Days Of Ruling By Surrogates Over, PDP Campaign Tells Obasanjo

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ_Lwa2YMxNccmrEwf4jD6dYNIBCy-Puf85ctOfJ392XnOvzJkkF1Vk2XRkd38ZNB7ka3C5GEkY5SwC2kT1JRVao_nL4GpnsxF3fZkTUSMzqgOVlsknXy0RrrUX2VTljc0yMuKD3E2YEvJ/s1600/Femi-Fani-Kayode-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ_Lwa2YMxNccmrEwf4jD6dYNIBCy-Puf85ctOfJ392XnOvzJkkF1Vk2XRkd38ZNB7ka3C5GEkY5SwC2kT1JRVao_nL4GpnsxF3fZkTUSMzqgOVlsknXy0RrrUX2VTljc0yMuKD3E2YEvJ/s1600/Femi-Fani-Kayode-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b><br /></b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation, PDPPCO, on Saturday advised former President Olusegun Obasanjo to accept the reality that the days of ruling Nigeria through surrogates are over for good.</b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The organisation was reacting to Obasanjo’s criticism of President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday over the postponement of the general election.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Obasanjo had accused Jonathan of postponing the election because he wanted to win by "hook or crook".</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> PDPPCO in a statement by its Director of Media and Publicity, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, said Obasanjo got it wrong regarding the postponement of the elections.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Fani-Kayode said the reasons for the postponement of the elections were quite obvious, adding that Obasanjo was in the best position to know.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The statement reads: "It is sad and unfortunate that President Olusegun Obasanjo, a father of the nation and a man that we all revere and have immense respect for, could have misread the situation so badly.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>READ ALSO: <a href="http://nigerianewsroom.blogspot.com/2015/02/jonathan-afraid-of-being-jailed-by.html">Jonathan Afraid Of Being Jailed By Buhari If He Loses - Obasanjo</a></b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> "It is simply not true that President Goodluck Jonathan wishes to remain in power at all costs and the suggestion that he has a hidden agenda or that he somehow imposed his will on INEC by getting them to postpone the elections is baseless and absurd.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> "The security chiefs made their recommendations and there were numerous other challenges that INEC had which caused them to postpone the elections for six weeks. This was INEC’s decision and not Jonathan’s.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> "The reasons for that postponement were profound and legitimate and we have made it clear all along that whether the election was on the 14th February or any other day President Jonathan is more than ready.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> "President Goodluck Jonathan has also made it clear that no matter what happens the handover date of 29th May will stand after the elections have been fought and won. What more does President Obasanjo want to hear?</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> "It is most uncharitable and unfair for him to suggest that President Jonathan wishes to remain in power by hook or by crook because that is not the nature of Jonathan. It is even worse for him to compare him to President Laurent Gbagbo.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>READ ALSO: <a href="http://nigerianewsroom.blogspot.com/2015/02/obasanjo-scheming-to-head-interim-govt.html">Obasanjo Scheming To Head Interim Govt. - Abati</a></b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> "To Jonathan, politics is not a matter of do or die and President Obasanjo knows this more than anyone else. We will respond to President Obasanjo in full at the appropriate time but the truth is that we will not allow him or anyone else to distract us from the task that lies ahead.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> "We have an election to fight and to win and that remains our primary focus. We reject President Obasanjo’s very serious and grave allegations and we are not in the least bit disturbed by them because we know that they have no basis in truth, rationality or reason.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> "The days of anyone attempting to rule by proxy or through surrogates are long over because we have all come of age. President Jonathan is ready for this election and the PDP will win it hands down despite all the lies and propaganda that is being peddled by the opposition and their new found friends.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> "That is the bitter truth and those that do not like it should learn to live with it", Fani-Kayode added.</div>

Days Of Ruling By Surrogates Over, PDP Campaign Tells Obasanjo

The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation, PDPPCO, on Saturday advised former President Olusegun Obasanjo to acce...

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Oba Of Benin Alive But Sick - Palace

