The Nation Newspaper

Tag: parties

  • Deregistering political parties

    SIR: I read with delight that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) intends to deregister some political parties.  Most of the so-called political parties are merely social clubs.  There is nothing political about them.  It was an error, in the first place, to register them as political parties.  Political parties are based on ideologies of Right (capitalist), Left (socialist) and Centre.

    If asked to show the difference between their parties and those which were registered earlier, most of them would not be able to show any.  And if they cannot show the differences, why not join them?

    With fewer political parties, it will be easier for the INEC to exercise the oversight function on political parties, and the burden on INEC to make tape-like ballot papers, in order to capture symbols of political parties will ease.  The task of the electorates to search for the symbol of the party of their choice will be removed.  Most of these so-call political parties are never heard of and their symbols not known until they are seen on the ballot paper.

    After deregistering the social clubs which have been given status as political parties, INEC should ensure that only political associations which can show evidence in their papers that they are different by ideologies from the existing political parties are registered.  Applicants merely giving themselves different or new names and picking different symbols should not be considered for registration as a political party.  Freedom of association enshrined in our Constitution should not be used to indiscriminately register an association as a political party

     

    • Dr. Joseph T. Orkar,

    Ankpa Road G.R.A., Makurdi

  • Bayelsa Speaker rigged, parties allege

    The Bayelsa State chapters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Alliance for Democracy (AD) yesterday alleged that House of Assembly Speaker Kombowei Benson rigged the elections in Southern Ijaw Constituency 4.

    Benson, who hails from Korokorosie, is the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    But the Speaker has denied the allegation.

    The parties, at a protest in Yenagoa, the state capital, said materials meant for most  wards were diverted to the Speaker’s home by his security aides.

    They alleged that the results for most wards were written in Benson’s home under heavy security and sent to the Collation Centre.

    State APC Chairman Tiwe Oruminighe said besides Koluama, there were no elections in other communities.

    He alleged that materials for Fropa Ward 14, Apoi Ward 15 and Kubie Ward 6 were taken to the Speaker’s home in Korokorosie.

    Following alleged widespread manipulation, Oruminighe said he reported the Speaker’s actions to Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Baritor Kpagih.

    The APC chairman said the REC admitted receiving complaints of diversion of materials and referred him to the Electoral officer in the area.

    He said the Electoral officer, despite accepting that materials were diverted, did not take action.

    Oruminighe added that when APC agents visited Korokorosie to assess the situation, they were denied access to the community by security operatives, who barricaded the area with gunboats.

    The party chairman also said the Collation Centre was arbitrarily moved from Ward 4 to Oporoma by the Electoral officer.

    He said: “They didn’t allow us to enter the Collation Centre. One of our party men was shot. He is in the hospital. If you saw the video of what happened, you would think it was a war front. I don’t have confidence in the INEC I met at Oporoma.”

    Oruminighe urged INEC to cancel the elections and order a fresh poll.

    The APC chairman stressed that the party would not accept anything short of a new election in the affected areas.

    Also, the Campaign Director of the AD candidate, Mr. Etimifa Stephen, decried the irregularities in the elections and called for cancellation.

    He said: “There was real election in Koluama Ward, but my agents told me there was no election in other wards. People waited in vain to vote for their candidate.

    “At Ward 3, the Speaker’s ward in Korokorosie, materials were taken to the Speaker’s home. The materials for Fropa were taken to the Speaker’s ward. At Apoi community, the Speaker’s aides hijacked election materials.”

    But Benson said since his home was not a polling unit, it could not have been used for thumb-printing ballot papers.

    “To the best of my knowledge, the election went on well till the point of collation,” he said.

    he Bayelsa State chapters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Alliance for Democracy (AD) yesterday alleged that House of Assembly Speaker Kombowei Benson rigged the elections in Southern Ijaw Constituency 4.

    Benson, who hails from Korokorosie, is the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    But the Speaker has denied the allegation.

    The parties, at a protest in Yenagoa, the state capital, said materials meant for most  wards were diverted to the Speaker’s home by his security aides.

