The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has insisted that the declaration of Bola Tinubu candidate of the All Progressive Congress, (APC) by the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) as President elect will not stand the test of time.
The party maintained that it rejected the declaration and return of APC Presidential Candidate as President-Elect
National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP demanded that INEC immediately should withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to the Presidential Candidate of the APC and cancel the Presidential election declaration in line with its powers under Section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022.
A statement by Debo Ologunagba, spokesman of the PDP in Abuja Thursday added that “The Party insists that INEC in declaring the APC Presidential Candidate as winner, acted contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the Electoral Act 2022 and the INEC Guidelines and Regulations for the conduct of the 2023 Presidential election.
“The PDP holds that its Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar clearly won the February 25, 2023 Presidential election having evidently scored the majority of lawful votes cast by Nigerians at the Polling Units.
“Sadly, the election was marred by deliberate malpractices including the non-use of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) and INEC’s refusal/failure to transmit directly the results from Polling Units to its Server/Website in flagrant violation of Section 60 (4)(b) of the Electoral Act 2022.
“This violation of the Electoral Act by INEC as attested to by political parties, voters, Nigerians of all walks of life as well as local and International Observers, paved the way for the alteration, falsification, switching of results and allocation of figures in favour of the APC.
“Nigerians can recall how on Friday, November 11, 2022, INEC through its National Commissioner and Chairman of INEC’ Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, assured that results will be transmitted directly from the Polling Units to ensure the integrity and credibility of election results in Nigeria.
“In his words, “Our attention has been drawn to reports in a section of the media of alleged plans by the Commission to rig the 2023 General Election by abandoning the direct and real time electronic upload of Polling Unit results to INEC Result Viewing (IReV) Portal…
“By refusing therefore to transmit directly the results from the Polling Units, INEC violated the Electoral Act and its Rules and Regulation, compromised the process and marred the integrity and credibility of the election results.
“The PDP therefore asserts that consequent upon the violation by INEC of Section 60 (4) of the Electoral Act, 2022 and its Rules and Guidelines on the election, the results announced by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, having not been earlier transmitted DIRECTLY from the Polling Units before the announcement are ultra vires, of no consequence and cannot stand.
“Consequently, our Party and its Presidential Candidate have commenced action for legal redress to reclaim our victory in the 2023 Presidential election.
“We appeal to our numerous supporters in Nigeria and across the world to remain calm, resilient, resolute and steadfast in the defence of democracy and the victory of our Party in the 2023 Presidential elections.”
FULL TEXT OF PETER OBI’S ADDRESS TO NIGERIANS FOLLOWING LAST SATUTDAY’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
Dear Nigerians,
On 25th February 2023, Nigerians trooped out en-masse to participate in what was promised and expected to be a free, fair and transparent Presidential and National Assembly elections. But in all things, we are enjoined to give thanks.
First to Almighty God for the privilege of making Datti Baba-Ahmed and I, the tools to champion the cause of a New Nigeria that will fundamentally enhance the fortunes of our dear country. Let me also appreciate and thank all Nigerians that participated in our last election especially those who believed and tirelessly worked for a New Nigeria and voted for us. My profound thanks go to the youths, ‘Obidients’ and support groups for your commitment and resilience for a better Nigeria. You truly showed that you can take back your country!
We continue to pray for the repose of the souls of all Nigerians killed during the campaigns and for those that were violently attacked, we pray for their quick recovery. We reiterate our total condemnation of such attacks and continue to demand that security agencies stop further attacks and bring perpetrators to book.
The commitment and resilience of Nigerians, even in the face of unwarranted and barbaric attacks is a testimony that a New Nigeria is Indeed POssible. The Lady, Jennifer Efidi who was stabbed but insisted on exercising her right to vote and indeed all Nigerians who voted during the election are the shinning stars leading us to a New Nigeria!
The election has been conducted and results announced as programmed. It is a clear deviation from the electoral rules and guidelines as we were promised and did not meet the minimum criteria of a free, transparent, credible and fair election devoid of voter intimidation and suppression, and late commencement of voting in some specific states.
This will probably go down as one of the most controversial elections ever conducted in Nigeria. The good and hardworking people of Nigeria have again been robbed by the institutions and leaders whom we trusted.
However, let me humbly and most respectfully appeal to all Nigerians to remain peaceful, law-abiding and conduct themselves in a most responsible manner. Please be assured that for Datti and I, and indeed for all of us, this is not the end, but the beginning of the journey to birth a New Nigeria.
Datti Baba-Ahmed and I remain absolutely undaunted and deeply committed to this project of a New Nigeria that will be built on honesty, transparency, fairness, justice and equity. All of these starts with the process -The process through which people are elected to office is as important (if not more important) than what they do thereafter with the office and authority.
