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  • No limits on electioneering campaign spending in U.S., says prof

    No limits on electioneering campaign spending in U.S., says prof

    Dr. Ray La Raja is a professor of political science at the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at University of Massachusetts Amherst.  He is co-founder and co-director of the UMass Poll, which conducts public opinion research in Massachusetts and the United States to inform policy making. He speaks at the Foreign Press Center’s Election Series. United States Bureau Chief OLUKOREDE YISHAU reports that the political scientist points out that America has no limits on how much a candidate can spend on campaigns. The country, he said, only limits how much an individual can donate to a campaign. Excerpts:

    Unusual aspects

    Let me just point out a few unusual aspects about U.S. campaigns that might be surprising to many of you.  First of all, there’s no limits on political spending in the United States.  So under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, you can’t tell any group, any individual for that matter, how much they could spend in politics.  This means there’s no laws that limit political spending. 

    Now, note – I’ll say a little more about this – there are contribution limits, how much you can give to a party or candidate, but the implications of no spending limits are pretty profound.  Without ceilings politicians have an incentive to raise a lot of money, and then additionally many groups get involved because they can spend unlimiting. 

    Now, the second point is that almost all financing at the federal level comes from private sources, okay?  There’s some limited public funding for the party conventions, but the major candidates don’t use public funds.  They just – they used to use them in the past, but they’re – elections are so expensive now that they don’t even bother using them because there’s too many limits.  Third, spending from independent groups is increasing rapidly, and I’ll say more about this in a moment, but this goes back to point number one because it’s far easier to raise money and spend it with no contribution limits. 

    Sources of financing

    Okay, let me talk to you about the sources of financing in U.S. politics.  This stuff might not be too surprising.  Parties can give money to candidates; they can run ads for the candidates; they can help mobilize voters like in other countries.  Then there’s something called PACs.  It stands for Political Action Committee.  These organizations are sponsored by corporations, by labor unions, by advocacy groups, and they collect money and give it to politicians, okay.  Then there’s the individual donors.  They can give unlimited amounts to as many candidates and parties as they want.  Now, there’s contribution limits on them, but they can give to many different candidates and committees. 

    And then finally, there’s what I mentioned earlier, these independent committees.  And these groups are independent.  Why?  Because they do not contribute to campaigns.  Instead, they spend the money directly to help a candidate; they run ads.  Now, the key thing here is they can’t talk to the candidate or the party.  They’re independent, because if they do talk to them that counts as a contribution, which is limited.  So you already see some nuances here, okay?  And I’ll say a little bit more.  A lot of these independent groups, there’s a name we use called super PAC.  Why super?  Because they could spend as much – they can raise and spend as much money as they want. 

    So I’ll say a little bit more about the limits on contributions to candidates and parties.  So individuals under the federal law, they can give up to 3,300 per election, okay.  So that means if I want to give money to someone in the primary and the general, I give them 6,600 for both.  By the way, if I have a spouse, I could – she could give the same amount.  If I have children, they could give the same amount.  So this thing – these things can escalate.  Usually it’s just the one person.  They can also give 41,000 to a political party.  Most of this money from individuals, not surprisingly, comes from the same urban geographic areas in the United States which have a lot of wealth.  That includes New York, L.A. – Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago, and other major cities throughout the country. 

    Where Democrats get money

    Now, the next – I should say generally that Democrats, for those of you who follow this, get most of their money from unions, from lawyers, from the entertainment industry, and to some extent from Wall Street.  Actually, Wall Street gives to both sides.  Republicans from corporations, especially from extraction industries like oil, manufacturing, mining.  And the modern industries like big tech – Google, Apple – they tend to split their donations, maybe slightly more these days to Democrats.

    In terms of political action committees – so they can give $5,000 to each candidate per election.  So if I’m the – for instance, the CEO of General Motors automaker, okay, they can donate.  They have a committee that can donate 5,000 to a candidate, okay, after I’ve given maybe – I’ve given 5,000 to the PAC and then the PAC can in turn give 5,000. 

