The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) on Thursday adopted President Muhammadu Buhari as its candidate for the 2019 election.
This is part of its resolution at the ongoing NEC meeting in Abuja.
Details shortly…..
Tag: presidential poll
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No plans to step down for Buhari, Atiku – Olawepo-Hashim
The Presidential candidate of People’s Trust (PT), Mr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has declared he has no plans to step down for either President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) or Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP).
Olawepo-Hashim expressed confidence the two candidates are beatable with their parties’ woeful performances since 1999.
He lamented 70 percent of voters are undecided on their choice less than 11 days to the presidential poll.
He called on Nigerians to support his candidacy for rapid economic development that will lift masses out of abject poverty.
According to a statement through his media team by Hassan Ibrahim, the Presidential hopeful who spoke during campaign in Akure, the Ondo state capital advised the electorates to reject the two political parties that had failed them in the last twenty years.
Olawepo-Hashim, who was accompanied by his Campaign Director-General and former transport minister, Mr Habu Fari, said the country was too endowed with natural resources for the citizenry to be wallowing in poverty.
He vowed to introduce policies that would end insecurity and economic hardship if elected the president of the nation on the sixteenth of this month.
He advised eligible voters to secure their future by voting for the party in the 2019 elections.
Olawepo-Hashim assured Nigerians, especially youths and graduates he would create jobs and make the environment conducive for businesses to flourish.
The presidential candidate of PT said his party was fine-tuning its strategy in all states of the federation on how to wrestle power from the ruling APC, adding that PT had the highest number of representation in constituency nominations.
READ ALSO: Olawepo-Hashim challenges APC, PDP to debate
According to him: “Some few days to election more than 70 percent of the electorates are still wondering who they are going to vote for.
“They have examined the candidates they are going to vote for and what these candidates promised to offer and among all the alternative parties, the PT is the biggest.
“But I can tell you that this election is still very open even though its ten days to the election.
“This is one of the reasons I said if elected we will form a government of National unity which will include the good people in the APC and PDP.”
Denying he was planning to step down, Olawepo-Hashim said: “Nigeria is a very interesting country, and I don’t know any country where other candidates are pressured to step down.
“I think it is a coinage here because in a multi- party democracy, nobody steps down, you win some seats and on the basis of this you can form coalition based on programme after the election.
“The presidential election is not about party but about candidates and the future of the country and the two parties have failed in that regard. But we give hope that if we come in, Nigeria will be better”.
Fari expressed delight the people of Ondo state trooped out to receive Olawepo-Hashim, indicating that the people are ready to elect the third force which the PT candidate represented.
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How Buhari will win presidential poll, by Kalu
All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain and former governor of Abia State Dr Orji Kalu on Tuesday gave insights into how the winner of the February 16. 2019 election will emerge.
He said majority from Northern Nigeria would determine the winner.
According to Kalu, experience has shown that whoever clinches majority of the votes from that region always emerges President.
Speaking on departure to Abuja at a private hangar at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Kalu said with over 14.9 million votes already in his basket, it would be easier for Buhari to coast home to victory.
He affirmed with the infrastructural revolution embarked upon in the South Eastern region, the President will also shore up his electoral changes better than in 2015.
He said people of the region have come to realize that President Buhari , who was painted in different light, has shown more love for the Igbos through the many projected executed in the region.
He cited the payment of pension to Biafrian Soldiers and Police; payment of severance benefits to former workers of Nigeria Airways Limited; Nigerian Railway Corporation and massive road construction across the South East.
Kalu said Buhari will do well electorally in Anambra state with a projected 50 per cent of the votes cast; while he will pull over 35 per cent of votes cast in Enugu and 50 per cent in Ebonyi.
Read Also: Presidential panel spends N10b on feeding Northeast IDPs
In Imo State, he predicted Buhari will pull 52 per cent and garner between 51 and 65 per cent in Abia State.
He cautioned the Igbo socio cultural organisation Ohaneze Ndi Igbo against turning the group into a political party because it does not have the mandate to tell Igbo people, which party or candidate to cast their votes for.
He said because Ohaneze comprises people of different political parties, it will be wrong for them to endorse Alhaji Abubakar Atiku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as its preferred candidate.
Kalu warned international community especially the European Union, United States and United Kingdom against interference in the presidential election.
He said as global stakeholders they should advise on how to achieve peace and transparent elections and allow Nigerian voters to determine their leaders through the polls .
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Niger Republic meddling in presidential poll?
If anyone is still in doubt as to the fact that the stakes in the forthcoming presidential election are really higher than virtually every other one before it, the person should put away his doubt and read this piece patiently:
Before I do that, however, let me say, from the outset, that I am not a politician; that I have never belonged to any political party in Nigeria or elsewhere; that I am a trained public affairs analyst, on the basis of which all I am concerned about is the common good of my country, Nigeria, and its people.
This piece is predicated on the need for all Nigerians to wake up and see with their very own eyes, the several instances on which the government of Mahamadou Issofou of Niger Republic is throwing to the dogs, the age-long, deep relationship between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Niger Republic in a manner even con artists will turn green with envy.
Though President Muhammadu Buhari has almost always honoured all invitations extended to him by the Issofou administration in Niger Republic and has been very forthcoming in extending all diplomatic courtesies and assistance to that nation, there are elements within that government who feel Nigeria under Buhari is not being as generous as it used to be under its predecessors, particularly the Jonathan administration, in terms of the largesse extended to Niger Republic.
