The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Presidential election

  • INEC and the cost of poll postponement

    Before now, ardent supporters of the two leading political parties and other critical stakeholders in the polity relished the prospect of having the much-anticipated presidential election.

    The postponement of the poll by INEC has, however, put paid to all that. The rumpus caused by the sudden decision of INEC to postpone the election has continued to reverbrate across and beyond the land. While some are berating INEC for what they consider ‘a coup against democracy’, others are actually applauding the electoral body for taking what they consider ‘a bold decision’. This divergence of views is not to be unexpected considering the conflicting political interests of those concerned and the interface of other such variables in the on-going political tussle in the country.

    The main pre-occupation of this piece, however, is to examine what might be the possible cost of the postponed general election on the country, political parties and individuals. To begin with, the abrupt putting off of the election has, without a doubt, done much havoc to the not too admirable global image of our country. Being the most populous Black country in the world, much is expected of Nigeria in terms of strict adherence to global best practice.

    Sadly, however, INEC’s handling of the deferred election do not in any way portray our nation in good stead. It is, therefore, not surprising that the sudden deferment of the election has further dented our global mage as a country of frivolous and superficial people. Nigeria has now become an object of ridicule across the world. What is particularly puzzling to the world is why a nation of over 170 million people could not successfully plan to hold an election that has been on the card for over four years.

    This, certainly, is a bad commentary on our country and it is enough for us to lose whatever honour and integrity we have within the international community. The argument is that if highly volatile nations such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq could hold elections, it leaves much to be desired that the reverse is in reality the case here.

    Also, INEC itself has come out of the poll shift’s controversy more battered than before.  The truth of the matter is that it is difficult to completely shield the electoral umpire from culpability in respect of the poll shift. Without a doubt, INEC’s image as a competent electoral body has been grossly undermined. It will be recalled that the 2011 and 2015 were respectively shifted by diverse number of days. This shows that INEC has a rich history of ineptitude and this does not in any way help its image. It is left to be seen how the electoral body hope to wriggle itself out of the negative tag of lame duck it has been dubbed in certain quarters.

    The postponement also has far reaching implications for political parties in respect of electioneering campaigns, planning, logistics and financing. Previously, most of the candidates aspiring for various political offices have zeroed their budgeting and other associated matters on the initial election dates as earlier announced by INEC. The poll shift has brought additional financial strains on the aspirants and their political parties. With the reality of the current economic situation in the country, having to extend campaign programmes and plans for another few days can only add additional financial burden on the political parties and their aspirants.

    On the social scene, the postponement also gravely complicates things for event managers and planners as they now have to alter previous plans and make fresh ones. The loss in this respect is not by any means negligible. In some cases, invitation cards have been printed and widely distributed while various souvenirs have been produced at huge cost. The implication is that, based on the current reality, new plans and arrangements have to be made. It is like starting all over again and at no mean cost.

    Perhaps more importantly, with regards to the national economy, the last minute postponement of the election could, according to financial experts, cost the nation around $10 billion (N3.6 trillion), two percent of 2018 Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This amount was arrived at after

    carefully considering varied cost of the postponement. The postponement cost is derived from dividing the country’s $427 billion GDP in 2018 by $1.16 billion. The cost of the postponement on INEC’s budget is also mindboggling. The electoral body’s budget for the four-week election was initially put at N189 billion.  However, with the latest development, financial experts are of the view that INEC must now make extra budgetary provision in excess of N47 billion.

    In terms of business losses, especially with regards to private business interests, the implication of having total paralysis in sectors such as aviation and hospitality for two consecutive weekends is, to say the least, staggering. This is, indeed, escalated by the fact that the announcement for the postponement occurred on the very day the poll was to be held, thereby sharply disrupting various economic calculations. For instance, many people have traveled long distances just to participate in the electoral process. Equally, many educational institutions had to in the interim close down for the duration of the election.

    This ultimately leads us to the whole question of the huge cost of conducting elections in our country which experts claim is among the most expensive in the world. India, the largest democracy in the world doesn’t spend as much as we do on the conduct of election. Experts

    opine that N189 billion approved for the 2019 polls far exceeds the total capital outlay of education and health in the 2019 national budget. When this is considered alongside the total sum of N242 billion granted for INEC and relevant security agencies for the conduct of the general polls, it will be realized that much goes into the conduct of elections in our nation.

    It is hoped that the poll shift would significantly assist INEC in organizing a seamless election that Nigerians across all divides would be proud of. It is precisely in doing this that the already tense political atmosphere in the country could be sufficiently diffused. On a final note, it is hoped that all vital stakeholders in the country’s electoral process would see the need to embrace peace before, during and after the whole process.

     

    • Ogunbiyi is of Lagos Ministry Of Information & Strategy, Alausa-Ikeja.

