2019 Polls • Buhari’S Victory • Atiku’S Challenge • Hiccups and Crises • Shocks & Surprises

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Cover2019 Polls • Buhari’s victory • Atiku’s challenge • Hiccups and crises • Shocks & surprises

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MayFive Media Limited 2019 Polls • Buhari’s victory • Atiku’s challenge • Hiccups and crises Outline • Shocks & surprises MAY, 2019. No. 2 05 A long trek to our political Eldorado

How Nigeria 07 voted in 2019 21 Battle for supremacy 29 Goodbye 8th 27 National Assembly Buhari: why and How the mighty fell how he 35 won

Newswatch Now is published by MayFive Me- dia Limited, 10B Acme Road, off Lateef Jakande Road, Agidingbi, Ikeja Lagos. E-mail: eamame- We learnt nothing, [email protected]. Website: www.mayfivemedia. 41 forgot nothing com. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form, in whole or in part, without permission is Why we don’t vote forbidden. Printed in Nigeria by AFKAR Printing 44 & Publishing Company Limited, Plot 151, Acme Road, Ikeja, Lagos.

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 3 From the Editorial Suite Newswatch Now debuted in February. With cover the debut issue, we have had to rely on the assistance headline Nigeria Decides, the publication was dedi- of some of our old Newswatch hands. This issue has cated to the election: how the politicians and their profited immensely from their reportorial experience. respective poliitcal parties positioned themselves for The likes of Olu Ojewale, Pita Ochai, Augustine Ada, the biggest event of the year. We ex-rayed the chances Ademola Abimboye and Ishaya Ibrahim were excited of all the contestants especially the most prominent about the new magazine and they did not hesitate to presidential candidates – President Muhammadu Bu- offer a helping hand. An up-and-coming enterpris- hari of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC and ing reporter, Yusuf Mohammed, made an excellent former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples contribution to the story written by Soji Akinrinade Democratic Party, PDP. We also reviewed preparations on How the mighty fell. We value their assistance as of the Independent National Electoral Commission, well as the contribution of Conrad Akwu, former INEC. From the various reports and analyses, it ap- Newswatch Photo Editor, who provided most of the peared all was set. pictures in this issue. Now, the elections have come and gone. In this second issue of the magazine, we have exhaustively reported the processes and the outcome of the elections, highlighting the shocks and the surprises as well Yakubu Mohammed as the fall of some mighty political titans. Unlike in Editor-in-chief

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4 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 A long trek to our political Eldorado

By Dan Agbese Democracy is the only form of government that recognises the he Romans had a better hang of it then than we do now. people as the locus of political power. Perhaps that is why democ- They gathered at the amphitheatre to elect their political racy was originally an exclusive means of allocating power. Even leaders with a voice vote. If the ayes had it, that was it; if among the Romans, the right to vote was restricted to men of prop- the nays had it, that was it too. The voice of the people was erty. Women and slaves were denied the right to vote. This carried Tthe voice of the gods. Whoever they chose to bless as their leaders, on into the modern times. It took a determined struggle to win the the gods also blessed them. The ends of democracy were served battle for adult suffrage and turn democracy from an exclusive and because the leadership that emerged was by the popular choice of limited system of government into the people’s government in the the people. 18th century. Through that simple act, the Romans gave us democracy, a sys- The Romans gave us a simple system. They did not invent the tem of government that gives the poor and the deprived the power ballot paper, the ballot box and the voting booth. We have man- and the right to be the masters of those who wish to lead them. aged to clothe democracy and the process of choosing our leaders That right is arguably the most respected right in the world today. with these complexities. We have refined the Roman method over Democracy owes its relevance to the full exercise of that right by the and over again and replaced the voice vote with the ballot paper people. It led Abraham Lincoln to see democracy as the government and the ballot box. As often happens in human progress, the law of of the people by the people for the people. No one has bettered his unintended consequences surfaced here and these refinements have definition of democracy. become part of the problems of democracy. Democracy is not just