    Now, there’s a term you might come across called bundling, and this is allowed, and that is a common practice to kind of – not – it allows someone to raise a lot of money from their rich friends and collect the money, and then they get credit for collecting all this money.  So if I’m an investment banker, I have a party, I invite my professional associates over; each of them at my party, they – by credit card or personal check they give – they give – they write it and then I turn over that money to the politician. 

    There are no contributions from foreigners allowed except if you are a non-citizen resident.  If you have a green card, you may contribute.  So, but no money from any foreign entity or any foreigner who doesn’t have that.

    Questions about transparency

     I don’t know how well you can see this, but there are very good sites in the United States to check who gives money and who receives money.  This happens to be a website you might want to use: OpenSecrets.  You can look up the name, the occupation, and how much was donated and where these people live.  So I could look up to see my neighbors, how much money they gave to – and which party they gave to.  So it’s very good to understand individual and group contributors.  So this happens to be Michael Bloomberg.  It looks like Michael Bloomberg gave quite a bit of money to certain PACs in this case.  But I highly recommend using this site, or the Federal Election Commission has a site.  This one’s a little bit easier to use, but the Federal Election Commission is very comprehensive. 

    Okay.  What about the rules on spending?  As I said, there are no limits on how much you can spend.  The Supreme Court in the United States has ruled that although contribution limits are justified – that is, to prevent corruption, so the politician has no – there’s no exchange – you’re – they’re – we’re allowed to put contribution limits on – you can’t limit how much they can spend.  That would be a violation of the First Amendment because, the argument goes, you need money to express yourself in modern society.

    So there was a decision called Citizens United v. the Federal Election which really was a continuation of a previous court decision.  It wasn’t really that new, but it really put an exclamation point with the Supreme Court saying, no, you cannot – you cannot limit any group’s right to free speech.  It’s a very controversial decision.  Most of the people on the left oppose it, and most of the folks on the right support it. 

    Okay.  To get a sense for the sources of money and changes over time, this figure comes from my own research and it shows large donors.  That’s the top line in olive green.  They typically give the most.  Now, large donors – anyone who gives over $200 to a candidate is considered large.  Now, if you look at the red line, this has really changed in the United States.  This is the recent surge in small donors.  These are the citizens who give less than – $200 or less to a campaign.  And the amounts they gave even surpassed the large donors in 2020.  So some people might say, well, this is a good sign that more campaigns are being funded through smaller contributions, and some politicians were very good at this, including Donald Trump; Joe Biden actually gets a lot of small donors as well; and people like Bernie Sanders, people who definitely know how to attract a crowd.

    So the blue line, however, is something – what we refer to as independent spending.  These are the super PACs, and look at how they’ve really gone up.  And as I said, why “super”?  Because they have no limits on their spending and a lot of wealthy groups and people now give to these organizations.  They can’t give to politicians; they can spend on their own.  Okay.  So again, that’s the distinction.

    The surge

    The surge in the – in this independent spending without limits is one reason why we see such an increase – this is showing the increase over time from 1998 to 2020.  So in the 2020 elections, there was almost 15 billion in spending, okay – that’s both Congress, the blue; president race is the yellow.  I – it’s going to be hard to predict what 2024 is.  I imagine it’s going to be even higher, maybe close to 20 billion, again, because it’s so easy to raise and spend money, and critically the stakes seem so very high for so many people. 

    So of course, there’s the presidency, which people – there’s a lot of tension around that between the two sides.  But Congress is so close together; it could flip to either party.  So I guarantee you there is going to be a lot money spent on not that many races, because not that many contests are competitive.  But the few that will determine the control of the United States are going to have millions and millions spent on them.

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    Finally, a quick word just about enforcement.  The Federal Election Commission regulates money in politics for federal elections.  There are six commissioners, three from each of the two major parties.  And for that reason, actually, it makes it very challenging sometimes to arrive at some enforcement decisions, because they often disagree three to three, so there’s some what we call deadlock.  So enforcement is not always very strong in these cases.  Can someone like Trump spend money on legal expenses?  That should be adjudicated, usually by the Federal Election Commission initially, and I’m not sure we’ll get an answer from them.