Whereas, for example, other administrations will use such largesse as a means of self-enrichment, the era of accountability and probity enthroned by President Buhari has ensured that all such monies earmarked for assistance diplomatically extended to neighbouring countries reach their destination in full, with no kickbacks.
Whereas President Buhari could be willing to be as generous as Jonathan in terms of such diplomatic largesse, the fact has been that his administration does not have access to as much funding in its almost four years of life, right from the very beginning till now.
Sadly, some hawks in the Issofou administration in Niger Republic misconstrue that to mean meanness, and are believed to have vowed to turn their back against the president who is seeking re-election.
Some people may wonder: how could the Republic of Nigeria inflict any damage on the electoral fortunes of President Buhari? The answer is simple, and the strategy is three-pronged:
Firstly, they have been working hard to make the Buhari administration unpopular by short-changing unsuspecting foreign investors of Nigerian origin, whose only crime is investing legitimately in the economy of Niger Republic.
There have been some cases of that nature, where decent Nigerian companies will lawfully spend huge resources partnering with the government of Niger Republic in execution of mega projects, only for the Nigerian companies to be ditched midway, and their expertise now used to accomplish such projects.
A clear example is a Nigerian company, namely Architeam Group Niaport SA, which was assigned the contract of expansion of the airport in Niamey, the capital of Niger Republic. The company, innocently thinking the government of Niger Republic was a responsible and trustworthy partner, rolled out the drums and spent over seven million dollars in feasibility studies, environmental impact analysis, payment to technical partners from Germany, salaries, air tickets, etc.
Suddenly and unilaterally however, the administration of Issofou revoked the contract and awarded it to another company of its original preference. And even though the terms of the contract clearly stated that three letters of warning must be served the Nigerian company in the event of any breach of the contract on its part, no such letter was written or served, not even once. Even when such letters are written, the agreement clearly states that compensation must be paid to the Nigerian company. But line several other such cases before and after it, none of that was adhered to by the government of Niger Republic.
A clear indication of the disdain with which the current government of Niger Republic holds the Buhari administration of Nigeria can be seen in the fact that all entreaties on the part of the ministers of justice and foreign affairs of Nigeria since last year have fallen on deaf ears. At one time around July last year, even President Buhari personally intervened, appealing to his Nigerean counterpart to respect convention and ensure justice to the Nigerian company. President Issofou pretended to have heard and promised to act accordingly, but he only buttressed the deep contempt with which he holds President Buhari by ensuring nothing of such was done.
Under the Issofou administration, disregarding lawfully-established institutions in Nigeria has been the norm, rather than the exception.
To add salt to injury, some individuals, at the highest level in the government of Niger Republic are believed to be working hard to persuade citizens of that country that have somehow got the voters card to use their large number in the North to ensure President Buhari is voted out in the election.
The government also ensures its citizens are hardly kept abreast of all the support Nigeria is rendering to Niger Republic, such that a typical citizen of Niger holds even Burkina Faso in higher esteem than Nigeria. All this is aimed at building revulsion against the Buhari administration and make Nigerian citizens with ties to Niger Republic to vote out the government.
These are issues our intelligence services should pick up to ensure Nigeria doesn’t get undermined by Niger Republic or any other country for that matter. No country is too small now to be ignored.
When officials of Niger Republic travel to countries where they don’t have an embassy, Nigeria almost always plays the good neighbour by extending all diplomatic and protocol services to them. We pick all their bills and open our doors to them.
Yet, many citizens of that country have only scant regards for us, Nigerians. Their government has hidden from them our endless acts of generosity and sacrifice. I was listening to a BBC programme on Boko Haram last week and heard a senior citizen of Niger Republic talking down on Nigeria, even going as far as ridiculously suggesting their armed forces are superior to ours, and that they should be allowed into Nigeria to finish off Boko Haram.
It doesn’t matter to the man that many of the weapons being used by the Zamfara armed bandits who have spread their tentacles to Katsina and some parts of Sokoto state are believed to have found their way to Nigeria through the porous Nigeria-Niger boarder.
For Nigeria and particularly the Buhari administration, it is time we realized that the era of being Father Christmas to smaller ungrateful nations is over. Foreign policies are now couched around national interest. Only when you are full can you extend a morsel to your recalcitrant neighbour. That informs why even a country as rich as America is now drawing back from such over-generous tendencies and applying the resources to taking good care of its people.
As a nation, Niger Republic has for decades largely been a good neighbour, and you hardly make a distinction between the two countries especially in the northern part of Nigeria where inter-marriage has taken a firm root. If, therefore, a particular administration in that country is antagonistic towards Nigeria or its citizens, our country has a duty to protect our citizens and national integrity by paying back that regime in its bad coins.
- Abubakar wrote from Abuja.
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INEC gets two committees for presidential poll, others
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has taken a major step in its preparation for the February 16 presidential election and others.
It inaugurated yesterday two ad-hoc committees for Electoral Logistics and Collation Centre.
Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Ahmed Mu’azu is the chairman of the Electoral Logistics Committee. Mrs. Amina Zakari is the chairperson of the Results Collation Committee. Her appointment drew criticism from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but INEC said there was no need for that because she is in charge of setting up the Situation Room and National Collation Centre for the election. This includes creating a conducive environment for observers, INEC staff and others all through the election.