  • Presidential election and Nigeria’s destiny

    If the presidential election yesterday was free, fair, and credible, Nigeria as a country would have moved closer to its destiny of a peaceful, stable, unifiable, multi-ethnic modern state that is pro-development. The euphoria ignited by a free, fair, and transparent election would be of immense pleasure to the nation as a corporate body, its citizens, and friends across the globe.

    The distance between the country and its destiny since independence can be traced to several factors. One was the desire in the first republic for a direct or indirect one-party state by a ruling party that wanted to dominate the rest of the country. Another was the rise of military regimes that succeeded in changing the character of the country from federal to quasi-unitary system of governance, most of which in the process became more corrupt than the civilian regimes they ousted from power.

    The last factor was recurrence of fraudulent or manipulated elections between 1959 and 2014. It is on record that the 1959 election supervised by the departing colonial master was rigged in favour of the section of the country that Britain preferred to succeed it. Similarly, the 1964 federal election was rigged in favour of the ruling party, just as the 1979 and 1983 presidential elections were adjudged by many citizens to have been manipulated in favour of the ruling party at the centre.

    The June 12, 1993 presidential election claimed by its organizer, General Ibrahim Babangida, as the freest in the nation’s electoral history was also ‘rigged’ against the winner, MKO Abiola, at the end through annulment. The other four elections: 1999, 2003, 2007, and even 2011 were all perceived by national and international observers as below the average standard of democratic elections in the so-called third world. No wonder, one of the earliest promises of President Jonathan after he assumed the presidency in 2011 was to ensure conduct of free and fair elections. If 2015 elections were free and fair by national and international standards, President Jonathan would have pushed the country in the direction of its destiny, but more on this later.

    In many ways, corruption, believed to be the cancer that has been destroying the country, cannot be isolated from the types of government that the country has been saddled with since 1959: military dictatorships and civilian administrations brought into being by questionable elections. Citizens for too long have known that a government created by fraud cannot but be fraudulent. Consequently, many citizens, if not most, view all the governments since independence as lacking in legitimacy. Such citizens see corruption as part of the political fabric of the country and joined their leaders on the bandwagon of political and bureaucratic corruption. If by chance or design 2015 elections were free, fair, and transparent, legitimacy would finally come to the governments that grow from the elections.

    The first vital step in rebuilding governments at all levels in the country is a free and fair election. It will stop the tradition of personalistic and neo-patrimonial state that has been in existence in the country’s independent life till now. In other words, the culture of impunity that has raged for decades will be over. Citizens’ consent to their governance produced by free and fair ballot will further energise them in their demand for full accountability from those who govern them. Not only at the executive level will a new culture of responsive governance emerge from fair election, the legislative culture in the country in the last sixteen years will have to bow to the expectations of citizens who own the mandate, now freely given to the executive and the legislature.

    Whether the incumbent is the winner or loser of a free and fair election, he will come out as the moral winner. He will write his name in gold as the first president that respected citizens’ fundamental human right to choose their leaders in an unfettered election. President Jonathan will, despite the muscular and vitriolic campaign of the last two or so months,  be able to beat his chest in any part of the country and say that he has become one of the builders of a free modern polity. If he loses, he will be one of the many democratic leaders across the globe that failed to win re-election, something that has never happened in our own country before him.

    Should General Buhari win a free and fair election, he is likely to be humbled by the trust of the people in giving him the opportunity to rule the country several decades after he had ruled it as a military dictator. He will no longer see his power as deriving from the barrel of guns but from the hearts of voters across religious and ethnic lines. Further, he will be more likely than not to listen to the wishes of the electorate, knowing full well that without them, he could not have become president in the last quarter of the life of an average ruler. There would be no space in his government for any manner of ethnic or cultural domination but only for the building of a modern democratic multiethnic nation.

    As for the average citizen, he or she will feel invigorated by free and fair elections. The feeling of political impotence on the part of the electorate which has created a nonchalant attitude over the years will disappear. It will become easier for the electorate to demand accountability from their president and lawmakers. It will also become easier for citizens to join policy debates about how much should their lawmakers earn directly and indirectly. Citizens will have more opportunities to bring the issue of re-federalising the country for unity and development to the table, with the hope of stimulating a process that is inclusive in terms of how to make the country united to work for progress and development.

    International friends of our country will likely become more active partners than they have been. Our immediate neighbours in the ECOWAS will feel relieved that the giant of the region has finally risen to the challenge of accepting the values of democratic process and governance. No longer will our West African neighbours feel threatened that post-election violence will create another wave of refugees that can destabilise smaller countries in the region. A Nigeria that has finally joined the ranks of Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, etc., in moving away from the culture of impunity to one of accountability and the rule of law will certainly become a friendly lever of economic power in the region.

