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Tag: elections

  • Former PDP leader worried over 2019 elections dates

    Former PDP leader worried over 2019 elections dates

    Former National Deputy Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Uche Secondus, said fixing dates for 2019 general elections now was an “unnecessary haste’’ by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The commission had on Wednesday announced Feb. 16, 2019 for Presidential and National Assembly elections and March 2, 2019, for Governorship, State Assembly and Federal Capital Territory Area Councils polls.

    An INEC National Commissioner, Mr Solomon Soyebi, who announced the dates in Abuja, said it was part of efforts by the commission to standardise and ensure certainty of timetable for general elections in the country.

    Soyebi gave instances of countries, including US, Ghana, Mexico, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland where dates for general elections were standard and known calendars.

    Secondus in a statement on Friday in Abuja said that it was shocking for INEC to have released timetable for 2019 general elections when it had more pressing issues to attend to.

    He alleged that INEC announced the dates without consultation with critical stakeholders like political parties and civil society groups whose inputs were always sought before final decisions were taken.

    He described the action as part of the INEC determination to carry out designed agenda of the ruling party on the elections.

    Secondus called for the dissolution of INEC as presently constituted, “with men and women of integrity as a measure to save the country’s democracy’’.

    He said that the commission was currently operating without Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) in 33 states.

    “It is curious that an electoral commission that is yet to be properly constituted has before it many unfinished matters, including voter education and enlightenment.

    “As we speak, Anambra gubernatorial election is due later this year and the state has no REC to carry out all the needful as enshrined in the Constitution before the election.

    “Since last year, Nigeria’s Senate had raised alarm over the implication of non-constitution of INEC but while the National Commissioners’ positions are filled, over 30 seats of RECs remain vacant,’’ Secondus said.

    He, however, acknowledged that statutorily, the President had the responsibility to appoint the RECs subject to the confirmation of the Senate in line with Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution as amended. (NAN)

  • Elections, mandates and business

    It is a tautology to say that elections give politicians or competing contestants power when they win and such victories are the source of political mandates. Indeed such mandates are the precursor of management styles and the challenge of governance.

    This is because the business of politics begins once a leader is given electoral mandate and that may even well be before he is sworn in as both the de facto and de jure winner of such elections and mandates. However the execution of electoral mandates reveal leadership styles as well as the personality and priorities of elected leaders in any environment which we shall assume will be a peaceful one as elections cannot be conducted in an atmosphere of war and violence.

    An aberration occurred in this regard in Syria when the Syrian President Bashar Assad was elected or returned as President but that is not the type of election we are talking about as the carnage in Aleppo and the bombings and failed evacuations of civilians still show that Syria is a nation needing serious humanitarian aid and help rather than elections or mandates for its leader.

    Even as far back as in Ancient Athens the mother of democracy, Herodotus, the father of History was credited with saying that it is in the interest of nations and leaders to seek peace because during peace sons bury their fathers but during wars fathers bury their sons.

    The world has since survived several historical wars including two World Wars and the scourge of 9/11 in 2001 culminating in the present war on terrorism and the bloody emergence of ISIS, Islamic militancy leading to the biggest migration in history of migrants fleeing wars desperately in Syria, Afghanistan on the Mediterranean Sea, en route to safety in Europe.

    The existence of the Gold Star Families in the US, the sight of the Turkish boy thrown dead ashore, and the little stunned bloodied boy in Aleppo shown world wide illustrate vividly demonstrate the old Athenian wisdom that during wars fathers bury their sons.

    This was rampant during the Obama tenure now starkly replaced by a Trump victory that was won because it roundly condemned the apathy and inaction of the Obama Administration on global security and peace. Indeed world trade and globalization as we know it today was predicated on the sound premise that when nations trade with each other then they are not likely to go to war.

    That also is the logic of our discussions of today’s topic as we look at events and happenings in the US, Russsia, Japan and our own Nigeria as well as the leadership styles and mandates of the leaders of these nations. In the US, President elect Donald Trump has nominated the CEO of Exxon Mobil Rex Tillerson as the next US Secretary of State in his administration once he is sworn in on January 20, 2017.

    The leaders of Russia and Japan also met this week to sign trade and business deals between their two nations. In Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly lamented that army officers in his time had no time for improving their education but were more interested in coups and their careers. Just as the Nigerian Senate called on his Secretary to the Government of the Federation to resign over conflict of interest in managing the funds for the rehabilitation of the North East, recently destroyed by Boko Haram insurgency.

    Indeed the appointment of an oil boss as the next chief diplomat of the US fits the bill in connection with our earlier proposition that trade promotes peace and not war. This is because the Exxon Mobil boss is said to be chummy with the Russian strongman and president, Vladmir Putin. In fact he was shown on global TV this week at the time he received a Russian National Award from the Russian president.

    Again it was revealed that the Exxon Mobil boss was against the sanctions against Russia by the UN led by the US over Russia’s invasion of the Crimea in Ukraine recently.

    If you recall that Putin accused the US government of Barak Obama of trying to overthrow his government with the sanctions and the Russian government had become totally anti US in the Obama tenure of office, thereby threatening world peace with super power hostility, you can really see the prospect for global amity and diplomatic tranquility when the Russian president receives his friend and well known acquaintance Rex Tillerson as the next US Secretary of State .