    They alleged that the results for most wards were written in Benson’s home under heavy security and sent to the Collation Centre.

    State APC Chairman Tiwe Oruminighe said besides Koluama, there were no elections in other communities.

    He alleged that materials for Fropa Ward 14, Apoi Ward 15 and Kubie Ward 6 were taken to the Speaker’s home in Korokorosie.

    Following alleged widespread manipulation, Oruminighe said he reported the Speaker’s actions to Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Baritor Kpagih.

    The APC chairman said the REC admitted receiving complaints of diversion of materials and referred him to the Electoral officer in the area.

    He said the Electoral officer, despite accepting that materials were diverted, did not take action.

    Oruminighe added that when APC agents visited Korokorosie to assess the situation, they were denied access to the community by security operatives, who barricaded the area with gunboats.

    The party chairman also said the Collation Centre was arbitrarily moved from Ward 4 to Oporoma by the Electoral officer.

    He said: “They didn’t allow us to enter the Collation Centre. One of our party men was shot. He is in the hospital. If you saw the video of what happened, you would think it was a war front. I don’t have confidence in the INEC I met at Oporoma.”

    Oruminighe urged INEC to cancel the elections and order a fresh poll.

    The APC chairman stressed that the party would not accept anything short of a new election in the affected areas.

    Also, the Campaign Director of the AD candidate, Mr. Etimifa Stephen, decried the irregularities in the elections and called for cancellation.

    He said: “There was real election in Koluama Ward, but my agents told me there was no election in other wards. People waited in vain to vote for their candidate.

    “At Ward 3, the Speaker’s ward in Korokorosie, materials were taken to the Speaker’s home. The materials for Fropa were taken to the Speaker’s ward. At Apoi community, the Speaker’s aides hijacked election materials.”

    But Benson said since his home was not a polling unit, it could not have been used for thumb-printing ballot papers.

    “To the best of my knowledge, the election went on well till the point of collation,” he said.

     

  • Parties kick as PDP wins Bayelsa Assembly seats

    Major parties in Bayelsa State yesterday rejected the results of last Saturday’s House of Assembly elections in which the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates won in most of the constituencies.

    The Labour Party (LP), the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) called for the cancellation of the elections in some constituencies.

    But the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the PDP candidates winners in most of the constituencies where elections were conducted.

    The results signed by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Baritor Koagih, showed that PDP candidates – Abraham Ingobere, (Brass Constituency III); Ololo Ben (Nembe I);Ingo Iwowari (Nembe II) and Obiene Iniyobiyo (Nembe III) won.

    Other PDP candidates declared victorious are: Mitema Obodor (Ogbia I); Naomi Ogoli (Ogbia II); Salo Adikumo (Sagbama III); Monday Obolo (Southern Ijaw II); Daniel Igali (Southern Ijaw III) and Speaker Konbowei Benson (Southern Ijaw IV).

    Others declared winners are: Parkinson Markmanuel (Yenagoa I); Mrs. Ebiuwou Obiyai (Yenagoa II) and Gentle Emelah (Yenagoa III).

    There was no election in Brass Constituency II, following the insistence of some youths to see the ward collation results sheets before accreditation.

    The election in Ogbia Constituency Two was declared inconclusive.

    It was gathered that in Yenagoa I, the election was characterised by alleged intimidation and arrest of APGA’s candidate.

    LP’s candidate Joseph Ogbe urged INEC to cancel the Assembly elections.

    Ogbe said the election was marred by violence, intimidation, harassment and threats to voters, especially in Nembe I.

    He said: “I can authoritatively tell you that elections did not take place due to the activities of uniformed men and thugs.

    Ogbe said accreditation started peacefully until about 2pm when soldiers, mobile policemen and thugs invaded the area and beat up LP agents and some voters who insisted on staying and casting their votes.

    He said: “In the creeks of Nembe, which has 61 polling units out of 98 units, soldiers, policemen and thugs carried away electoral materials, including ballot boxes, after accreditation had taken place.