If we seek to be called Your Excellency, then the process through which we are elected should also be excellent or sufficiently credible to generate the required confidence and moral authority to govern and lead. As you all know, the destruction of a society can be a gradual or sudden process through acts such as deliberate refusal to obey the rule of law and via the suppression of the will of the people.
Let me reiterate and assure my good people of Nigeria that we will follow all available legal and peaceful procedures to reclaim our mandate.
I urge you all to continue with your campaigns and troop out on Saturday 11th March 2023 to vote massively again for Labour Party-LP (Mama, Papa and Pikin) in the Governorship and State Assembly Elections. Please do not despair at a time when we can still achieve massive victories in the forthcoming elections on the 11th March 2023.
Thank you all and God bless The Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi held his first press conference since the February 25, 2023, Presidential election in Abuja on Thursday, assuring Nigerians that he would reclaim his stolen mandate.
Obi said that the election of last Saturday fell below standard and lowered the country’s democratic standards, pointing out that the process by which somebody comes to the office is far more important than what he does thereafter. “ If we want to answer his excellency, the process that brings us to office must be excellent”
According to the LP Presidential candidate, the election of last Saturday was conducted and the results were released as ‘programmed’, making it the most controversial election ever conducted in Nigeria’s history.
“The election has been conducted and results announced as programmed. It is a clear deviation from the electoral rules and guidelines as we were promised and did not meet the minimum criteria of a free, transparent, credible, and fair election devoid of voter intimidation and suppression, and late commencement of voting in some specific states.
“This will probably go down as one of the most controversial elections ever conducted in Nigeria. The good and hardworking people of Nigeria have again been robbed by the institutions and leaders whom we trusted.
Obi assured his numerous supporters that this is not the end but rather the beginning of a new Nigeria which he and his Running mate Datti Baba-Ahmad are committed to.
“New Nigeria is possible, Datti and I remain committed to a new Nigeria and with a person like Lady Jennifer, our commitment is total and your support will not be in vain.
He charged Nigerians, especially the youths to come out in the next election on March 11 and vote massively for the Labour Party. “Don’t be downcast and stay away because that is what they want. I am challenging this rascality for your future and our country.
“It’s a long distance journey, no matter how long the night there will be daybreak
We will walk through darkness until day breaks. I will be in front of you until the day comes.
On his hope in the judiciary, Obi said that he has been in court severally and always gotten justice because he always approaches them with genuine cases.
The former Anambra state Governor appealed to all Nigerians to remain peaceful, and law-abiding and conduct themselves most responsibly. Please be assured that for Datti and I, and indeed for all of us, this is not the end, but the beginning of the journey to birth a New Nigeria.
“Datti Baba-Ahmed and I remain absolutely undaunted and deeply committed to this project of a New Nigeria that will be built on honesty, transparency, fairness, justice, and equity. All of these start with the process -The process through which people are elected to office is as important (if not more important) than what they do thereafter with the office and authority.
The LP standard bearer reiterated and assured the people of Nigeria that we will follow all available legal and peaceful procedures to reclaim our mandate because we won the election.
Finally, Obi urged his supporters “to continue with your campaigns and troop out on Saturday, 11th March 2023 to vote massively again for Labour Party-LP (Mama, Papa, and Pikin) in the Governorship and State Assembly Elections. Please do not despair at a time when we can still achieve massive victories in the forthcoming elections on the 11th of March 2023.
Quotes From Obi’s Press Conference
We won the election and we will prove it…… Peter Obi
You can’t build peace on a faulty foundation…. Peter Obi
Go out on Saturday 11th March 2023, vote for Labour Party….. Peter Obi
Am not going away, I will be with you till the day breaks…. Peter Obi
Am challenging the process and I have not called anybody….. Peter Obi
They will be here, the corrupt structure, on the daybreak….. Peter Obi
If you want to be called Your Excellency, you will first of all go through an excellent process….. Peter Obi
This is a long journey, but I will go with you and victory is assured….. Peter Obi
I neither flaunt nor use the title, but I am a Princess of an over 150-year-old Royal Home. So, by tradition, I usually don’t bow for, or courtesy before most people. I was told not to do so because “you are Royal.” However, I make exception before some Clerics, some, not all. There are too many fake and lying Clerics that one is tempted, at times, to ask God: ” Almighty, why are you patient with these fake guys?”
But today, for Peter Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the just concluded February 25, 2023, Presidential Election, I bow. I salute. And as Politicians would add, I tremble.
I forget the exact time, but I think it was about 3.30am, Tuesday, Nigerian time, when a friend/brother called me. Being, sadly, on the other side of the Atlantic, I asked what he was doing awake at that time of the morning when sleep, God bless it, is most sweet.