Air Vice Marshal Mu’azu and Mrs. Zakari are National Commissioners in the commission. INEC’s directors of Stores and Secretary are to serve as secretaries to the committees.
INEC Chairman Prof Mahmood Yakubu described the inauguration as another step in the commission’s determination to ensure seamless preparations for the the forthcoming elections.
The Electoral Logistics Committee will be responsible for coordinating logistics, as well as the clearance and transportation of electoral materials to various locations nationwide.
Yakubu said: “The first committee is responsible for electoral logistics. The commission is aware that the conduct of a general election is the biggest and most complex logistics operation a nation can undertake.
“Sensitive and non-sensitive materials procured by the commission must be delivered to almost 200,000 locations nationwide, ranging from the polling units to the various wards, local government areas, states and the national collation centres for the 1,558 constituencies into which elections will be conducted.”
“At the end of the elections, sensitive materials will be retrieved from the same locations. The same process will be repeated for each of the two phases of the 2019 general elections.
“The two phases are: the Presidential and National Assembly elections holding on February 16 and the governorship, states’ Assembly and Area Council election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on March 2,’’ the INEC chairman said.
The Committee on National Collation Centre, which is entirely internal to the commission, will be responsible for the national collation centre from where results of the Presidential election will be announced.
“As was the case in 2015, the commission will use the International Conference Centre (ICC) in Abuja.
“Already, the management of the ICC has approved the commission’s request to once again use the venue in 2019.
“It will serve as the secretariat for collation of results and venue for briefing of international observers and the media.
“It will also be accessible to agents of the 73 political parties fielding candidates in the presidential election.
“Facilities, such as power, access to the internet, live transmission for national and international media as well as accreditation for access to the ICC and security of the venue, shall be handled by the committee,” Yakubu said.
He assured Nigerians that “the commission is on course to deliver credible elections in 2019’’.
He also noted that the commission would meet with the national leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in Abuja today by 4pm to discuss the ongoing strike by the union, only in relation to INEC’s preparations for the general elections.
Yakubu said: “We are concerned that the bulk of critical election duty staff are drawn from the universities. We are determined to ensure that the processes are not affected by the union’s industrial action.
“ASUU is a critical partner to the commission in delivering credible elections. We look forward to the meeting and we are confident of a positive outcome.”
The INEC chair said that the commission had contacted the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) as the commission was already in partnership with one of its affiliate unions, the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
“The Commission plans to meet with the NLC next week,’’ Yakubu said.
Members of the Logistics Committee are: National Commissioners Abubakar Lamuche and Malam Muhammed Haruna, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Nigeria Immigration Service, Federal Road Safety Corps and Nigeria Police Force.
Others are: Department of State Services (DSS); the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC); the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force; INEC Director in charge of Electoral Operations & Logistics Department, INEC Director of Estate Works & Transport and INECý Director of Procurement.
On the committee on Collation Centre are: National Commissioners Prof. Antonia Okoosi-Simbine and Festus Okoye; Chief Technical Adviser to INEC chair Prof Boade Eyinla; Chief Press Secretary to Chairman Rotimi Oyekanmi; Director, International Cooperation and Protocol; Director, Information Technology (ICT); Director, Election, Party Monitoring (EPM); Director, Security Department; Director, Planning and Monitoring; Director, Health Services Department and Director, Commission Secretariat who will also double as Secretary of the committee.
AVM Mu’azu pledged that the members would deliver their responsibilities with all sense of diligence.
He said: “The committee will do whatever needs to be done to guarantee a seamless delivery of men and materials to the right place at the right time and in the right quantity and, of course, guarantee retrieval of same after the two elections.
“I want to also assure you that we appreciate and very clear in our minds the gravity of what is on our hands. Therefore, we shall hit the ground running.”
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Presidential poll for Feb. 16, 2019
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday released the timetable for the 2019 general elections.
The presidential and national assembly elections will hold on February 16, 2019, the governorship/state assembly/Federal Capital Territory Area Council Elections will hold on March 2, 2019.
INEC said it had sanctioned 23 of its staff by placing them on interdiction following their implication in the N360million Rivers State rerun bribe.
Based on the receipt of advice from the Director of Public Prosecution(DPP), the 23 officials will face trial.
The disciplinary action is indefinite until their trial is concluded.
The officials will not be allowed to come to the office, but will receive half-salary during the interdiction.
Action on the 202 employees who were indicted in the 2015 poll has been deferred.
These measures were the outcome of the management meeting of INEC on its plans and outstanding disciplinary matters.
The National Commissioner (In charge of South West), Prince Solomon Soyebi, who announced the measures, said the early announcement of timetable was in line with international best practices.
He said: “ Our democracy is maturing and the Commission believes that there should be certainty with regard to the timetable for elections. For instance, in the United States, general elections always hold on the second Tuesday of November in the election year.
“ In Ghana, it’s the 7th of December of the election year, while in other places like Mexico, Norway, Sweden, Costa Rica and Switzerland, the dates are also known in advance.
”In Nigeria, the constitution provides for elections to hold not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days to the end of the incumbent’s tenure.
“In order to ensure certainty in our dates for elections, and to allow for proper planning by the Commission, political parties, security agencies, candidates and all stakeholders, the Commission has decided to fix the date for the National Elections for the third Saturday in February of the election year, followed by State elections two weeks later.