    Terms you might hear as you go forward is things like joint fundraising committee.  These political committees – basically a lot of committees sign up with this committee, and the donors write one large check or give one large amount – almost up to a million sometimes – and then that gets – after the check goes to the committee, it gets spread out to the committees that ask for it. 

    So for example, Trump has a joint fundraising committee called Trump 47 – 47th president he wants to be.  It raised almost $1 million from a single donor; it does this for several donors.  The money gets distributed to Trump’s official campaign committee, okay; the Republican National Committee, the Republican Party and its satellite state parties – a lot of it goes there; and then finally, the Trump super PAC called Save America, okay. 

    So the first 3,300 as a contribution goes to his campaign, and then the next 5,000 will go to the PAC, okay, and the rest to the Republican Parties.  Now the Save America PAC is interesting, and someone asked about contributions to pay for his legal fees.  It’s not really clear, to be honest.  Lawyers are really trying to figure this out.  A candidate campaign must only spend money on campaign-related activities, legal fees that apply to the campaign.  And in some cases that are – that Trump is facing are not related to the campaign.  The ones related to challenging the results of the 2020 election, I can imagine that being used with this campaign.  Others, not so much, like the case involving top-secret documents found at Mar-a-Lago.  But some argue – and the Trump campaign is doing this – that the PAC, the PAC that Trump has, the super – they have more ability to spend on non-campaign-related activities.  So that is very much a gray area.  It’s not clear, and the Trump campaign is kind of pushing limits.

    So I’ll tell you what.  Let me stop there.  There was one other question actually about spending in the last election.  Maybe I’ll show this slide.  This slide shows how much – how many millions, almost billions, spent on advertising in the United States in the last election, 2020.  So broadcast TV, almost $1 billion.  That was 55 percent of total.  And then the question was how much digital.  And almost a quarter of money is now spent on digital, online.  That’s a big increase, okay, since the last time.  So I wanted to point that out.  I’m – I know TV spending is going to go up as well as digital as a new form. 

    Regulation

    The cornerstone of American regulation is transparency, okay – you can spend as much as you want, but we want to know who’s spending it.  And so I pointed out that website that shows who’s giving money.  So if you’re reporting on this, you can find out exactly who gives money to Trump, who are the biggest donors to his political campaign.  You can find out what industries they represent.  You can find out where they’re – what state they’re from.  So that’s pretty good.

    One change, however, is there is a group of organizations that do not have to report their donors.  And I won’t get into the technical details, but they – because they’re considered social welfare or educational associations, nonprofits, they’re allowed to have anonymity with their spending as long as they don’t spend more than 50 percent on politics.  So that has become a vehicle for some – not all, for some – to give money unlimited without revealing who they are.  The challenge comes in, of course, because we don’t know who these folks are, and these groups may often give to the super PACs – again, which doesn’t spend.  So American campaigns used to be extremely good at keeping track of donors and who is giving it, but it’s become a little bit harder now.  And that is one problem.

    But by and large, the system runs on that principle of transparency, limited contributions, and again, unusual for many of you to hear this, but absolutely no limits on how much you can spend in any campaign.  If I was a rich – if I was Elon Musk, I could spend my entire fortune on running for president if I wanted to.  Not to say that Elon Musk would win, but that’s how it goes.

    Attempts to limit spending

     There have been several attempts.  The challenge for people who want to reform and put limits in place is how the Supreme Court interprets the First Amendment, and the Supreme Court has argued in their statements and – that the government shouldn’t be involved in adjudicating how much you can spend on politics.  They don’t want to give that authority to anybody in the government. 

    So their concern is corruption.  They have argued at the Supreme Court level this is the – you can prevent someone from giving a million dollars for a candidate because it potentially corrupts the candidate.  But if the group spends and says vote – vote for Ray La Raja, okay, or vote for Elon Musk, and they – as long as they don’t talk to me or to Elon Musk, they don’t see that as corrupting.