I was preparing to go to bed when the call came. As, I guess, it was with most Nigerians across the globe, I hadn’t slept since the night of February 25. I was following the Presidential Election bumper to bumper, switching from one Television channel to the other, working the phones, reading and writing and commenting. These Politicians will not kill us!
But, Tuesday, I told myself: ‘Comfort, listen to your doctors, your healthcare providers, and go to bed early.’ More important: I was not expecting any activities from INEC at that time of the day. INEC Chairman and Commissioners, I thought, would be in their houses that time, awake, thinking of how they bungled the most important date in Nigeria’s 2023 Calender.
But the call came. The caller wanted to discuss the State of the Nation, and I, suddenly, came alive. Midway into our discussion, he asked me to pause, and listen. He said INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, who, like the Governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, has registered as one of the most hated human beings in Nigeria, was speaking.
My heart did a somersault. And began to palpitate, something my doctors warned me is extremely dangerous. “Call 911, or go to Emergency Room if you experience it”, they warm me each time I visit for check-up. Those guys, very great as they are, can scare one into sudden death. With God on the throne, I manged to arrest the situation by calming down, completely.
Professor Mahmoud was reeling out the final results of the Presidential election.
I had seen the figures earlier in the day. So, I had an inkling of where victory was headed to. But you know, having an inkling is not the same as having It officially confirmed. I was not expecting any drastic change in the numbers. But I strongly expected the Chairman to cancel some results from some areas in a couple of States and reschedule the election.
Top on my list was Rivers State where video and audio evidences confirm the unimaginable, the most bizarre and the unprecedented happened. I also had Edo and Delta States in mind. And there is Lagos State. And a couple of States in the North where children – five to eight year olds – voted in their thousands. When we come out of our present, dicey situation, it will be nice to investigate how these children get registered, which INEC officials collude with whoever brings them to register them. For now, let me just say ‘shame’ to the Police Commissioner who, instead of doing his job, argued that the kids could be adults with “stunted growth!” Just imagine!!
In a number of States, what we had on Saturday was the shame of a Nation.
There were brazen malpractices. Snatching of ballot boxes. Stuffing of ballot boxes. Mass thump-printing of ballot papers. Violence. Intimidation of voters. Deliberate disenfranchisement of voters. Dumping of thump-printed ballot papers inside bushes (LP bore the brunt of this wickedness, this unpatriotic act, comparable to treasonable felony ). Breaching of the Electoral Act by INEC itself. Deliberate Shortage of ballot papers. I thought the results from those areas were going to be canceled and election rescheduled. But no, Professor Yakubu thought otherwise.
Finally, excuse this cliché, he hit the nail on the head. He declared Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, the winner. He was followed by the Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, who performed below one’s expectation. Atiku was very closely followed by the Candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, the star of the 2023 Presidential election.
I took a deep breath, and suddenly began to clap. I was clapping for the refreshing Candidate Obi, the man who has just changed Nigeria’s political architecture. The man who has just changed Nigeria’s Political map. And, I said to nobody in particular: “Peter Obi, thank you Sir. I salute you. I bow and tremble before you. Great guy. Great Nigerian.”
In one fell swoop, Obi destroyed many myths. In one fell swoop, he disrupted Nigeria’s voting pattern. In one fell swoop, he united Nigeria. And Nigerians. In one fell swoop, he told us that we are one people, that we have the same problems, that we feel the same pains. In one fell swoop, he told us that in building a Nation, neither religion nor ethnicity matters. In one fell swoop, he gave Nigerian youths a voice. Unprecedented!
In one fell swoop, Obi galvanized the youths. He reminded them of their importance. “You are the salt of the nation”, he told them. “There is no Nigeria without you.” He told them “Nigeria’s future is in your hands”. He gave them a sense of belonging. He gave them a platform. He gave them a voice. He told them that they hold his political future, Nigeria’s fate. He told them to wake up and take back their country, a country so blessed by God, but a country so badly managed by its leaders. He galvanized Nigerians in the Diaspora. “You are needed in Nigeria to pull your country out of the dustbin”, he told. For the first time, many of our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora, irrespective of tribe and religion, flew down to Nigeria to vote. Almost, effortlessly, by being himself, Obi started a movement, a movement that will outlive him.
Entrenched interests fought hard to pull him down. But he stayed put like the rock of Gibraltar. He laughed off the darts thrown at him. They said he had no structure. He laughed that off, and had an appropriate answer. “The people, especially, the youths are my structure. They insulted him. They laughed at him. He trudged on, focused on his mission. And so was his running mate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed. What a great pair they make. And he endured unbelievable attacks and betrayal from his own people. Again, he had an appropriate attitude to that. “I am not an Igbo candidate. I am a Nigerian candidate of Igbo extraction.”