“ To that extent, the 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on Saturday, 16th February 2019, while the Governorship/State Assembly/Federal Capital Territory Area Council Elections will hold on Saturday 2nd March 2019.”
On outstanding disciplinary matter, Soyebi said 23 officials will face trial for alleged N360million Rivers re-run bribe.
He said the staff had been placed on interdiction pending the outcome of their trial.
But INEC has suspended its decision on disciplinary action against 202 others who were indicted in the N23.29billion poll bribery scam during the 2015 general elections.
Soyebi said: “ The Commission has also received a report from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) of the Federation, informing us that 23 Electoral Officers indicted over the investigation into the 10th December Rivers rerun elections have been charged to court.
“The Commission has repeatedly said that it will cooperate with security agencies for the prosecution of any of our staff found to have violated the integrity of the electoral process. “Accordingly, at our meeting today, the Commission decided to apply the provisions of the INEC Terms and Conditions of Service to all those charged to court, since it constitutes gross misconduct.
“The penalty for this is interdiction. All the 23 Electoral Officers will be placed on half salary and will not report for duty pending the determination of their respective cases by the court.
On the 202 staff, he said INEC had deferred its decision on the 2015 poll bribery scam to enable it to reconcile the EFCC report and DPP’s advice.
He said: “ Ladies and gentlemen, you will recall that last week, we informed you that a decision would be taken this week on the recommendation by the Disciplinary Committee on staff members indicted by the EFCC Report for misconduct during the 2015 General Elections. “However, in view of the fact that some of the staff are also among those being prosecuted by the DPP, the Commission has decided to defer its decision on the EFCC Report to enable us reconcile the EFCC/DPP reports.”
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High expectations in Otuoke over presidential poll
A few locally-made campaign billboards, posters and other campaign materials praising President Goodluck Jonathan and drumming support for his reelection were sited within Otuoke. Early morning of Wednesday was calm and somewhat quiet in the community.
But it sounded boisterous few minutes before the Niger Delta Report got to the community in Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, where Jonathan hails from. The indigenes and other residents seemed to have murdered sleep. They were jolted from their sleep by the forthcoming election.
Niger Delta Report learnt that Otuoke was woken up early in the morning by town criers. The community leaders sent the messengers to summon all the stakeholders in the community to a meeting at the community’s town hall.
It was a forum to educate the indigenes on tommorrow’s presidential election.
“This election is different from the past elections. There are card readers now and everybody is expected to come out early in the morning for electronic accreditation. It is not going to be like the previous elections so we need to be educated on the process,” one of the unnamed leaders was quoted to have told the people at the gathering.
Elders, women, young and old were said to have congregated at the town hall and listened attentively to the voter education and sensitisation by the conveners of the meeting. Different leaders took turns to clearly sound the procedures of the election to the hearing of the people.
They exuded with uncommon passion to massively vote for their kinsman. In fact, if it depended on Otuoke to return Jonathan, the community would have done it with ease and maybe the President would have no reason to be afraid.
Despite their misgivings especially the complaints of divide-and-rule method of distributing presidential dividends against the President and his family, most of the people from Otuoke still want their kinsman back to Aso Rock.
Some were adamant. It never mattered to them that most people outside their communities are blaming the economic woes, massive corruption, insecurity, unemployment and lack of electricity on the alleged incompetence of their son and brother. They have even deafened their ears to the change and broom revolution sweeping across the country.
But most of the residents advocated peace during and after the election. No matter the outcome of the poll, they promised that Otuoke which is populated by people from different parts of the country, would remain calm
For instance, a commercial motorcyclist, Nene Edesiri, who had resided in the community for eight years was optimistic that Jonathan would retain his seat of the election. He, however, said the victory depended on the grace of God.
“By God’s grace, members of this community will come out to vote for Jonathan. I want him to come back so that he can complete the good work he has started in this community and in Nigeria as a whole. The man works hard a lot that is why we want him back”, he said.
Also, Joshua Gberedugo, first called our attention to the town hall meeting that was held early in the morning. He said the aim of the town hall meeting was to educate voters and preach the importance of peaceful co-existence.
“The entire community was at the meeting and we discussed about the elections. We insisted that the election should be peaceful. We love the president because he has really helped the masses and we know that if he comes back, he will do more.
“In fact, we are mobilising people for him. We want to make sure that all the votes here belong to him. I will never vote for any other person except Goodluck”, he said.
Furthermore, Ebeere Uche, a trader in the community said spoke against violence and pleaded with the people to have the fear of God. She, however, argued that to balance the north and south political equation, Jonathan should continue in the office.
“We need peace in our country. Whoever will rule us, should have God first. Hausa people have ruled us much, let the east rule us and let us see. Let our political leaders stop their clashes over there and allow God to decide things. We need peace,”she said.
However, Isu Godgift said people should be allowed to follow their hearts and conscience in choosing their leaders. He said Otuoke being the community of President Jonathan will attract global attention during the election. He said Otuoke will not object to the outcome of the election no matter who wins.
“Whatever that goes wrong in Otuoke,goes wrong in Nigeria. And whatever that goes right in Otuoke, goes right in Nigeria.