    “They went from one community to another, carrying away electoral materials. Nobody was allowed to vote…”

     

  • Parties sign peace accord in Kebbi

    The Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Zone 10, Alhaji Bala Hassan, has read the riot act to political parties to steer away from violence. He has also made the parties to sign a peace accord.

    Hassan warned that the police will take necessary measures within the armbit of the law to deal with trouble makers during the general elections to ensure that a harmonious and conducive atmosphere prevails during and after the exercise.

    The new Commissioner of Police, Danladi Mshelbwala said that it was imperative that the peace accord should be replicated at the state level.

    He urged politicians to refrain from campaigns that will promote ethno-religious sentiments.

    Mshelbwala also warned them against making any public statement and pronouncement that could spark-off violence and  speeches ,which have the capacity to incite any form of violence before, during and after the 2015 elections.

    “Refrain from any act of thuggery ,destruction of bill boards , tearing of posters , injuries to persons , vandalization and burning of valuable property, provocative utterances and oppose all acts of electoral violence, whether perpetuated by your followers or opponents,” he added.

    The police boss also  advised them to channel their grievances to the appropriate law enforcement agents and desist from taking the law into their hands.

  • 19 parties sign peace deal

    Nineteen political parties in Ondo State yesterday signed a peace accord. The parties include: Accord; Action Alliance (AA); African Democratic Congress (ADC); African Peoples Alliance (APA); Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN); Alliance for Democracy (AD); All Progressives Congress (APC); Citizen Popular Party (CPP); Hope Democratic Party (HDP); Kowa Party (KP) and Labour Party (LP)

    Others are Mega Progressives People Party (MPPP); National Conscience Party (NCP); Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN); Progressives Peoples Alliance (PPA); Social Democratic Party (SDP); United Democratic Party (UDP) and United Progressives Party (UPP).

    Police Commissioner Isaac Eke described peace as the bedrock upon which democracy thrives in the world.

    He said no credible leadership could emerge in an atmosphere of rancour, violence and chaos.

    Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Segun Agbaje hailed the parties for abiding by the rules and regulations guiding the electoral laws.

    Governor Olusegun Mimiko said politicians’ actions before, during and after the elections were major determinants to peaceful elections.

    Mimiko, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Kola Ademujimi, implored parties to be sportsmanly by accepting whoever wins the election, most especially if the conduct of such election is credible.

  • Jonathan belongs to all parties, says Wike

    Jonathan belongs to all parties, says Wike

    Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate Nyesom Wike has said President Goodluck Jonathan belongs to all political parties.

    Speaking yesterday during a Special Thanksgiving Service at the Omega Power Ministries (OPM) in Port Harcourt to mark the successful hosting of President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign rally at Adokiye Amesimaka Stadium, Wike said by virtue of his office, Jonathan could not be stopped from using public facilities.

    He said it was un-Christianly for Governor Rotimi Amaechi to have denied Jonathan the use of the Amesimaka Stadium.

    The Rivers State PDP governorship candidate noted that it was imperative that the governor was taught a lesson on decent politicking.

    He said: “President Jonathan is a President of all Nigerians. He is not a President of a political party; therefore, he cannot be stopped from using a stadium built with public funds.

    “There is need to de-emphasise negative politicking. We are here to thank God for the successfully hosting of President Jonathan. We express gratitude for the multitude and the fact that we recorded no casualty.”

    He urged Rivers people to vote Jonathan and himself. Wike appealed to them to also vote for PDP candidates during the elections.

    Wike declared that he would grant OPM their building permit and certificate of occupancy.

    He said his incoming administration would sign the certificate of occupancy of all non indigenes and grant traders business grants.

    Wike said he is a full time Christian with no relationship with cultism.

    The General Overseer of OPM, Apostle Chibuzor, called on members and their families to pray for Wike to emerge the next governor of Rivers State.

    He also asked the church to pray for Jonathan’s re-election.

  • How far can smaller parties go?

    How far can smaller parties go?