    With respect to our other international friends in Europe, the Americas, and Asia, Nigeria’s free, fair, and transparent election will disabuse their minds about the facile generalisation about Nigeria being largely a rogue, failing, or failed state. The feeling in the outside world that a country that cannot conduct a free and fair election lacks legitimacy and cannot be trusted to respect accountability will diminish and gradually disappear as the culture of allowing citizens to choose their leaders grows in the country.  Nigeria will be able to see more genuine investors, instead of hearing about them on government-controlled radio and television. Finally, millions of Nigerians at home and abroad who have been worried stiff about the future of the country will now sleep without worrying about what to do “if things suddenly fall apart.”

    Whichever of the candidates wins will have to confront some of the myriad problems facing the country: need for uninterrupted electricity to facilitate job creation; an end to all forms of terrorism-religious, ethnic, occupational, or regional; restoration of federalism (aka Restructuring); wrestling with corruption reactively and proactively; and strengthening health and education, to make Nigeria competitive continentally and globally.

     

  • The big contest

    IT is the sixth presidential election since the restoration of civil rule in 1999. Eyes are on Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, as the people of the highly heterogeneous and consistently fragile federation go to poll. Will the election be free and fair? Will its outcome strengthen the sanctity of the ballot box? Will it meet international best practice? Will Nigeria’s electoral democracy be a model for Africa? Voters are warming up for a festival of choice and change. The international community is also beaming the searchlight on the country. After the presidential and National Assembly elections, Nigerians are expected to also troop out to elect governors and members of House of Assembly on March 2. No fewer than 91 parties are participating in the periodic general elections. But, 71 presidential candidates are on the ballot. The big two are President Muhammadu Buhari of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and his main challenger, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The semblance of a third force is the Peoples Trust (PT), which is fielding a pro-democracy crusader, Gbenga Olawepo Hashim, as candidate. The fact that only two big parties dominate the scene historically confirms the tendency towards a two-party system. The historical backgrounds are the conflict between the Nigeria National Alliance (NNA) and the United Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the First Republic, the National Party of Nigeria (NPN)/Progressives Parties Alliance (PPA) of the Second Republic, the Social Democratic Party (SDP)/National Republic Convention (NRC) antagonism in the Third Republic, the PDP onslaught against the Alliance for Democracy (AD)/All Peoples Party (APP) in 1999 and the APC/PDP battle of 2015. This is also underscored by the fact that some mushroom parties have decided to queue behind the two major parties through their endorsement of President Buhari and Atiku.

    In the National Assembly elections, 109 seats are being contested in the Senate while 360 seats are being contested in the House of Representatives. Foreign observers and domestic monitors are warming up for the crucial electoral duty. Ahead of poll, the Police High Command has emphasised that electoral security should not be compromised. Some police commissioners have been transferred. Few ones were appointed and assigned. Also, the Armed Forces have reiterated their commitment to peaceful polls. During the week, political leaders on both divides stepped up their campaigns, which were rounded up on Thursday. The message of the APC is continuity. The message of the PDP is change.

    At 76, President Buhari, who was elected four years ago, is seeking for a second term. He is a General of the Nigerian Army, who fought in the civil war. He is a former military governor of the defunct Northeast State, Federal Commissioner for Petroleum, Chairman of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Military Secretary, General Officer Commanding, Third Armoured Division, Jos, military Head of State and Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF). The president entered politics in 2002 and contested for the presidency in 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015. He failed. In 2015, he defeated incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan. His victory terminated the 16 years of dominance by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Buhari campaigned on a four- point manifesto: security, economy, employment and anti-corruption. In private and public life, he is perceived as a man of honour and integrity. According to observers, Buhari cannot be described as a lucky statesman. Fixing a nation at a crossroads is not an easy task. Twice in national history, fate has entrusted on the Daura-born leader the unenviable duty of salvaging a nation in distress; first as a young and energetic General in 1984, and later, as a septuagenarian statesman driven by patriotic anger. Under his leadership, hope has been the elixir for Nigerians in the last three and half years. Three decades ago, he rode to power on military populism.

    The conditions that paved the way for his ascension in 1983 were similar to the prevailing circumstances of 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015, which made him to throw his hat into the ring. Reminiscent of the Second Republic, Buhari had warned that the country was in the brink. He lamented that the ship of state was sinking; the economy had been mismanaged, the Nigerian currency had almost become a worthless paper, a culture of theft and graft in high places was thriving, insecurity remained insurmountable, roads were death traps, and hospitals were mere consulting clinics. The nation lay prostrate.

    On May 29, 2015, the euphoria of victory at the historic presidential election fizzled out in the face of these mounting challenges. President Buhari inherited little assets and many liabilities. The components of the national burden included a disunited polity, aptly torn apart by the battle for presidential power, an empty treasury ravaged by an avaricious leadership, a huge foreign debt capable of mortgaging the future, depleted foreign reserves, soaring corruption by greedy actors, an army of jobless youths, dilapidated infrastructure, and growing insecurity. President Buhari has managed to overcome his inevitable adjustment difficulties. The image of the new democrat in Aso Villa, Abuja, contrasts sharply with the stern-looking soldier of early 80s in Dodan Barracks, Lagos. In 1984, the military Head of State and Commander-In-Chief was like the lord of manor. There was no parliament to moderate his actions. He was both the legislature and the executive. He ruled by decrees, many of which were draconian. He brooked no opposition.