Of the five Governors in Obi’s South-east, none backed him. Nor did most of the elite from the region. They fought him. His State Governor, Professor Charles Soludo, was the worst culprit. He gave the impression that he was elected into office to pull down Obi. He laughed at him for daring to run for the office of the President. Soludo looked down on Obi and looked down on the Igbo race.
Soludo said Obi would make no impact. That he would come a distant fourth. So, Governor Soludo, the question today is: “how now?”
Peter Obi
See, Obi and his Labour Party have taken over Anambra. They defeated Soludo all round. Even inside Government House Awka, Soludo was routed. In his Senatorial Zone, Soludo was routed. And of the three Senators in Anambra, Obi’s Labour Party has two. Soludo’s now comatose APGA has none. The LP, also, has the majority in the Members of the House of Representatives. In case Soludo does not understand the implication of what has happened, he has lost Anambra to hurricane Obi. He needs to work extra hard hard to get a second term in office. The structure he boasted of, and taunted Obi for having none, has been pulled from under his feet by Obi’s Labour Party.
Those who laughed at Obi, especially, in the South-east, are hiding their faces in shame.
Of course, naturally, nobody expected them to abandon their own parties and support Obi. But nobody, also, expected them to drag him into the gutter, or push him out to be devoured by lions. Much of their behavior, most people say, is a product of envy and jealousy. You know, why should Obi be the one? It was the same attitude they had towards him in 2019 when he was running mate to the now demystified Atiku Abubakar. Why should it be Obi? They worked against their brother. But now, where are they? Nobody would mention their names, in politics, before Obi’s anywhere in the world.
Many of them have either been retired by Obi and his Labour Party and/or made irrelevant in the South-east. For the Zone, Obi is number one. He has become the most important politician in the Zone.
All those who laughed at him are wondering what happened. The Arthur Ezes, the Rev. Father Mbakas, his colleague-Governors in the South-east (serving or former) who neither gave him a chance, nor received him decently when he visited their States for his Campaign Rally. They refused to allow Obedients to rally. Governors Dave Umahi, Ebonyi, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Enugu, Ifeanyi Okowa, Delta, Nyesom Wike, Rivers, Abdullahi Sule, Nasarawa, Godwin Obaseki, Edo, Soludo, whose Government removed Obi’s Posters, the foul-mouthed Nasir El-Rufai, Kaduna, who Atiku routed, and who lost all the Senatorial Zones in his State, just like Soludo.
Amongst the Governors in the South-east, only Imo’s Hope Uzodinma was decent to Obi. When they met at Imo Airport, he invited Obi over to Government House. He, also, approved a Campaign Rally venue for him, belated as it was. But he did. And there are many other top politicians in Igboland who yabbed him. Obi didn’t give a damn. He was a National Candidate, not an Igbo candidate. Now, look at where they are, and look at where Obi is.
Reno Omokri, Deji Adeyanju, strong supporters of Atiku, both of whom didn’t give Obi a chance to win anywhere, except a couple of States in the South-east, and/ or garner 25% anywhere outside the Zone are shocked. They are taken aback. Verify this: Peter Obi won 12 States, as did Tinubu and Atiku. Unprecedented! And, this is a man who just, a few months ago, picked an almost dead Political Party, and proceeded to give it a larger than life image. Unprecedented!
His movement has vanquished Soludo’s APGA, and is hot on the heels of the PDP. In the South-east, the PDP has to work extra hard not to be completely vanquished by the LP, thanks to Obi. Suddenly, the LP has become a National Party. The Third Force, they call it, has emerged.
Take a look at the States Obi won outside the South-east Zone. Lagos, Abuja, Delta, Plateau, Nasarawa, Edo, Cross River State. And in just eight months. Unprecedented!
Yet, these achievements pale before what he has done for the Igbo race. For the first time since democracy in 1999, a serious candidate of Igbo extraction surfaced. A major candidate of Igbo extraction emerged. A candidate of Igbo extraction was one of the three front runners. And he won the same number of States as the other two Candidates – Tinubu and Atiku.
Obi put back the Igbo race smack at the centre of Nigerian politics. He gave the Igbo a sense of belonging in Nigeria. He rubbished ethnicity, religion and money politics. He gradually veered off political rallies and debates from irrelevant, elementary issues to serious issues.
Dear Mr Obi, the results have been announced. According to INEC, Asiwaju Tinubu won. Pending what you and your running mate and Party and millions of supporters plan to do, just know, and you know, that in defeat, you are a winner. You are the greatest. A phenomenal. From being “structureless” eight months ago, your Party, as I write this, has about 86 members in the National Assembly. Imagine what could have happened if INEC and Security Agencies had played their roles.
