Is President Goodluck Jonathan utilising effectively the opportunities available to him to ensure that his re-election bid sails through seamlessly? Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI looks at the President’s campaign vis-à-vis that of his main challenger, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
With the general elections about two weeks away, the campaigns are in full swing. The competition to occupy the moral high ground is intense. This is not unexpected; elections and campaigns are noisy enterprises. But, the campaign for next month’s general elections is assuming a worrisome dimension because the candidates are not addressing the issues. The two major political parties — the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) — may have been paying lip service to running an issue-based campaign, but for most part they have been abusing each other and heating up the polity.
Diversionary tactics
Indeed, the PDP has been criticised by many observers for what have been described as a diversionary tactics; to shift away the focus of the campaign from the burning issues, such as corruption in high places, the insurgency in the Northeast, the inability of the government to rescue abducted Chibok school girls, unemployment and the fate of the power roadmap.
The APC has been making an effort to focus on issues. Judging from the messages filtering to the public, its campaign appears to be more focused, specifically on the issue of fighting corruption, tackling the insurgency and giving the country a new direction generally.
The same cannot be said for the ruling PDP. For most part, the party’s campaign has been focused more on the personality of the APC standard bearer, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, than anything else. Initially, it was the allegation of religious bigotry and plan of islamising Nigeria that was on the front burner of the campaign. Later, attention shifted to Buhari’s age, his health and capacity to function in a modern economy. Now, Gen. Buhari and the APC presidential campaign team are being compelled to focus on the issue of the candidate’s educational qualification.
Besides, the campaign posters, billboards and newspaper advertisements of President Jonathan appear to lack coordination and focus, compared to that of his major opponent in the election. According to experts, the content of the campaign communication materials suggest that they do not pass through a central coordinating authority or clearing house, as expected in a campaign of this nature.
Smear campaign
In particular, it is generally believed that the advertisement by the Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose last week, suggesting that Buhari could die in office, is politically damaging to the President’s re-election bid. It has been widely condemned as insensitive. The advert suggested that Buhari could die in office, as was the case with three former Nigerian leaders from the Northwest geo-political zone. Two days after the advert appeared in two national dailies, the National Human Rights Commission carpeted Fayose and a Roman Catholic Priest, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, who had earlier used his pulpit to preach politically partisan messages, saying they contravened provisions of the Electoral Act prohibiting the use of hate speech in campaigns.
The commission, through its chairman, Dr. Chidi Odinkalu, said the recent advertorial sponsored by Fayose and Mbaka’s comments on candidates constituted hate speeches barred by sections 95 to 102 of the Electoral Act. Odinkalu added: “Father Mbaka has violated the Electoral Act twice with his comments first in favour of President Jonathan and the second in favour of Gen. Buhari. Section 92 to 102 prohibits hate speeches. It prohibits the use of religious places for political campaigns.”
Buhari under attack
Buhari has come under attack as an ex-military Head of State for seizing power from a democratically-elected government in December 1983. For the PDP, it is perhaps a case of a leopard and its spots. The party, which has been in power since 1999, has been whipping up the politics of fear, harking back to the days of the former army general’s crackdown on corruption and indiscipline. “No matter how many pretty robes you wear, once a tyrant, always a tyrant,” one PDP newspaper advertisement said, with photos of Buhari in military uniform, a dinner jacket and ethnic attire. Others evoked the fear of jailing political opponents or his muzzling of the media during his 20 months in power. Whether the tactic will pays off for the PDP remains to be seen.
But, for political observers, the standard of the campaign is a worrying development, arguing that it does little to help enhance already shaky confidence in the country’s leaders. “I think it has a negative impact on the political process and citizens aren’t able to see the quality of people running for election,” said Clement Nwankwo, Director of the Policy and Legal Advisory Centre, a pro-democracy group. “What they see are personal attacks, falsehoods and political smearing… that has not elevated the debate,” he noted. For Nwankwo, the APC has fallen into a PDP trap by responding to the claims, instead of rebutting the allegations by continually questioning the government’s achievements.
Dapo Thomas, a lecturer at the Lagos State University, called it a “gutter campaign” borne out of fear in the PDP that it could lose power for the first time in 16 years. The electorate may be able to see through it, he suggested, particularly as some of the issues had not been raised on the three previous occasions that Buhari contested the presidential election. “They (the PDP) have seen the writing on the wall,” he added.