“We are expecting that the right leadership should be given to the person who deserves it in Nigeria. If Nigeria as a whole decides that Goodluck is the right person, that he will bring the right dividends of democracy, then the Otuoke man has no objection. We are fully prepared to cast our votes here because it is our civil duty,” he said.
The Youth Secretary of Otuoke, Osain Francis, sounded more optimistic on the victory of Jonathan. He said town criers had been mobilised and paid to go round the community and communicate the outcome of the town hall meeting to persons who were absent.
“We just had a meeting at the town hall this morning. At the meeting, we emphasised on the need to vote. Right now, the sensitisation on accreditation and the whole process of voting is going on in the community.
“The town crier will go out later to inform those who were absent at the meeting about what was discussed.
“We are fully prepared for the election. Come rain,come sunshine,we are going to come out en mass to vote for our son,President Goodluck Jonathan.
“We the community leaders are working hand-in-hand with security agencies to ensure that there is peace during the election”.
A look at the community showed that Otuoke had in February sought divine intervention on Jonathan’s reelection. A billboard in the community showed that members of Otuoke Ministers’ Forum (OMF) embarked on a Three-day fasting and prayer for the reelection of the President.
As the much-anticipated election holds on Saturday, Otuoke thought generally prays for the victory of her son, President Jonathan, she has promised to remain calm if the result goes the other way.
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Presidential poll as cauldron of intrigues
No fewer than three main plots are believed to be afoot in the run-up to the March 28 presidential poll. First, it is suggested that President Goodluck Jonathan, believing he would be defeated in the poll, is intriguing to either postpone the polls or contrive an indefinite postponement. The president, the speculators suggest, is unmindful of the legal or constitutional implications of another postponement or cancellation. That he will not stand on any solid ground, they say, is not enough reason to dissuade the president from attempting that contrivance. Should Dr Jonathan proceed to give life to this plot, he will find ready support in Governor Ayo Fayose, that mindless proponent of crazy schemes, and other likeminded purveyors of subterfuges.
Second, it is also suggested that Dr Jonathan, having sworn not to hand over to a disfavoured successor, may be scheming for the emplacement of an interim government, for which he and his supporters might already be shopping for candidates. Former president Olusegun Obasanjo is thought to have spied on this scheme much earlier than most Nigerians, and has frantically warned that the president was reenacting the Ivoirien stalemate that led both to a short but brutal war and the disgrace and trial of former Cote D’Ivoire president, Laurent Gbagbo, and his wife. The president has denied the existence of such a plot, but news and speculations of the scheme have endured. In fact, a recent Abuja court order mandating INEC to register the Young Democratic Party (YDP) and include it on the ballot is cited as an indication of the tightening plot against the election. This seemingly innocuous but anomalous judgement is believed to be designed to provoke a postponement of the polls.
Third, there is a massive, relentless, incoherent and illogical campaign to replace the INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega, a professor of political science. The campaign is orchestrated by indulgent Niger Delta politicians sated with oil money, and leading PDP officials corrupted by power and largesse, who have even gone ahead to call for the abandonment of PVCs and card readers. Some Southwest politicians in the PDP and Afenifere whisper their support. Indeed, no day breaks without one powerful group or another calling for the head of Professor Jega, with some of them, like Mr Fayose, encouraging the president to fly in the face of common sense by either sacking the INEC chairman or sending him on leave. Heavens will not fall, says the truculent Mr Fayose. Though the president has denied any intention to remove Professor Jega, he has a history of not meaning most of what he says, a culture that has led his loyalists to continue exerting pressure on him to dispense with Professor Jega. The plot against the INEC chairman is designed to complete the three legs of determining the outcome of the polls in favour of the president and his party.
In the days ahead, many more plots will manifest with the intent to shape Poll 2015 outcomes. But it is well known that deliberate and artificial concoctions and manipulations that undermine popular will often end tragically for a scheming government. There is nothing to indicate Dr Jonathan’s schemes would end differently. If in doubt, aspiring schemers should ask the United States where their short-sighted intervention in Iraq and the regime change they inspired led them. Did it not birth ISIS, destabilise Iraq, give the hated Iran the upper hand in the region, complicate Syria’s manifold troubles, and completely undermine the so-called New American Century, a trashy piece of ambitious internationalist theory of American foreign policy?
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Presidential poll: The parties, their strenghts, weaknesses
In the next few days, Nigerians will go to the poll to elect the President of their choice. The results of the parties’ shadow elections were crucial with the emergence of 14 candidates for the February 14 race to the Presidential Villa in Abuja. In this piece, YUSUF ALLI, Managing Editor, Northern Operation, appraises the strength and weaknesses of the parties.
Barring last minute hiccups, the much-awaited 2015 presidential election will be over in the next few days. In line with Section 221 of the 1999 Constitution, 14 political parties are vying for the plum office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces. The parties and their candidates are: Dr. Goodluck Jonathan (PDP); Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (APC); Chief Sam Eke (CPP); Ambrose Albert Owuru (Hope Democratic Party); Ganiyu Galadima (Allied Congress Party of Nigeria) and Rafiu Salau (Alliance for Democracy)
Others are: Godson Okoye (United Democratic Party); Dr. Mani Ibrahim Ahmad (African Democratic Congress); Martin Onovo (National Conscience Party); Prof. Comfort Oluremi Sonaiya (Kowa Party); Tunde Anifowoshe-Kelani (Action Alliance); Chekwas Okorie( United Progressive Party), Ayeni Musa , Adebayo African Peoples Party (APA) and Allagoa Kelvin (Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN).