    Okay, now, some of you may say, oh, of course the candidate’s going to feel some gratitude towards anybody who spends money on their behalf.  But the Supreme Court wanted to set a very bright line.  So reformers have bumped up against this First Amendment issue time and time again, and it’s allowed a lot of these independent groups to spend money unlimited.

    You’re right that Americans don’t like this much spending.  They’re trying to come up with reforms that enable more public financing, reforms that might increase the number of small donors.  I mean, I think it’s rather extraordinary – I don’t think you find this in other nations – how many people give a small amount of money to politicians.  So that is one hope, but I have a feeling that it’s never going to end the very, very large donations that are allowed under the First Amendment.

  • …BBOG takes campaign to refocus on global support in UK

    The #Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) plans to host a panel discussion in the United Kingdom (UK) today as part of its 90 days global campaign.

    The move is to refocus the group’s attention on the plight of the remaining Chibok girls in captivity, a Co-Founder of the BBOG and CEO of the Murtala Muhammed Foundation, Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode, said yesterday in Lagos.

    She said that while the call to bring back the girls was voiced by millions of people, “the situation is no longer the same five years after.’’

    “The voices are no longer heard, the voices have largely disappeared, I wonder if the lives of the remaining Chibok girls in captivity still matter,” she said.

    According to her, extreme violence against women has been the hallmark of this insurgency and therefore going forward in all further discussions and negotiations with the group, protecting the rights of women and girls must be at the top of the agenda.

    “Redress and restitution must be sought for the harms that have been committed and we must take all measures necessary, including working with the UN and key international stakeholders to ensure that we guard women from this type of violence going forward,” she added.

    Mrs Oyebode, who expressed her concern on the stigmatisation of victims of the menace, enjoined all and sundry “to pool together and embrace all those that have been affected by this insurgency, so that they would collectively heal on all sides.”

     

     

  • Igbo campaign for Sanwo-Olu

    Members of a group, the Igbo Movement, yesterday embarked on a roadshow to campaign and mobilise Igbo traders to vote for the Lagos State All Progressives Congress’ (APC’s), governorship candidate, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Saturday.

    They moved from Ogudu to Ojota and Mile 12, dancing, singing and distributing flyers to the Igbo in the areas. They sensitised them on the need to vote for Sanwo-Olu and other APC candidates for the house of assembly election.

    The Convener of Igbo Movement, Chris Onyekachi, said the essence of the roadshow is to support Sanwo-Olu and ensure that the Igbo vote massively for him and other APC candidates in Saturday’s poll.

    He said: “The essence of this roadshow is to show that the Igbo Movement in Lagos State is supporting the incoming governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, because we believe in the political ideals of our leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    “We believe in continuity. That was why the Igbo in Lagos gathered in my house this morning to support Sanwo-Olu and his running mate, Obafemi Hamzat, so that on Saturday we will vote for them. We will vote for the incoming governor and other APC candidates.”

    Onyekachi added: “You can see that Igbo elders from the 20 local governments and 37 local council development areas (LCDAs) are here. We are taking this roadshow to the markets where our people are trading to motivate them to come out en masse on Saturday and vote massively for Sanwo-Olu and other APC candidates.

    “The Igbo are supporting APC. This is what is happening. You can see the crowd yourself.”

     

  • Court asked to reverse INEC’s ban on campaigns

    The Federal High Court in Abuja has been asked to declare unlawful the decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that political parties could no longer campaign despite its postponement of elections.

    The request is contained in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/206/2019, filed by the Action People’s Party (APP).

    The plaintiff argued that by virtue of “the combined effect of the mandatory statutory provisions of Sections 99(1), 100(1) and 101(1) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as Amended)” INEC could not validly bar campaigns by registered political parties for the 2019 general election before a period earlier than 24 hours prior to the date of the election”.

    It wants the court to determine, “Whether by Sections 99(1), 100(1) and 101(1) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as Amended) the announcement, directive or order by INEC directing registered political parties, including the APP, to stop or end their campaign for the 2019 General Elections on February 14, 2019 for polls that will hold on February 23, 2019 is not ultra vires its powers, illegal, null, void and of no effect whatsoever”.