    Certainly that would be a far cry from the frosty relations and repulsive receptions that Hillary Clinton and her boss received from Moscow during Hillary’s tenure as American Secretary of State. Again American oil business will be in big business as Russia is the largest exporter of oil and recently built the longest oil pipeline in the world to China at the height of its mistrust of the Obama Administration foreign policy. Certainly the US and Russia are about to show the world that peace thrives when leaders have respect and admiration for each other and this is surely good for global peace, trade and development.

    The Russian President was also in Nagato, the home town of Japan’s leader Shinzo Abe in Japan to find a way of putting the hostile effects of the last two world wars behind the two nations . Russia and Japan have a running bitter dispute over the ownership of four Islands called the Akril Islands in the Pacific and President Putin has recently promised to put the dispute he called an anachronism behind them. It is envisaged that this will cede some control of the Islands to Japan in the interest of peace while Putin will also attend trade confabs with the Japanese and other Asian nations to cement and promote business deals between the nations attending.

    A great day also for peace and trade between these world leaders as they consummate their election mandates for the progress of their nations. Let us round up with Nigeria where the political terrain is not only different but uniquely difficult. While there are known mafia groups in Russia and Japan they are famed for crime in the pursuit of business and profits and they are known as criminal political networks but they know their limits and do not subvert the state.

    In Nigeria the situation is different. Elected and appointed politicians and public servants have looted the state and the Nigerian nation to a state of economic stupor such that our popularly elected president confessed he wanted to bolt from office once he saw first hand the level of corruption facing his office and nation. Luckily he realized that nature abhors a political vacuum and that in a presidential system we have created for ourselves, the buck stops on his table .Unfortunately however, it would seem the hangover of that first scare to bolt has not entirely disappeared.

    This is because the government has been focusing mainly on the war on corruption such that the Senate is taking the initiative in challenging the government on non performance as the Senate President did when the Senate President told the President who came to present his budget that there is hardship in the land. According to reports the Senate President told the President – ‘the feedback we get from our visits to our constituencies is that there is hardship in the land. We can see it. We can feel it ‘.

    Coming from a senate whose members earn several millions to service their constituencies which they hardly see or visit, this is a vintage example of shedding crocodile tears on behalf of Nigerian suffering masses. Yet it is still a welcome antidote or stimulant if it can and should make Mr President to recover from that initial impulse to flee from power and go into real action to take this famed and notorious recession that has brought our nation’s democracy and government to a stand still.

    The Nigerian president can do this by acting first on the accusation against the SGF on being involved with one of the companies handling war relief supplies in the North East of the nation. While one must admit that there is no love lost between the Senate and the Executive arm of government there must be an investigation of the allegations against the SGF in the interest of fair play and accountability, if only to show that there is no sacred cow in the war against corruption the arrowhead of governmental achievement of this Administration so far. Once again long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

  • 2019 elections may be violent, says IPAC

    2019 elections may be violent, says IPAC

    The Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has warned that violence may mar the 2019 elections, unless stringent actions are taken by  stakeholders to stem the tide of politically motivated killings.

    It said that steps should be taken immediately to discourage rising political violence in elections in the country.

    IPAC said severe sanctions should be meted out to those who sponsored political violence during the recent legislative rerun in Rivers State.

    Massive violence was reported to have marred the elections. A senior police officer and others were said to have been killed during the election.

    The Chairman of IPAC, Mohammad Nalado, in a statement in Abuja, said the violence that marred the polls was unnecessary.

    He said the political parties that participated in the election had subscribed to a code of conduct containing the guidelines for a peaceful exercise.

    Nalado said the violators of the guidelines should be brought to justice in accordance with the law.

    He said if drastic actions are not meted out to the sponsors of violence, the security of lives and properties in subsequent elections cannot be guaranteed.

    Nadalo recalled how IPAC championed and sustained the campaign for peace in Ondo State before its recent  governorship elections.

    The IPAC boss, who is also the Chairman of the Accord Party, enjoined other stakeholders to support  IPAC’s efforts at ensuring peaceful elections.

    He, however, commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies for their commitment, which prevented the escalation of violence in Rivers State.

  • 2019 elections may be violent, says IPAC

    2019 elections may be violent, says IPAC

    The Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has warned that violence may mar the 2019 elections unless stringent actions are taken by political stakeholders to stem the tide of political motivated killings.
     
    It said that steps should be taken immediately to discourage rising political violence in elections in parts of the country..

    It said that severe sanctions should be meted out those that sponsored political violence in the just concluded Rivers State’s federal and state legislative elections.

    Massive violence was reported to have marred the Rivers legislative elections.
     
     A senior Police Officer and others were said to have been killed during the election.

    Chairman of IPAC, Mohammad Nalado, in a statement in Abuja, noted that there is no reason for legislative election in Rivers to become bloody especially when the governorship election in Ondo State held recently was adjudged peaceful. 

    Nalado noted that the political parties that participated in the election had the code of conduct where the operating guidelines of parties and politicians were clearly stipulated.
     
    He added that those that have conducted themselves contrary to the code of conduct for parties as observed in Rivers legislative elections should be brought to justice in accordance with the law. 

    He further expressed concern that if drastic and severe punishments are not meted out to those that sponsored violence in Rivers, security of lives and properties in subsequent elections across the country cannot be guaranteed. 

    He recalled how IPAC championed and sustained the campaign of peace in Ondo State before the governorship elections that held peacefully in the state.
     