For a party to win the coveted seat, Section 134 of the 1999 Constitution says: “A candidate for an election to the office of President shall be deemed to have been duly elected, where, there being only two candidates for the election if (a) he has the majority of votes cast at the election; and (b) he has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-third of all the states in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.”
The ball is now in the court of the 14 parties to woo the nation’s 68, 333, 476 registered voters. The Herculean task before the electorate, however, is how to separate the wheat from the chaff. The parties’ strengths and weaknesses are as follows:
PDP
Formed in 1998, the ruling PDP has consolidated its hold on power in the country in the last 16 years. Since the emergence of the Fourth Republic, the party has won the presidential and majority seats in National Assembly elections in 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011. Wikipedia describes PDP thus: “The Peoples Democratic Party is a conservative political party in Nigeria. Its policies generally lie towards the Centre-right of the political spectrum. It has won every presidential election since 1999, and it is the reigning party in the Fourth Republic amid controversial circumstances. The party has a neo-liberal stance in its economic policies and maintains a conservative stance on certain social issues. The PDP favours free-market policies which support economic liberalism and limited government regulation.”
Strength
Until recently, the party enjoys national spread among all ethnic groups in the country. At a point in the nation’s history, events in the PDP used to have implications on national development. With 21 governors out of 36 governors in its fold, the PDP controls the Senate and at least 21 States’ Houses of Assembly. Leaders of the party have access to war chest being in control the largest chunk of the finances of the federation. Recently, the party raised N21 billion for the forthcoming elections. The amount is the highest donation ever received by any party to prosecute elections.
Weaknesses
The party’s popularity has waned over the years. Many of its foundation leaders have either defected to the opposition or abandoned the party to its fate. Members of the ruling PDP have joined Nigerians now calling for change following the party’s inability to deliver on its promises like power and employment. The PDP-controlled Federal Government is perceived as corrupt. Most party leaders are believed to be corrupt – some of them are presently being tried for alleged graft and corruption. In just a day, the ruling party lost five of its governors to its main rival – the APC.Irrespective of skepticisms against the PDP, it remains the party to beat at the poll in the next few days.
APC
Formed as a coalition of progressives from four political parties on February 6, 2013, the party got approval for its registration from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on July 31, 2013, to become a political party. Wikipedia describes the APC as “a social-democratic political party.” One of the strengths of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 14 and 28 elections is its emergence as an amalgam of major opposition parties in the country. The former parties that fused into the APC were: the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and a part of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
The formation of the party was the first successful merger in the history of party politics in the country. The party’s chances are further boosted by the defection of several PDP chieftains, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, a number of governors and ex-governors, and many members of the House of Representatives to its fold. The APC has 14 states in its fold as against the 21 being controlled by the PDP.
The APC has enjoyed relative stability since its formation as no faction is known to exist within it. Although many pundits had written off the APC off as a party of disparate configuration but it enjoys a cult-like bond especially in the North and the Southwest, leaving many of its critics dumb-founded. Its popularity in the Southeast and Southsouth, which are traditionally PDP stronghold has sent the ruling PDP to the drawing board to find a way to counter the onslaught. Another factor in APC’s favour ahead of the February 14 presidential election is the alleged weak leadership of the ruling party and the poor rating of the President Jonathan’s administration. Besides, the presidential candidate of the APC – Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, has a sellable pedigree and rising profile as a presidential candidate. He was a one-time military Head of State, like former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He is blessed with a strong character, discipline and seen as incorruptible. Buhari is loved and adored all over the North, a development than can largely swing the votes in favor of the rival opposition party in the forthcoming polls. It is the fourth time the retired General would be taking a shot at the presidency under the democratic dispensation. He had always inched closer each time he ran.
The five governors that left the PDP to join its fold last year have further extended the reach and national spread of the party. The APC governors are also rated as having performed as exemplified by the developmental strides of some of governors like Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano, Adams Oshiomhole (Edo), Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), among others.
Weaknesses
The APC has not been able to penetrate the Southsouth and the Southeast with as much acceptability as the PDP.
ACPN
The party came into being out of political exigency with the Saraki political dynasty in Kwara State in 2011. It was formed by the late strongman of Kwara politics, Abubakar Olusola Saraki. The late Saraki was the Senate Leader in the Second Republic. Beyond the shores of Kwara, the party is unknown to Nigerians. The ACPN died with its founder because most of its members have defected to the APC in Kwara. At best, its presidential candidate, Ganiyu Galadima is playing to the gallery. Its governorship candidate in the 2011 election, Senator Gbemi Saraki, had since defected back to the PDP.
UPP
The UPP was formed in 2012 by Chief Chekwas Okorie following the factionalisation of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA). The party, which technically, remains an offshoot of APGA, might pretend to be a national party. Its logo, “Isi Agu” (Lion’s Head) points to its catchment area. Lion’s Head was said to have “deep historical connotations within the Southeast and Southsouth.” It remains a tribal party whose presidential candidate, Chief Chekwas Okorie is looking for political relevance.