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    In the substantive suit, the plaintiff sought among others, “A declaration that INEC cannot issue any directive or make any order stopping, barring or ending campaign by registered political parties, including the APP, for the 2019 General Elections to a period other than 24 hours prior to the date of the elections;

    “A declaration that the announcement, directive or order by INEC directing political parties, including the APP, to stop or end their campaign for the 2019 General Elections on February 14, 2019 for polls that will hold on February 23, 2019 is ultra vires its powers, illegal, null, void and of no effect whatsoever; and

    “A declaration that in view of the postponement of the 2019 Presidential and National Assembly Elections till February 23, 2019, APP Party and indeed all registered political parties in Nigeria are legally entitled, pursuant to Sections 99(1), 100(1) and 101(1) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as Amended), to resume forthwith and/or recommence campaign until February 21, 2019 been 24 hours prior the date of the election.”

    In an ex-parte application of urgency filed with the suit, the plaintiff wants an order of injunction restraining the defendant from stopping, ending or in any other manner whatsoever giving effect to the directive or order purported ending or stopping campaign by political parties for the 2019 general elections on February 14, 2019 pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”

    The suit, filed on Monday, is yet to be assigned for hearing.

  • Lagos Majority Leader flags off campaign

    All Progressives Congress (APC) members, supporters, bigwigs and enthusiasts from across the Lagos East senatorial district of Lagos state gathered yesterday at the Ita-Elewa playground in Ikorodu for the official flag off of the re-election campaign of the Majority Leader of the Lagos state House of Assembly, Hon. SanaiBolanleAgunbiade.

    Speaking during the event, the Vice Chairman of the APC in the senatorial district, AsipaKaoliOlusanya, described Agunbiade as the best choice for the constituency and urged party members to work hard to ensure the victory of all APC candidates across the senatorial district. He said considering his performance since he was elected into the House, Agunbiade has proven that he understands the nitty-gritty of being a representative of the people.

    The event has in attendance representatives of the Speaker of the Lagos Assembly, Rt. Hon. MudashiruObasa, the member representing Ikorodu federal constituency in the national assembly, Hon. Jimi Benson, over a dozen members of the assembly, apex party leaders, members of the BabajideSanwoolu Campaign Organisation (BOSCO), all six council chairmen in Ikorodu division, representatives of the council of Obas, community leaders, non indigene groups and numerous other dignitaries.

    Addressing the mammoth crowd, Agunbiade thanked the good people of Ikorodu for giving him another opportunity to fly the APC flag. He promised not to relent in his efforts to ensure that the impact of government is better felt across the division. “You are asking me to go back and do more, and I am promising to do more when I am re-elected as your representative. Ikorodu has been very good to me. The only way I can repay you all is to work harder as your representative,” he said.

    The lawmaker also urged the electorates to go all out on elections days to ensure that the APC win all the positions across the senatorial district. “This is not about voting for Agunbiade alone. Go out and vote for President Buhari, vote for BabajideSanwoolu, vote for BayoOsinowo, vote for Jimi Benson, vote for Solaja and of course, vote for me, S.O.B Agunbiade,” he urged.

     

  • Osinbajo at Ondo House-to-House campaign: Buhari is a sincere leader

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday noted that Nigeria needed a sincere and honest President like Muhammadu Buhari to lead the country.

    According to him, only a sincere leader can be saddled with the responsibility of administering the country.

    He said anything contrary would retard the growth and development of the nation.

    Osinbajo added that over 9.2 million school children are fed daily through the free school feeding programme introduced by the Buhari’s administration.

    The Vice President spoke in Ifon, headquaters of Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State, during a House to House campaign organized by the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    He said Buhari would continue with the free feeding programme and initiate other laudable programmes if re-elected as President.

    Osinbajo hinted that the present administration has recorded monumental achievements in the areas of education, infrastructure and war against corruption.

