ELECTION POSTPONEMENT:I WAS NOT CONSULTED BY INEC – JONATHAN

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has dismissed claims in some quarters that he influenced the postponement by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), of the 2015 general elections from February 14 and 28 to March 28 and April 11.

Speaking during in the Presidential Media Chat in Abuja last night, President Jonathan disclosed that he was not consulted by either INEC or the security chiefs before the poll shift was announced last Saturday night by INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega. “I was not consulted and I do not want to be consulted,” he stated.

The President referred to the incident in 2011 when INEC postponed the presidential election by two weeks. “I was already in my village in Bayelsa for the election when the postponement was announced and I had to return to Abuja. INEC did not consult me. If it did, I would not have wasted my time going to the village,” he said.

Jonathan expressed the confidence that Boko Haram would be driven out of the occupied parts of the country before the new dates for the elections in keeping with the promise of the security chiefs who requested for the poll shift on security grounds. “I am not saying that Boko Haram will be wiped out before the election but a lot of advances will be made in the next six weeks,” he said.

Assuring that the elections would definitely hold on the rescheduled dates, the President said: “Nobody is saying that we will wipe out Boko Haram before we hold the elections. Boko Haram is not a regular army. Afterall, Boko Haram was there when we held elections in 2011.”

Jonathan raised hopes on the rescue of the Chibok school girls who have been in Boko Haram’s captivity since April last year. His words: “On the fate of the Chibok girls, now that we are working with Chad and other neighbours, I believe that in the next few weeks the story of the Chibok girls will be different and we will rescue them. Of course, we will recover them alive; we do not want anyone to be killed.”

On the fate of the INEC Chairman, President Jonathan denied having any plans to remove him. “I appointed Jega. If I feel that Jega is not good for obvious reasons I have the power to remove him and I have not told anybody that I will remove him,” he stated.

The President expressed confidence that the polls would be peaceful and allayed fears that it would lead to war.

 

News Express

Obasanjo finally endorses Buhari

Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s former president, has publicly expressed support for the electioneering campaign of Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler and presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Until now, he had not specifically endorsed Buhari despite openly criticising President Goodluck Jonathan in the last two years.

Speaking at the launch of My Watch in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday, Obasanjo, who served his two terms as president on the same Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform that Jonathan is now running on, also condemned the postponement of the election.

“The circumstances [Buhari] will be working under if he wins the election are different from the one he worked under before, where he was both the executive and the legislature – he knows that,” he said.

“It’s a question of leadership – political and military.

“He’s smart enough. He’s educated enough. He’s experienced enough. Why shouldn’t I support him?”

It is the first time that the ex-president has publicly spoken of his support for Buhari. He recently said that he would only speak out on his leaning after the election has been conducted.

On the postponement of the election he said:“The signs are not auspicious. I don’t know whether a script is being played.”

He criticised the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, accusing him of wasting the country’s resources. “You need to ask [Jonathan] how has he let [the army] go to this extent,” he said

“Many things went wrong: recruitment went wrong; training went wrong; morale went down; motivation not there; corruption was deeply ingrained; welfare was bad.”

When asked if he was still nursing further political ambition, he said: “I am an old man and I’m enjoying what I’m doing now… And then you forget I am a farmer; I have to manage my farm.”

The Cabelng

Re Buhari: One Nation, Two Moralities

By Prof. Taiwo Osipitan
As the Nation prepares for the February 2015 Election, the educational qualifications of candidates contesting the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has generated endless controversies. Two Schools of thought are locked in the controversy. The dominant School of thought has asserted loudly and clearly, that a person is not eligible to contest election to the office of the President unless he/she produces a Secondary School Leaving Certificate or its equivalent. It has been and it is still being contended that candidates must possess/produce educational qualification of at least Secondary School Leaving Certificate or its equivalent in order to be eligible to contest the on coming elections. Section 131 (d) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) has been cited in support of the contention by proponents of that view to support their position. The said Section provides:

“131. A person shall be qualified for election to the office of President if-
(a)…                             …                                           …
(b)   …                      …                                           …
(c)  …                           …                                       …
(d) he has been educated up to at least school certificate level or its   equivalent.”
Candidates contesting election to other elective positions must also possess a similar qualification. This is in view of the prescription in other provisions of the Constitution that candidates to elective post must have been educated up to at least school certificate level or its equivalent. Section 177 (d) prescribes that candidates contesting election into the office of State Governor must have been educated up to at least School Certificate Level its equivalent. By virtue of Section 142(2) and 187(2) the provisions on educational qualification of President and State Governors apply to Vice President and Deputy Governors respectively. Section 65(2) (a) and 106(c) of the Constitution prescribes that candidates contesting elections as National Assembly and State House of Assembly members respectively must also have been educated to at least School Certificate  Level.
It is against the backdrop of Section 131 (d) of the Constitution that the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), has been and is still being invited, to disqualify General Muhammadu Buhari (APC’s Presidential candidate) from contesting the upcoming Presidential Election. It is likely that more requests will be made to INEC to disqualify other candidates, on the same ground of lack of Educational qualification of “school certificate or its equivalent”.
This article seeks to place adequate information at the disposal of all concerned. The article educates further all concerned on the requirements of educational qualifications of persons contesting election to the office of the President and other elective posts in the coming 2015 Election. This article demonstrates, that under the 1999 Constitution, production of Secondary School Certificate or it’s equivalent is not a mandatory requirement of being eligible to contest election into an elective post.
Undoubtedly, Section 131(d) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) prescribes Secondary School Leaving Certificate as the minimum educational qualification of candidates contesting election to the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It stipulates that candidates must be “educated up to at least School Leaving Certificate Level or its equivalent.”
When the above provision is construed in its ordinary grammatical meaning, persons who do not possess the Secondary School Leaving Certificate or its equivalent are not qualified to contest election to the office of President. In other words, upon a cursory reading of the provision of Section 131(d), it is easy to come off with the impression that unless a person possesses the Secondary School Leaving Certificate or its equivalent (Grade II Teacher’s Certificate, the City and Guilds Certificate), he or she is ordinarily not eligible to contest election to the office of the President of Nigeria. Similar interpretation will be given to other provisions on qualification of candidates in respect of other elective posts/offices.
The above provision must however be read along with Section 318(1) of the said Constitution, which is the interpretation Section. It becomes crystal clear, upon a careful reading of the said Interpretation Section, that even persons whose educational qualifications are below the Secondary School Leaving Certificate/level and its equivalent are still qualified to contest election, if they possess the Primary Six School Leaving Certificate or its equivalent along with the other requirements listed under the said definition Section (Section 318(1)).
For the avoidance of doubt, Section 318(1) provides:

“School Certificate or its equivalent” means –
(a)    a Secondary School Certificate or its equivalent, or Grade II Teacher’s Certificate, the City and Guilds Certificate; or
(b)    education up to Secondary School Certificate level; or
(c)    Primary Six School Leaving Certificate or its equivalent and-
(i)    service in the public or private sector in the Federation in any capacity acceptable to the Independent National Electoral Commission for a minimum of ten years, and
(ii)    attendance at courses and training in such institutions as may be acceptable to the Independent National Electoral Commission for periods totalling up to a minimum of one year, and
(iii)    the ability to read, write, understand and communicate in the English language to the satisfaction of the Independent National Electoral Commission; and
(d)    any other qualification acceptable by the Independent National Electoral Commission;”