You are the rallying point for the Youths, the poor, the oppressed, the masses. In you, they are at home. They see hope. They see a future, a great future. You are the pride of your people, of Nigerians.
No serious politician or political party can ignore you henceforth. It will be at their own peril. And nobody can wish you away. You have shown the world the decent side of Nigeria’s politics. You never, personally, insulted anybody all through the Campaign period. You focused on issues. Millions of Nigerians are proud of you.
One day, Nigerians will get there. They will get to that point which you have in mind, where nobody, anywhere, will look down on Nigerians, and where Nigerians will be proud of themselves, and of their country.
Congratulations! Okwute (Rock)!! You rocked in this election. I salute you. Great son of the East. I bow (and tremble).
There is rekindled hope for the people of Ekiti state to enjoy more stable electricity supply going by the federal government’s resolve to complete work on the 132 KVA serving the state from Akure, Ondo state capital.
The 132 KVA line, on which work has been completed but yet to be energized, is among those that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved N39.6 billion on Wednesday at its sitting in Abuja.
The amount is for various transmission line contracts in the power sector across the country.
The approval of the amount by the council meeting, presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, followed a memo by the Minister of power, Abubakar Aliyu.
Briefing journalists at the end of the meeting, the Minister said the various projects comprise several amounts, including an offshore component of $53 million and an onshore component of N15.6 billion.
“I presented three memos to the council today and I got approval for the three memos.
“The first memo sought the council’s approval for the procurement of transmission line materials for reconductoring works for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in favor of Messrs Legacy Power in the sum of $6 million; that’s the offshore value.
“The component for the onshore is N145 million inclusive of all the taxes and 12 months of completion.
“The second memo sought the council’s approval for the award of a contract for the construction of a “15 kilometres turn in-turn outline of the existing Akure-Ado-Ekiti 132 single-circuit transmission line at Akure; 330,132, 33 sub-stations of the TCN in favor of Messrs Legacy Power Limited in the sum of $2.5 million for offshore component and N988.5 million for the onshore component.
“The sub-station in Akure, which has been completed over two years ago, is a 330 sub-station, and we could not energize the sub-station because of lack of line.
“The line is supposed to originate in Benin, where a new line is currently being constructed.
“I have spoken to (sic) this project here several times; it is the project that has a problem of right way, which we are dealing with gradually, and the line is supposed to energize the Akure sub-station, which was completed over two years ago.
“The line is coming from Benin north to Oshogbo, which will pass and energize the Akure sub-station.
“So, this project is 132 lines from the Akure sub-station going to Akure-Ado-Ekiti which is simultaneously going on with the Benin north-Akure line.
“By the time we are able to energize the Akure line, this project would have been completed so that the whole area will have no problem with electricity.”
The minister explained that the project, which had also been approved by the council, would be completed in 12 months.
Aliyu said the last memo presented sought to design, supply, and install a total of 132 32KV (kilovolts) substations and transmission lines across the country.
“The last memo, which has five projects on it, sought to design, supply, and install 132 32KV substations and transmission lines across different locations in the country for TCN in favor of several contractors for a total of $53 million. This is the offshore. Then, the onshore is N15.6 billion.
“The projects are all similar –design, supply, and install 2 by 60MVA 132 33kV transmission substation across the country as I stated earlier.
“We have one in Misau local government area, Bauchi state. We have another one in Mashi local government in Kastina state. We have the third one in Benue state, which is Api, and the North Bank in Makurdi.
“Then we have the fourth one in Ebonyi state, 60MVA transformer at a university in Ebonyi state; then, we have the other one at Ebonyi airport; then, the fifth one is a line of 30 kilometre at Rimin Zakara to Kayin in Kano.
“So, these are the various projects that constitute the various amounts — offshore of $53 million and onshore component of N15.6 billion.”
Barely ten days to the March 11, Governorship election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State has said it will go it alone as it is not in alliance nor contemplating for one before the poll.
The party stated that its candidate for the election remains incumbent Governor Seyi Makinde urging the people to disregard insinuation that the party is in support of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Teslim Folarin.
APC had shown good outing during last Saturday’s presidential and national assembly election winning two of the three Senate seats but the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, now the Presidential candidate, won the State, and even won the Governor’s Polling Unit and inside Government House.
A statement issued on Thursday by the PDP Publicity Secretary in the state, Akeem Olatunji, said there is no truth to the report whatsoever.
He appealed to the party’s supporters to come out en masse on Saturday, March 11, and vote for Governor Seyi Makinde and all PDP candidates in the House of Assembly elections.