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl6AquOyyYfFW_9b_gc6yDOFXebq0MRMJ0NrAwirgY1vhnW-oVzbpT2dDM43VZ-Lr_EEzbYLRCKulHCNo0mY-akjoqbrE09MZ1yIirTo-f8CgeD15-wasoliaGPdcRCvw1ESE1iGbHXiDk/s1600/Oba-of-Benin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl6AquOyyYfFW_9b_gc6yDOFXebq0MRMJ0NrAwirgY1vhnW-oVzbpT2dDM43VZ-Lr_EEzbYLRCKulHCNo0mY-akjoqbrE09MZ1yIirTo-f8CgeD15-wasoliaGPdcRCvw1ESE1iGbHXiDk/s1600/Oba-of-Benin.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b><br /></b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>There have been speculations that the revered Oba of Benin, Omo N'Oba N'Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Erediauwa I is in conversation with his ancestors. This has brought about palpable anxiety in Edo State in the last few weeks.</b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> However, in a swift reaction, the Traditional Council has dismissed the rumour that the monarch has passed on, stating that it was mere speculation that had been on for over six months and lacked truth.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Were the Oba to have passed on, the Benin Traditional Council is the only body to make the announcement after three months.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The Secretary to the council, Mr. Frank Irabor, explained that it was the responsibility of the council to issue a formal statement, if such a development occurs.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Although the spokesperson did not specify whether or not the Oba was hale and hearty, he said that the inability of President Goodluck Jonathan to see the monarch when he recently visited the palace, should not give credence to his rumoured conversation with his ancestors.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Palace sources however confirmed that the 91 year old Benin Monarch had been sick for a couple of weeks now.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The source said: “You will notice that when President Goodluck Jonathan came to Benin last week on campaign and visited the palace, the monarch was not available to receive him. Jonathan was received in the palace by the Oba’s chiefs.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Erediauwa who is in his 35th year as Oba of Benin is a strong supporter of Jonathan. He once advised the President to shun all distractions and remain focused with his transformation agenda, while endorsing him for a second term.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> After a meeting with Jonathan in the Presidential Villa by a team led by the Oba’s son, Erediauwa stated that he had been following the Jonathan administration with keen interest.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “I have been praying fervently that the president would succeed and even surpass the expectations of many, bearing the distractions and disturbances in some parts of the country” he said.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The Oba subsequently endorsed Jonathan for a second term and invited him over to Benin “in the shortest possible time for special blessings.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> This traditional ruler of the Edo people was crowned the 39th Oba of Benin and head of the traditional state of Benin, on 23 March 1979. He was formerly Prince Solomon Akenzua.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The monarch attended Government College, Ibadan (1939–1945), the then Yaba College, Lagos, before going to King's College, Cambridge to study Law and Administration. He joined the Eastern Nigeria Civil Service in 1957 as a District Officer, before joining the Federal Civil Service where he retired as Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health in 1973. For a short period he was the regional representative of Gulf Oil. In 1975, he was appointed Commissioner for Finance in the former Bendel State during the Military Administration of Major-General George Agbazika Innih.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> He is the 39th Oba of the dynasty. He celebrated his 30th anniversary on the throne in 2009 amidst pomp and tradition.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The only major challenge Oba Erediauwa has faced so far during his reign was his suspension by the former military administrator of Edo State, Navy Captain Anthony Onyearugbulum, in 1998. He tried to make the chairmanship of the council of Obas in Edo State a rotational position, an action seen by many as an affront to the king of the ancient Benin Kingdom. Erediauwa resisted this which led to the dispute with the government.</div>

Oba Of Benin Alive But Sick - Palace

There have been speculations that the revered Oba of Benin, Omo N'Oba N'Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Erediauwa I is in conversation with...

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2015 Election: Jonathan’s Risky Call - By Olusegun Adeniyi | ThisDay