There is the need to acknowledge the trite rule of interpretation of Statutes which is to the effect that a Section of a Statute should not be construed in isolation. All Sections in a Statute must be interpreted conjunctively, especially where the Statute has a definition Section, as it is the case with the 1999 Constitution (as amended). Section 131(d) must therefore be construed in conjunction with Section 318(1) of the Constitution which defines the words “School Certificate or its equivalent.”
It is evident from the above definition Section of the Constitution (Section 318(1)), that the meaning of “School Certificate or its equivalent”, for the purpose of Section 131(d) of the Constitution, is very liberal and accommodating. The provision accommodates persons with the Primary School Leaving Certificate coupled with private or public sector experience and who have attended courses and training for periods totalling up to a minimum of one year. Such primary school Certificate holders must also demonstrate ability to read, write, understand and communicate in the English language to the satisfaction of INEC. The definition of “School Certificate or its equivalent” also includes candidates who are educated up to Secondary School Certificate level. These candidates need not produce Certificates evidencing that they passed Secondary School Examination. What they must produce is evidence of being educated up to Secondary School level. This is unlike the other requirement of Secondary School Certificate or its equivalent or Grade II Teachers Certificate, or City and Guilds Certificate under Paragraphs (a) of the definition. The difference between (a) and (b) above is that under (a), production of a Certificate is mandatory. In (b), what is required is evidence of “education up to Secondary School Certificate level ”. While it may well be that production of a Certificate is evidence which proves (b), it is not the only mode of proving (b). Testimonials, Reference Letters and Affidavits are legitimate vehicles of proof that a candidate has been “educated up to Secondary School Certificate level .“ As a matter of fact, the (d) part of the above definition is much more elastic and accommodating. It recognizes “any other qualification acceptable to the Independent National Electoral Commission” as a qualification to contest election to the office of President and other elective posts. It suffices to state that a candidate who relies on (c) must also produce his/her primary school leaving certificate
The provision of Section 318(1) was construed by the Court of Appeal in the case of BAYO v. NJIDDA (2004) 8 NWLR (Pt. 876) page 544 at 629H-630D, where Ogbuagu, J.C.A (as he then was) held:
“The above provisions, are conjunctive and they qualify or mean “school certificate or its equivalent.” So, if any one of them is not present/ available, then, the candidate is out. Therefore, even if (i), (ii), (iii) and (d) are acceptable by or satisfactory to INEC and therefore, cannot be questioned in a tribunal as being final, the absence of (c), also disqualifies the candidate.
I wish to point that unlike the provision in (b)-i.e.
“(b) education up to secondary school certificate level,” or, in (c), it must be the obtaining or possession of a primary six school leaving certificate or its equivalent. It could be observed that in (b) there is no “or its equivalent”.
In other words, as regards a secondary school certificate level one does not have to pass the secondary school certificate examination. It is enough, in my view, that one attended a Secondary school and read up to secondary school certificate level i.e. without passing and obtaining the certificate.
But in the case of (c), one must have passed and obtained the primary six school leaving certificate. It could be seen that the draftsman of these provisions, carefully chose the words.”
Nzeako, J.C.A (as she then was) held at page 619 paras. G-H, in the above case, thus:
“In effect a person seeking to become a candidate for an election to the House of Assembly of any state in the Federal Republic of Nigeria must possess at least one of the qualifications set out in (a) or (b) or (c) (supra)
In the case of (c), he must in the first instance possess, primary six school leaving certificate or its equivalent, (in some states there used to be primary 7 as the final class in Primary school), and in addition evidence of (i), (ii) and (iii) above all together.
It follows that a person who is not educated up to school certificate or its equivalent, may still qualify for election to the House of Assembly of a state if he has primary six school leaving certificate plus evidence or fulfilling every one of the conditions in (i), (ii) and (iii). If the person possesses primary six certificate but fails to provide evidence of any of the above (i), (ii) or (iii), he does not qualify.
In CHUKWU v. ICHEONWO (1999) 4 NWLR (Pt.600) page 587 at 596 paras. B-F, the Court of Appeal was faced with the interpretation of provisions of Section 99(1) of the Local Government (Basic Constitutional and Transitional Provisions) Decree No. 36 of 1998 which contained similar definition of school certificate or its equivalent. In answer to the question, whether a candidate must possess/produce school certificate, in order to satisfy requirement of being educated to the minimum level of school certificate or its equivalent, the court held thus:
“it is erroneous to hold as learned counsel has argued that to satisfy the condition of educational qualification, the candidate must possess a Secondary School Certificate. The interpretation given by the tribunal on this issue of educational qualification is unassailable. I agree that since there is evidence that the 2nd Respondent sat for the School Certificate examinations in May/June 1975, this is sufficient to satisfy the requirement of section 10(c) of the Decree. While acquisition of sound education may be desirable to enable one discharge the functions of Chairman of a Local Government Council, it is not absolutely necessary that such person must possess a Certificate to enable him function effectively.”
The definition Section (Section 318(1)) also vests INEC with powers to determine a candidate’s literacy level. Under Paragraph (b), the capacity in which a candidate served in the private or public sector must be acceptable to INEC.  The courses and training attended by a candidate must also be in Institutions acceptable to INEC. Finally, a candidate’s ability to read, write, understand and communicate in the English language must also be to the satisfaction of INEC.
The key words in the definition Section are “acceptable” to and “satisfaction” of INEC. These words are subjective in the sense that where INEC is satisfied with a candidates training and qualifications or where the qualifications of a candidate are acceptable to INEC, it is doubtful if the decision of INEC can be challenged successfully by a candidate’s opponent. The words “to the satisfaction of” and “acceptable to” , in their ordinary grammatical meanings, acknowledge subjectivity on the part of INEC. The word acceptable is synonymous with being in agreement with, approval, not very good but good enough, welcoming, pleasing, satisfactory, adequate or worth accepting. Satisfaction means a state of being satisfied, that which satisfies, content or pleasing.
From the angle of Law of Estoppel, where INEC has previously been satisfied with or accepted a candidate’s educational qualifications in previous Elections, and allows such a candidate to contest election(s) the same INEC would be estopped from disqualifying the same candidate in future Elections on the ground of lack of educational qualification.
Estoppel prevents a person from blowing hot and cold, approbating and reprobating on an issue. Therefore, where a person makes a representation expecting it to be acted upon, and another person acts on that representation, the former is estopped from resiling from his/her representation. The above principles of Law have been judicially endorsed in the following authoritative Legal decisions.
1.    Ude v Nwara  (1993) 2 NWLR (Pt. 278) Pg. 638 at 662,Para.G -Per Nnaemeka-Agu J.S.C:
“By operation of the rule of estoppel a man is not allowed to blow hot and cold, to affirm at one time and deny at the other, or, as it is said, to approbate and reprobate. He cannot be allowed to mislead another person into believing in a state of affairs and then turning round to say to that person’s disadvantage that the state of affairs which he had represented does not exist at all or as represented by him.”
2.    Jadesimi v Okotie-Eboh; In Re Lessey (1989) 4 NWLR Pt 113 Pg 113 at 125, Para. B – Per Akpata J.C.A.:
“A party cannot be heard to approbate or reprobate. He will not be allowed to base his action or defence, whether by pleadings or affidavit evidence, on a set of facts then depart from the set of facts on which issues had been joined to meet the case of the other side.”