The President committed a monumental blunder at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos, when he flagged off his campaign, by not seizing the opportunity to explain to Nigerians the reasons why they have not started feeling the positive impact of his Transformation Agenda and what he intends to do, if re-elected. Rather than focusing on issues, he chose to take a swipe at past administrations, including that of his major opponent, for poorly equipping the military. This is in addition to indicting his generation for failing to do something to contribute to the development of Nigeria. In what seems like a clear failure of anger management for a public figure, the President has been hurling invectives in all directions.
Missing link
Even, supporters of the President are not happy over the way his re-election campaign is being prosecuted. The mood at the President’s interactive forum with the organized private sector and leaders of professional bodies last Sunday suggests that his re-election bid is losing steam. The impression that assailed many observers at the event is that the problem of the administration is that of poor perception by the public and that the problem is self-inflicted. Some of President Jonathan’s ministers were on hand to reel out achievements of the administration, which are to some extent verifiable. They include the Minister of Finance and the Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Petroleum Resources Mrs. Diezani Allison-Maduekwe, Minister of Agriculture Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, Minister of Trade and Investment Dr. Olusegun Aganga and Minister of Works Mr. Mike Onolememem. The ministers tried desperately to convince the audience that the administration has posted a scintillating performance in the last four years.
But, given the achievements that were enumerated, the missing link, as pointed out by the Managing Director of Emzor Pharmaceuticals Limited Mrs. Stella Okoli, is communication. The impression was that those in charge of the government’s publicity are not doing a good job of it. The thrust of the achievements is that the administration has succeeded in diversifying the economy, as the recent rebasing suggested. In his response to the comment, President Jonathan admitted that his administration may not have done enough in terms of publicity. His words: “If I tell you the number of times that my ministers appeared on television to showcase what the administration is doing, you won’t believe it. But, still it doesn’t penetrate. Probably, they are using more of television; we must find a way of doing this, so that people would know what government is doing.”
Lack of articulation
It was also obvious at the interactive forum, which was well attended by many captains of industries, that the President did not equally live up to his promise of holding such forum with the corporate world as regularly as he had promised. Jonathan acknowledged this by apologizing to the house that he could not sustain the interaction, which was supposed to take place quarterly. The Corporate Forum’s evening with President Jonathan, which also doubled as a fund-raising event, was almost a desperate plea by the ruling party to secure the backing of the private sector. Captains of industries that graced the occasion include Oba Otudeko, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Mr. Femi Otedola, Mr. Jim Ovia and Mr. Atedo Peterside.
In terms of their manifestoes and programmes, observers say there is no much difference the PDP and the APC; as they are still preoccupied by what has been described as “infrastructural democracy”, which focuses on the provision of roads, power, education, healthcare, housing and the like. For instance, oil industry operators have taken a swipe at the presidential aspirants, saying that electioneering campaigns are not issue based, but more of mud sliding.
Vote of no confidence
Some of the operators expressed dissatisfaction that Nigerians are being taken for granted, as the aspirants are not identifying specific policies that will save the oil-dependent Nigerian economy from doom in the light of current realities of sliding oil prices. One of such respondents, the Managing Director/Chief Executive of Frontier Oil and Gas, Mr. Dada Thomas, said, “I’ve watched and listened to all the campaigns by the presidential aspirants in the different regions, and I’ve not seen or heard any issue based campaign from any of them.”
He added: “Such a development is a shame because what the private sector operators and Nigerians want to hear are: what are the issue, problems and challenges; what are the solutions and what we are going to do from level 1 to level 2; and what is the time bound for effecting these solutions? But they are not saying anything, and are busy attacking their personalities. Is this what Nigerians want to hear, or the aspirants saying that Nigerians do not understand the issues affecting their daily lives?”
While acknowledging that the campaigns are not issue-based, the President, Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), Mr. Chikwe Edoziem, noted that the aspirants are playing safe by concentrating more on common place issues that will appeal to the electorates. He said: “Nobody is making any economic comments or in deed any comment on the industry (oil and gas), which is the bedrock of the economy in the light of global developments. Rather, they talk about roads and other basic infrastructures which is taken for granted in other climes that the common man can relate to.”
Edoziem, however, blamed the trend on lack of understanding, saying, “They (the aspirants) are not saying anything possibly because none of them is well grounded on economic operations, and may want to stick to what they know.” Nevertheless, a confrontation on the economy would become inevitable for all the contestants, especially Buhari and Jonathan, when they square up to each other face-to-face, to tell Nigerians how they intend to implement their party manifestoes.