The statement reads : “The PDP Oyo State wishes to draw the attention of the general public to the news making the rounds that the PDP in Oyo State is in support of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the March 11, 2023 elections.
“We want to state that there is no truth to this statement whatsoever.
“The handle circulating this misinformation on Twitter, @PDPVanguard, is a Social Media Influencer account with no affiliations whatsoever with the official PDP at state and national levels.
“We, therefore, appeal to our teeming supporters and all lovers of good governance to come out en-masse on Saturday, March 11, 2023 and vote for Seyi Makinde and all candidates of the PDP at the State House of Assembly Elections.”
The last thing he wants to hear is that he desires anything other than what is good for Nigeria. Hero of Nigeria’s civil war; former military president who supervised the first-post war transition to civilian rule; two-term civilian president; and a much sought-after African leader, Olusegun Obasanjo considers it beneath his status to suggest he can sometimes be wrong about his choices for the country.
He has mastered make-belief uber-patriotism over the years, cultivating this ruse into an art form that disguises his large ego. Yet, it won’t be a bad thing if he had the modesty to admit, even remotely, that Obasanjo, being Obasanjo, his monumental ego often gets the better of him.
After separating church and state, Louis XIV famously looked out the window of his palace in Versailles and declared to himself, “I am the state.” Perhaps for a while, he was. But it was only a matter of time before his vanity led him to collide with the Papacy and protestants, with disastrous consequences.
There’s nothing that the former president covets more than the power to call once and get attention twice. This was what he expected on Monday when, in the middle of the announcement of election results, he issued a statement demanding the cancellation “of all elections that do not pass the credibility and transparency test.”
In one of the nicest public letters, he has written to President Muhammadu Buhari in his many years of epistolatory terrorism, Obasanjo praised Buhari’s effort to ensure a legacy of free and fair elections, but expressed concern that the president’s effort could be harmed by paid officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), who were determined to rig the election on the watch of its Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu.
Obasanjo neither provided evidence of the charge nor pretended to have any. He naturally believed that his word, being weightier than proof and more settled than gospel, was sufficient to make Buhari immediately direct INEC to stop further announcements until there is a greenlight from his lair at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta.
I’m bereft that the irony of Obasanjo’s demand was lost on him. How the man whose government committed one of the worst electoral heists in Nigeria in 2007 has the audacity to demand stoppage of election results, mid-count, on the grounds of a suspicion, defies belief. But Obasanjo is apparently too fortified and absorbed in a public life of hypocrisy to care much about irony, that quality of existence without which tragedy becomes blatant.
That was why in 2007, it was not Obasanjo who felt ashamed that the general election of that year was massively rigged. Instead, it was the man on whose behalf he rigged the election, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who was so deeply concerned about the outcome that he promised to do all he could to be the last elected president to drink from such poisoned chalice.
Neither Obasanjo, who foisted that chalice on Nigeria to avenge his futile bid for a third term after his foot-soldiers spent $500 million to execute his failed plan reported in Too Good to Die, nor Maurice Iwu, the INEC chairman at the time and his accomplice, expressed any regrets about the shambolic outcome of the elections. As you read this piece the result of that election is the only incomplete one on file, 16 years after it was conducted.
Yet Obasanjo, the man whose government supervised that election, does not care that stopping the collation and announcement of election results, mid-count, could plunge the country into the very crisis he claimed he was trying to prevent. There’s even a verified viral audio of him by People’s Gazette in what sounded like a low-budget Donald Trump, stirring up youths to “go and occupy Nigeria” whatever for.
We’ve been here before. Thirty years ago, anti-democratic forces stalled the announcement of the June 12, 1993 election result which MKO Abiola had clearly won and plunged the country into a serious crisis. Obasanjo may not have been a part of the initial plot to abort Abiola’s election; but he was one of its most heartily solicitous beneficiaries.
His audacious demand on Monday gave the eerie feeling that he wanted a replay of June 12, at any cost, if not directly for himself, then for his acolytes.
The conduct of Saturday’s election wasn’t perfect. In his enthusiasm to deliver a flawless exercise, Yakubu over-promised and perhaps mismanaged expectations. Repeating what happened in off-season elections in Edo, Anambra and Osun on a national scale the same day, was always going to be a very tough job.
The late arrival of voting materials in a number of places didn’t help matters. Yet, there is no provision in the electoral law that results not uploaded are invalid. Under Sections 60 (5) and 64 (6) of the Electoral Act, in fact, both the upload and transmission of results are at the discretion of the commission.
If anyone was in doubt about the overall conduct of the elections and the outcome, the final results which kept most guessing, substantially put them to rest. There has been no electoral contest like this in the last 24 years and seven general elections when after only nine months of campaigning a first-time presidential candidate, Labour Party’s Peter Obi, won 12 states across the country, upsetting formidable political strongholds.