CONCLUSION
It is evident from Section 131(d), read along with Section 318(1) of the Constitution, that a candidate need not produce a Secondary School Certificate or its equivalent Certificate in order to be qualified to contest election into the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or any other elective post. Candidates who are educated up to Secondary School Certificate level are qualified to contest Elections under the 1999 Constitution. Persons with Primary Six School Leaving Certificate or its equivalent, provided they satisfy the other requirements listed under Paragraph (c) (i), (ii), and (iii) of the definition of “School Certificate or its equivalent ” in Section 318(1) ,are also qualified to contest election into elective offices, including that of the President. Finally, persons with “any other qualification acceptable to the Independent National Electoral Commission” are also qualified to contest election under Paragraph (d) of the definition Section set out above.
The elasticity of the definition of “School Certificate or its equivalent” in Section 318(1) of the Constitution may be questioned against the backdrop of providing a Platform for candidates who lack sound educational background to aspire to elective offices, in a Nation which prides itself with aspirants with sound educational qualifications. The said provision can also be questioned on the ground of the enormous power vested in INEC with regard to being satisfied with a candidate’s educational qualification or the educational institutions/qualifications being acceptable to INEC.
Such query, in my view, can only highlight the need for Law Reform. The query merely raises issues of the Law as it ought to be. However, from the view point of the Law as it is, A candidate whose educational qualifications/institutions attended are acceptable to INEC and who is educated to a level which is satisfactory to INEC, is eligible to contest Election to elective offices/posts in Nigeria is the upcoming February 2015 Election.
–– Prof. Taiwo Osipitan, SAN. Faculty of Law University of Lagos

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The Opinions in this article are the Author’s and do not reflect Sayelba Times’ Editorial Policy

Feb polls: Buhari is on rescue mission —Tinubu

As the February 14th Presidential election draws near, National leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, yesterday, said the party leadership begged the Presidential Candidate of the party, General Muhammadu Buhari to contest the 2015 election inoder to rescue the country from the present challenges.

According to Tinubu while addressing the mammoth party supporters at the Mega presidential rally held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Tinubu, “the choice was meant to rescue the country from the crisis that has bedevilled its development.” He noted that the prayer of everyone before was that the country will get better and “We will not need a man like him to rule the nation. But today, we are in a great crisis. We are facing a lot of challenges.”

Tinubu, explaining the strategies adopted by those great nations in the past, said “When South Africa was facing a serious challenge, they called on late Nelson Mandella, and he was 74 years old then. And he used his wisdom to save that country.

“When America was in economic depression, they called on 73-year-old Ronald Reegan, to save their economy because he was prudent.

“Also, when Britain had problem, they called on 73-years-old Winston Churchill to rescue them and he did.

“We are calling on Buhari at this moment to rescue the nation from the crisis that has bedeviled its development.” Speaking on the merger of the three political parties that formed APC, the APC National leader stated that when “We started about three years ago, they taught that the merger of ACN, CPC and ANPP is impossible. I told them that there is a positive storm coming to change the nation.”

– See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/01/feb-polls-buhari-rescue-mission-tinubu/#sthash.gL9KILjv.dpuf

Jonathan Not President of Ijaw Nation – PDP

• Alleged plot to postpone elections unfounded, says Presidency
• February election must hold, Benin monarch insists

Chuks Okocha in Abuja and Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday cautioned Ijaw leaders threatening war over the second term bid of President Goodluck Jonathan and added that Jonathan was not the President of the Ijaw nation alone, “but the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Also, the Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Prof Rufai Ahmed Alkali, debunked allegations by the All Progressives Congress, APC, that the Presidency and the PDP were involved in surreptitious schemes to postpone the February 14 Presidential elections.

The National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Olisa Metuh, who cautioned the Ijaw leaders during an interactive session with newsmen in Abuja, also expressed optimism that if the general election were to hold today, the party would win over 64 per cents of the total votes.

The party also warned its members and supporters against making provocative statements in their course of supporting the re-election of the President.

Metuh said: “Though the PDP should not be held responsible for all their (Ijaw leaders) comments, we caution them to be mindful of what they are saying, especially as it concerns the unity of the country. PDP is a national party.
Though the President is from Bayelsa State, but he could be loved more by the people of Anambra State than the people of Bayelsa State.  The President is not the President of Ijaw nation alone; he is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Even yesterday in Yola, the President said that he received more votes from the people of Adamawa State than he received from his home state, Bayelsa State. He said that Adamawa State gave him more votes than Bayelsa State, so he is not the President of the Ijaws alone.”

The National Publicity Secretary of PDP also cautioned other supporters of Jonathan to adhere to the presidential directives of ensuring that all campaigns were based on issues and not casting aspersions on candidates.

“The various support groups of the party should be cautious of what they say and ensure that they follow the dictates of the founding fathers of PDP. There is need to respect the sanity of individual privacy and human dignity and avoid issues that are personal to the families of the candidates.

“There is the need to maintain decency and ensure that campaigns are issue-based. This is how we intend our campaigns to be.”

On the evaluation of the campaigns of the party, the spokesman said it had surpassed more than 70 per cent and so far, “if the votes are cast today, the PDP would be winning with more than 64 percent of the total votes in all the elections, including the presidential election.”

Metuh who slammed the APC for making empty promises, dismissed them as unrealisable dreams.

“APC said that they would create three million jobs and pay benefits to the unemployed people. But the PDP is asking: How will they finance these projects that they are promising? These are nothing but empty dreams. We view these promises as mere mirage. The campaigns of the PDP have exposed their mirage and the insincerity of their campaigns.

“The APC said that they would end insecurity and insurgency in the country within three weeks and PDP would like to ask: Did the APC start the insurgency. Are they magicians or voodoo politicians?”

The PDP spokesman said Buhari was already weary of the campaigns and willing to pull out, stating that his body language was indicative that he was tired. According to Metuh, “It is because of the body language of Buhari that he is tired that the APC is accusing the PDP of plotting to shit the presidential election. The body language of Buhari is that he is willing to concede defeat; that is why the APC is claiming that PDP wants to shift the election.

Alleged plot to postpone elections unfounded, says Presidency…
Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Prof Rufai Ahmed Alkali has debunked allegations by the APC that the Presidency and the PDP were involved in surreptitious schemes to postpone the February 14 Presidential elections.

In a press statement issued in Abuja, Alkali said rather than the Presidency and PDP, it is the APC through their members and supporters that had been doing everything possible to frustrate the conduct of a free and fair electoral process.
He alleged that the APC had been breaching the Abuja Peace Accord which all the presidential candidates subscribed to with impunity.

He emphasized that Jonathan had been receiving unprecedented support since he embarked on the nationwide campaign and “he is fully prepared for the election with the PDP.”

Alkali added: “From our tours and the unprecedented outpour of goodwill, we are confident of a wider margin of victory than ever before. We are ready and fully prepared for this election.

“We wish to assure Nigerians that the President is committed to a peaceful and successful conduct of the February 14 polls and will not be distracted by tissues of lies and cocktails of deceit from people who have run out of ideas on how to move our country forward.”