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJJHNCOHgrBre-U6pCInHqQbQ9T8HrFae0dV2sY5cVeuVooRvdhRrMOZ0Z_KHMi1zF25K2pzR_zZJ7OJrCaQnQoaxckvVVcyFXQrvZQyeeYkOCSb3QcsyAuuRrV4PeydU4sDfIzupnMlb6/s1600/Segun-Adeniyi-2114mar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="572" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJJHNCOHgrBre-U6pCInHqQbQ9T8HrFae0dV2sY5cVeuVooRvdhRrMOZ0Z_KHMi1zF25K2pzR_zZJ7OJrCaQnQoaxckvVVcyFXQrvZQyeeYkOCSb3QcsyAuuRrV4PeydU4sDfIzupnMlb6/s1600/Segun-Adeniyi-2114mar.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b><br /></b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>I saw the postponement of the presidential election coming the moment the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), made his ex-cathedral declaration at the Chatham House in London. By publicly casting doubts on the preparedness of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at a time the commission said it was ready, Dasuki had put the credibility of the polls in jeopardy were it to be conducted on February 14 as earlier scheduled. It therefore came as no surprise that the service chiefs would come up with their “Advisory”, through the same Dasuki, that they needed six weeks to defeat an insurgency they had been fighting for years with mixed results.</b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> However, now that the elections have been shifted forward, the only person I worry for is President Goodluck Jonathan. In all his private and public engagements last week, INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, kept emphasizing that his commission was even more ready for the 2015 polls than it was four years ago and that the misgivings from the military/security chiefs represent the only impediment to conducting the polls as scheduled. He stated the same in his 12-page memo (with annextures totalling another 20 pages) presented to the Council of State meeting last Thursday which I am privileged to have read.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Since the NSA and the service chiefs are appointees of the president who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, it was Jonathan’s call that was being conveyed to Jega that, in view of some extenuating circumstances, the elections could not go on as scheduled. Yet the real winner in this debacle is Jega because, truth be told, INEC cannot claim to be ready given the problems with the management of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) distribution. But to the extent that the elections were rescheduled under the pretext of what many would consider no more than security subterfuge, if things go wrong within the intervening period, Jega now has a strong alibi to fall back on: his hands were tied.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> For us to understand the current situation, let me put out the figures as presented by the INEC chairman to the Council of State. As at February 4, according to Jega, of the 68,833,476 Nigerians registered to vote, 45,098,876 persons had collected their PVCs representing 65.81 percent. What would happen to the remaining 34.19 percent of prospective voters was the issue in contention.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Here is the breakdown given by Jega at the meeting: of the 1,396,162 registered voters in Abia State, 1,073,799 had collected their PVCs, representing 76.91 percent; of the 1,559,012 registered voters in Adamawa, 1,073,799 had collected their PVCs representing 80.68 percent; of the 1,680,759 registered voters in Akwa Ibom, 1,328,714 had collected their PVCs representing 79.05 percent; of the 1,963,173 registered voters in Anambra State, 1,222,002  had collected their PVCs representing 62.25 percent; of the 2,054,125 registered voters in Bauchi, 1,745,441 had collected their PVCs representing 84.97 percent; of the 610,373 registered voters in Bayelsa, 386,125 had collected their PVCs representing 63.26 percent; of the 2,015,452 registered voters in Benue State, 1,132,187 had collected their PVCs representing 56.18 percent and of the 1,934,079 registered voters in Borno, 1,320,667 had collected their PVCs, representing 68.28 percent.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Similarly, of the 1,175,623 registered voters in Cross River State, 859,690 PVCs had been collected representing 73.13 percent; of the 2,275,264 registered voters in Delta, 1,556,476 had collected their PVCs representing 68.41 percent; of the 1,074,273 registered voters in Ebonyi, 714,351 had collected their PVCs representing 66.50 percent; of the 1,779,738 registered voters in Edo, 1,062,370 PVCs had been collected, representing 59.69 percent; of the 732,021 registered voters in Ekiti, 496,536 PVCs had been collected representing 67.83 percent; of the 1,429,221 registered voters in Enugu, 761,185 PVCs had been collected representing 53.26 percent; of the 881,472 registered voters in FCT, 464,769 PVCs had been collected representing 52.73 percent; of the 1,120,023 registered voters in Gombe, 873,698 had been collected representing 78.00 percent; of the 1,803030 registered voters in Imo, 949,921 PVCs had been collected representing 50.23 percent and of the 1,831,276 registered voters in Jigawa, 1,460,620 PVCs had been collected representing 79.76 percent.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Also, of the 3,407,222 registered voters in Kaduna, 2,976,628 PVCs had been collected representing 87.36 percent; of the 4,975,701 registered voters in Kano, 3,190,417 PVCs had been collected representing 64.11 percent; of the 2,827,943  registered voters in Katsina, 2,245,303 had collected PVCs representing 79.40 percent; of the 1,470,648 registered voters in Kebbi, 1,232,357 PVCs had been collected representing 83.80 percent; of the 1,350,883 registered voters in Kogi, 773,197 PVCs had collected representing 57.24 percent; of the 1,142,267 registered voters in Kwara, 738,594 PVCs had been collected representing 64.66 percent; of the 5,905,852 registered voters in Lagos, 2,267,039 had collected their PVCs representing 38.39 percent; of the 1,242,267 registered voters in Nasarawa, 995,068 PVCs had been collected representing 70.75 percent; of the 2,014,317 PVCs in Niger, 1,250,379 PVCs had been collected representing 62.07 percent and of the 1,829,534 registered voters in Ogun, 666,752 PVCs had been collected, representing 36.44 percent.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The situation was no different in other states. Of the 1,524,665 registered voters in Ondo, 824,715 PVCs had been collected representing 54.09 percent; of the 1,407,107 registered voters in Osun, 995,562 PVCs had been collected, representing 70.75 percent; of the 2,415,566 registered voters in Oyo, 1,205425 PVCs had been collected representing 49.94 percent; of the 2,001,825 registered voters in Rivers, 1,899,041 PVCs had been collected representing 58.44 percent; of the 1,611,929 registered voters in Sokoto, 1,310,003 PVCs had been collected representing 81.29 percent; of the 1,340,652 registered voters in Taraba, 1,079,333 PVCs had been collected, representing 80.51 percent; of the 1,099,970 registered voters in Yobe, 824,401 PVCs had been collected representing 74.95 percent; of the 1,495,717 registered voters in Zamfara, 1,495,717 PVCs had been collected representing 69.92 percent.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Those were the figures reeled out by Jega at the Council of State session. Interestingly, while so much focus is on the president, I understand that the people who actually were desperate to have the elections postponed were the PDP Governors, especially those of them who would be leaving office by May 29. Because of the way many of them had mismanaged the party primaries in their states, it would be difficult for their anointed successors to win if the president loses and that accounts for their desperation.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> However, there were also misgivings by the presidency. If the presidential election holds this Saturday as earlier scheduled and the president wins, many believe that it would be easy for the opposition to reject the outcome, especially if the margin of victory was less than the number of prospective voters who were not availed their PVCs. On the other hand, if the election went on and the president lost narrowly, it would be difficult for him to abort such a concluded process even if he had convincing arguments that he had merely short-changed himself. The conclusion drawn was that INEC is not ready for the polls.