It is this same electoral baby that Obasanjo is determined to throw away with the bath water that produced Obi, who won the over six million votes and 25 percent of the votes cast in 16 states, something that in Obasanjo’s heyday as president might only have happened over his dead body.
It was an election in which Atiku Abubakar, a sixth-time presidential candidate and the most experienced of them all, lost not to the bimodal voter verification system or delayed data uploads, but to a self-inflicted injury that cost him five governors and his former running-mate in an election where small margins were always going to matter.
It was an election in which the winner, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was snagged and sabotaged, but still won in spite of key leaders in his party and vicious government policies designed to bury his ambition. He won in spite of everything and is now compelled by winning with the lowest percentage vote (37 percent) since 1999 to work with other parties to heal the country.
What is Obasanjo afraid of? That Tinubu, after being a two-term governor, would now join the exclusive club of heads of state and presidents of which he considers himself the centre of gravity? I’m not sure.
But it’s not unlikely that after backing the wrong horses in two straight presidential elections, he is concerned that this might be the one that finally retires him; which, quite seriously, will not be a bad thing after all.
INEC’s record on post-election litigation record, a measure of acceptable electoral outcomes, appears to have improved since 2015, significantly reducing incidents of court-awarded victories. It would be interesting to see how this one stands legal scrutiny.
The introduction of the bimodal system and increasing use of technology are entirely INEC-driven ideas to further improve confidence and transparency. It should concern INEC that out of 87 million registered voters about 25 million or only 29 percent cast their votes on Saturday, a new low, even by Nigeria’s standards.
The challenges should, however, not lead to a wholescale trashing of the system and its operators. They should, instead, be properly investigated and malicious infractions punished for the benefit of the system.
Obasanjo’s call to stop and or cancel results and his dire warnings that it is either his way or the highway, was to gratify his ego more than anything else. It’s probably not too late for him to give up trying to be like Mandela or attempting to match the literary talents of Wole Soyinka.
Unfortunately, it’s obvious that at this rate, he’ll have to do more than striving for a Nobel to get even close to the record of these icons. He will need a bit of humility, just a bit. Because, as he must know by now, no man is the state.
Nigerian farmers who benefitted from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Anchor Borrower scheme are still owing over N760 billion, according to the International Monetary Fund, IMF.
IMF disclosed this in its Selected Issue paper which was prepared by the Fund’s team in the the county after consultations with various federal government agencies in charge of the scheme.
Out of the over N1 trillion disbursed so far under the scheme, Bretton Wood, United State of America, USA based agency said beneficiaries had paid back a paltry N24 billion, representing 24 percent of the entire sum.
One of the reasons for default, IMF said is that the disbursement was not based on need, raising questions of fund diversion by some farmers who benefited from the credit scheme.
The scheme was initiatiated by the Godwin Emefiele-led CBN to significantly increase food production in the country, but the IMF said the aim has not been achieved.
The reportbsaid:: “The weak effect of agricultural credit on production growth could be associated with difficulties in targeting the correct recipients.”
“For the Anchor Borrowing Programme, repayment is also low at 24 per cent, especially since repayment can be made in kind, thereby limiting the tenor of the loans to one year.
“Part of the problem is that the incentive structure for repayment is weak, the recipient loans are not always well targeted and occasionally the funding is used for other purchases (e.g., new agricultural input trading companies to elicit trading rents).”
Following his appearance, on Wednesday, at a Magistrate Court in Kano, Ado Doguwa, the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, has been remanded in the state correctional centre for an alleged conspiracy in the murder of six persons.
The six persons were said to have been killed during the collation and announcement of results at his Constituency, Tundun Wada Doguwa Federal Constituency during the February 25 presidential and National Assembly election.
The embattlled lawmaker was also said to have forced the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to declare him the winner of the election , at gun point.
He was later arrested and charged alongside six others, for criminal conspiracy, and culpable homicide.
Part of the chargers, according to the charge sheet, is that Doguwa caused grievous hurt, mischief by fire, and inciting disturbance.
According to report, Doguwa was involved in a violent confrontation with members of the New Nigeria People Party, NNPP, and the All Progressives Congress, APC, which led to the death of supporters of the opposition party members. Some people also received various degrees of injuries, the report said, while the campaign office of the NNPP was also burnt.
The lawmaker was arrested at the Kano International Airport on Monday, on his way to Lesser Hajj.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Haruna Kiyawa, said Doguwa was arrested in connection with a suspected case of criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide, causing grievous hurt, mischief by fire and inciting disturbance.