February Election Must Hold, Benin Monarch Insists…
Meanwhile, the Benin monarch, Omo N’ Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo said in Benin that protagonists pushing for the postponement of the February 14 general election were only calling for anarchy, insisting that election must take place as scheduled by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

He also warned those making inflammatory statements to desist from heating up the polity while predicting that the election will be peaceful in spite of the beating of drums of war by politicians.

The Oba spoke at a press conference through the Benin Forum, an apex body of the Benin people. It was addressed by its Chairman, Chief David Edebiri.

The forum expressed satisfaction with the way and manner the major political parties in Edo South Senatorial District have conducted themselves.

@AtedoPeterside The Ugly side of Buhari and Jonathan

by Atedo Peterside @AtedoPeterside

“This election will therefore not be decided by the loyalists. It will be called by the large number of undecided voters (these are the swing voters) and they have one thing in common – they do not like GEJ, but then they do not like Buhari either (they want change but see Buhari as the type of change that is both alarming and worrisome).

 

In such circumstances, efforts by both candidates to sell themselves forcefully to their core constituencies may simultaneously alienate the swing voters. When Hausa/Fulani elders and/or retired Generals and Muslim leaders shout forcefully that Buhari must have it, the rest of the nation recoils in horror. The same thing happens when misguided elements from the South-South zone and Christian leaders insist that their zone (or a Christian) must have two full terms in Aso Rock. The truth is that the Presidency is not anyone’s birthright and so it is naive and downright foolish to go down that route. Indeed some of these bold declarations by core supporters are akin to a kiss of death with swing voters.”

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Opinion polls commissioned by ANAP Foundation and conducted by NOI Polls (using Gallup methodology) show that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ) and his main challenger, Major-General Mohammadu Buhari (Buhari) are currently running neck-to-neck in the 2015 Presidential race. The difference between them in terms of potential votes nation wide is statistically insignificant because it is dwarfed considerably by the much larger percentage of voters who remain “Undecided” – and so the race is truly too close to call.

This election will therefore not be decided by the loyalists. It will be called by the large number of undecided voters (these are the swing voters) and they have one thing in common – they do not like GEJ, but then they do not like Buhari either (they want change but see Buhari as the type of change that is both alarming and worrisome).

In such circumstances, efforts by both candidates to sell themselves forcefully to their core constituencies may simultaneously alienate the swing voters. When Hausa/Fulani elders and/or retired Generals and Muslim leaders shout forcefully that Buhari must have it, the rest of the nation recoils in horror. The same thing happens when misguided elements from the South-South zone and Christian leaders insist that their zone (or a Christian) must have two full terms in Aso Rock. The truth is that the Presidency is not anyone’s birthright and so it is naive and downright foolish to go down that route. Indeed some of these bold declarations by core supporters are akin to a kiss of death with swing voters.

Buhari publicly declared in 2011 that he will not contest again. Jonathan is said to have privately declared in 2011 that he would only stay for a single term. Let us therefore assume that they have both broken their word by contesting in 2015 and so there is little to be gained with the swing voters by dwelling on this.

Swing voters are moved more by what they do not like about either candidate. At the end of the day therefore they will vote “against” the candidate that they dislike more and their collective actions will determine who wins. That is why this article focuses on the ugly side of Buhari and GEJ and not on their strengths.

Many of the swing voters are upset. They feel that our two major political parties have “cheated” them by forcing them to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea.

During the course of the 2014 National Conference, where I was a delegate, I made a contribution to the effect that past military rulers, who toppled democratically elected governments, should still be tried for treason so as to serve as a permanent deterrent to young and ambitious military officers who will then understand that the long arm of the law may get them even in their old age and even after they claim to have repented. Buhari dethroned a democratically elected government in order to become a military head of state at the end of 1983. Many of the swing voters are true democrats who abhor authoritarianism. Buhari was not a benevolent dictator either. He was a vicious and wicked one who used retroactive decrees to sentence youths to death and to jail journalists who dared to publish the whole truth. Can the leopard shed it’s spots overnight as some would have us believe?

Wickedness and callousness are not matters of style and/or fashion they are a reflection of a real personae. Buhari’s unguarded utterances about him supporting the institution of sharia nationwide and his “famous” statement that Muslims should only vote for Muslims and his threat that the baboon and the dog will be soaked in blood if elections were rigged are all consistent with his unelectable personae, hence his persistent search for devout Christians (with little or no political clout) as Vice Presidential candidates while he is on the campaign trail. Is he simply hanging on to political lightweights that he knows he can devour the day after he gets elected?

On the economy, Buhari was a disaster first time around. He was clearly an economic illiterate and thought he could run the complex Nigerian economy by controlling rations as was done in a military cantonment. He placed everything under import licence and empowered some individuals under him to prescribe what quantity of every good Nigeria needed and also sought to prescribe which individuals would import the item and in what quantity. Ignorance was on display all around and it was exploited through massive racketeering by persons in his government who called the shots. That he was deemed to be personally honest became irrelevant and so many of us cheered when ‎soldiers (not known for honesty) put him out of his misery by kicking him out of office in less than 18 months and before he could torture the nation any further.

GEJ is unliked by many because he is seen as being weak and unable to control the excesses of some of his close aides and party chieftains. ‎YES, he eventually stood up to ex-President Obasanjo (who tries to dictate to every serving President), but then who wouldn’t? All future Presidents (including those unborn) now know to avoid Obasanjo like a plague. What manner of ex-President will divulge details of his one-on-one meeting with a serving President to the general public ( in a book), without getting the latter’s prior consent?

NO, GEJ’s vulnerabilities are from the party chieftains and a few dodgy aides that he accommodates and/or tolerates. He also believed too much in assurances from our Security Agencies, Defence Ministers, Chiefs of Defence Staff, National Security Advisers etc. This entire group have lost credibility in the fight against Boko Haram. His most recent utterances suggest that he has realised now, how deadly Boko Haram are, but it is rather late in the day as the elections are a little more than a couple of weeks away. My own position on Boko Haram (BH) has remained consistent. The entire Nigerian elite continue to under-estimate BH at our peril. I would love to wish them away, but history and my head tell me that, like Colombia’s Farc Rebels, BH will still be around in some form or the other for decades.

Presidents who aspire to have a second term in Nigeria face this paradox; ‎if they stand up to all the party Chieftains, over-bearing Governors and Security Chiefs, they will not get re-elected because the Party will throw up a Challenger. If they succumb to this motley/unholy lot, they will slow down economic reform, secure their Party nomination but alienate swing voters nationwide.

The only reason for the swing voters to vote for GEJ therefore is if he can convince them that he will be able to free himself from this motley crowd next time around. Afterall, a second Presidential term is a final term and nobody (except Obasanjo) will ever dream about a third term. ‎In effect, GEJ must convince swing voters that, if they give him a second term, he will be man enough to bite many of the grubby hands that lurk around the higher echelons of his party.

Further complexities in the Presidential race arise because some of the ambitious and highly ‎educated politicians from the North East (in particular) do not want an ageing and not so capable Buhari to ascend a throne which they aspire to occupy in 2019. Buhari was rejected consistently by some of his newer supporters when he was younger and more capable. Ironically, the older and less capable he becomes, the more he appeals to them because they hope to usurp his authority. He has agreed to be dressed up in sheep’s clothing now, but they should beware of the wolf in sheep’s clothing. They might be shut out of Aso Rock if he wins.