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> So before the Council of State meeting, the position of the president, and that of the party, was that the elections should be postponed. The argument was that by virtue of Section 132 (2) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, there was time to make adjustment. The Section provides that “an election to the said office (presidency) shall be held on a date not earlier than one hundred and fifty days and not later than thirty days before the expiration of the term of the last holder of that office.” That was the subtext to the Council of State meeting.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> At the meeting, Jega presented his report, reiterating that he was ready for the polls. The first person to speak after his presentation was the NSA, Dasuki, who harped on the renewed efforts by the Multinational Forces to dislodge the Boko Haram insurgents and the need to shift the elections forward. The service chiefs and the Director General of the Directorate of State Security (DSS) followed with similar presentations. With the floor now open for discussion, Buhari was the first to fire a salvo against the idea to have the elections rescheduled. He said all the reasons adduced by the military do not warrant postponing the elections, especially when, according to him, soldiers have minimal role to play in the election process.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> With Buhari done, the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, presented what appeared a detailed position of the APC as to why the elections had to go ahead.  He looked at the possible implications of such a postponement from both the legal and political prisms, with the conclusion that it would not bode well for the country and the president. However, the Cross River State Governor, Mr Liyel Imoke countered Fashola’s arguments with what also appeared the PDP position as he went beyond the issue of Boko Haram to that of the preparedness of INEC. Some of the issues he raised included the “lopsidedness” in the distribution of PVCs nationwide, the fact that the Card Readers to be used by INEC had yet to be tested and that the electoral officials to use them have not even been trained.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> At that point, according to sources, Jega sought to respond and was given the floor. He explained that most of the misgivings being expressed have been factored into INEC plans. He, however, added that it was unrealistic to expect a hundred percent turn-out of voters at elections as there is no such thing anywhere in the world. To this, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr Godswill Akpabio reportedly countered that Jega was wrong. Akpabio said there is a difference between people who may choose not to vote even if they have PVCs and those who cannot vote because they have been denied what ordinarily should be their rights. He said elections cannot be credible in situations where millions of people could not get what would enable them to exercise their franchise.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> In asking INEC to go ahead with the polls since the commission said it was ready, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, added that the advisory role of the Council of State does not extend to election matters. To that, the president, who had evidently been well-briefed, drew the attention of Tambuwal and that of the meeting to the Third Schedule (Part 1) of the 1999 Constitution, especially Section B (6) which states that the Council of State “shall have the power to (A) advise the President in exercise of his powers with respect to the…(4) the Independent National Electoral Commission (including appointment of members of the commission).”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> In his own intervention, General Ibrahim Babangida argued that since INEC said it was ready for the polls, the real issue before the Council was on what to do about the four states where the security agencies said they needed more time to deal with the insurgency. Babangida now asked whether it was feasible to conduct elections only in 32 states. The president interjected quickly that such election would end in fiasco. I have it on good authority that some people in the administration had suggested this idea to Jega in November last year and he said any such election that excise a section of the country would not pass the test of credibility or even for that matter, legitimacy. So the president knew that succumbing to such an idea would be politically suicidal for him and he rejected it outright.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> However, from the way the meeting went, it was evident that positions had been taken along party lines. At the end, the responsibility as to what to decide was pushed to INEC but the real drama was announcing the “decision” arrived at because for all practical purposes, nothing was decided as to whether or not the elections should go ahead or be postponed. With Governors Olusegun Mimiko, Rochas Okorocha and Bala Ngilari asked to brief the media by the president, the three rushed to the press room to grab the centre chair. Mimiko got there first and said no decision was taken and that INEC would consult and announce whether to postpone the elections or not which was the most accurate position as to what transpired.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> However, immediately Mimiko stood up and they all appeared to be leaving, Okorocha grabbed the chair that the Ondo State Governor had been sitting on and also started to brief the State House correspondents. He said the Council had decided that the elections should go ahead. While that was not a true reflection of what happened, that was the slant reported in the media, which to be honest is a reflection of the mood of the public.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> I understand that some people within the administration had toyed with two options. The first was to get the elections postponed (as it has happened) and that explains why many believe the military was used to derail the process, even if there were other compelling reasons for it. The other option, also canvassed by some hawks within the administration was to invoke Section 135, subsection 3 of the 1999 Constitution which states: “If the Federation is at war in which the territory of Nigeria is physically involved and the President considers that it is not practicable to hold elections, the National Assembly may by resolution extend the period of four years mentioned in subsection (2) of this section from time to time; but no such extension shall exceed a period of six months at any one time.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> While I am not sure that the president was aware of the plot, the calculation of those who were canvassing this position was that with majority of the National Assembly members having lost out in the primaries of their parties hence not coming back, many of them would jump at any arrangement that offers them a six-month “extra time” to continue to perform their very lucrative “oversight functions.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Fortunately, the president dispelled all the fears and insinuations in his media chat last night. He categorically stated that what is paramount to him was to secure the country, conduct credible elections and that if he loses, he would hand over to whoever is elected by Nigerians. I don’t think anybody can fault him on the basis of what he told Nigerians last night. However, many Nigerians feel concerned that the military is unwittingly being dragged into partisan politics. And nothing demonstrates that more vividly than the manner in which the Army dabbled into the certificate controversy involving the APC presidential candidate who incidentally was their former commander-in-chief.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Buhari had averred in an affidavit he deposed before an Abuja High Court that all his certificates were with the Secretary, Military Board, while submitting his Form 199A to INEC. But in an unsolicited but sinister intervention, then outgoing Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier-General Olajide Laleye, called a press conference to announce: “The Nigerian Army does not have the original copy of his (Buhari) West African Examinations Council, WAEC result or a certified true copy.