    But, the last three and half years was a different ball game. The President is being constitutionally tamed by the National Assembly and an independent judiciary. Unlike before, the media and civil society groups are active in playing the role of watchdogs in democracy without inhibition. Presidential actions may have also been moderated by the utter sensitivity to the legitimate pressures and demands from the ruling party. Unlike 30 years ago, dialogue is now the watchword. An effort at consensus building is becoming the norm. While adapting to the compelling ethos of democratic culture, dictatorship is foreclosed. No doubt, many achievements of the ‘regime of change’ may have been easily overlooked by a polity that is assailed by collective amnesia. But, the feats constitute, in part, the making of a new nation-state.

    The Buhari administration has not only maintained a clean break from the past, it has also offered a new orientation to the polity. The first task was clearing the Augean table by making corruption a risky venture. The President has demonstrated to all that, henceforth, the corridor of power should not be perceived as an avenue for private accumulation. He and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), have led by personal examples by reducing their emoluments and shunning opulence in office. It was the first preliminary step in setting the tune for reducing the cost of governance. Gone were the days of business as usual. According to observers, Buhari has campaigned during this electioneering more than he did four years ago. During the campaigns, the president promised to build on the achievements of his administration in the four aforementioned areas. The election, they said, will be a referendum on his performance in office. Atiku is a veteran presidential contender. He is a retired Customs Officer and successful businessman. He entered politics in the aborted Third Republic as a disciple of the late Major General Shehu Yar’Adua.

    He was a presidential aspirant in the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP). He stepped down for the late Chief Moshood Abiola at the Jos Convention of the party. In 1999, he was elected governor of Adamawa State. But, the PDP presidential candidate, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, picked him as running mate. He was vice president for eight years. In 2007, 2011 and 2015, Atiku sought for the highest office, but without success. He has traversed some partiesPDP, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and APC-in a bid to realise his ambition. He is a courageous politician who is undeterred by previous disappointments. Atiku has criticised the APC government for nepotism, for the battle against insecurity that has not been totally won, and for low standard of loving. However, two promises by Atiku stand him out: the actualisation of restructuring and the sale of the refineries. They are controversial.

    Many believe that he is campaigning on the borrowed platform of restructuring. Also, many have argued that the refineries are critical c0mmonwealth that should not end up on private pocket. Apart from the president and former vice president, other contenders may not make much impact on Saturday. It is a crowded race, no doubt. But, the remaining flag bearers are largely ambitious, paper-weight politicians, whose parties are unpopular. They are not in popular reckoning. Although the candidates have made names in their various careers, the weak political structures that lack tentacles at the grassroots, may be swallowed by the bigger parties. Although the young, vibrant elements on these platforms raised fundamental issues that are germane to good governance during the campaigns, they could not pull much crowd. At best, these candidates on the fringe may become special spectators on poll day.

    The independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), chaired by Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, a political scientist, has assured the anxious country that the poll will be credible and transparent. The body is not leaving anything to chances. Both PDP and APC have criticised the agency for some reasons, but, generally, INEC has asserted itself as an independent institution and an unbiased umpire. According to INEC, 84,004, 084 million registered to vote. This is an improvement in the voting population because 68, 833, 476 registered to vote in 2015. The Northwest has 20, 158, 100, representing 24 percent. The Southwest has 16, 292, 212. This represents 15. 29 percent. The Northeast has 11, 289, 293, which is 13 per cent. Also, the election will hold in 119,973 polling units and results will be collated in 8, 809 wards. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) will vote, Yakubu said, but the prospect of Diaspora voting is foreclosed. In th4e day of election, there will be restriction of movement between 7 am and 4pm.

    The Chief Returning Officer for the Presidential Election is the INEC Chairman. The electoral body has released seven-step voting procedure for the exercise. Step 1: Upon arrival at the polling unit, the voter joins the queue and present himself to the INEC official (APO 111) at the polling unit, who will determine whether he or she is at the correct polling unit and check if the photograph on the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) matches his or her face. If satisfied, he or she will direct the voter to the next INEC official (APO 1). Step 2: The official (APO1) will request the voter for his/her PVC to confirm that the card is genuine and the details, using the smart card reader to confirm that the PVC belongs to the person by ascertaining. The card reader will contain the name, photograph and finger prints of all those registered in their polling unit. Step 3: The voter will then meet the next official (APO 11), who will request for his PVC to confirm that his/her name and details are in the voters’ register. The name will be ticked and the PVC returned to him/her. He/she will then apply indelible link to the cuticle of the appropriate finger for that election to show that the person has been accredited to vote.