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    He urged Nigerians to support the President by re-electing him for a second term, pledging that Buhari would continue with his fight against corruption and improve on all his achievements recorded in the last three and half years.

    Osinbajo explained that corruption was a major hindrance to the development of any nation, hence the war waged against it by the Buhari’s government.

    Osinbajo who scored Buhari’s administration high in terms of performance, said the present government has been able to rebuild the nation.

    He assured that President Buhari would not rest on his oars until corruption  is eradicated..

    He said: “The development of Nigeria is a major concern to us. We all know what happened when we first got here. No country can develop when corruption is rampant.

    Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu said the forthcoming election would be won by APC, urging the people to vote massively for the ruling party.

  • Atiku, minister trade words over use of state resources for campaign

    People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has accused President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) of using state resources for electioneering campaign.

    It is all lies, Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed said.

    Besides, the president has said he would not open the treasury for campaign funding

    Atiku said Buhari and the APC had been acting contrary to claims by the President that he would not use state resources for election.

    In a statement yesterday by his Media Adviser, Mr. Paul Ibe, the PDP presidential candidate called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to sanction the President and the APC for violating the constitution and the Electoral Act.

    The statement said: “Recall that the National Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, had in December of last year warned incumbent office holders against using state resources or apparatuses for their campaigns, or deploying same against their opponents.

    “Prof. Yakubu, who issued the warning at a lecture titled: “Political corruption and other emerging issues for the 2019 elections” in Abuja, noted that the commission has the power to monitor campaign financing and sources of funds according to the Constitution and the Electoral Act 2010 as amended.

    “However, in negation of the constitution and the Electoral Act 2010 as amended, the Buhari administration and the APC have taken to the illegal deployment of state resources to its advantage for the election.

    “We wish to remind President Buhari and the APC that the use of state videos released by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture is illegal under the Electoral Act 2010 as amended.

    “The media is awash with advertisements with the hashtag #PMBDIDIT and signed by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture and referencing so-called achievements of the APC administration in the states of Abia, Kwara, Lagos, Ebonyi, Delta and Kano, among others.”

    These, Atiku said, were without doubt, 2019 presidential campaign materials produced by the Ministry of Information and Culture using state resources and apparatuses to benefit President Buhari.

    “This appalling conduct, which is clearly in violation of Section 100 of the Electoral Act, is even more shocking when it is recalled that the state resources being used to the illegal advantage of President Buhari are being drawn from agencies which for over three years, prior to this election, failed to perform their duties to the benefit of Nigerian citizens. The Ministry of Information and Culture must stop this illegality immediately.

    “We demand that INEC issues an immediate cease and desist order to both the Ministry of Information and Culture and to the broadcast channels running it.

    “We also insist that INEC register the media spend behind it as part of the APC’s total N1 billion campaign spend limit.”

    It urged INEC to warn the ruling party to refrain from such conduct.

    “Now that the party has clearly flouted the law in negation of the electoral umpire’s warning, we urge that INEC sanctions them accordingly,” the PDP said.

    Atiku, also yesterday in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, in continuation of his campaign for the forthcoming presidential election, pledged that women and youths will constitute 70 per cent of his cabinet, if elected president on February 16.

    He said youths will constitute 40 per cent of his cabinet while women will have 30 per cent, noting specifically that the Minister of Sports will not be more than 30 years of age.

    The former vice president, however, cautioned the ruling APC and security agencies over any plot to rig the forthcoming general elections, even as he called on electorates to shun religious politics.

    Atiku has also restated his commitment to the total defeat of the Boko Haram insurgents in Borno, Yobe and other parts of the Northeast geopolitical zone.

    Mohammed, last night, denied that Buhari’s administration is using state resources to fund the President’s re-election.

    He said the allegation by Atiku Campaign Organisation and the PDP amounted to suffering from acute paranoia.

    He said the massive achievements of the Buhari administration have rattled PDP and the Atiku Campaign Organisation.

    The minister said: “It is up to those who made the accusation on the use of state resources for electioneering campaign to prove it, in line with the maxim that he who alleges must prove.”