    Aside from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), other registered political parties are weak, regional-based and lack the capacity to win presidential elections. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the role of the fringe parties in the general elections.

    Going by the 1999 Constitution, Nigeria operates a multi-party system. There are as many as 30 political parties in the country, but many of them exist only on paper. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had proscribed some parties for failing to win a single seat at the local government, state and the National Assembly. In spite of this, the number of political parties in the country remains unwieldy.

    At the close of submission of nomination papers for next month’s presidential election, only 11 of the 30 registered political parties fielded candidates for the contest. Many of them would not contest for seats in the various states’ House of Assemblies and in the National Assembly. Analysts are of the view that most of the fringe parties were sponsored by the ruling party to weaken the political strength of its major opponent in the opposition strongholds. Another reason suggested for the growing number of mushroom parties is the economic factor. Leaders of such parties, it is said, are not interested in contesting or winning elections, but in the grants paid registered political parties by INEC.

    Most of the fringe parties are going into the forthcoming general elections as allies of the two major political parties, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC). Some of them will present candidates in places where they have some measure of influence, while supporting the presidential candidates of either the PDP or the APC.

    For instance, parties like the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), the Labour Party (LP), the Accord Party, the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Progressive Party of Nigeria (PPN) may have adopted President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP as their presidential candidate. On the other hand, the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), which is mainly populated by the loyalists of the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has also queued behind the APC standard bearer, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

     

    UPN

    The founder of the Yoruba militant group, the Odua Peoples’ Congress (OPC), Dr Fredrick Fasheun has attempted to resuscitate the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) founded by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the Second Republic. The old UPN was the dominant party in the Southwest during that era. The party was embraced by the Yorubas and other progressives across the country because of its welfare programmes and the integrity of the late sage. The calculation was that the party robed in Awo’s image would elicit automatic support in the Southwest. Given the subsisting political and economic relationship between the leadership of UPN and the PDP-controlled Federal Government, many suspect that the UPN was registered to undermine the influence of the APC in the Southwest. However, Fasehun had denied that there is any link between his party and the ruling PDP.

    But, the position of the party became clear when Fasheun announced at the party’s convention that it had adopted President Jonathan as its presidential candidate. Hitherto, the body language of Fasheun had suggested that the UPN is rooting for Jonathan’s re-election bid. He didn’t hide his preference for Jonathan and disdain for the APC presidential candidate when he said:

    “No doubt, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari is a man of history, but Dr Goodluck Jonathan is equally a man of history. But, on which part of history do these two personalities stand? It has nothing to do with the calling and profession of these two men, one being an academic, a doctorate degree holder and a lecturer in a tertiary institution. The other is a retired General and former Military Head of State who seized power through a military coup in 1983. But, obviously as there are worthless scholars, so there are wicked Generals, and noble Generals abound in the barracks even as excellent academics flock the ivory tower. But, each man chooses his own path, and the cloak does not make the monk.

    “General Buhari has often been painted as the messiah Nigerians have been waiting for. This is turning truth and logic on the head. For the avoidance of doubt, General Muhammadu Buhari is not the saviour Nigerians have been waiting for. The truth is that under Buhari’s “holier-than-thou” facade lurks a smelly throat of evil.”

    However, the fledging UPN is embroiled in internal crisis. The crisis got to a head when Faseheun was suspended by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) who alleged that he involved in anti-party activities and that he also ran the party as personal estate.

     

    SDP

    The SDP was one of the two political parties floated by government in the aborted Third Republic, as part of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida’s transition to civil rule programme. The SDP manifesto is similar to that of the old UPN. This explained why it was embraced by the Awoists and other progressives in the country. It was on the platform of the SDP that the late business mogul, late Chief M.K.O. Abiola contested the 1993 presidential election, which was believed to have been won by him. But, the Babangida regime annulled the election. Like the old UPN, the SDP was also dominant in the Southwest.