    The IPAC boss, who is also the chairman of Accord Party, enjoined other political stakeholders in the country to support the efforts of IPAC at ensuring peaceful election in the country, especially ahead of 2019 general elections.

    He however commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Security agencies for being steadfast in holding the election and preventing the violence to the lowest minimum.

    He further sympathised with the victims of violence in the Rivers election, even as he urged those affected to avoid retaliation, but to be law abiding by assisting the security agencies to fish out the perpetrators of violence in the state.

    He urged states where elections will soon be conducted to borrow a leaf from the Ondo state, where he sais though there was tension before the elections, but the process came and passed peacefully without any violence. 

  • Rivers Rerun: Army deploys troops to flash points

    The Nigerian Army on Friday directed the deployment of troops to flash points in Rivers ahead of the Dec. 10 legislative elections rerun in the state.

    Maj.- Gen. Kasimu Abdulkarim, the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 6 Division, Port Harcourt, gave the order while addressing officers and soldiers at the Divisional Headquarters in Port Harcourt.

    Abdulkarim said the directive was to ensure the prevention of breakdown of law and order before, during and after the elections in Rivers.

    He said that troops would also be deployed to strategic locations, including oil and gas installations and other critical assets in and around the state.

    According to him, commanders will embark on early planning, coordination and liaison with civil authority, Nigeria Police Force, INEC and other stakeholders to ensure hitch-free election.

    “During the election, commanders are to ensure that troops are deployed at flash points, key points and valuable points before, during and after the elections.

    “Troops will be in their respective position by 3 a.m. on the Election Day while monitoring of security situation from the joint operations centre will commence two days before election.

    “Commanders are to ensure that troops are deployed at the outer perimeter of designated collation centres and polling booths in support of the Nigeria Police without getting directly involved with INEC activities.

    “Similarly, commanders are to direct the conduct of patrols; establish checkpoints and roadblocks and provide escort during the election in order to prevent unlawful movements, ballot box snatching and sundry crimes.

    “Also, commanders must ensure that troops deny unauthorised persons access to collation centres, INEC offices and NYSC officials during the election,’’ he said.

    Abdulkarim also directed “local commanders’’ of the army to escort the election materials to INEC office in Port Harcourt.

    He said that troops would identify and curtail hostile individuals, groups and key players; gather information and carry out a show of force within strategic towns in Rivers and adjoining states.

    “Lastly, commanders are to establish a broadband communication network with repeater stations at strategic towns starting seven days before and two days after the election,’’ he said.

    Abdulkarim urged troops to remain non-partisan and document on video as pictorial evidence for use in the event of litigation that might result from their conduct during the elections.

    The GOC also advised troops to strictly adhere to army’s election Code of Conduct and Operational Orders in the rerun elections.

    “This is because any personnel found to flout the army’s position on the election will be severely sanctioned in line with our operational guideline.

    “Officers and soldiers should disassociate themselves with civilians and politicians, especially during the election,’’ he said. (NAN)

  • Rivers : Elections as war

    Whenever it is time for elections, Rivers State goes into war mode. Port Harcourt, the capital, and environs come under tension. Movement is hindered; people stockpile food at home out of fear. Do not blame them, they are only taking precautions in order not to be caught on the wrong side when hoodlums and other miscreants hired for the election start their thing. The state is now on edge as it prepares for a rerun election on Saturday. The ruling party in the state does not want to lose, while the opposing party, All Progressives Congress (APC), which is ruling at the national level, wants to win.

    This has been the case since Governor Nyesom Wike took over from his former political godfather Rotimi Amaechi on May 29, last year. For years now, there has been no love lost between Wike and Amaechi. They used to be bosom friends and political soulmates before they fell apart. Since they became estranged, the state has become their battle field. Now that they are in opposing camps, they see every election as a battle for supremacy and they approach it as  such. Saturday’s will not be different and the signs are already there. As in the past, the signs are ominous. The drums of war are being beaten and we can all hear the sound, but how do we stop this impending bloodbath?

    This is the challenge before the police, which have promised to do all they can to ensure free and fair election. We should not have our hearts in our mouths whenever election is coming in Rivers. Elections should not be seen as war not only in Rivers, but in all states of the federation.

    If our politicians truly love us and not just our votes, our lives will matter to them. They are using us as cannon fodders to attain power. It is 48 hours to the legislative rerun, yet the country has known no peace because of the election that will hold in only a fraction of Rivers. The din over the poll is deafening. Because of its determination to keep its turf come what may, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is throwing everything into the election. Led by Wike, the party has been accusing virtually every institution of state, beginning from the Federal Government to the police and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of plotting to rig in favour of APC.

    During a campaign at Khana Local Government Area of the state on Monday, Wike, who will not allow any opportunity to go by without blaming his arch-political foe Amaechi of one thing or the other, was as usual unsparing in his criticism of those he believes are out to deprive him and his party of victory on Saturday. The rerun is a contest between Amaechi and Wike on who owns the state. Who is more popular between them? And in a free and fair election who will carry the day between them? In their days in PDP, they fought elections together and always won. But since their relationship became sour, they have personalised elections and other matters.

    In their characteristic manner, they want to use this rerun to prove a point about their strength. Their positions are reversed today. During the last general elections, Wike had federal might on his side because his party was then in power. Today Amaechi is enjoying federal might with his party in power in Abuja. Wike has been making noise all over the place for the fear that Amaechi, who was President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign chief, may use federal might against him.  Wike is used to having federal might on his side and deploying it in his use as we saw in the 2015 governorship election when former First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan relocated to the state to give him maximum support. He won hands down.