AD
The Alliance for Democracy was established on September 9, 1998 and in 2006, a faction of the party dissolved into Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). The Alliance for Democracy was a progressive opposition political party in Nigeria. The party produced all the six governors in the Southwest in 1999. In 2003, the party secured 8.8 per cent of the popular vote and 34 out of 360 seats in the House of Representatives and six out of 109 seats in the Senate. Most of its founders are now in the APC, leaving only a few old brigades to manage the AD wrecks. The party is virtually dead in the mind of its followers because it is now rated as an appendage of the PDP. There are still issues on how its presidential candidate, Rafiu Salau emerged.
KP
According to the website of KOWA, the party was registered on July 16, 2009 by a group of Nigerian Civil Society activists, professionals and technocrats. The citation reads: “The founding members of KOWA party consist of men and women of integrity who wish to contribute to making Nigeria a country where there is economic justice, political sanity, peace, stability, human development and social progress; a country governed in the best interest of the majority who are at present, mostly poor, struggling people, as opposed to the current situation in which there is gross economic injustice and a wide gap between the rich and the poor. We are mostly political activists, professionals and politicians who did not find a level playing ground in the God-father-dominated Political Parties. This means that we are not your typical, conventional, rotten politicians. We are different.” Beyond its vision, KOWA had always compromised with the PDP and this year’s elections might not be an exception.
NCP
Though the National Conscience Party (NCP) was formed in 1994 by the late fiery human rights’ activist and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Chief Gani Fawehinmi and others, it went through legal hurdles before it secured judicial victory to participate in the general elections in 2003, when it won a legal battle to be able to do so. The best outing of the party was in the 2003 presidential election when Fawehinmi scored 161,333 votes (0.41 per cent) to emerge distant fifth. The desire of the NCP to take part in presidential poll through its candidate, Martin Onovo, is largely seen as a desire to fulfill all righteousness and retain its name the register of participating party.
AA
The AA was formerly called National Mass Movement of Nigeria (NMMN). The change of name was necessitated by reasons of giving the party a more focused and dynamic leadership but still carrying the people along. It has a mission to save poor Nigerians and protect the interest of all.
UDP
The United Democratic Party is led by Godson Okoye, a lawyer who contested the Anambra gubernatorial election in 2010 and lost. It is more or less being run like a personal estate.
HDP
This is one of the lucky parties in the country. In December 2013, HDP was deregistered by INEC based on Section 78 of the 1999 Constitution. But Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja, declared the deregistration as illegal, null and void on October 20, 2014. It ruled that the party’s name be reinstated in the list of registered political parties. The National Chairman of the party, Ambrose A. Owuru, a lawyer, is also its presidential candidate.
The polls and rating of the parties
Aside of the PDP and the APC that have demonstrated seriousness as contenders for the presidency, the other 12 political parties are just putting up a show at best. Some of them want to be seen as relevant even though they do not enjoy any measure of popularity and national spread to enable them make a mark. For instance, the Action Alliance has no record that it had won any political seat since 1999, yet its members believe they will get a mention by contesting the presidential slot. On the other hand, the United Progressives Party (UPP) is a new entrant into the political space. It was founded by Okorie. The APGA’s one-time national chairman believes he was schemed out by the hawks in his old party. The KOWA party is relatively unknown, even as it has been around for a while. Its members adopted the presidential candidate of the PDP in 2011. However, they believe they can take a shot at the presidency this time around. The only electoral asset of the party is that it is fielding a woman female professor as its presidential candidate, Comfort Oluremi Sonaiya.
The NCP, formed by late Gani Fawehinmi, has been around for a while but has nothing to show in terms of electoral capital. Its presidential candidate for the February 14 election is Chief Martin Onovo with Ibrahim Mohammed as his running mate. It is doubtful if the party can cause any upset since it lacks the national spread and the popular candidates to attract voters during the elections. The National Secretary of the National Unity Group (NUG), Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, who is also the National Vice Chairman, Southsouth of the PDP, said the group had been having meetings with nine parties to back President Goodluck Jonathan.
So far, the battle is between the PDP and APC. While the PDP is stronger in the Southeast, Southsouth, in some parts of the Northcentral and two states in the Southwest, the APC is at home in the Northwest, Northeast, parts of Northcentral and Southwest.
At a session at the Chattam House, London United Kingdom (UK), the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mr. Sambo Dasuki, said: “The emergence of a seemingly viable opposition, as well as the closeness of the race is a clear demonstration of our maturing democracy…”
What fate for the mushroom parties
After the polls, INEC might still be forced to wield the big stick on these parties in line with Section 78(7) of the 2010 Electoral Act as amended. The section says: “The commission shall have power to deregister political parties on the following grounds (i) breach of any of the requirements for registration and (ii) for failure to win presidential or governorship or a seat in the National or State Assembly election.”
INEC chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega gave insights into the deregistration of parties by his Commission when 28 parties were de-listed.
He said: “In particular if you look at Sections 222 and 223, political parties are supposed to register with INEC and to have an office in Abuja; they are supposed to hold periodic elections; they are supposed to have executives that represent in their composition the Federal Character in particular two-thirds of the state of the Federation. And also the Electoral Act in particular says that those who did not win any seat in any of the elections can be deregistered.
“The first step we took was to deregister seven parties. We deregistered them solely on the basis of the fact that they did not even field candidates for the elections.”
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Issues that will shape presidential poll (2)
The economy: Continuity or change?
ow good is the economy? Very solid, say the books. Very suspect, counters the market reality. Which of the two truly reflects the correct state of the economy?