    If the name of the person is not found on the register, he/she will not be allowed to vote. Step 4: The Presiding Officer (PO) stamps, signs and endorses the date at the back of the ballot papere. The PO will roll the ballot paper inwardly with the printed side inwards and give to the voter. He/she will then direct the voter to the voting cubicle where he will vote in secret. Step 5: The voter will stain his/her appropriate finger for the election with the ink provided. He/she will then use the stained finger to mark the space or box provided on the ballot paper for his/her preferred candidate/party. He/she will roll the marked ballot paper in the manner the PO gave to him/her. Step 6: Then, the voter will leave the voting cubicle and drop the ballot paper in the ballot box in full view of people at the polling unit. Step 7: The voter will then leave the polling unit or wait, if he/she so chooses in an orderly and peaceful manner to watch the process up to the declaration of result. Yakubu said about one million ad hoc staff have been recruited.

    “The projected increase in the number of ad hoc staff to be engaged in the elections by the commission arose from the need to make provisions for adequate manpower for the exercise on a general template and specifically, to take care of peculiarneeds for that purpose in some polling units across the federation,” he added. Oil-rich Nigeria has had an uninterrupted 20 years of political stability, a far cry from its unenviable experience of intermittent stoppage of civilian administration through coups by restless soldiers. Yet, it is still politically and religiously divided. Also, political stability has not been converted into a special advantage. The stability has not been accompanied by any significant economic success. It seems there is much commit ment to orderly transfer of power by stakeholders than the pursuit of farreaching economic reforms that can catapult the bewildered country into a huge economic miracle.

    But, religious and tribal sentiments may not have undue influence on the outcome of the presidential election. The top candidates-General Buhari and Alhaji Atiku-are both Fulani from the North. They are also Muslims. For geo-ethnic and religious balancing, they picked their running mates from the South. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) of the APC is a Christian cleric from the Southwest state of Ogun. Atiku’s running mate, Peter Obi, is a Christian and former governor of Anambra State. There have been endorsements and counter-endorsements of the two main candidates. The two flag bearers have traversed almost the 36 states for campaigns. So far, the campaigns have not been marred by violence. Interparty conflicts have also been reduced to exchange of hot words in the media. However, since the beginning of the year, elder statesmen and religious leaders have been appealing to politicians to eschew violence.

    The Primate of the Anglican Church, Dr. Nicholas Okoh said: “Violence does not drop from the sky. People arrange it. People who organise violence should be asked to bring their sons and daughters or themselves to be part of it so that they can feel the effect. They create problems, go abroad and come back to rule us.” On Wednesday, a peace accord was signed by the president and 72 other candidates. Also, in his broadcast to the nation on Thursday, President Buhari assured the country of his commitment to free and fair poll and urged the youth to shun violence. In recent elections and by-elections, allegations of vote buying were rife. There is no political party that is insulated from the electoral fraud.

    Yakubu warned against the menace, saying that perpetrators wikl be dealt with in accordance with the law. According to observers, there are some mistakes that should not be repeated, if INEC is to conduct a hitch-free exercise. In previous polls, the failure of card readers generated anxiety and tension. The INEC chairman has assured that the machines will not malefaction. Also, INEC staff are expected to be regular and punctual at the polling booths. It is expected that in the coastal states where some locations cannot be reached through vehicles, adequate arrangement should be made to ensure that electoral materials get to those remote communities under police protection. Yakubu has also urged his staff to be patriotic and shun bribery and corruption to avoid the repeat of the trial of INEC staff who committed electoral offences in the course of their duties during the last election.

  • PDP raises alarm over heavy security presence in Kwara

    THE People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has raised the alarm over heavy deployment of top security chiefs in Kwara State, ahead of Saturday’s presidential election.

    Kwara is the home state of the Senate President and PDP Presidential Campaign Council Director-General Dr. Bukola Saraki.

    A statement yesterday by the PDP spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the deployment was part of a plot by the Federal Government to intimidate, harass and create fear in the minds of voters and rig elections in the state.

    “As part of the plot, the Directorate of State Services (DSS) has deployed its Director of Operations, Etteng Bassey, as well as the State Directors in charge of Ogun and Anambra states to Kwara State ahead of Saturday’s elections while the Director in charge of Kwara State has been moved to Benue. This is in addition to the deployment of hundreds of other DSS operatives from Abuja to Kwara State.

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    “We also have it on good authority that soldiers will from tomorrow cordon off all entry points to the personal house of the Senate President in Ilorin as well as his late father’s compound in Ilofa Road, old GRA, Ilorin.

    “Similarly, the police have made heavy deploys capital, where they have been instructed to arrest key political players loyal to Senator Saraki.”