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 5 about voting; it is more importantly about winning or capturing supervised the elections that returned the country to civil rule on or holding on to political power. Modern man has thereby made October 1, 1979. Believing that the fault was not in our civilian lead- democracy the most competitive form of government. It brings out ers but in the parliamentary system of government bequeathed to the best in men and women; and it brings out the worst in them us, they imported the executive presidential system from the United too. States. The problem lies largely with the evolutionary process in elevat- We thought the new executive presidential system would help ing democracy to a higher form of decision-making than the Ro- moderate the competition for power. We were wrong. In any case, mans conceived of it. We make laws laying down the conditions that the generals served notice more or less that this would not be so those who seek our votes must meet before they are even considered when they decided to constitute electoral tribunals to which those eligible to canvass the people’s votes. We created the executive and who felt cheated at the ballot box could seek redress through the the legislative branches of government as centres of political power. judicial interpretation of winning and losing. When the civilians We instituted elections through the instrumentality of the ballot pa- conducted the first post-military general elections in 1983, the same pers and the ballot boxes because the elections make it possible for primordial forces surfaced again and the same problems compli- the people to choose their preferred leaders, all things being equal, cated the simple democratic process of the people being allowed from among the contestants for power. to choose their leaders. Again, the generals took advantage of the These then, are the main problems with democracy. There is no controversies generated by the disputes over the elections and democracy anywhere in the world so advanced that it does not duly returned to the political turf. And again, we had a long chilly confront the challenges thrown up by the competition and the greed harmattan period of military dictatorship. Our country was put for power. Man must always seek to dominate his fellow men and through many twists and turns in political engineering to ostensibly women. Power, political power, is the veritable instrument for that prepare it for the challenges of democracy. domination. Let us face it: none of us, if given the chance, would Where are we? We are right here battling with the basics of the refuse to let others serve him. Playing God feels good too. conduct of elections. And we have been trying to stand on our feet There is an element of democracy in every form of government. since the generals returned to the barracks in 1999; 2003; 2007; This goes for the most sophisticated as well as the most primitive 2011; 2015 and now 2019. Five times on our own. We should expect form of societal co-operation in which people come together and to be getting steadier and sturdier on our feet. So far, no such luck. surrender their rights and privileges to a group of men who look Each of those elections was a subject of disputes and controversies. out for the common good. Think of the chief priest and his power In some cases, the tribunals saved the cheated but in most cases, over his unenlightened community. But modern democracy is an not even the tribunals could do much to turn the table against the alien system of government with its own culture and tradition and cheaters. nuances. On the one hand, where democracy is sufficiently cultur- For a modern election to be adjudged successful it must sat- ized, it is fairly easy to observe the basic rules of the competition for isfy two fundamental conditions. It must be free and it must be political power. This is what happens in the settled democracies of fair. Both words must be understood in their basic and ordinary the Western world that passed what it inherited from the Romans to meanings. Free means that the people must not be denied the right the rest of the world. On the other hand, where democracy and the to freely choose those for whom they wish to support with their electoral system are transplants and thus alien to the people’s culture votes; fair means there must be a level playing field for the candi- and their own appreciation of the nuances of their power resident dates. in the ballot paper, the system has problems. You do not need any Modern elections have often crashed on these two rocks because tutoring to see why developing countries have problems with their of intervening variables. Resources available to the candidates are elections. We speak in general terms, of course. not uniform, thus making it difficult to talk of a level playing field. Our own country has had a long trudge through the woods since The most vicious of these intervening variables is called rigging. 1959 when we conducted our first general elections. Those elec- It refers to the crass manipulation of the electoral system and the tions were conducted by our departing British colonial masters. elections before, during and after an election. The Romans knew The centre firmly held. When the sons of the soil conducted their nothing about election rigging. Good for them. We know election first post-independence general elections in 1964, we knew, as the rigging. Bad for us. No one knows for sure who invented elec- Onitsha man would say, this would not be easy. The elections were tion rigging. It is not unreasonable to suggest that election rigging mired in controversies because we knew then as we know now, that became an instrument for capturing or retaining power the day the the competition for elective offices is not cricket. There are, obvi- politicians realised that capturing power is not a straight forward ously, gentlemen and ladies in politics but it is no game for gentle- business. It is crooked. Election rigging has come in handy as the men and ladies. illegal process by which one candidate denies another victory at the The centre began to shake visibly when the Eastern Region boy- polls. If Otunba Gbenga Daniel, former governor of Ogun State, is cotted the 1964 general elections. Although the rest of the country to be believed, there are some 200 ways to rig elections in Nigeria. ignored them and went to the polls, it took some shine off the ability That is huge. Spare a thought for ballot box snatching, ballot stuff- of the sons of the soil, only four years after the British returned ing, crass intimidation of voters, under-age voting and vote buying home and left the affairs of the country in their hands at the federal and the adverse effects they have had and continue to have on our and regional centres of power. The fall out from those elections ambition to conduct free and fair elections. We rig, therefore, we led to the political crises later seized by the young majors to put a win. All is fair in politics as it is in war. bloody end to the Tafawa Balewa regime. It changed for ever the ar- The roots of democracy grow and deepen ever so slowly. Can we chitecture of our national politics. Nothing has been the same. ever get it right such that our elections are sources of national pride The generals locked the gates against democracy in our country rather than sources of shame? Keep hope alive. for nearly fourteen years. They then wrote a new constitution and