    Why should he now be afraid of the same federal might? Your guess is as good as mine. He knows that you cannot beat the federal might no matter how powerful you may be. Wike is afraid of being given a dose of his own medicine. He believes that he should cry out now in order to have something to hold on to if his party loses the election. There were governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states with minimal fuss. So, why has Wike suddenly turned megalomaniac over a rerun? He and others interested in the rerun should allow peace to reign so that the election will be free and fair. He is alleging that his life is in danger. The governor specifically accused the police of planning to kill him. What will the police gain by doing that? He has also accused INEC of planning to rig the election in favour of APC.

    The police and INEC have denied his allegations, describing them as unfounded and baseless. Police Commissioner Francis Odesanya said Wike lied about his claim that 200 policemen were withdrawn from the Government House, telling reporters : ‘’Go to the Government House, the policemen are there…if the governor said I have withdrawn his police personnel, then it is the work of an investigative journalist to find out the truth in the allegation…’’ In its reaction, INEC accused Wike of instigating violence ahead of the rerun. Wike should stop blowing hot over this election in order not to send the wrong signal to the outside world. He should, like other  politicians interested in the election,  work towards its peaceful conduct. There should be no room for trouble makers this time around in Rivers over this rerun. Enough of bloodshed during elections in that state.

    The police must provide adequate security for INEC workers, election monitors and voters. It is their job to ensure that everything goes well during the exercise in order not to give Wike and his ilk something to hold on to if anything goes wrong. They must see to it that trouble makers are kept at bay during the poll. Anything short of this, the police would have failed in their duty and also opened themselves to public scorn and ridicule. We cannot continue to lose precious lives to elections in Rivers. This cycle of bloodletting must stop.

     

    The NYSC way

    No matter how hard hearted a person may be, the story of the late Ifedolapo Oladepo will melt his heart. She was deployed in Kano for the one-year mandatory  National Youth Service. Ifedolapo left home hale and hearty. But on getting to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Camp in Kano, she took ill. Everything was said to have been done to save her life, but she died. Since her death, the social media has been abuzz, with many commentators blaming the NYSC for not doing enough to save her life. The NYSC has since denied that it was negligent in the handling of her case. It said it did all it could to save Ifedolapo. At a briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, NYSC Director-General Brig Gen Sule Kazaure said the camp doctors battled to save Ifedolapo’s life, all to no avail. The doctors probably did not know what the first class Transport Management graduate was suffering from beyond the rashes she complained of having on some parts of her body. The autopsy, according to the NYSC,  showed that she died of kidney infection. What happened to the medical test Corps members are expected to undergo before being allowed into camp? Did she do that test? What is the result? Perhaps, if the NYSC had known that she had such serious condition, it might have exempted her from service on health ground, to enable take care of herself. What has happened has happened. I hope that we have all learnt a lesson from this so as  to avert a recurrence in future.  My heart goes out to Ifedolapo’s family, especially her grandmother. May her soul rest in the bosom of the Lord.

  • Council poll: OYSIEC releases timetable

    Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) has released the timetable for the elections into the existing 33 local governments’ councils and the newly created 35 local council development authority (LCDAs) in the state for Saturday, February 11, 2017.

    The Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Jide Ajeigbe released the election timetable while addressing journalist in Ibadan yesterday.

    He said prospective candidates are expected to obtain nomination forms in respect of the election from the electoral officers at all local government areas not later than Wednesday, December 28, 2016.

    Ajeigbe said:” Commencement of campaign by political parties and conduct of party primaries by political parties will hold between November 16th to 19th, 2016. Collection of personal data form for candidates by political parties will hold from November 21st to 24th, 2016. Submission of personal data form for candidates by political parties comes up on November 28th to December 1st, 2016. Verification/Screening of Councillorship candidates will be held between December 9 to 10, 2016.

    “Delivery of list of qualified candidates to political parties by OYSIEC will hold on December 12, 2016. Appeals/Substitution of un-cleared candidates is held on December 14 to 16, 2016. Screening of substituted candidates by OYSIEC on December 20th to 22nd, 2016. Collection of nomination forms by all cleared candidates by December 26 to January 4, 2017. Submission of nomination form will take place on January 9 to January 11, 2017.

    “Publication of names of qualified candidates will hold on January 13, 2017. Submission of names and addresses of party agents to the commission will hold on January 16 to 25th, 2017. End of electioneering campaign will be February 10th, 2017”

    The OYSIEC boss stated that the run off and re-run election will hold on February 18th, 2017.

    He urged all stakeholders to give their support and cooperation to the commission in order to organise and conduct free, fair and credible election in the state.

  • Rivers’ inconclusive elections

    Rivers’ inconclusive elections

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed December 10 for the supplementary parliamentary polls in  Rivers State. The elections failed to hold on July 30 and last month because of insecurity in the  Southsouth state. BISI OLANIYI reports that the polls will be a supremacy battle between Governor Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi, the leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC).  

    Ahead of the supplementary parliamentary elections in Rivers State, the people are enveloped in anxiety. Twice, the rerun have been postponed. Although the electoral commission has fixed the polls for December 10, fears are rife that they may hold in an atmosphere of strife and rancour.