    Probably to whip up sentiments in the Southwest, the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organization Afenifere, in its voyage for political relevance, sponsored the formation and registration of the SDP proscribed by the General Sani Abacha regime in 1993. The party, like the UPN, was floated by the socio-cultural group to whittle down the influence of the APC in the Southwest and provide platform for the aggrieved governorship aspirants of other parties. The party has succeeded in this mission, because it is sure of fielding governorship candidates in Ogun and Oyo. The Olusegun Osoba group that pulled out of the APC in Ogun State have defected to the SDP and has resolved to contest elective offices on the party’s platform. Similarly, the fallout out of the PDP governorship primary in Oyo State has turned out to be a blessing for the SDP. One of aspirants, Seyi Makinde, has defected to the SDP and was offered automatic ticket to contest February 28 governorship election.

    Afenifere chieftain Chief Supo Shonibare confirmed that the group is supporting the SDP candidates in the general elections. But, the party is not fielding candidates in the presidential election. Which of the two major candidates will it endorse? Another party stalwart asked: “You don’t expect us to cast our votes for APC? Do you? The only option left to us is to support the PDP to ensure victory for President Jonathan on February 14.”

    Meanwhile, civil rights activist, Mr. Richard Akinola has challenged the registration of both the SDP and the UPN by the INEC at the Federal High Court, Abuja. The plaintiff is asking the court to nullify the registration of the two parties for having been proscribed and dissolved by existing laws.

     

    APGA

    The party was founded by the Biafran warlord, Ikemba Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, essentially to create a political platform for the Igbos, his ethnic group. It has remained a regional party; winning elections in only two states in the Southeast. The party’s identity remained intact until the demise of Ikemba, when Peter Obi, who was governor of Anambra State on the platform of the party, started flirting with President Jonathan and PDP leaders. Shortly after the expiration of his tenure, Obi eventually dumped the Southeast-based party and embraced the PDP.

    His defection has led to acrimonious relationship between him and his successor, Governor Willy Obiano and other party chieftains. Obi hinged his defection on the need to assist the president’s re-election bid.

    In spite of their opposition to Obi’s defection, the leaders of APGA have enjoined their supporters to vote for President Jonathan in the presidential election. The party is fielding candidates for the National Assembly, the House of Assembly in Anambra and other Southeast states.

     

    LP

    The defection of Governor Olusegun Mimiko from the Labour Party to the PDP may have done incalculable damage to the party, which used to be the ruling party in Ondo State. The Labour Unions, the National Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), who were the founders of the party, were jolted by Mimiko’s defection. Mimiko had defected from the PDP to the LP in 2007 to contest against the then sitting governor, the late Chief Olusegun Agagu. He was declared winner by the election petition tribunal after a protracted litigation. Mimiko sought re-election again in 2012 on the LP platform and won. It was thereafter that his romance with the Presidency and the PDP bigwigs came into the open. His defection was not a surprise. He is believed to have gone back to where he belongs.

    Mimko, like Obi, has thrown his weight behind President Jonathan’s re-election bid. He has directed members of his government and supporters to follow suit by voting for the PDP candidate. In fact, Mimiko is the PDP Presidential Campaign Co-ordinator in the Southwest. The Ondo governor said he and his supporters have crossed over to the PDP to enhance the party’s fortune in the state.

     

    PDM

    The party was a political pressure group founded by late Major General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua to realise his political ambition. Unfortunately, the General died in detention during the regime of late General Sani Abacha. But, his political associates like former Vice President Atiku Abukar keeps oiling the political machinery of their leader. The PDM was never registered as a party. It remained a political pressure group wielding enormous influence.

    But, last year, some members of the PDM applied to INEC for its registration as a political party and the commission obliged, since the association had met all conditions for registration. Many still believe that Atiku masterminded its registration, so that it would serve as alternative platform for him to contest presidential election this year, if other options fail. But, so far, this has been proved wrong.