Since Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (NOI), Finance minister for most of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s second term (2003-2007) and current Finance minister and coordinating minister for the Economy under President Goodluck Jonathan, stamped her imprimatur, that has been the question on everyone’s lips.
The question that should matter in the February 14 presidential election: should the dichotomy between what the economics books say and what the reality dictates exist? Should there be continuity, or should there be a radical change in the country’s economic direction?
The World Bank Nigeria Economic Report for 2014, prepared by a team led by John Litwack, the World Bank’s lead economist for Nigeria, also seemed to betray some befuddlement at the see-saw that is the Nigerian economy, viz-a-viz the promises the books project and the sheer near-hopelessness on the ground.
“Microeconomic data on growth, poverty and living standards in the last decade have been rather puzzling,” the Litwack report submitted. “On one hand, the country appeared to be experiencing strong economic growth averaging seven percent annually, which was particularly concentrated in the pro-poor areas of agriculture and trade. On the other hand, the national per capita poverty rate remained very high at more than 60 per cent of the population, with little evidence of recent progress in poverty reduction.”
On Nigeria, even Breton-Woods itself appears confused! And that confusion is not helped by the 2014 rebasing of Nigeria’s economic accounts, which, by that very act alone, catapulted the economy to No 1 in Africa (ahead of both the dynamo, South Africa and Egypt).
In World Bank’s own words: “The recent rebasing of the national accounts, which increased estimated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to $509 billion, making Nigeria the 26th largest economy in the world, brought further attention to this puzzle. How could a country of the size and wealth of Nigeria have the poverty rates much higher than neighbouring countries like Niger and Benin Republic?”
Even the poverty spread is a mishmash that does not in any way ease the mind. Though the 2014 rebasing showed that the national average poverty level might have been grossly exaggerated, anchoring at 33.1 per cent of the population (down from the around 70 per cent hitherto feared), regional poverty spread, between Nigeria’s North and South, is well and truly alarming.
The World Bank report gives the poverty range from 16 per cent in the Southwest (the least hit) to 28.8 per cent in the Southeast, 45 per cent in the Northwest and 50.2 per cent in the Northeast (the worst hit). In other words, from the Southwest, where almost one out of every five people is deemed poor, the pendulum wildly swings to the North, where almost one out every two citizens lives below the poverty line.
This grim statistics has more than economic implications. Indeed, it has security implications — for a country with such stark economic dichotomies might just be at war against itself. A generally well-off South versus a generally poor North would appear a demographic bomb that should question the current economic paradigm and perhaps cry for an urgent shift.
If the books are so good, yet the reality is so grim, it is simply because the current economic policy has not taken care of some critical pillars, without which the economy cannot compete, create jobs and drive development and eventual prosperity.
Those twin pillars are power (electricity) and energy (fuel).
The power sector has just completed a bout of privatisation, seeing off the sale of Electricity Generation Companies (Gencos) and Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) to private investors. The change on baton is the final dismantling of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), according to the Power Sector Reforms.
The sub-5,000mw of electricity now in supply falls far short of the 10, 000 mw projection for 2007. That is a terrible lag: at least seven years after that ambitious projection, power output is less than half the megawatts projected for 2007!
Yet, without constant power, there can be no talk of powering the economy to more jobs, resuscitating manufacturing and at least, reducing urban poverty by providing more factory jobs; and even boosting the rural economy by improving agricultural storage (particularly of perishable farm produce like tomato, vegetables, among others) and boosting rural manufacturing with value-added agro-allied industries.
The energy sector appears to be another tale of privatisation and liberalisation that seem to have only postponed the proverbial evil day.
President Olusegun Obasanjo opted for downstream liberalisation-by-importation on the reason that the local refineries had become drain pipes — which, indeed, they had and still have — and therefore, it was needless for the government throwing more money down the drain, over expensive Turn-Around-Maintenance (TAM). That was hardly illogical. President Jonathan has kept to the same track.
Years after, that concept is clearly not working. For starters, it would appear economically unwise, to say the least. This is because, by settling for imported refined fuel, Nigeria appears to export her niche (crude) cheap but import the by-product(with value-added of course) at a premium. The result is net loss of scarce national reources.
Besides, it has led to a huge controversy over fuel subsidy, the huge corruption embedded in the perceived racketeering involved in subsidy and the economic rent that further drives easy cash without value. This further under-develops the economy.
But even while this, for the books, made some sense in the days of booming oil sales, it is becoming double jeopardy now, since the end of last year and turn of the New Year, when the price of crude oil has hit the sub-$60 a barrel mark. By that sole downturn therefore, both the books and the market drip with red. Of course, the economy itself, quite logically, heads south, likely to worsen, even more, the national poverty index.
So, as energy policy, should the government stick to its present downstream-liberalisation-by-fuel-importation policy, or embark on a paradigm shift of aggressive local refining of crude, by either building (but not necessarily running) new refineries, or putting in place a more attractive policy framework to encourage the private sector to invest in new refineries?
Put more grandly: should Nigeria continue with the NOI model, since 2003, of scrupulous balance of the books, with scant regard for the economic reality; or get hands real dirty with fixing the key fundamentals of power and crude refining to domesticate the economy?
Those are the economic questions that should drive this year’s presidential election.