    In the last two years, Rivers has been described as a state of blood and brute force. The elections have paled into a supremacy battle between Governor Nyesom Wike of the People Democratic Party (PDP) and his predecessor, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transport and leader of the All Progressives Congress. Their supporters have started flexing muscles. Will the elections hold? Will they be conclusive?

     

    Tension between PDP and APC

    Trouble started in Rivers State when Amaechi and Wike parted ways, ahead of last year’s polls. Before the preparations for the elections, they used to be friends. Amaechi claimed that he was instrumental to Wike’s appointment as minister.

    Shortly after Wike settled down in Abuja as a minister, he oiled his governorship project, with the intention to succeed Amaechi, in spite of the fact that both of them are Ikwerre. Rivers is a multi-ethnic state. Amaechi was not comfortable with Wike’s ambition. He said it was at variance with the principles of justice, fairness and equity.

    The crisis between Amaechi and Wike deepened when they were still in the PDP. Wike formed the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI), a campaign outfit, for his governorship ambition. Amaechi and many PDP leaders later defected from the PDP to the APC. Following his defection, former President Goodluck Jonathan’s wife, Patience, who hails from Okrika, and Wike declared war against the former governor.

    Amaechi supported the former member of House of Representatives, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, who hails from the coastal Opobo, for governor. An aspirant, Senator Magnus Abe, from Bera-Ogoni, Gokana Council, was prevailed upon step down and vie for the Senate. Up to now, the senatorial election is inconclusive.

    The polls are expected to hold in 23 councils. In Rivers Southeast, the elections will hold in the four Ogoni councils. They are Khnana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme. They will also hold in Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni and Oyigbo.  In Rivers West, elections will hold in the three Kalabari councils-Toru, Asari-Toru and Degema. Others are Bonny, Ahoada East, Ahoada West, Abua/Odual and Ogba/Egbema. In Rivers East, the polls will hold in Port-Harcourt City, Obio/Akpor, Ikwerre, Emohua, Etche, Omuma, Okrika and Ogu/Bolo local governments.

    According to observers,  last year’s polls was rigged in Rivers State. The election was a war of sorts. There was an unprecedented violence, with the PDP chieftains basking in the euphoria of the federal might.

    Wike won the electoral battle at the apex court, but, according to observers, the moral burden stares the ruling party in the face, considering the fact that over one hundred innocent persons were murdered; many were maimed and valuable property were also destroyed.

    The Courts of Appeal in Abuja ordered the legislative rerun, which ought to hold within 60 days from the dates of the judgments. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) fixed March 19 for the polls. Following the announcement, hell was let loose. An atmosphere of insecurity pervaded the three senatorial districts. The polls were therefore, postponed.

    Later, the INEC fixed July 30 for the conclusion of the rerun. But, it was also postponed till October because the electoral commission’s office in Bori-Ogoni, the headquarters of Khan Council, was set ablaze by unknown persons on July 22. Now, the electoral agency has unfolded plans to conduct the supplementary polls on December 10.

    In the opinion of Wike, the botched rerun was a fallout of the grand conspiracy to rig the polls in favour of APC candidates. He wondered why the INEC, which successfully held elections in Sambisa forest, could not achieve the feat in Rivers State. He said that smacked of a negative plot against the Niger Delta state.

    The governor also claimed that the Amaechi administration, which spent eight years with huge resources accruing to the state, allegedly embezzled the money..

    Wike said: People want to illegally seize power in Rivers State. That is why you are hearing all these criticisms about poor performance and violence, cultism, kidnapping, militancy, armed robbery, sea piracy and other criminal activities. All these plots are meant to take Rivers State. Why do you want to take Rivers State, when it is not your own?

    “Between March 19 and now, they planned to do elections so that they can get the number of seats to impeach me and put their own man. Since March, everyday, they postpone the elections. From May to June, to July, August, then, September. They said October ending, still no election. Now, they say December 10 and when we get to December 10, they may shift it to next year.”

    The governor chided the INEC for avoiding the electoral duty in Rivers. He said: “Elections took place in Borno State. Elections took place in Yobe State. Elections took place in Adamawa State, where you have deadly insurgency. They were able to conduct elections and votes were counted. They were able to conduct elections in Sambisa forest and votes were counted. But, they cannot conduct elections here in Rivers State.”

    Wike said that the actions of INEC and its collaborators had denied Rivers State representation in the House of Assembly, the House of Representatives and the Senate. He added:: “The Senate will be discussing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). The Senators will be having the constitutional amendment and the state that produces the crude oil has no senator and cannot be part of the discussion. Nobody will defend Rivers State in the Senate.

    “Nigerians are not worried. Why? Rivers is a minority state.”

    Wike described Rivers as a peaceful state, compared to many states,, adding that the state had played host to many international and national conferences. He said once elections were approaching, desperate opposition politicians and their media collaborators would be fuelling negative propaganda about insecurity.

    Wike stressed that deliberate anti-development programmes had been slated against Rivers state, pointing out that the state had successfully overcome the plots.

    He said: “We are the only state that applied for bail-out funds, but they did not give to us. We are the only state where they started deducting our funds, when a loan facility has not been given to us.”

    Wike called on members of the PDP to remain focused and not to be bothered about the propaganda. He said the antics of the opposition will fail.

    However, Amaechi has objected to Wike’s claims, saying that he was behind the violence. He lamented that Rivers is now at a standstill because Wike is in the saddle.