     

    Accord

    To all intents and purposes, the Accord Party is one-man party based in Oyo State. Its National Leader Alhaji Rashidi Ladoja served as governor of Oyo State between 2003 and 2007 on the platform of the PDP. He was shut out of the PDP governorship primary in 2007 by the strongman of Ibadan politics, the late Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu. Hence Ladoja formed Accord Party to contest the governorship election in 2007 and 2011. But, he lost on both occasions. The First Lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan had prevailed on the Oyo chapter of the PDP to allow Ladoja to return to the fold and to accept him as consensus candidate to enhance the party’s chances of winning governorship election in the state. But, the aspirants rejected the move. Ladoja is the 2015 Accord governorship candidate.

     

    PPN

    Progressive Party of Nigeria was floated by the former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel to enable his political son Gboyega Nasiru Isiaka contest the 2011 governorship election. The parallel congress conducted by the PDP in Ogun in 2011 produced two governorship candidates, Isiaka and Major Adetunji Olurin. However, INEC upheld the congress that produced Olurin. So, the PPN was a child of necessity to provide a platform for Isiaka. The party came third in the 2011 governorship race. It also won few seats in the state House of Assembly.

    In spite of being the PPN leader, Daniel was the PDP campaign manager in Ogun State. He later abandoned the PPN and joined the LP. But, he is back to the PDP. Daniel is one of the close confidants of President Jonathan. In fact, it was the Presidency that directed him to collapse his LP structure into the PDP in Ogun State.

    A political scientist, Dr. Friday Ibok said many of these fringe parties are out to play the role of a spoiler. He said: “They serve as fall back options to leading candidates who lost out in the primaries in various states. We have seen many of the aspirants crossing over to these obscure parties. Many of them whose activities were not noticed before now have become very active now with big billboards all over the place.”

  • Parties deregistration, threat to 2015 elections

    As if he was referring to the pretext of the multiple judgment dilemma which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) raised in refusing to honour the Chris Okotie-led Fresh Democratic Party’s verdict, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, subsequent to his confirmation by the Senate as the Chief Justice of Nigeria, said; “… the personal interest of judges and lawyers in certain political cases had been behind the incidences of conflicting judgments… these conflicting judgments are mostly common in political cases involving election tribunals where there are a lot of interests…”

    It will be recalled that FRESH proceeded to Justice G. O. Kolawole’s Federal High Court 5, Abuja Division, where it secured a victory in July 2013. FRESH, which upturned its de-registration, has strenuously claimed that INEC was deliberately frustrating its incursion into mainstream politicking. The catalogue of events since the December 2012 de-registration shows this to be true.

    INEC filed a notice of appeal but failed to perfect the process at the Appeal Court within the stipulated 90 days. But in response to FRESH’s sustained calls on the commission to make good the verdict, it instructed the party to re-register. There was then hurried re-amendment of Section 78 (7) (ii) of the Electoral Act by the National Assembly, which stipulates that political parties must win seats during state and National Assembly elections, to include councillorship elections, though this section of the Act has been set aside by the FRESH ruling.

    But after months of silence and subsequent re-filing of another notice of appeal in July 2013, nine months clear of the 90 days window, INEC chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, declared unequivocally that the law is the law and until it is changed, the commission will maintain status quo. Invariably, FRESH should not expect to see its name on the ballot papers come 2015, irrespective of the ruling. Now, Hope Democratic Party (HDP) has also secured another verdict akin to FRESH’s at Justice Ademola Adeniyi’s Federal High Court, Abuja, who referred to FRESH’s verdict and questioned why the agency had not complied with it.

    INEC is out of touch with voter sentiments, and in making such a statement must expect a riposte, especially while touting a misleading notice of appeal which is now gathering dust, since they don’t regard the judiciary’s right of interpretation or even the verdict as worthy of the paper it was written on. The electoral agency is acting like an autocratic boss who doesn’t care about contradictions. INEC is 30 years behind the world’s current affairs, as a bird’s eye view of global politics shows that the paradigm of elective political participation has changed, and cunning play of political hands is obsolete.