Ironically, if these power brokers (who are not known for honesty) come out now to publicly affirm that they will have continuing relevance if Buhari wins, then again the swing voters get turned off because they see corrupt persons surrounding an old and infirm “honest” man who is driven by a blind ambition to re-occupy a seat from which he was booted out prematurely in 1985, even though he recognises that he is not clever enough to understand 21st Century economic and financial transactions through which some of his new and unscrupulous friends hope to loot and/or corner the national treasury under his lazy and ineffective watch.

GEJ has also gathered all sorts of renegades unto his campaign ship. The enemies of his enemy have all become his friends overnight. They are strange bedfellows. In his second term (if he wins) he will need to cut off many of these hangers-on. If he does that they will try to resist, but a second term President is hard to bully. GEJ needs to convince the electorate that he can continue with his bold agricultural sector reforms, his power sector roadmap, overhaul and reform of the transportation sector (beyond the celebration of token and/or paltry railway services) etc.

GEJ’s biggest failure on the economic front was his inability to introduce ‎earth-shaking reforms to trim our recurrent expenditure budget at the Federal level by instituting the massive lay-off of idle civil servants. He did not confront the National Assembly either on this thorny issue. Ironically many of those who accuse him of guilt in this area are guilty of the exact same allegation in their respective States and Local Government Areas.

I am sad that GEJ did not simply go all out to ‎transform our economy in his first term at the risk of being a single term President. Instead he slowed down on some economic reform because he was pandering to power brokers within his political party, who would have a say in helping him to secure a second term.

I am sad that an ageing and incapable Buhari refused to play the role of a King-maker by identifying a single well educated and well meaning younger person 2 or 3 years ago (even if he narrowed his search to his own North West zone) whom he could have groomed and backed to challenge GEJ.

If I vote for GEJ in this election it is because his ugly side is less ugly than Buhari’s known and well-documented uglier side and nothing more. If you disagree with me please note that there is no need for us to fight – our only weapon should be the ballot paper and how we decide to cast it. Those who think they can intimidate swing voters, by threatening mayhem if their candidate does not win a close election, do their candidate a massive disservice because their careless utterances send the swing voters in the opposite direction in a race that is currently too close to call.

Before anybody dismisses ANAP Foundation’s opinion polls again, let me add that similar polls commissioned concurrently by us (using the exact same methodology) show Nasir El-Rufai of the APC with a significant lead over the incumbent PDP Governor (Yero), while the PDP’s Nyesom Wike currently leads APC’s Dakuku Peterside in Rivers State, but there is a large “undecided” element in Rivers State.

ANAP Foundation will ‎release more information on all the Polls we commissioned (including Lagos Governorship) over the course of the next few days, using a multitude of media channels.
(Twitter @AtedoPeterside)

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The Opinions contained in this article are the Author’s and do not reflect Sayelba Times’ Editorial Policy

Fashola’s Gaffe as PDP’s Gains

Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola

It is not exactly clear what the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, was thinking but his comments to Lagosians that his friend and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate, Jimmy Agbaje, was too old at 57 to rule the state, was a hit below the belt of his own All Progressives Congress (APC), which is fielding a 72-year old retired General, Muhammadu Buhari, to run a country of nearly 170 million persons.
Fashola said: “You know what you must do. Open your eyes clearly. When I took this job, at the age of 44, I was counting the number of white hair on my head. Today, at 52, I am counting the number of black hair on my head. Akinwunmi (Ambode) is younger than me. You need youthfulness to do this job. That man (Mr. Agbaje) is already 60; he cannot cope with this job. If you call him at night he will not take your phone.”
Since Fashola is a lawyer, he can be forgiven for adding more than two years to his friend’s age, but he cannot be forgiven for forgetting that his party peopled by gerontocrats has been working the social media with a lot of falsehood and tweaked information to try to win the young generation of persons who largely do not vote on Election Day.
If Agbaje, a 57- year old Pharmacist, businessman and politician with a well- rounded educational background is not able to run a state of about 20 million, how can a former dictator with questionable secondary school leaving certificate, be trusted with the most populous and complex black nation in the world?
While all the 72-year old Buhari has to show for corporate governance is a military career that was based on a command and control structure, and a failed 20-month administration that was all about militarising a civil populace, Agbaje boasts of a rich background that included fighting dictators.
According to Wikipedia, “in a 2013 interview with The Punch Newspaper, Agbaje talked about how he began in politics: ‘It had to do with the Moshood Abiola/Bashir Tofa presidential election’, he said. ‘I saw the annulment as a personal insult and an assault on the Nigerian people. This led to my first entry into what I would call activism, working with other concerned professionals such as Professor Pat Utomi, Dr Ayo Ighodaro, Asue Ighodalo, Billy Lawson, Oby Ezekwesili, Tola Mobolurin and Hassan Odukale. Jimi was in one form of resistance group or the other which ultimately led him to join the socio-political organisation, Afenifere, where he served as national treasurer.
“Based on his affiliation with Afenifere, Jimi Agbaje joined the Action Congress (AC) – his first political party. In 2007, Agbaje who had initially aspired to contest for the Governor of Lagos State on the platform of the Action Congress (AC) left the party to join the Democratic People’s Alliance (DPA). He was among the 11 aspirants that turned their back to the Action Congress (AC) when it was alleged that Governor Bola Tinubu had already anointed someone else to succeed him even before the party primaries. Widely believed to have conducted the best campaign in 2007, Agbaje contested in gubernatorial election on the Democratic People’s Alliance (DPA) platform, but eventually, alongside other major contenders – Musiliu Obanikoro of PDP, Femi Pedro of Labour Party (Nigeria) – lost to Babatunde Raji Fashola of the Action Congress (AC).

Agbaje left DPA in 2011 and joined the ruling party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) following the de-registration of DPA by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). On December 8, 2014, he emerged as the candidate of the PDP for the 2015 Lagos State gubernatorial election, having defeated Musiliu Obanikoro in the primary.

It may be unfair to continue to compare Agbaje with Buhari, because both men are vying to run separate entities; so it may be necessary to compare the 72-year old general with questionable credentials with the zoologist, President Goodluck Jonathan, with a Ph.D.  In terms of age, the retired general has all it takes to be a traditional ruler before any consideration will be given to President Jonathan, but unfortunately they are not both from the same district either in Fulani land or Ijaw land.  While Buhari has lived more than 26,300 days on earth, Jonathan has spent about 20,860 days, giving the general an upper hand.
But that is where it ends. Jonathan has been commander-in-chief for 1,850 days in a country of 170 million persons, but Buhari was there for about 605 days when the country’s population was just 84 million. So in terms of experience, Jonathan is better qualified.

Kayode Ojo, Ketu, Lagos

THISDAY

Afenifere Endorses Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan

President may have ruled out Sambo as successor

PDP leadership, President disown Maku

Jaiyeola Andrews in Abuja and  Favour Shuaib in Lafia

After what had appeared as a group’s indecision, Afenifere,  the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural body, on Tuesday endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan for the February 14 election.

The endorsement was the outcome of the meeting the president had with the leaders of the group in Akure, Ondo State.

The meeting was held at the residence of the Leader of the group, Chief Reuben Fasoranti and attended by leaders from the South West geoplitical zone of the country.