6 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 How Nigeria voted in 2019 Nigerians re-elect President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term but his victory looks more like a personal endorsement

President Buhari casts his ballot as his wife, Aisha, watches

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 7 dential candidates have also separately approached the Presidential By Olu Ojewale Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, demanding it to void the results of the February 23 presidential election. The three presidential he results of the 2019 presidential election held on Satur- challengers are Ambrose Owuru of the Hope Democratic Party, HDP; day, February 23 are already in the public domain. The Aminchi Habu of the Peoples Democratic Movement, PDM, and Geff election results released by the Independent National Chizee Ojinka, the candidate of the Coalition for Change, C4C, who Electoral Commission, INEC, in the early hours of Feb- all urged the tribunal to invoke its powers and quash the declaration of ruary 27, 2019 showed that Buhari polled 15,191,847 Buhari as the bonafide winner of the 2019 presidential election. votes, representing 55.60 percent of the total votes cast In their separate petitions, they all alleged that the election was while Abubakar received 11,262,978, representing 41.22 percent of marred by various forms of irregularities, and that the Electoral Act total the votes cast. Buhari, the candidate of the ruling All Progressives T was not substantially complied with by the INEC. Congress, APC, won 19 out of the 36 states, while Atiku Abubakar, his That notwithstanding, the reaction to the result of the 2019 presi- closest rival and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic dential election was a great departure from that of the 2015. In the Party, PDP, won in 17 states, including the federal territory. None of 2015 presidential election, the then President Goodluck Jonathan the other 71 contestants won any state or scored as many as one mil- and candidate of the PDP, conceded defeat and even congratulated lion votes. In fact, coming distant third is Nicolas Felix of the Peoples Buhari before the final results were announced. But Abubakar was not Coalition Party, PCP, who polled 110,196 or 0.40 percent. so magnanimous because of what he perceived as injustice done to By the election results, Buhari has the mandate for a second term in him. Hence, he rejected the president’s victory alleging premeditated office. But Abubakar and the PDP are not convinced. They have both malpractices in many states which negated the results announced by filed their petitions before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal the INEC. on March 17, challenging the president’s victory. Three other presi-

Former Vice President Abubakar and his wife Titi cast their ballots

8 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 In a statement issued on Wednesday, February 27 entitled: ‘De- mocracy Will Not Be Emasculated in Nigeria,’ Abubakar alleged that Nigeria’s democracy was debased in the conduct of the elections. “One obvious red flag is the statistical impossibility of states ravaged by the war on terror generating much higher voter turnouts than peaceful states. “The suppressed votes in my strongholds are so apparent and ama- teurish, that I am ashamed as a Nigerian that such could be allowed to happen. How can total votes in Akwa-Ibom, for instance, be 50 per cent less than what they were in 2015? “Another glaring anomaly is the disruption of voting in strongholds of the Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos, Akwa-Ibom, Rivers and diverse other states, with the authorities doing little or nothing and in some cases facilitating these unfortunate situations,” he charged. Besides, Abubakar said: “The militarisation of the electoral process is a disservice to our democracy and a throwback to the jackboot era of military dictatorship. In some areas of the country, such as, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Imo states, troops deployed for the elections turned their guns on the very citizens they were meant to protect. This is condemnable and should not be associated with our electoral process in the future.” In his acceptance speech as soon as he was declared the winner of the poll, Buhari thanked Nigerians for their support. “I also thank the millions of volunteers, self-appointed overseers, canvassers, agents, escorts and sentries who sacrificed so much of their time and resources to ensure the success of these elections. I do not have the words adequate to thank them,” he said. Nevertheless, the president was also mindful of some anomalies reported during the election. He said: “Although Saturday’s elections were relatively peaceful, troublemakers in a handful of states attempted to disrupt an otherwise orderly process. Security agencies will bring to justice all those arrested in the process. “I am very sad at the grievous loss of lives during these elections. Security agencies will step up their efforts to protect voters in the forthcoming state elections.” That notwithstanding, as things have turned out, the president and his challengers will have their days at the tribunal to argue whether the election was a true representation of how Nigerians voted. In any case, the analysis of the 2019 presidential election has shown some interesting developments. According to the data released by INEC, only 34.75 percent of registered voters actually participated in the 2019 presidential election. The percentage represents 28,614,190 people who cast their votes during the elections, while accredited Ballot box at a polling station voters were 29,364,209 voters. And the number of valid votes, which led to the final decision were 27,324,583, representing 33.18 percent valid votes or 19.97 percent. of the 82,344,107 registered voters. Incidentally, in 2015, more than 1.5 million people voted in the Comparatively, there was voter apathy because in the 2015 presi- Rivers State presidential election in which President Buhari got dential election out of the 68,833,476 registered voters, the turnout 69,238 votes or four percent. But in 2019, of the 642,165 valid votes was 43.65 percent. At that election Buhari had won in 21 states polling in the Rivers State presidential election, Buhari got 150,710 votes or 15,424,921 votes, representing 53.96 percent of the total votes cast, 23 percent, while Abubakar got 473,971 votes. while Jonathan won 15 states, including FCT, with the total votes of The major surprise in the election was 41 percent turnout of voters 12,853,162, representing 44.96 percent. in Borno State. According to the election results, Buhari got 836,496 In the 2019 presidential election, other available facts showed that votes or 90.94 percent of all the votes cast in Borno State, being his Kano State had the highest votes cast with 1,964,751 and 1,891,134 highest margin of victory in the 2019 elections, while Abubakar valid votes. Jigawa State had the highest rate of voter turnout with received 71,788 votes. 1,171,801 voters, representing 55.67 percent of its registered voters What has made this surprising is the fact that the state that has showing up for accreditation. However, about 52.55 percent of its been under ferocious attacks of Boko Haram, an Islamic terrorist registered voters had valid votes. group, for more than five years and even on Election Day, the state Katsina State followed with 1,555,473 voters or 48.45 percent and experienced bombings in certain places. However, the explanation then Sokoto State, which had 871,891 valid voters or 46 percent. put forward by the state authorities is that voting was made accessible In the category of lowest number of voter turnout, Lagos State led to the internal displaced persons, IDPs, inside their camps, making with 1,089,567 voters or 17.25 percent. It was followed by Abia State it easy to ensure voters showed up. with 323,291 votes or 18 percent and Rivers State which had 642,165 Nevertheless, an interesting analysis of the election showed that