    Political representation is not a question of winning over ideology, but that the dismal state of leading parties’ style of politicking and crony governance, a staple of Nigerian politics, needs to be put under with an integrity-focused and vibrant opposition. If there is a sector of Nigeria which needs a boom in un-curtailed representation, it is freedom of participatory politics. The prejudice of thinking that the new parties are not proper political organisms because they are not run by the old breed politicians is unfounded: INEC must be neutral, and not put the nascent parties under pressure to perform in a lopsided race.

    The internal manipulations and bureaucratic certification imposed by stalwarts of the ruling class is at the root of the emergence of smaller parties, and it can so easily asphyxiate the emphasis on innovation which the nation needs now. The yearning for a truly deregulated political space is being stymied by the daunting obstacle of animosity evidenced by INEC and the increased regulation by the Senate’s latest re-amendment of the voided electoral act. FRESH should be allowed to pursue its mandate without the fanged oversight of INEC. When it is asked to surrender itself to an abstract process which has consistently proven faulty, then it is stifled.

    The last few years has been filled with incredible upheavals inflicted by PDP’s super-stratum of politicians who have been moldering in politics with an inflated opinion of their own relevance and abilities. The irony of this cabal’s self-exultation is that the nation has been stuck in the doldrums, so growth is bound to stagnate and slow down to a halt, especially with unforeseen circumstance like the fall in global oil prices; Nigeria’s economic mainstay. To parry the threat posed by FRESH, the leading party, which is not on the side of the masses, faces humiliation at the hands of this nationalist rival they once dismissed as non-starters and closet politicians.

    Okotie’s paradigm shift is all about challenging the status-quo and putting things in a different and more productive light with a global mindset. His party’s strategic perception means it is alert to the need for change, creative about how to accomplish that change, and alive to the strengths and weaknesses which may influence, enhance or frustrate the right atmosphere to accomplish that change, like INEC is engendering.

    In today’s highly evolved and networked world, a robust political and governmental structure is vital in every nation, one that is reliable, providing innovative solutions to challenges, not one that bamboozles the polity by the amount of noise which government’s peddle through their media machinery. But they cannot dispose of the fact that the populace consults with each other about current issues, rather than depend on the rehearsed media façade of spin doctors. But to put deception lower down the pecking order, Nigerians need to take a stand. We can’t continue to be fobbed off with generic excuses- we must begin to assert our rights.

    So 2015 presents another chance to address arguably the two largest issues facing Nigeria: corruption and transparency, by voting out the ruling cabal, whose philosophy is best expressed as ‘to the greater glory of us’ (Ad Manus Gloriam). The present rumblings in the political atmosphere are indicative of the need for change, and CJN, Justice Mohammed must save the judiciary from this political attrition by politicians, by making cases like this FRESH/HDP tango a matter of urgency.

    Days after INEC’s lifting on the ban on campaigns, and the continued denial of these two parties the right to participate, despite an extant verdict, the possibility of a legal recourse already flies a red flag and jeopardizes the conduct and outcome of 2015 general elections. Now is the time for the CJN to alter the course of INEC’s highhandedness.

     

    • Godswill wrote from Delta State
  • ‘Parties must be given level playing field’

    ‘Parties must be given level playing field’

    He needs no introduction in Nigerian politics. He has, over the years, devoted his adult life to public service. He has also travelled from one part of the country to the other and is convinced that Nigeria should remain an indivisible and indissoluble entity.

    Alhaji Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa, 78, is a left-wing politician and one of the effervescent apostles of the Talakawa politician, the late Mallam Aminu Kano, the founder of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP). Alhaji Musa is the only notable long-standing member of that party currently, although there are many hard-line PRP members in the remote areas of the country.

    Alhaji Musa is an ardent believer in the redemptive potential of the PRP, thus his relentless struggle that the lofty ideas and goals espoused by the party must remain intact, even within the suffocating political arena of the present age.

    Any wonder he told the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that the PRP has the right to exist. Many of the comrades who started the PRP with him are now chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Prominent among them is the incumbent governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido.