At the end of the meeting which lasted about one hour, the publicity secretary of Afenifere, Mr Yinka Odumakin said the decision of the group was due to the commitment of the president to the National Conference.

He said  Afenifere believed that the confab is the only thing that can liberate the nation.

He said the president had expressed his commitment to implement the report of the confab report.

Odumakin said the president informed them at the meeting that Yoruba were the ones that were in the forefront of the clamour for the confab.

Also speaking, Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko said what Afenifere did was an unequivocal endorsement of the president.

Mimiko said Afenifere expressed belief in the transformation agenda of the president describing it as systematic and strategic for the development of the nation.

The group, which had fraternised with the Jonathan administration, had before now prevaricated on a full support scale to the Jonathan re-election bid.

But in his response, a former governor of Anambra State and Deputy Director General of South in the PDP campaign organisation, Mr Peter Obi said he was not surprised at the Afenifere endorsement, stressing that, “Afenifere has always committed itself to the best interest and unity of Nigeria”, adding that the endorsement meant that, “Nigeria will endorse Jonathan”.

Meanwhile in an apparent nod to a younger generation of leaders, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday effectively eliminated Vice-President Namadi Sambo as his successor should he win next month’s presidential election, saying the next Nigerian president must be below the age of 60. Sambo is already 60 years old and will be over 64 by  2019.

Jonathan, who spoke to the crowd at the Lafia Township Stadium during his presidential campaign rally in Nasarawa State, said his administration believes in the youths and would do everything possible to support the younger generation.

“Obasanjo was president at 70, Yar’Adua at almost 60 and me close to 60, so the next president must be younger than me,” Jonathan stated.

Jonathan stressed that his administration would invest in the younger generation and promised a place for them in the future, adding that youth empowerment would be a major plank of his government, if he is re-elected president.

He also told his supporters that the crash of the price of petroleum products would make the  federal government focus more on solid minerals, which Nasarawa State has in abundance as part of the diversification process.

Jonathan also publicly disowned former Information Minister Labaran Maku, who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

Maku, who is former information minister in the Jonathan administration, is APGA’s governorship standard-bearer in Nasarawa State and he was alleged to have claimed that the president encouraged him to defect to the party.

Jonathan said he had at no time had any discussion or encouraged Maku to join another party.

The president stressed that  PDP is against anti-party activities, and as the president and leader of the party, he would never flout its rules and regulations.

He assured the people of the state that  the mineral resources that abounds in it would be tapped.

He also gave an assurance that Doma Dam would be completed soon, as it would act as catalyst to dry season farming.

“What is good for you we will not wait for you to demand before you get what is rightly yours.

“We want to change the concept that farming is for the poor but that it is for the rich because the farmers in America are millionaires. We have changed the entire process of agriculture and added the value chain to make it a business.

“We want power to stabilise in the state so as to also boost the agriculture sector in the state”, Jonathan said.

His deputy, Sambo, noted that “PDP is Nasarawa State and Nasarawa State is PDP.”

While canvassing for votes, Sambo reeled out the achievements of  Jonathan’s administration, which included power, education, rail, agriculture, transportation, adding that the president would do more should he return to power after next month’s elections.

Also joining in the bashing of Maku, Senate President David Mark called on him to apologise and retrace his steps,  before he could be accepted back to the party.

Mark, who took a swipe at Maku calling him a liar, also told the crowd that “don’t be deceived by any son of yours that says he has been put in another party to run for the governorship. Mr. President is PDP from top to bottom.”

Mark stressed that the North-central zone was solidly behind Jonathan and would vote for him as  he had brought democracy dividends to bear on the region.

Mark, had earlier told the students of the College of Agriculture, Lafia that the present administration had shown uncommon commitment to education, youth employment and development.

Mark, who addressed the students from his official car shortly before the president landed in the school compound in his chopper, cited the YouWin programme and establishment of the universities under this administration as a demonstration of Jonathan’s commitment to youth development.

“The emphasis that the current administration is putting on education is in the right direction. I know that most people are complaining of unemployment but the government is generating employment through YouWin, youth programmes, SURE-P. These are areas in which government is putting a lot of attention.

“For those of us in the parliament, we are also putting emphasis in making sure that there is enough money in the budget for all the educational institutions to run them properly. Unless there is enough money, you will not be able to practise agriculture. It is good to learn agriculture on paper but you must also get the practical experience.

“So the PDP government is committed in continuing these laudable programmes” Mark said.

On his part, Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam, also said the North-central would vote for Jonathan  because of his achievements.

He expressed confidence that PDP would win back Nasarawa State,  describing APC as a party of liars and propagandists.

A former national chairman of the party, Dr. Amadu Ali, also described Maku as an “ungrateful animal”, saying despite using the platform of the party to rise to stardom, he jumped the ship because of greed to team up with APGA.

He said Jonathan never asked anybody to join any party to canvass for him, noting that Maku’s plot was to smear the image of Jonathan and portray him as a religious bigot.

He accused Maku of dropping the name of the president in his bid to realise his ambition, an ambition Ali said would never come into fruition because Maku lacks the integrity needed to realise such ambition.

Ali said Maku’s  people now treat him (Maku) with disdain because he does not portray leadership qualities.

He said Maku was a commissioner, a deputy governor and a minister all on the platform of the party, placing a curse on him that he would continue to fail henceforth except he retraces his steps, return to the party and apologise.

THISDAY

UNDERSTANDING THE GRIEVANCE OF THE PEOPLE AGAINST GENERAL BUHARI AND HIS PARTY

By Emeka Ugwuonye

It might have taken me quite a while to put these thoughts and argument together. But it is important to understand why people felt so strongly against Buhari and why I encountered the greatest resistance ever each time I took a position favourable to Buhari.

Whenever I see a trend that is persistent and seems to go against simple logic, I don’t just dismiss it or ignore it. Instead, I pull back and reexamine my position and that of my opponent to try to discover new elements or merit that I might have ignored. So, I have been asking myself: why is it that many people I really consider wise and intelligent have been quite defiant and adamant in their opposition to any attempt to accept Buhari? Why are they so adamant in their rejection of Buhari and why do they attack me with so much ferocity each time I criticise President Jonathan?

By series of coincidences, these questions were fully and finally addressed this evening at a private dinner with a very close and dear friend. She is a member of DPA. She is a quiet person. She is so well educated that she has been the editor of a major magazine in Nigeria. She used to follow my writings on DPA and Facebook generally and once in a while, she would oblige a comment, usually supportive and complementary. I would say that this friend has a lot of respect for me and for my viewpoints. She also tends to know how passionate and relentless I could be when I take a position.

Over the time since I began to comment on Jonathan toward the elections, I noticed that my friend stopped commenting on my posts. She never said a word. At some point, I wondered if she was still on DPA. Yes, she is on DPA. I wondered if she was too busy to follow my posts and comments. After church today, I called her and asked why she has been so silent on my posts lately. She told me that she disagreed with me totally on my positions either critical of Jonathan or supportive of Buhari. She sounded unusually serious and pointed in her remarks. And she managed to let me know she really had more to say on the matter. I immediately fixed a dinner and invited her. I chose a place where we could have a private corner to discuss at length.

Dinner was smooth and we talked about her work and my work and our travels and other things. After dinner, I settled for Martini while she asked for Cognac, old school style. I put it to her: “What is wrong? Why do you think I have been wrong in my views on Nigerian politics?”