    In a statement through his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Segun Adeyemi, the minister said the PDP candidate’s action was  an acknowledgement of the administration’s impressive achievements.

    The minister said: “In publicising the activities and achievements of the Federal

    Government, the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture is only carrying out its statutory role. Long before the elections, the ministry has used various platforms, including Town Hall Meetings, to publicise the activities and achievements of the administration.

    ”We understand that the PDP and the Atiku Campaign Organisation have been rattled by the achievements as well as the effectiveness of the campaign to publicise them. We are sorry we can’t help them.”

    He, however, expressed surprise that the PDP that said the Buhari government has not achieved anything has now turned around to admit that the media is awash with video testimonies from Nigerians on the administration’s achievements.

  • Group joins campaign for Buhari’s re-election

    Build The Future (BTF), an independent advocacy group, is queuing behind President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term in office.

    The decision, according to BTF chairman, Mr. Ade Thomas, is based on its passion to make things happen in Nigeria as it “believes in progress and development of the nation by the youth, supporting them through empowerment and making them catalysts of change in a participatory democracy.”

    It added: “The greatest asset of our nation is her young people and the power in their hands, Build the Future also knows that empowering the youth is one of the greatest tools in building the future of the nation.”

    It said its vision is to “Be the voice that advocates for the progress, empowerment and development of Nigeria through her most priced asset which is her young people, Build the Future also has the mission to contribute towards Nigeria’s sustainable and incremental growth through responsible citizenship and a participatory democracy.”

  • Provost leads campaign on work ethics

    The Provost, Federal College of Education (Technical) Umunze, Anambra State, Dr Tessy Okoli, has unerscored the need for a new orientation to work ethics and compliance to Civil Service rules among workers.

    She said the performance deficit witnessed in the public sector could be reversed with regular training and sensitisation programmes.

    Okoli said this at a workshop on work ethics for staff organised by the College in collaboration with the National Commission of Colleges of Education (NCCE) and an educational consultancy firm, SEFAN Consult.

    The Provost said at the Dr Alex Ekwueme Auditorium that the Staff Audit Committee and Certificate Verification Committee of the NCCE observed some flaws during their last visit to the College and called for a training on Civil Service Rules, ethical values and dress code.

    “In an attempt to ensure harmony in work place, the NCCE recommended among others a sensitisation workshop where staff would be updated on crucial issues bothering on: Attitude to Work, Conditions of Service, Financial Management and Staff Development,” she said.

    She said the college assembled a crop of resource persons with seasoned experiences to retrain staff on acceptable rules of work and warned that the college would not tolerate non-compliance to ethical values any further.

    The Provost assured the workers that the College management would continue to reward diligent staff by introducing welfare packages and other incentives to encourage hard work.

    “Workers displaying good work ethics are considered for higher positions and more responsibilities. Such people are honest, responsible, reliable and dependable assets to this institution,” she said.

    Also, NCCE Executive Secretary, Prof Bappa-Aliyu Muhammadu, praised the College for organising the workshop and urged the participants to utilise the exercise to increase their knowledge and competence in key areas.

    Muhammadu, who was represented by the Director, Personnel Management, NCCE, Mrs Jumai Suleiman, stressed the need for civil servants to abide by ethical values. He also called on civil servants to cultivate the virtues of selflessness in the discharge of duties, honesty, obedience and dedication to duties.

    Some of the resource persons from the NCCE were: Deputy Director, Personnel Management, Mr Babatunde Aremu; and Assistant Chief Personnel Officer, Establishment, Malam Abdullahi Alhassan.

    Also present were the former Dean, Political Science Department, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam, Prof Obiajulu Obikeze; Prof Vincent Onwe of the Federal University of Agriculture Umudike; Prof Steve Ibenta, former Dean, faculty of Management Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka; Mr Ifeanyi Mogbo, Chief Executive Officer, SEFAN Consult; and Mrs Gloria Amaefuna, Deputy Registrar, Directorate of Degree Programme, FCE(T) Asaba.