  • 2019: PDP unveils strategies against election rigging

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says it will deploy a state-of-the-art “Parallel Voting Tabulation (PVT)’’ system and four other strategies to prevent any form of rigging or manipulation in Saturday’s presidential election.

    Mr Osita Chidoka, former Aviation Minister and Chairman, Strategy Committee of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, disclosed this to newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja.

    The other strategies according to Chidoka included a national network of fully equipped Situation Rooms and Call Centres, a nation-wide hotline for the public to report malpractice and the launch of a hashtag, #DefendYourVote.

    He described PVT as a “scientifically proven, best practice technique, to hold election authorities accountable, particularly when there is a lack of trust and the result are highly contested.

    “Our methodology accounts for several different scenarios to ensure continued collation of the results in the event of any disruptions with collation process.

    “Hard copies of the signed voter tally provided to all party agents by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC officers) will be transported to the central command centre should future disputes need to be reconciled’’.

    He added that the party apart from deploying well trained and educated agents to each of the 176,000 polling units nationwide, the PDP had established a reporting system for the PVT from the wards level to the national tally centre.

    He added that the PVT would ensure that PDP partisans “accept the results of the election, and that the country remained peaceful and respectful of its differences, adding that some civil society organisations will also have their PVTs in place.

    Chidoka further disclosed that the party had also launched a nation-wide hotline for the public to report any noticed infractions.

    “The PDP is providing multiple-line inbound call centre linked to a single hotline number: 097000551, for voters to report any incidence of violence or electoral malpractice.”

    He said that the party would also make use of social media, #DefendYourVote campaign, targeted at Nigeria’s largest voter block (18-25 years-old), saying “a set of 12 easy-to-follow guidelines has been communicated to voters”.

    Chidoka expressed confidence that election officials and security services would do their duty in accordance with their oaths and obligations.

    He however warned that there would be consequences if attempt was made to compromise the integrity of the election.

    “Particularly, we call on the Inspector General of Police whose wide international experience places him with a historic burden to ensure that security agencies strictly abide by the election code of conduct and rules of engagement,’’ the spokesman said.

    Chidoka also noted that the PDP was aware that the All Progressives Congress (APC) intended to repeat the tactic it used for the Osun State governorship election in Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, Delta, Kaduna, Kano and Rivers States.

    According to him, the PDP had studied the APC play book, but said the PDP had adopted international best practices to halt the ruling party’s plans.

    He listed these to include establishing a robust election results management system and wide array of intelligence collectors and patriotic public servants who are resolute in defending the Constitution and the integrity of the electoral process.

    Chidoka who expressed confidence that election officials and security agents would do their duty in accordance with their oaths and obligations, however warned that there would be consequences if they try to compromise the integrity of the elections. (NAN)

  • Opposition is jittery, says Oshiomhole

    All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman Comrade Adams Oshiomhole spoke with reporters in Lokoja, Kogi State capital on preparations for next Saturday’s presidential election.

    Do you think President Buhari has fulfilled his promises to Nigerians to seek for a second term?

    The PDP ruled for 16 years without fixing our problems and now you are saying that President Buhari would have fixed Nigeria in three and half years. President Muhammadu Buhari has fulfilled most of his promises to Nigerians and you cannot tell me that he would have fixed the country in three and half years. We are on the road to sustainable growth and development. Our local industries are very very firm now and that is the root of the development of any country and massive investment in infrastructure which I believe President Buhari has been doing. Addressing the infrastructural issues, reviving the rail way system, dealing with the issue of power even with the way and manner that the PDP privatized the Discos, giving them to those who neither has the capacity to run them nor the resources to invest. But this is not to suggest that everything is fine. If we think that we have completed our mission we won’t bother ourselves.

    But do you think that those things that you have done will earn your party victory at the polls?

    Let me tell you, what Nigerians have always wanted is an honest leader. You can accuse Buhari of anything but you cannot say that Buhari is corrupt. Even the worst foreign leader has acknowledged that Buhari is a man of honour and integrity, no President before him commanded that kind of respect, not even Obasanjo. And when the British Prime Minister had the guts to say, Nigeria is fantastically corrupt, our President said but you are the custodian of the corrupt money, return the money to me. How many Presidents can look at the British Prime Ministers face and say that to her, but he did. So I am not suggesting that those who are going to vote for us think that the problems are solved, they see honest intensions by the President and he is pursuing honest solutions.

    People are saying that your party will not win South East and South South, they will not win in the North Central and they will balkanize the votes the President has always had in other parts of the North. And they are saying your party cannot win in the free and fair election?