    Also, Peterside, the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Rivers people were already tired of the PDP’s government. He chided the governor for the atmosphere of insecurity. The former governorship candidate the governor was afraid that the APC will triumph at the supplementary polls. He said many prominent indigenes have been defecting from the PDP to the APC to protest poor governance.

    Peterside, a former member of the House of Representatives, said: “The bad governance in Rivers State is telling on the people and they are aware that this government is not for them. The coming rerun and 2019 elections will prove that the government of Rivers State is not leading the people well.”

    Peterside, an ex-Rivers Commissioner for Works in the Amaechi’s administration, also berated the Wike for not maintaining the infrastructural facilities built by the Amaechi administration.

    The director-general of NIMASA said: “Wike cannot maintain the infrastructure Amaechi put on the ground. Look at the health centres, schools and the overseas scholarships, among others. Instead he (Wike) has introduced tax regime in secondary schools that are supposed to be free. Rivers state is indeed retrogressing.”

    Rivers APC Chairman Chief Davies Ikanya said PDP chieftains were not ready for the rerun, adding that they were trying to avoid the wrath of the electorate. But, his PDP counterpart, Chief Felix Obuah, alleged that APC members, especially the party’s candidates, were not prepared for the polls. He said they were afraid of a looming humiliation. Adding that they preferred the postponement as a face-saving device.

    Wike alleged that INEC was plotting to transplant the Edo State rigging model in Rivers. He said the plot would fail, stressing that the  people would resist them.

    He said: “Anyone planning to steal our mandate will be resisted. Nobody can intimidate us. They will rig themselves into the water. I hear that some persons are celebrating that they will repeat what they did in Edo State here in Rivers State.  Somebody who is suffering from malaria can say anything, but nobody will use the police to rig the rerun elections in Rivers State.

    “If you want to take our mandate by force, you will go by force. All the people of Rivers State must remain vigilant. INEC may want to take us unawares.”

    The APC chairman, however, said he was not surprised to hear Wike, making another wild accusation to the effect that he had uncovered imaginary plans by INEC to rig the rerun in favour of the APC.

    Ikanya said the tales coming from the governor fit perfectly into his usual past-time of trading on unfounded accusations, just to prepare the ground for launching electoral mischief.

    He said: “If indeed the governor is serious about his discovery and he was referring to the APC, when he made reference to the opposition, then we challenge him to make public his findings.

    “The APC believes that it is mere smokescreen by the Rivers governor to divert attention from his readiness to deploy from his unholy book of electoral mischief. APC is ready for him.”

    Ikanya called on the electoral commission not to be distracted by Wike’s diversionary tactics.

    He added: “INEC must ensure that every aspect of the forthcoming rerun elections in Rivers State is transparent and credible, to prove Wike wrong.”

    Ikanya said despite the militants and hoodlums dragged to Edo State to rig the governorship election and cause mayhem, the PDP’s candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, was defeated by Godwin Obaseki of the APC.

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Aniedi Ikoiwak, said that the electoral commission will not take sides with any political party. He assured that the rerun would be free, fair and credible.

    But, the question is: will politicians allow the polls to be free and fair?

  • How elections threaten democracies

    How elections threaten democracies

    Tell me, I may listen. Teach me, I may remember. Involve me, I will do it. – Chinese Proverb 

    There are likely to be major concerns by United States government officials who monitor and influence the growth and development of liberal democratic systems in developing democracies, over the impact of the comments of the Republican Party candidate in the November elections, Donald Trump, which question the integrity of US presidential elections, and his threats to reject the outcome if he loses. Even in the current context of an intensely-polarised atmosphere, the shock of Trumps’ near-sacrilege is deep. Those who thought Mr. Trump had exhausted his considerable capacity to shock and abuse all settled wisdom on presidential candidates and contests are having to move back a bit more to make room for his latest assault  on some hallowed values in American politics. In the unlikely event that he wins the elections, Trump would have been elected, by his own admission, through a rigged electoral process, but he will accept the outcome. If he loses, he will weigh his options in responding to losing in a rigged election, but he has not said those options include accepting the loss and moving on. If many familiar African politicians will not protest at the insult, you could almost say Trump will find good company among them.

    Mr. Trump’s journey to a historic point where he threatens to re-write elementary history of American politics belies a deeply worrying undercurrent that most Americans will wish the world not to notice. His long and eventful journey hugging the outrageous and the unseemly fringes of American politics has been made possible by its uncanny ability to tap into widespread divergence over America’s pluralism; its challenging positions in world security and the global economy; its history of efforts to set standards in dealing with racism, sexual politics and conduct of leaders; and its claims to leadership in the global progress and triumph of liberal democracy. Mr. Trump has landed a very heavy blow on what is normal in American democracy, whichever way his journey ends. Without any pretence to contributing to the quality of persons who become US presidents, he has also substantially exposed his opponent, Hilary Clinton, as a poor alternative in a nation which is still undecided over whether electing a two-term black president was progress or a glitch. Now he brings US politics to the levels that used to worry US diplomats in small, poor countries where politicians work at being elected while routinely preparing for heavily disputed results.