Kiyawa said the police arrrested the lawmaker for the alleged “gruesome murder of three persons, causing grievous injury to eight others in Tudun Wada LGA on 26/02/2023 while the collation of election results was ongoing and an alleged viral video of some victims with suspected gunshots in the Social Media.”
The police spokesman also stated that detective effected the arrest after Doguwa refused to honour it’s invitation after the incident was reported to the command.
Meanwhile those watching the ongoing trial of the controversial lawmaker, who once said his ambition in life is to become the Speaker of the House of Representatives, said his political future may be in jeopardy depending on the outcome of the case.
Magistrate Ibrahim Yola has adjourned the trial to March 7.
Imagine standing patiently in line, waiting to vote, and suddenly men with guns arrive on motorcycles and start shooting. Imagine men dashing into your polling unit, violently seizing ballot boxes and taking them away. Imagine other ballot boxes being destroyed. Imagine being beaten to keep you from voting for a particular candidate. Imagine a crowd of people chanting “We must vote! We must vote!” when polling workers failed to arrive as expected. Imagine the police doing very little. All these things happened during the Nigerian presidential elections on Saturday. Through it all, there was a chilling lack of transparency from the Independent National Electoral Commission, or I.N.E.C., which oversees elections.
Nigerian elections have a history of being rigged, of cooked-up numbers and stolen ballot boxes. This time, though, Nigerians were asked to place their faith in a new electronic voting system that would make tampering more difficult. Technology would be the savior: In each polling unit, votes would be counted in the presence of voters and then immediately uploaded to a secure central portal. Failing to upload the results in real time was the most egregious of the many irregularities of this election because it has destroyed the cautious trust with which many approached the process.
The I.N.E.C. blames technical issues for the delay. How, Nigerians wonder, can a well-funded electoral body that had four years to prepare for an important presidential election make such a significant blunder? It is reasonable, then, that many voters have assumed purposeful intent, that election workers were instructed not to upload results so that they could later be secretly manipulated.
I know Nigeria, the country of my birth, intimately. I know the political culture, where the exchange of large amounts of money makes so many people conscience-deficient, where the mainstream media’s instinct is political deference and where the will of the people is often ignored. Nigerians, especially young Nigerians, are determined that this time, their votes will matter. A majority of Nigerians are below the age of 35. They are a bright, innovative and talented generation, a hungry generation, starved of good leadership, who do not merely sit back and complain but who act and push back and want to forge their own futures.
On Saturday, many went out to vote, enthusiastic but cautious, their phone cameras ready to record any irregularities. They waited for election workers who arrived many hours late to polling stations. They braved the harassment and beatings of men paid to create chaos. They went off and bought their own ink for finger-printing when election workers claimed to have run out of it. They provided their own light from their phones as they stood in line in the dark, and according to one recorded case, a voter brought a small generator to a polling place when the voting machine stopped working. They refused to leave even though they had to wait so long that it was almost dawn when they could finally vote. And when it began to rain, they came together and sang beautiful songs. I have never been so proud of my fellow Nigerians. Many were voting for the first time, inspired by one candidate, Peter Obi, who has brought to them that ineffable thing that we humans need to thrive: hope.
Now, as results are being counted, there is growing disillusionment. A sludge of tension is in the air. A simmering rage. Some voters say that the official numbers trickling in do not match the numbers from their polling units, that the results tell a story different from what they witnessed on Saturday. They are convinced of the complicity of those who should be caretakers of the democratic process.
Elections must always be transparent, of course, but for an abysmally low-trust society like Nigeria, a radical transparency is needed for credibility. Elections must be completely transparent and must be widely seen to be completely transparent; sadly, neither seems to apply to Nigeria’s presidential election.
African democracies are criticized, often condescendingly so, in ways that stoke resentment, not because the criticism isn’t valid, but because it isn’t fair. Africa is full of young nation-states, and democracy takes time to establish its roots, and even when it does, the fragility always remains.
I’ve always found it curious that African countries were expected to form functioning democracies right after independence, even though the colonial governments they had only just freed themselves from were dictatorships in everything but name. Nigerians want a functioning democracy, and they are starting on the path to it but might be derailed unless the international community pays attention now.
Nigeria is Africa’s tottering giant, the continent’s most populous country, the most politically and culturally dominant. To pay real attention to Nigeria is to signal that Africa matters, as the United States has always maintained. The Biden administration needs to stand behind the Nigerian people now and make a firm commitment to support election transparency. Besides — my tongue is lodged in my cheek — you don’t want a wave of Nigerian asylum seekers fleeing the unbearable discontent of living under an illegitimate government.
Sometimes democracies are threatened by foreign invasions and sometimes democracies are most at risk from internal forces. All of them need support.
Adichie, a renowned and award-winning Nigerian Writer and Novelist, published this in the New York Times of 28th February, 2023