    The campaigns have started. You can actually go round and find out what people think. And the things about choice, is that no man is good and no man is bad. But when you compare one man with another, no man will compare President Buhari to Atiku, those who know Atiku and what he stands for. And this reminds me the point we need to make about foreign interest in our election, we begin to see foreign countries go beyond their bounds, more or less interfering. Right now Americans are talking about the Russian interference in American election. It is a subject of investigation as we speak. So no country will tolerate interference. But that you provide a system to monitor and ensure that you assist countries to strengthen democracy, all of that is fine. But don’t get to a level of interference.

    When you hear Atiku saying, I will privatize NNPC, even if they will kill him, I don’t know why he had to add that one. Who will kill him? I am not sure how many Nigerians have money to buy NNPC, he is speaking to his Western audience. When he says he will float the naira, you know whose values he is piloting. Those are IMF agenda, float the naira. So in Atiku’s world floating naira means one thousand naira to one dollar so be it. You think he does not know what he is saying. Of course there are countries if they have their way they want Nigeria to be perpetually under developed.

    But do you think President Buhari will earn votes like he earned in 2015?

    Of course he will earn more votes, you know why? Somehow, there are things I really don’t want to talk about. PDP tried to give the impression at a point, if you review some reports in the past, including some stories in the print media, there was an attempt to link President Buhari to Boko Haram. That they brought him just to make Nigeria ungovernable for Jonathan. But they change the narrative now since he became President. There is nothing they have not said. Today, the man from the South East who has seen Buhari building the River Niger, it is no longer rhetoric, he did not have to change his name to Azikiwe, but he is building River Niger. He is restoring the dual carriage way between Onitsha and Enugu. He is building one connecting to Port Harcourt, there are a number of roads in the South East that he is doing. So those ordinary traders who ply those roads, they are going to vote for Buhari. Last time they did not vote for him. Look at the outing we had in Enugu, we can see the difference between the campaign we had in 2015 in Enugu and now. We were in Akwa Ibom, you must have seen the pictures, that is the South South where they call the safe haven of the PDP, it is no longer going to be so.

    But some will say that crowd at rallies may not be the true reflection of votes?

    What are the true reflection of votes? Social media? Let me tell you, most times the crowd reflect the true picture of acceptance of that person. Go and organize a rally and say you want to be President and see. I have ran elections, I was a governor twice, so I understand the language of the electorate. I can read the body language of the electorate, I know where we are strong and where we are weak.  So if you were to go to Kebbi as I have done, and stay with ordinary farmers who are experiencing new posterity because unlike PDP government, this President said we must eat what we produce. Atiku says he is going to renew importation, he will remove the ban on 42 items so that we can go back to begin to import tooth pick, import plantain, import Amala. He is going to export our jobs and import unemployment to the country. Because there is no miracle about job creation. What this government is doing by insisting that you prohibit the importation of rice, requires huge political will. PDP producing Atiku is the best thing that has happened to this election. The day PDP selected him, we were happy. First because he cannot plead innocence. Atiku has been in government and he was a party to many decisions, he superintended over the privatization of many enterprises, he was involved in many pronouncements. He was one Vice President who was so ambitious. So his face is well known.

    is bigger than Saraki.

  • Middle Belt leaders restate support for PT’s Olawepo-Hashim

    Leaders of the Middle Belt and groups in the region have reiterated support for candidate of the People’s Trust (PT), Mr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim for Saturday’s presidential election.

    The leaders, who addressed hundreds of groups that converged on Abuja, took a swipe at politicians allegedly causing divisions within their fold.

    They insisted they would vote for Olawepo-Hashim on Saturday, saying their support remained unshakeable.

    The Middle Belt leaders include, among others, Air Commodore Dan Suleiman (retd.); Dr Musa Moda; Elizabeth Jibrin; Dr Emmanuel Enecheyo; Dr Ene; Captain Agada Joe (retd.) and Hon. Jonathan Asake.

    They said they had resolved to leave no stone unturned in actualising the political emancipation of the region.

    They claimed the reported Middle Belt endorsement of the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar was an attempt to divide the Middle Belt ahead of the presidential election.

    The coalition of other groups in the region led by Mr. Suleman Dauda Sukukum pledged to work assiduously for the success of Olawepo-Hashim .

    Read also: Emmanuel conscripts 1,000 persons to defend PDP votes

    Dr. Moda described Olawepo- Hashim as a bridge builder and unifier of the Northern and southern Nigeria .

    He is the contemporary “amalgam of Northern and southern Nigeria,” he said.

    Excited Olawepo-Hashim appealed to Nigerians to remain peaceful and united even as he urged them to vote for a credible alternative that would uplift Nigeria to greater heights.

     Suleiman said the time had come for the Middle Belt to remain united and focused for the region to progress.

    According to him: “Recent happenings in the Middle Belt have indicated that there are moves to divide us.”

    He said the Middle Belt was dragged into supporting Atiku contrary to their earlier stand of supporting Olawepo-Hashim of the People’s Trust.

    Suleiman, however, expressed delight that many groups in the Middle Belt were now in the vanguard of propagating their political ideals and choices.