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Laleye, who said the briefing was necessitated by a deluge of requests from civil society groups and the media among others, over Buhari’s eligibility for any political office, went on and on to cast doubts on the credibility of the APC candidate before he ended by saying: “What I have said here is what is contained in his service records’ personal file. We have not added or subtracted anything.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Since Laleye was waving to reporters a copy of Buhari’s military record, it was dishonest of him to say he neither added nor subtracted anything. For instance, a letter dated 13 June 1980 from Major General DeWITT C. Smith, Commandant of the United States Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania to then Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff, Lt General Alani Akinrinade, is also in the file Laleye was waving to the reporters and he did not mention it because it would not help his hatchet job. I crave the indulgence of readers to reproduce it in full:</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “Once again it is my distinct pleasure to comment on the performance of a Nigerian Army Officer and also to report to you that Brigadier Muhammadu Buhari proved to be a most distinguished Fellow. He graduated with the class of 1980 on 9 June and while we do not have a class standings, it should be pointed out that his performance was outstanding in every respect.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “So that you may better understand the environment in which he worked and studied, let me briefly describe our academic program. The ten-month course, designed to prepare students for senior command and staff positions and to promote understanding of the art and science of land warfare, is the basic academic effort undertaken by all US Army War College students and serves as the basis for more specialized efforts during subsequent phases of the curriculum. During the common overview, the student examines the elements of national power in relations to specific issues which directly affect national security; studies defense management and decision making to include leadership and management of operational activities and the human dimension of command; and, considers the military planning and operations in key global regions.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “The advanced courses provide for study in greater depth on a wide variety of subjects to meet the individual professional needs of our students. During this phase, Brigadier Buhari concentrated on those subjects and areas that could contribute the most to his professional development. He took four courses for credit---‘African Realities and Prospects’; ‘Middle East Political Dynamics’; ‘Problems of Modernisation’ and ‘Comparative Communism’ and audited three other courses-- ‘Defense Decision-making’, ‘Analytical Techniques of Management’ and ‘Fundamentals of Automatic Data Processing’. In addition, he arranged on his own to visit US Army facilities where he could further his professional understanding of logistics management.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “Brigadier Buhari is a man of extraordinary aptitude who demonstrated a broad knowledge of current international problems. His keen interest, sense of responsibility and solid grasp of strategic implications of the important global issues marked him as a key member of any student seminar. In fact, he was at his best in the ‘give and take’ environment of our seminar group discussions where students are encouraged to express their views even though they differ from the group consensus.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “A well read, articulate professional who demonstrated a vast range of knowledge in strategically related issues, Muhammadu was an active and contributing member of his seminar group. He could be counted on to weed through the peripheral issues and irrelevant discussions to identify the source of discussion or misunderstanding, and make appropriate proposals or recommendations to keep the discussion properly focused. His views and opinions were often sought, consistently on target, and highly respected by his contemporaries. He has an outstanding ability to isolate the key issues and facts and, where appropriate, propose recommendations which kept the discussion focused on the central topic.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “Brigadier Buhari’s thorough understanding of the major issues in the United States and the world reflected obvious research and analytical facilities far exceeding the majority of his contemporaries. His written efforts were ‘first rate’ and noted for their outstanding quality of research, logic and communications skills. Brigadier Buhari’s oral presentations consistently reflected those gifts of mind and bearing which are essential in command or group endeavors. His individual presentations were of exceptional value in that he avoided vague generalities and focused on the issues which involved hard, detailed choices.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “Throughout the course, Brigadier Buhari displayed a thorough understanding of the substantive issues at stake, together with a remarkable ability to deal with a wide range of complex issues simultaneously. He is a broadly-oriented officer who doesn’t channel his energies into narrow areas but rather seeks to improve his overall understanding of international issues. Muhammadu is intellectually curious, cooperative and does not hesitate to state his own views. He is also a good listener and always took account of what others had to say. Muhammadu’s ability to ask relevant and probing questions, his political sensitivity and intimate knowledge of current political-military problems made him one of the key motivators in his seminar group.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “Brigadier Buhari demonstrated an exceptional understanding of the complexities of military strategy and the process whereby forces to support a particular strategy are developed. He is a most perspective, intelligent individual who contributed a great deal to the seminar based upon his experiences in the Nigerian Army. Muhammadu was consistently able to provide the seminar group with a non-Western perspective and a surprisingly broad strategic view of the world. He was able, on many occasions, to effectively contrasts his own Army’s command and management philosophies and practices with the United States Army’s in such a way as to be beneficial and educational to all.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “Muhammadu is a most personable and engaging officer who earned the unqualified admiration and respect of his colleagues. His sociability and high ethical standards set him apart and when coupled with his other personal attributes mark Brigadier Buhari as an individual who will continue to be a significant contributor in his chosen profession. Muhammadu is a natural leader with an abundance of intelligence and broad experience and he demonstrated a rare capacity for continued development and growth. More so than other officers in his positions, he continually strove to improve his knowledge of his profession and to develop those skills required to contribute to the Nigerian Army in the future</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “Brigadier Buhari was an active participant in the extra-curricular activities of the student body. In addition to his activities with his seminar in sports competition, he volunteered to be an assistant coach at a junior-level soccer team. He generously supported our community relations program by speaking on several occasions to groups in the local area. Muhammadu, his lovely wife, Safinatu, and his young family were actively involved in the social life of the College and were a credit to Nigeria.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “In sum, Brigadier Buhari’s wisdom and incisive and analytical mind identify him as being capable of discharging increasing degrees of responsibility in an outstanding manner. His insights into rather complex issues and ability to tackle the problems at hand indicate that he has exceptional potential in the armed forces of Nigeria and is worthy of the trust placed in him by your government.