    Mr. Trump has raised the world’s stake in the outcome of the US presidential elections rather dramatically. If he loses and cries foul, his voice will reverberate across the globe as a verdict that will come to haunt the US in the global community. This will not be an argument over a dot or two on ballots and a presidency decided by a few thousand votes in Florida. He has prepared his grounds well, the way many politicians we are familiar with here in Africa do: work hard to discredit the electoral process even as you campaign to win through it. If he wins, he will substantially lower the moral threshold of a mature democracy that is vital in intervening and resolving election disputes, or shutting up aggrieved politicians who will rock the boat. A US led by a president who wins a rigged election, even if he commits to reforming the process, will find that the billions it spends in improving the integrity of electoral systems across the world will pay less dividend. Powerful nations like China and Russia, nations without the pretensions of operating squeaky-clean democracies may feel a little more comfortable partying with a US president willing to simultaneously operate at many levels.

    Elections represent the most vulnerable points for most developing democracies. In other words, political systems under which a huge portion of mankind lives, routinely expose them to periodic crises and stresses that threaten lives and livelihoods, and discourage the prospects that it could improve itself. Rigged elections and disputed results have been the most common causes for violence in most developing democracies. Widely contested or illegal transitions have stunted the growth and development of democratic values and institutions, governance structures, social and cultural inclusiveness and cohesion and the emergence of quality leadership. Leaders who emerge from rigged elections create more desperate oppositions, and then cling to power by rigging more elections to avoid the consequences of losing power to bitter and vengeful oppositions. Stolen mandates erode legitimacy, encourage resistance, including violent resistance, and the creation of desperately poor economies. Rigged and disputed elections have set back the gains made by most of Africa in eliminating military regimes, by replacing military dictators with leaders, whose elections are marked by massive bloodshed, alienated populations, civil wars and low intensity, prolonged conflicts between ethnic groups or regions. In West Africa alone, a handful of elections are being anticipated in the manner of a troubled pregnancy. In the US, a disputed election is most unlikely to go beyond the courts and the possibility of a few rednecks being arrested. In Africa, whole nations are threatened by electoral disputes.

    The US government’s role in facilitating the conduct of credible elections and a peaceful transition in Nigeria’s landmark elections of 2015 is without a parallel. From support for improving the capacity of INEC to conduct improved elections, to very involved interventions to ensure that the elections were credible and the results were uncontested, the US worked with respected Nigerians and Africans, the African Union, UK government, EU, and many more centres of global power to avoid a bigger crisis than one that followed the disputed 2011 elections. No  foreign nation had ever been as involved in our domestic affairs in peace time as the US was in the run-up to the elections of 2015.The targeting of President Jonathan and (the then General) Buhari to personally commit to accepting the result was intense, and not a few Nigerians resented the summoning of our President and his rival to Lagos by the US Secretary of State to Lagos to give personal assurances that they will accept outcomes of elections both suspected to contain in-built designs to rig them out. The pressure on Buhari was for a commitment that he would not encourage or support an uprising in the event that he lost. President Jonathan was put under pressure to commit to accept an outcome that looked increasingly like a historic defeat of an incumbent, an end to his party’s hegemony, and a worrying life dealing with consequences of this watch. Both gave commitments on the condition that the results were true reflections of popular will. With little to challenge the credibility of the elections, an incredible flurry of activities and energy was deployed towards getting the obvious loser, President Jonathan, to concede. The jury is still out over whether this has earned him a lifetime of freedom from all suspected and provable official transgressions. Other African leaders rigging their ways into perpetual stay or contemplating respect for popular ill are watching the Jonathan experiment and experience very closely.

    It may not get to a point where President Buhari picks his phone and advises Mr. Trump to submit to the verdict of the American electorate, but Nigerians should watch this important election in the US for many reasons. One of them is that our admiration for American democracy and its unique presidential system should be tampered by an acceptance that it does not necessarily put the best of its citizens in the Oval Office, and that it has not gone beyond some elementary limitations. Another is that in 2015, Nigerians and our friends in the global community raised the bar in the quality of our elections and a transition to elected administrations without the traditional spilling of copious blood. That bar must not be lowered in subsequent elections. Nigerian politicians with eyes on 2019 will be well advised to focus attention on winning popular support, as opposed to rigging their ways into power. If our citizens are spared the nightmare of being dragged into fights over elections, and politicians can focus on improving electoral acceptance because our elections are not part of our major problems, we can concentrate on building a nation that could address other fundamentals, such as reducing poverty and improving security.

  • The demon of inconclusive elections

    Since the advent of the current administration at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), it has conducted about 137 elections, 70 of which are end of tenure elections, whilst 11 are bye-elections. However, more than 13 of these elections are inconclusive.

    Before November 2015, ‘’Inconclusive Elections’’ was strange to our election lexicon. This demon gained prominence in the aftermath of theKogi State Gubernatorial Election of November 21, 2015. Since then, almost every other election conducted by the commission has been bedevilled with inconclusiveness.

    This has in no small way eroded the confidence of the electorate in the electioneering system. This leaves one to wonder what happened to electioneering process especially since the 2015 general elections were declared nationally and internationally as a free, fair and credible. The elections not only entrenched the nation’s democracy,it reinforced the international community’s faith in Nigeria and in her democracy.

    And now, to worsen the confidence of the electorate in the ability of the commission to deliver the nation from the pangs of inconclusive elections, INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubuwas reportedin some newspapers onAugust 20as saying that it is very doubtful that the commission would be able to guarantee conclusive elections in 2019.