She lifted her glass, but didn’t quite get it to her lips, and she started: “Emeka, I am actually shocked that you don’t seem to understand Nigeria and its history well. Was it because you spent so many years in America?”
She then took a sip, very slowly. She continued: “Emeka, have you heard about the quoter system in this country? Do you know that kids from certain states would get admitted into the Unity schools with 10 points, while your child from your state will not get admitted to the same school even with 100 points?”

She continued, “Do you know that things were so bad that, you would not be able to get a contract from Government of Nigeria if you did not speak Hausa. If you liked, you could have all the education in this world, but unless you could speak Hausa and you were Hausa, you would not get anything, however good your proposal may be?”
I didn’t interrupt her.
“Emeka, do you know that you would write a great proposal for contract and come into the ministry, but because you are not Hausan, you would never get a contact. Instead, they would cross out your name on your proposal and use it to award a contract to an Hausan man, who would turn around and sell it to you?”
Not done, she went on: “So, when I read you encouraging that Buhari should be President or lampooning Jonathan, I wonder what is wrong with you”. To drive her point home, she went on to say: “Emeka, do you know that if you were from the North and you went to Harvard, you would not need to work half as hard as you work and you would be awash with cash just because you are Hausan? Look at what is going in in the Customs, NNPC, Police, Armed Forces. Look at how they stuffed those places with people who are not as educated or even as competent or hardworking as people from the South. And Igbos and other minorities are unemployed”

I came in this point: “How does Jonathan remaining the President change all that?”
She cut in: “It will not happen overnight, but it is happening. Yes, Jonathan has made blunders. But having a Southerner as a President would prevent the Northerners from continuing to marginalise the Southerners at the same rate. And by the way”, she was leaning forward with all the emphasis, “the years that Obasanjo and Jonathan have been in office have begun to roll back that system of injustice. Now, the Northerners are learning that they have to work hard too. They are learning they have work like others. For the first time, free money is no longer flowing as it used to and they are getting restless. All this Boko Haram is happening because they are no longer having it easy with free money at the expense of others”. She stopped.

Then she continued: “Emeka, as long as a Southerner is President, the North will continue to sabotage him because they are not having it easy anymore. They must render the country ungovernable”.
I came in again at this point: “But you can’t really keep the North away from power indefinitely. There is no mechanism for that. Besides, that shouldn’t to be desirable. You can’t active that militarily and you cannot achieve that through the democratic process, given the official demographics”.

“I know that”, she cut in. “I know that, but the goal is to suspend that evil practice for as long as possible so that they would not be able to reconstitute it by the time power returns to them”

Then I asked her: “Why do so many people insist that Buhari did not have a high school certificate?”.
“Because they know that if you are from the North, all corners would be cut for you. If Buhari was an Igbo or Yoruba or of any of the minority tribes, he would never have been a General or a former Head of State. Indeed, you see Directors in Government parastatals from the North who do not know how to write their names or speak English. Yet they are Directors, while Southerners are unemployed. So, it is perfectly possible that Buhari did not have school certificate. They didn’t need that to get to any position they desired. And that is what having a Southern President is changing”

Then I asked her: “What has Jonathan done to change the situation?”. She replied: “It is going to be a slow process. But Jonathan is doing something. Can you see how the pension scandal is coming to light because a Southern President is busting that system. Also, the fertiliser scam, the ghost workers scam. All that are reducing now that you have a Southern President. It is too soon to return power to them. Buhari will immediately return to their old ways if he becomes President”.

Our conversation continued deep into the night, until about 40 minutes ago when I began to write this piece.
Basically, I found her observations to be real. It is a concern deep enough in the minds of many, and it is sufficient to justify the way they feel about this election and the deep fears they have about power returning to a Northerner so soon. Indeed, this conversation was deep. I could relate it to so many other observations and bits of information out there in general. Honestly, if you share these observations or hold them to be true, it is difficult not to support Jonathan if you are a Southerner. It explains many things. It explains the attitude of Southern people toward Boko Haram. It explains how the people understood the phrase “making the country ungovernable”. Indeed, it explains the anger and bitterness on the part of people who believe that they have been victims of an unjust system.

I am glad I had this conversation. While it did not address all the issues and nuances to this sort of complex social and political system, it raised enough substantive consideration to justify my slowing down my criticisms of Jonathan. I ought to be more sensitive to the feelings of the people of the South. My main regret now is that the people of the South are not speaking up openly and directly about these injustices. They tend to address them by proxy and by body language. I believe that these issues deserve an open treatment. Nigerian people who have been marginalised should have recourse and ability to resists such injustices. We need to have a solution that will stand regardless of who is President.

In any event, I promised my friend, and rightly so, that I would relent on my attacks on Jonathan. I will basically watch the situation as it unfolds. I wish I knew this earlier. I might have been able to help in a more effective way. I hope Nigerians will find lasting justice.

 

Emeka Ugwuonye, Esquire, is an Attorney at Law and the Founder and Principal Administrator Due Process Advocacy Group

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The thoughts contained in this article are the Author’s and do not reflect Sayelba Times’ Editorial Policy

 

APC: Jonathan, PDP are Terrified of Feb Elections

National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Muhammed

•   Calls for probe of attacks on president’s convoy
•   INEC to release full list of guber candidates tuesday

Olawale Olaleye in Lagos, Chuks Okocha and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday at a news conference in Lagos said President Goodluck Jonathan and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are terrified of the outcome of next month’s presidential election, hence their attempt to scuttle the general election in its entirety.

APC said despite local and international concerns, the Jonathan administration has continued to pursue a clearly thought-out agenda to scuttle next month’s general election, using a two-pronged approach.

“All in all, these arguments against election postponement are a smokescreen. The truth is that the forthcoming elections terrify the PDP and the Jonathan administration to such an extent that they are looking for ways to postpone or scuttle the polls,” APC said.

APC, however, insisted that the February dates for the elections were sacrosanct and must hold as scheduled, saying it was more comfortable with the assurances of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, that the commission is ready for the elections as scheduled, than the alarm raised by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), calling for a postponement.

National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, who briefed journalists, said the APC had on January 22 rejected the call by Dasuki for the postponement of the elections, ostensibly to give more time for INEC to distribute permanent voters’ cards (PVCs).

But APC said: “In spite of this, we have noted with dismay that the Jonathan administration has continued to pursue the plot to shift the elections.

“That plot in itself is one of a two-pronged approach being pursued by the administration to either shift or scuttle the elections, which are scheduled for February 14th and 28th.

“The other is the campaign for an interim government. It is important to state here that for the APC as a party, both options represent the Devil’s Alternative (apologies to British writer Frederick Forsyth, who has a book by the same title), and are totally, absolutely unacceptable to us under any circumstance.”

The APC noted that “when President Goodluck Jonathan met with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday, the president said he told the visiting US top diplomat that the ‘May 29th handover date was sacrosanct’.

“We say this is not reassuring enough, and that for us, the February 14th and 28th dates for the elections are as sacrosanct as the handover date of May 29th.”

The APC, which insisted that the only institution with the right to express reservations or misgivings about the state of preparations for the elections is INEC, added: “We are more assured by the call made by Mr. Kerry, that the elections should be held on time as scheduled. Nothing short of that will be acceptable to our party.