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> It is difficult to believe the American General was speaking about the same APC presidential candidate that we see on the campaign train but I have an idea of what may have happened to Buhari over the years. Before I do, I need to reiterate that I am still not a fan of Buhari not only because I have issues with his stewardship as a military Head of State but also because I believe the APC presidential flag-bearer is at heart a very parochial man. I guess Buhari has always been like that because even as an 18 year old, in his handwritten “application to sit for the RNA Qualifying Examination”, Buhari began like this: “I have the honour to apply for regular service in the Royal Nigeria Army. My name is Muhammadu Buhari and I am a Fulani…"</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> However, there are three things I can glimpse from Buhari’s military record. One, he improved himself tremendously in the course of his professional career because seven years before that strong testimonial from the US, as a Lt Colonel, he was just another “average Joe”, going by another testimonial from the United Kingdom. Two, something must have happened to Buhari after he was toppled as Head of State in 1985 such that we no longer see most of the intellectual attributes credited to him when he was in his thirties and forties. Three, it would seem Buhari has always been a man of integrity right from his youth because of the way words like “honest”, “sincere”, “straight-forward” are frequently used for him by his superiors at different times.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> As a Lt. Colonel in the Nigerian Army between January and November 1973, Buhari attended the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. Of the 186 participants, nobody made a distinction; 18 were considered “above average” while 54 were considered “high average.” Buhari was among the 111 other participants that were given the “average” grade.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> In his report, the Chief Instructor, Brigadier HW Kulkarni wrote on Buhari’s Knowledge and Ability: “A sincere and hard-working officer who is keen to learn. Has an average intellect. He possesses a working knowledge of his own Arm but his knowledge of other Arms and Services is just adequate in its extent and application. He can comprehend the implications of most of the situations and has imagination and commonsense to arrive at generally reasonable solutions. He can express himself adequately. Has shown keen interest and benefitted from the course.” On Buhari’s Character and Personality, the instructor wrote: “Tall, slim and well turned-out, Buhari is a quiet, unassuming and honest individual, with a mature and balanced outlook. Subdued by nature, he does his best for his team. Accepts criticism willngly. He is polite and somewhat shy; however, he mixes freely. Physically, he is quite fit."</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The final remarks came from the Comandant of the College, Major General SP Malhotra who wrote of Buhari: “Of average intelligence, Buhari is sober and balanced. Straightforward, simple and mature, he expresses his views freely when asked. Keen to learn. Sociable, though somewhat shy. Pleasant and cordial."</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> I have brought out the foregoing because they are all in Buhari’s military record in possession of the Army yet the former spokesman would only release what he thought would damage the APC presidential candidate without considering the harm he was doing to the very institution he was speaking for. As Obasanjo, Akinrinade and several former military leaders have pointed out in recent days, dragging the military into partisan politics bodes ill for our country and that is where the element of gamble comes in as we approach the rescheduled elections. T</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> o the extent that the responsibility for the peace and security of the nation rests on the president, it is important for him to look beyond the immediate to what he envisions as his place in history. While the president should work towards winning the rescheduled election, I strongly recommend to his handlers Chapter 22 of Robert Greene's book, “The 33 Strategies of War” where the author borrowed from the thesis of the great German General, Erwin Rommel who once made a distinction between a gamble and a risk.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> According to Rommel, both involve an action with only a chance of success but with risk, if you lose, you can recover whereas it is not so with a gamble where “defeat can lead to a slew of problems that are likely to spiral out of control”. Therefore, while some form of risk-taking is allowed in statecraft, a gamble is a different matter altogether and we can look at two cases that should help us in distinguishing one from the other.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> First, a certain Obasanjo was spending his second and last statutory term in office as Nigerian president when he decided to procure a third term by bribing the lawmakers to amend the constitution.  When he failed, Obasanjo, who was all the while hiding behind one finger, retreated and told the world what he has kept repeating: he never sought third term! Today, the former president has recovered from the fiasco such that, as the de facto “leader of opposition” to the Jonathan administration, he could even bag the 2014 Leadership Newspaper Man of the Year award!</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> On the other hand, you have a Blaise Compaore in Burkina Faso who came to power in a military coup in 1987 and was first elected to a seven-year term as president in 1991 after resigning from the military. In 1998, he secured a second mandate in another sham election. But before the term could expire in 2005, he got the legislature to change the Constitution so he could seek a fresh five-year term which he won. He was re-elected for his second (and what was to be his final) term in 2010 but in October last year, Compaore started another plot to have the term limit removed from the Constitution so he could continue in office. The people kicked and the same military that he had been using to trample on their rights turned against the dictator. So within a matter of three weeks, Compaore, whose tenure was actually to expire in November 2015, was forced to flee his country in disgrace last October and is now a fugitive in Morocco.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Now to the message: Both Obasanjo and Compaore sought to hang on to power beyond their legitimate mandates but while the former was clever enough to know when he was beaten and retreated, the latter thought he could force the issue, oblivious to the fact that the world has changed. At the end, the tyrant of Ouagadougou was exposed as just another bloody coward who got a bitter lesson he would never forget from the same people he had oppressed for 27 years. The difference: Obasanjo took a risk, Compaore went for a gamble!</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The pertinent question now is: Why is gamble not a recommended option for a political leader? Now I can close my argument with an “Advisory”, not from Dasuki this time, but from Greene: "With a gamble there tend to be too many variables to complicate the picture down the road if things go wrong. The problem goes further, if you encounter difficulties in a gamble, it becomes harder to pull out---you realise that the stakes are too high: you cannot afford to lose. So you try harder to rescue the situation, often making it worse and sinking deeper into a hole that you cannot get out of. People are drawn into gambles by their emotions: they see only the glittering prospects if they win and ignore the ominous consequences if they lose. Taking risks is essential: gambling is foolhardy. It can be years before you recover from a gamble, if you ever recover at all...”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b><a href="http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/2015-election-jonathan-s-risky-call/201622/">ThisDay</a> The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi; olusegun.adeniyi@thisdaylive.com</b></div>