    Before the 2015 General Elections, the Western World had prophesied the disintegration of Nigeria by 2015. As it turned out, theelectionwas smooth and the outcome fostered peace and unity in Nigeria contrary to the pessimistic predictions of the West. Nigeria thus became an example and indeed a legacy for all emerging economies, especially that the Presidential Electionresulted in a change of government(change of political party), without violence and without election litigation. Going by the statement by the INEC boss, this achievement might be short-lived if the emerging trend of inconclusive elections is not reversed. In fact it might mean that in 2015, Nigeria merely postponed the evil day till 2019. It might mean that in 2019, the nation will enact the evil prophecy of its disintegration caused by inconclusive elections and attendantreactions of violence, anarchy and civil unrest.

    The above underscores the danger posed by the release of the demon of inconclusive elections in Nigeria. It must be arrested and completely annihilated from our election jurisprudence before 2019 and desirably before the forthcoming elections in Edo and Ondo states.

    Since the KogiState gubernatorial election opened the floodgates to the demon of inconclusive election, it is important that we lend our voice on the illegality of the declaration by the commission that the said election was inconclusive (this is notwithstanding the fact that the matter is currently in court, the essence of this communication is to advise and guide the commission for future exercises).  It is important to state at the outset that the laws of Nigeria empowers the commission to make subsidiary legislations through guidelines, but such guidelines are never intended to supersede the constitution. The commission conducted election in Kogi State on November 21 and APC scored 240,867 votes, whilst PDP came second with 199,514 votes, making a difference of 41,353 votes. APC had won in 16 Local Government Areas in the state and whilst PDP won in the remaining five. Election was declared inconclusive nonetheless because the total number of registered voters in 91 Polling Units in 18 Local Government Areas was 49,953 voters.

    The commission relied on Page 22-23 paragraph 4, M of its Guideline 2015, which states that where the margin of votes between two leading candidates is not in excess of the total number of registered voters of the polling unit where the elections were cancelled or not held, decline to make a return until another poll has taken place and the result incorporated into a new form EC8D and record into FORM EC8D for declaration and Return. It was after INEC Returning Officer (RO) declared the election inconclusive that the announcement of Prince Abubakar Audu’s unfortunate demise was announced. Both the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999as Amended and the Electoral Act 2010 as Amended talks about death after election but before swearing in and death after nomination but before election. No provision for death after conclusion of election but before declaration of winner. In determining who has been validly returned in an election, INEC must consider Section 179 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and Section 26,47,68,69 and 70 of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended. Unfortunately, despite the circumstance, the commission invoked its Guideline despite the above provisions especially 179 Constitution which APC and Prince Abubakar Audu had fulfilled.

    It is common knowledge that when voting takes place in an election, it does so on the basis of the accredited potential voters, Not all registered voters have Permanent Voters Cards, not all Voters with Permanent Voters Card will show up on the day of election for accreditation or voting, not all of them will accredit, not all of them will even vote after accreditation. Elections are won based on number of accredited voters who ended up voting, thus the number of registered voters is too far from the number of persons who actually vote. The basis of determining whether election should be declared inconclusive would have at best been the total number of accredited voters in the affected areas, since accreditation had already taken place. With due respect to the INEC chairman, declaring the election inconclusive because of 49,953 registered voters(majority of whom had no intention of voting) is a numerical pretext, this is because out of the 1,379,971 registered voters in Kogi State, only 511,648 voters accredited. Which means only a minute fraction of the 49,953 registered voters (far less than the number of difference between APC and PDP) would have voted and in any case, all of them cannot even vote for a particular candidate. Thus, if the commission had considered the margin between the two leading candidates in relationto number of accredited voters and not registered voters in the affected areas, it would have had no difficulty in declaring APC/Audu winner of the election in accordance with the procedure prescribed in Section 181 Constitution.

    In the circumstance, the draconian Guideline of INEC is thirsty for a review for the sake of the peace and unity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The total number of accredited voters or number of voters with PVC is the appropriate basis for invoking the said provision.

    Furthermore, Supplementary Election in the circumstance in Kogi State is alien to the Constitution and the Electoral Act. This is because, Supplementary Election can only be ordered by a Tribunal or Court after a partial nullification of election result. The Nigerian Law envisages only four kinds of elections: (i) General Election; (ii) Bye Election;(iii) Fresh or Rerun Election;(iv) Run-off Election;(Second Ballot or third Ballot). In FAYEMI V ONI (2009) 7 NWLR (PT. 1140) 223 @ 292-293, supplementary election was defined as a complementary election ordered by Court upon voiding of a portion or part of the whole or total result of an election. In ordering the election, the portion of the election not voided is saved and validated and an election is ordered in that part. For the commission to declare the Kogi gubernatorial polls of November 21, 2015 inconclusive and for it to declare a supplementary election unilaterally despite Section 179 CFRN 1999,AND 26,47,68,69 AND 70 Electoral Act is an unconscionable electoral illicitness. Section 26 of the Electoral Act does not even envisage a postponement of the election indefinitely as done by INEC in recent times.

    The commission must not only be an unbiased umpire, but must be seen and perceived by the vast majority to be an unbiased one. As INEC prepares for the Edo and Ondo elections, we implore the commission to reverse the trend of inconclusive elections in Nigeria. Inconclusive elections are imminent threats to democracy.

     

    • MessrsIbrahim &Nwosu are of Vanguard for Sustainable Democracy and Good Governance, Abuja.