo; economic, health and social crises have proven really indomitable, in spite of coordinated attempts to tackle them.

    “Hopelessness is becoming infectious, like a pestilence, and the world, which had made governments and technology its hope, is returning to the church for the way out of its existential dilemma.”

    According to him, if Nigeria is not successful at electing God-fearing men and women into positions of power in 2019, the pressure on the church would multiply, probably lead to a revolt of immense proportion.

    Adedayo said: “As predicted in II Timothy 3:1, which says, ‘But know this, that in the last days, perilous times will come,’ the perilous times are actually here. Science and technology are profoundly incapable of providing solutions to the pains suffered by humanity. The perilous times are the existential void, agony and crises that man undergoes today.

    “The pains man underwent decades ago are little compared to his challenges today. The church is still where people frequent for solutions to these existential crises and where they get ‘spiritual fixes’ whenever they get to inexplicable crossroads of their lives.”