2015 Election: Jonathan’s Risky Call - By Olusegun Adeniyi | ThisDay

I saw the postponement of the presidential election coming the moment the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), made his ...

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AIG Mbu Is A Goliath, A Political Jobber - Soyinka

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK06dCxprM7TEM9dBf5Hd6iSw_tuEax8lqpzsUQiwEV6YupZhPQxFNvzZjatdaJZPCFkpNAQeoZXIvm7CX2bJZ6h12OY9u38UVWqFIHnV_xwLnadrsJiOlWP6R3O2qkr6tc_9K1Df3yBvM/s1600/Wole+Soyinka.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK06dCxprM7TEM9dBf5Hd6iSw_tuEax8lqpzsUQiwEV6YupZhPQxFNvzZjatdaJZPCFkpNAQeoZXIvm7CX2bJZ6h12OY9u38UVWqFIHnV_xwLnadrsJiOlWP6R3O2qkr6tc_9K1Df3yBvM/s1600/Wole+Soyinka.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b><br /></b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has lambasted the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2, Joseph Mbu, for asking his men to kill 20 civilians if a policeman is killed before, during and after the general elections.</b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Mbu had on Thursday in Abeokuta, Ogun State ordered his men during his official visit to the Eleweran Command headquarters, <a href="http://nigerianewsroom.blogspot.com/2015/02/my-men-will-arrest-any-unruly-governor.html"><b>to arrest even the governor of the state if they find him to be violating the law on election day</b></a>.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “If one of my men is killed, I shall kill twenty of them but don’t shoot first. If they shoot you, shoot back in self-defence. Anybody who fires you, fire him back in self-defence. Our actions and activities will go a long way to decide this election. So, I have come to tell you that we must remain impartial in ensuring free, fair, peaceful and violent-free polls.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “As far as the law is concerned, we are not going to respect anybody and whoever is coming to the booth should vote and leave peacefully. Anyone who comes there to campaign, even if it is the chief executive of the state, a constable at that polling booth would stop him", Mbu said.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Reacting to the directive via a letter on Saturday, Soyinka described Mbu as a "political jobber" ready to be used by the Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> "Goliath Mbu is the latest kid in town, fresh from his triumph in ‘taming’ governors all over the nation, and reveling in his new elevation for jobs well done. A political jobber by instinct, though a clamberer through the police profession, he has wasted no time instructing his men to return violence for violence, fire for fire.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> "He has been displaying his new attire and pips all over the place, demanding to be noticed - as if his facial snarl is not already plastered over the pages of media annals of police infamy, reminiscent of the good old days of one Inspector-General (Sunday) Adewusi, who would appear on television dripping with gas-canisters and grenades, with a detachment of Kill-and-Go” the Nobel laureate stated.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> According to Soyinka, Mbu’s actions and words are similar to that of Adewusi.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> He said, “Is history about to repeat itself in microcosm? Adewusi was sacked by the Buhari coup and vanished from the police political rostrum.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Soyinka also expressed his regrets and anger over the failure of governments to punish persons like Adewusi for his impunity.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Rather he said, those who had acted with impunity were usually accorded state recognition.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “If the trend changes and even the police are made to account for abuses of office, abuses of the collective rights of citizens, then perhaps we might see the end of arrogant partisanship in the performance of police duties,” he added.</div>

AIG Mbu Is A Goliath, A Political Jobber - Soyinka

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has lambasted the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2, Joseph Mbu, for asking his men to ...

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Controversy Rages Over Use Of PVCs, Card Readers