    In a paper, titled: “Attendance: punctuality, staff development, discipline, examination malpractice, staff/students relationship and dress code”, Obikeze frowned at the truancy of some civil servants.  He noted that for any organisation to thrive, punctuality and discipline must be taken seriously.

    Speaking on the topic, “Conditions for promotion, upgrading and annual evaluations, conditions for transfer, conversion and secondment”, Mrs Amaefula urged workers to take advantage of various platforms available to improve their skills in order to remain relevant in the system.

    One of the participants, Jacy Nwankwo, said she learnt a lot from the workshop and thanked the Provost for organising the event. More commendation came from Nwokonkwo Ugochi Jane working in the College Library Unit, who described the workshop as insightful and enlightening.

    While applauding the initiative, a lecturer in the Department of Educational Psychology, Abubakar Muhammed Sanni said it would make him more productive.

    “The workshop was commendable. Attending it has increased my knowledge and consciousness towards being more efficient and effective in job performance. I thank the college management for this laudable programme. More power to your elbow,” he said.

  • 2019: I’ll soon embark on aggressive campaigns, Says Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said that he will soon embark on aggressive campaign for the 2019 Presidential election.
    According to him, the three areas of focus which he campaigned in 2015 are still very relevant.
    To this end, he said that he will focus on the fight against corruption, tackling insecurity and improving the economy.
    The President spoke in Abuja when he received the Federal Capital Territory community on Christmas homage at his official residence.
    The campaign, he said, will start by visits to each of the six geo-political zones of the country.
    He said “The party nominated me and I will contest. We are watching the Independent National Electoral Commission very seriously and we are going out very soon we will go from geo-political zone to geo-political zone, to remind the people of our promises in 2015; three fundamental things, security, because you have to secure the country before you can govern it and talking about what we have done regarding securing the country, the people of the North-east know better.
    “The three fundamental things we campaigned with are still very relevant. On improving the economy, which we are still going to explore, we have done well in agriculture, and those who embraced farming are not regretting it and we have also addressed unemployment and we are very lucky, through that we are now attaining food security.
    “The third thing with which we will campaign is the issue of corruption. I told you what I did when I was in uniform but now when I have to go by this system (Democracy,) where people have to be arrested and then prosecuted, taken to court and then with evidence, we will collect back what they had taken illegally and for doing that, people are calling me Baba go slow. I am going slowly but whatever the case, I will not stop pointing fingers at those who have abused trust by taking money that does not belong to them.
    “I will keep on trying to do my best for this country and get back what belongs to the country. We are doing to do the roads, revive the railway and electricity with the little resources at our disposal.
    “Fighting Corruption, yes, we are slow because the system is slow. It’s not Baba that is slow but it is the system so I am going by this system and I hope we will make it.” he said
    The President, who thanked the FCT community for the visit, urged people in leadership positions to but the confidence of the people in the present administration.
    Speaking earlier, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Bello, who said the FCT community, was happy with the performance of President Buhari in office and pledged to support him massively for another term of office.
    He said “We pray that God almighty to continue to grant you good health, strength, capacity, ability and patience to continue to lead us to the Promised Land. On behalf of the FCT we appreciate you for the good works you are doing for the territory, just last week you commissioned for us a new airport terminal and so many road projects that are going on in Abuja and we feel highly delighted to be hosting you here and it’s my honour on behalf of the FCT community I want to assure you that we are solidly behind you and by the grace of God we look forward to you spending another four years in the state house so that you can truly make Abuja the city of our dream because we want Abuja to be among the 20 best cities in the world in the next few years to come and I think that is possible.”
    In his own remarks, the Primate of the Anglican Communion, Nigeria, Reverend Nicholas Okoh congratulated the President for overcoming his health challenges and said all citizens of the country are grateful to God for that.
    The Cleric noted that the spirit of unity among followers of different religions in the Federal capital Territory is exemplary and should be replicated in all parts of the country.
    He said religious leaders will continue to work for peace and harmony in order to sustain peace in the country.
    The delegation comprised of religious leaders and traditional rulers as well as top functionaries of the Federal capital Territory administration