    Interestingly, Alhaji Musa has not given up on Nigeria, despite his age and the way things are in the country. Last year, he said the birth of the All Progressives Congress (APC), remains a good omen for the country. To him, APC is the party that can make change possible in Nigeria, considering the many failed battles to unseat the PDP from the Presidency since 2003.

    Ideologically, Musa remains the same. He remains a left-wing politician in the strict tradition of it. He is always ready to join any mass protest against unpopular and oppressive policies of government. He participated in the nation-wide fuel subsidy protests at the Lugard Hall Roundabout in Kaduna in 2012 alongside Comrade Shehu Sani of the Civil Rights Congress and Barrister Taofik Ladoja of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). He was one of the comrades who gathered at the Secretariat of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Kaduna for the BringBack OurGirls Campaign in July before the Kaduna Police Command stopped them.

    Musa believes very strongly in the principle of transparency and accountability in public service and in particular in government.

    He insists that those aspiring to lead at every level of government must live above board and must not take undue advantage of their privileged positions to lord it over the governed. He believes that every government must be ready to open up its books for public scrutiny at any time.

    Since his impeachment on June 23, 1981, Alhaji Musa lives in a small bungalow at the Government Reserved Area of Kaduna metropolis. The house is devoid of the wall of Jericho-like fence that has become the preference for the mansions of modern day politicians. From the road, you could see all the objects inside the building, including one or two grounded vehicles, including the Peoples Redemption Party rickety buses.  But Alhaji Musa now cruises around on a brand new elegant Toyota Prado Jeep.

    Alhaji Musa is always journalists’ delight. He will always oblige interviews when approached. His doors remain open, not just for journalists, but even the common man. Once at home, you will always see him in the company of local party members.

    He was born in Kaya Kaduna State on August 21, 1936. Before his election as the first civilian governor of Old Kaduna State in 1979 at the age of 42, he held various managerial positions such as Accountant between 1960 and 1976. He contested for the 2003 Presidential election in 2003 and lost due to the influence of money in modern day politics. He contested for the governorship position of Kaduna State in 2011 under the PRP which he lost.

    Alhaji Musa was the Chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), and has always be in the forefront of agitations for a level playing field for political parties in Nigeria.

    In a recent interview, he challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) position on the registration of political parties, insisting that his party, the PRP should not have been deregistered by INEC. He argued that aside from being a political party, the PRP remains a political movement that INEC has no constitutional right to ban or deregister.

  • Parties trade words over planned protest against Osun poll’s result

    Parties trade words over planned protest against Osun poll’s result

    The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State and the opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), traded words yesterday over a plot by the latter to sponsor a mass protest to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja to denounce the result of August 9, governorship poll won by Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

    APC also alleged that the PDP had concluded arrangements to carry out a sustained mayhem in Osun to make the state ungovernable.

    Its Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Kunle Oyatomi, who revealed the plan in a statement yesterday, said the state’s “PDP leadership is already arranging for hundreds of youths to be transported to Abuja to protest the victory of Aregbesola in the August 9 governorship election.”

    The party insisted that the PDP had “fashioned an elaborate plan to create mayhem in the state and give the impression of popular displeasure at the outcome of the election.

    “The first phase of this plan is to hire 10 buses that will convey young men and women to Abuja to protest Aregbesola’s victory. The youths are allegedly being motivated with N10 million to participate.

    “This protest will be based on the yet-to-be- substantiated allegation by the PDP that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) colluded with the governor and the APC to rig the August 9 election. The underlying theme of the Abuja protest by the PDP will be that INEC gave the election to the APC to prevent President Goodluck Jonathan from winning the 2015 presidential election. So, the protest will be effectively against the INEC and the APC.”

    But the PDP described the allegation as ridiculous.

    The party Publicity Secretary, Prince Bola Ajao, in a statement yesterday, said the allegation should not be taken seriously.

    “It is unfortunate that they are coming up with this cock and bull story. As a matter of fact, we are civilised people who are always in tandem with due process and rule of law. We are at the election petition tribunal and we are sure that with all the unassailable and incontrovertible evidences on ground, we would retrieve the mandate given to our candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore, by the people.”