    He tasked them to move Middle Belt forward as well as encourage the unity and progress of the region.

  • Polls: Lagos, Kano leads with highest voting points

    ..Ekiti, Bayelsa holds record of lowest voting points

     

    Lagos and Kano states have the largest number of designated voting points in the forthcoming general elections.

    Lagos has 8, 462 polling units and 4,976 voting points while Kano has 8,074 polling units and 3,148 voting points.

    Ekiti and Bayelsa have the lowest voting points in the country. Ekiti has 2,195 polling units and 250 voting points, Bayelsa has 1,804 polling units and 440 voting points.

    Read Also: Lagos 2019: Christian group declares support for Salis

    The polling unit is the designated voting point conveniently designed for voters, which should not exceed 700 voting population.

    The voting points, INEC noted was created to accommodate the extra voters within a polling unit. For the purpose of 2019 general elections, besides the official 119,973 polling units, the commission created 57,023 voting points across the country.

    A total of 84, 004, 084 million people registered to vote in the general polls scheduled for 16th February and 2nd March, 2019.

     

  • 2019: APC NWC, Governorship candidates in crucial meeting

    The National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is holding a crucial meeting with state Chairmen abs Secretaries ahead of the Presidential election scheduled for this weekend.

    The meeting which started at about 8.30pm also have in attendance, governorship candidates of the party with the exemption seating governors who also candidates.

    An initial media invitation reads “A special meeting between the National Working Committee (NWC) and State Chairmen, Secretaries, Governorship and Senatorial Candidates will hold today (Sunday 10/2/19). Venue: APC National Secretariat. Time: 7pm.”

    However the media invitation was later withdrawn as it was not to be for media coverage.

    The Nation gathered that the state Chairmen, Secretaries and governorship candidates were briefed on preparation for the elections and what is expected them.

    Read also: Atiku’s Rally: Hoodlums attacks APC chairman’s residence

    The chairmen and candidates also reportedly briefed the NWC on their preparation for the election and the challenges.

    Senatorial candidates who were supposed to be part of the meeting were later excluded.

    The meeting is being presided over by the National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

    There was no official statement after the meeting which ended at about 9.30 pm as all the chairmen and candidates as well as NWC members left the Secretariat without speaking with the press.

  • Nigeria Airways ex-workers stage rally for Buhari’s reelection

    The Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos on Friday came alive as ex-workers of Nigeria Airways Limited staged a mega rally to support the reelection of President Muhammadu Buhari in the Feb. 16 Presidential Election.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the pensioners and ex-workers of the defunct national carrier declared their support for the president for paying N22. 6 billion as part payment of their entitlements in October 2018.

    The pensioners, who turned out in their numbers, moved from the premises of the Skypower Catering Services through the airport environment chanting “Sai Baba” and “Next Level”, to publicly show their support for Buhari.

    Speaking on behalf of the Nigeria Airways ex-workers, Mr Lukman Animashaun said the rally was to show appreciation to the president who came to their rescue after many years of neglect by previous administrations.

    He said : “Words are not enough to express the profound gratitude of the over 6,000 pensioners and ex-workers of Nigeria Airways to Buhari for his timely intervention in the payment of our benefits.

    “For 14 years, we were abandoned, humiliated and frustrated in our demand to be paid what was due to us by successive governments, whose stock in trade was tissues of lies designed to hoodwink the public.

    “In the process, about 800 of our members lost their lives.

    “But today, PMB has wiped out our tears, put smiles on our faces and restored hope to our members and their families with the part payment of our benefits.”

    Read Also; Ex-Airways pensioners plan rallies for Buhari

    According to him, the ex-workers of Nigeria Airways are optimistic that Buhari will pay the outstanding balance soon as promised.

    Also, Mr Sam Nzene, National Chairman, Nigeria Airways Pensioners, told NAN that the former staff and their families would cast their vote for Buhari because it was the right thing to do.

    “This is a man who saved us, who brought smiles to our faces, who rescued our families when others refused to show concern.

    “He did promise that he will do it and he actually did it by paying part payment of our benefits that have not been paid for over 14 years.

    “So we decided to show gratitude to him by organising this rally because one good turn deserves another.

    “We have decided that we and our families will vote for him. We want to tell Nigerians to vote for him because he is a man with a kind heart,” Nzene said.

    He said the outstanding payment of their entitlements was already captured in the 2019 budget, which was a clear demonstration that the money would soon be disbursed to the beneficiaries.

    NAN reports that the former national carrier was liquidated in 2004 by the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration, but the workers were not paid their severance packages as stipulated in extant labour laws.

    The workers were paid a fraction of their entitlements by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s regime in 2008 before Buhari approved the part payment of N22. 6 billion to them.

    The government has also promised to pay the other half of the money to them as soon as funds are available.