“We are also satisfied with the assurance by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that it is ready for the elections. The electoral body has also said it will continue with PVC distribution until the eve of the elections. Therefore, the orchestrated campaign about INEC not being ready for the elections is sheer baloney!

“Now, make no mistakes about it, we are aware of the limitless capacity of the PDP and the Jonathan administration for anti-democratic and desperate actions in pursuit of selfish motives that have nothing to do with the interest of the good people of Nigeria.

“We are aware of the clandestine moves, including reaching out to various interest groups and hiring talking heads to make the television rounds, being made by the administration to get the elections shifted.

“The Jonathan administration’s apologists are hiding under the facade that millions of Nigerians will be disenfranchised if the elections should proceed as scheduled.

“Again, they are using the terror attacks in some parts of the North to advance their election shift argument. We sincerely hope the recent escalation of Boko Haram attacks, and the siege on Maiduguri on Sunday, a day after President Jonathan campaigned in the city, are not connected to this sophistry.

“If indeed the Jonathan administration is genuinely concerned that many Nigerians have not received their PVCs, let it declare a three-day public holiday to give working Nigerians the opportunity to collect their PVCs.

“Let the government work with INEC to ensure that the PVCs are distributed at the polling units. If these steps are followed, within five days, the distribution would have been completed.”
Concluding, the APC spokesman said: “Let me summarise the stand of our party, the APC, regarding next month’s general election: APC is ready for the elections, and under no circumstances will we accept a postponement.

“For us, February 14th and 28th are as sacrosanct as May 29th, the handover date. The government has had four years to prepare, and the dates for the elections were announced over a year ago, therefore there is no going back now.

“We note that the PDP has also said it is ready for the polls. That is good news. Let them now end their clandestine push for either a postponement or the formation of an interim government, stop engaging in scare and scandal mongering and dwell on issues ahead of the polls.

“We are satisfied with the assurances by INEC that it is ready for the polls, and we call on the Jonathan administration to give the electoral body all the support and resources it requires to organise successful elections.

“Any postponement of the elections will mean that INEC is not independent and that it is being dictated to by the federal government, a position that will hurt the credibility of the electoral umpire.

“Finally, any postponement on the basis of the insurgency in the North-east will represent a victory for the terrorist group Boko Haram, and will create a constitutional logjam that will take Nigeria back to 1993. Believe me, we have travelled that route before and it was not pleasant.”

APC also called on the Inspector-General of Police (IG) to urgently institute a probe into the stoning of President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign train in Bauchi and Katsina States last week.

The party said its decision to ask for the probe followed the revelation by a top PDP member that the attack was indeed stage managed by unnamed PDP stalwarts.

In a statement on Monday by the party’s spokesman, it said the investigation was necessary in view of the criminal nature of the attacks, and the attempt to shift the blame to the APC.

“We stand by our earlier statement in which we pointedly accused the PDP of sponsoring the attacks on President Jonathan in Katsina and Bauchi as part of its devilish plan to demonise the opposition and force a postponement of next month’s general election, and we are glad we have been proved right,” Mohammed said.

“We will like to quote what Governor Isa Yuguda said on the Hausa Service of the BBC as reported by Daily Trust and other media outlets on Sunday: ‘I am sure and let the world know that the people who did this thing were PDP members and those politicians in Abuja were the ones behind it; they were not APC members.

“They found these youths on the road and gave them brooms and they instructed them that when the president was passing they should raise the brooms and pelt them at him’,” APC said.
The party said it was now apparent that the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation was out of tune with developments within its own party, hence its spokesman considers the APC’s statement that the attack was orchestrated by the PDP as “absurd and reckless”, without a shred of evidence to support this specious argument.

Meanwhile, the clamour for the postponement of the elections appears to be getting some support from civil society groups, as the Nigerian Hopes Alive Project yesterday blocked the office of INEC in Abuja demanding members of the extension of both the Presidential and National Assembly elections slated for February 14 by 60 days.

They also demanded that the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections slated for February 28 be extended by two months.

For hours, members of the group in their white vests and green face caps blocked all entrances leading to Zambesi Crescent that leads to INEC’s office.

As a result, other establishments such as Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), West African Examination Council (WAEC), the Veterinary Council and National Medical Council (NMC) were blocked by the protesting civil society organisation.

Its members chanted slogans like: “Why Nigerians want a 60 day extension”, “INEC has not produced all the PVCs”, “Those produced have not been adequately distributed”, Section 135 (3) of the 1999 constitution allows for the extension” and “Please support this call to save our nation from imminent disaster”.

Speaking to THISDAY, the coordinator of the group, Mrs. Ifeanyinwa Nwagbo, said the extension of the next month general election would be the most necessary thing to do, as it would help reduce violence on election day.

She said: “Imagine that INEC in the last eight months commenced the distribution of the permanent voters’ cards and within the eight months has only succeeded in distributing 38 million cards out of the 68 million eligible voters.

“What magic would INEC do to distribute 30 million PVCs between now and the presidential election, which is less than 16 days?

“What magic can it perform, when it is not sure that all the PVCs will be received from the manufacturers?

“Our demand is clear, extend the general election by 60 days. It is still within the constitution. The United States should not tell us what to do, because if it is in their country; they know what to do and do it right.

“It is still within the constitution to extend it and save the nation from imminent disaster. If eligible voters go to the polling stations and see their names, but they were not allowed to vote, do you know the level of violence it would cause? We are saying that a stitch in time saves  more than nine.”

As the protesters refused to disperse and the traffic situation was becoming chaotic, the security officials in INEC took the leaders of the group to meet with members of the Election Management Body (EMB).

However, Jega and his national commissioners were holding a meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) from the 36 states and FCT.

At the meeting, Jega told the RECs that the meeting was necessary, as it would help the commission to put heads together on the general election.

According to the INEC chairman, “We have to have this meeting because it is important as we approach the 2015 elections, so that we can take stock as we prepare adequately for the very daunting and challenging task ahead.

“As we approach the elections, obviously all sort of things are going to happen, politicians are very busy with their campaigns and quite often the commission gets dragged into the politicisation of the campaigns.”

He informed the commissioners and RECs to remain focused and to busy themselves by ensuring that the 2015 elections are remarkably much better than the 2011 general election.

“We have to continue to ensure that whatever we do, we remain impartial and non-partisan and we must create a level playing field for all political parties, candidates and contestants.
“We need to ensure that we are ready to conduct, free fair and credible elections in the 2015.

“We also need to assure ourselves that indeed we are ready for the business ahead of us,” he said.

Also, in an INEC bulletin made available to journalists, the commission announced the rejection of governorship candidates submitted by political parties.

INEC is expected to publish the list of all the governorship candidates of all the political parties contesting the February 28 election today.

According to the INEC bulletin, “The parties and affected states are: Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN) in Delta State; Labour Party (LP) in Niger State; New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in Ogun State; Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in Oyo State; United Democratic Party in Rivers State; and Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) in Sokoto and Zamfara States, respectively.”

The commission’s decision was contained in a Decision Extract signed by the Director in the commission’s secretariat, Ishiaku A. Gali.

It said the commission had also approved that the House of Representatives election in Ado/Opoku/Ogbadibo Federal Constituency of Benue State, being uncontested, the nominated candidate should be declared elected on the day of the election by the Returning Officer.

THISDAY