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXpfLngGNfcRJi4Ufv8F4pZLnyU8Lj2aPvqC-hyekopU3aF3MHsRvvCkAYLGvVd23uTNkQubXYa9643HHtEdUAoKoghZ3czshgHYvIkS87iMIh68BzW1AOjY-jCxn8ZWm8gk08JjNDx3Te/s1600/INEC-Card-Reader2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXpfLngGNfcRJi4Ufv8F4pZLnyU8Lj2aPvqC-hyekopU3aF3MHsRvvCkAYLGvVd23uTNkQubXYa9643HHtEdUAoKoghZ3czshgHYvIkS87iMIh68BzW1AOjY-jCxn8ZWm8gk08JjNDx3Te/s1600/INEC-Card-Reader2.png" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The national chairman of PDP, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, said on Friday, during an interactive session with the African Union Observer Group that his party was opposed to the use of the card readers for the March 28 presidential and National Assembly elections as well the April 11 governorship and House of Assembly elections. Muazu explained that there had not been any test run of the device to ascertain its effectiveness. He accused INEC of trying to use Nigerians as guinea pig for the electronic device.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> However, APC believes the combined use of the TVC and PVC would set the stage for confusion and possible electoral fraud.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The TVCs do not require the use of card readers for accreditation of voters.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> APC’s national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said, “The card reader was used successfully in Ghana, why can't it be used in Nigeria? The same people who anchored their argument on the non-availability of the PVCs have now started saying that they should use the TVCs. When are we going to begin to have a credible election? It is clear that the PDP does not want a credible election…</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> National secretary of Labour Party, Mr. Kayode Ajulo, tended to echo the PDP position.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “We advocate an all-inclusive voting method that will enable all eligible voters to participate in the election. We do not mind whether it is the PVC or the TVC or both, but what the party is seeking is that no voter must be disenfranchised on the account of sticking to any of the methods,” Ajulo said. But he said, “We believe the card reader being introduced by INEC may not be entirely effective considering its limited lifespan of eight hours."</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> But the All Progressives Grand Alliance believes INEC should be allowed to exercise its constitutional power of determining the voting method to use and not being dictated to.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> APGA national chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, said: “INEC should be firm with its stand and if the commission decides that card reader be used for the election, so be it.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Meanwhile, as debate over the PVC and card reader rages, with some claiming that the use of card readers for the next general election is illegal, INEC has said it has powers under the constitution to use the electronic voting device. INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, and the chief press secretary to the INEC chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, said in separate comments that the commission was empowered by section 49 of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended, to use the electronic card readers for the polls.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Section 49 (1) of the Electoral Act says, “Any person intending to vote with his voter’s card, shall present himself to a Presiding Officer at the polling unit in the constituency in which his name is registered with his voter’s card.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “(2) The Presiding Officer shall, on being satisfied that the name of the person is on the Register of Voters, issue him a ballot paper and indicate on the Register that the person has voted.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> But section 52 (1b) of the Act states explicitly, “The use of electronic voting machine for the time being is prohibited.” This appears to be where the PDP is hinging its objection to the use of the card reader for the coming elections.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> However, Idowu said the interpretation of section 49 of the Electoral Act was that the eligible voter shall present him or herself to the polling officer who shall be satisfied that the person is an eligible voter. He further said that the only way the polling official shall be satisfied that the prospective voter is eligible was through verification with the card reader.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Some lawyers have also argued that there is nothing in the constitution that barred INEC from using the card reader for elections.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Sebastine Hon, said, “This then means that INEC has breached no particular portion of the constitution by insisting on the use of card readers. Rather, paragraph 15 of part I of the first schedule to the constitution has given the INEC untrammelled power to register voters and also to 'organise, undertake and supervise all elections' to the offices of the president, vice president, governor, deputy governor and into the various national and state legislatures.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr James Ocholi, spoke in a similar vein, stressing that anyone against the use of card readers must have an ulterior motive, which is to rig.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> We gathered that INEC had produced in China a total of 182,000 card readers for use at the 120,000 polling units across the country. A source in INEC said a card reader is programmed to last 14 hours uninterrupted usage, while the battery has a lifespan of four days if used for off and on sessions. He said INEC had also made provision for backup battery for the card readers for every polling unit during elections.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The source said the cost of each card reader was between ₦27,500 and ₦31,000, depending on the fluctuating value of the Naira. He added that the card readers had only been tested within the Federal Capital Territory.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> On what would happen if the card reader is stolen or carted away during election by hoodlums, the source said, “It has been agreed by all political parties that when such happens, the election would take place the next day.”</div>

Controversy Rages Over Use Of PVCs, Card Readers

The national chairman of PDP, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, said on Friday, during an interactive session with the African Union Observer Group t...

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We'll Announce Presidential Election Result Within 48 Hours - INEC

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmA27x-r5PWwJUtteiWe__mlM7rJKepiSgCb6wFZ9zXTQYv67OiZGliPqv4zd55ZKk9X9FAWVT9EqN_cqM_BWAckIQW56h5BiRZoXR6oer-xCQBRfVeCtF2hnfesP-dlQQtMkawZSgngUv/s1600/Jega1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmA27x-r5PWwJUtteiWe__mlM7rJKepiSgCb6wFZ9zXTQYv67OiZGliPqv4zd55ZKk9X9FAWVT9EqN_cqM_BWAckIQW56h5BiRZoXR6oer-xCQBRfVeCtF2hnfesP-dlQQtMkawZSgngUv/s1600/Jega1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>National Commissioner for the Independent National Electoral Commission, Hajia Amina Zakari, said on Saturday in Birnin Kebbi, the Kebbi State capital, that the outcome of next month’s presidential and governorship elections would be announced within 48 hours after the close of voting. </b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Zakari said this during a public sensitisation and practical demonstration of the accreditation and election processes, meant to familiarise the electoral officers with the voting procedure.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> She said the changes in the election timetable had enabled the commission to perfect the process, explaining, “The commission would treat observations and ensure smooth conduct of the election proper and to avoid hitches and criticisms.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> That was as the divergent views by the political parties on the use of the permanent voter cards (PVCs) and electronic card readers (ECRs) continued at the weekend. While the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) is vehemently supporting the use of the PVCs for the coming elections, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is urging INEC to consider the use of the PVCs alongside the temporary voter cards (TVCs) to enable eligible voters who may not have gotten their PVCs before the elections to participate in the exercise. PDP hinges its call for the use of the TVCs on what it considers the sloppy distribution of the PVCs by INEC and the need to ensure that no one is disenfranchised on account of inability to get the PVC.</div>

We'll Announce Presidential Election Result Within 48 Hours - INEC

National Commissioner for the Independent National Electoral Commission, Hajia Amina Zakari, said on Saturday in Birnin Kebbi, the Kebb...

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