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 9 Voting in progress

Buhari had more than 75 percent in seven states in this election, Similarly the president won in Nasarawa State. What makes his vic- while Abubakar secured over 75 percent of the vote in just two states, tory remarkable is that it was the first time for him since 2003 as he namely Anambra and Enugu. The PDP candidate’s performance in polled 289,903 votes to defeat Abubakar who got 283,847 votes. Buhari Anambra State was attributed to the fact that Peter Obi, his running had scored 236,838 in the 2015 presidential election, while Jonathan mate is from the state. received 273,460 votes. In comparison with 2015 presidential election, the president did not Unlike 2015, the president marginally lost in Oyo State despite the really do well. In 2015 election, Buhari received more than 75 percent fact that Governor Abiola Ajimobi is of the ruling APC. Buhari scored of the votes in 11 states, while Jonathan got the same in 10 states. 365,229 votes, while Abubakar got 366,690 votes. Not surprisingly, Nevertheless, there were other surprises that could not be ignored Ajimobi himself lost his bid to return to the Senate after losing to Kola from the 2019 presidential election results. Balogun of the PDP. The governor polled 92,218 votes while Balogun For instance, in Kwara State, the departure of Bukola Saraki, the got 105,720 votes. Senate President, from the ruling APC to the PDP was expected to give Similarly, Buhari lost in Ondo State, where Governor Rotimi Ak- Abubakar an edge in the state. But that was not the case as the president eredolu of the APC holds sway. The president had 241,769 votes while won the state with 308,984 votes as against Abubakar’s 138,184 votes. Abubakar got 275,901 votes. To crown it all, Saraki himself also lost his re-election bid to return to “The outcome of the presidential election results have clearly the Senate. He was defeated by Yahaya Oloriegbe, the APC candidate in shown that they were not based on regional sentiments this time. If the contest for the Kwara Central Senatorial District. Oloriegbe polled you compare with the 2015 election, Atiku Abubakar did better than a total of 123, 808 votes to defeat Saraki who polled 68, 994 votes in Goodluck Jonathan in many states. Unfortunately, Atiku did not per- the four local governments of Kwara Central Senatorial District.

10 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 “The presidential election was not based on objectivity in the North or the party manifesto but loyalty of Buhari followers. But you can also see that Atiku won in the South South and South East because they were mainly PDP. Besides, the APC had intra-party squabbles in Ogun, Ondo, Lagos, Oyo states which reflected in the results of the presidential election,” Tomi Vincent, a lawyer and lecturer at the Pan-Atlantic University, said in an interview with Newswatch Now. In the same vein, Vincent said that the South East had always voted for the PDP and the fact that Abubakar promised restructuring of the country also helped the PDP presidential candidate. The university don dismissed the argument that the election could have been based on party manifestoes. Similarly, Bolarinwa told News- watch Now that party manifestoes had little or no impact on how Nigerians voted. He pointed at allegation of intimidation of voters in many places as one of the reasons why Nigerians could not vote objectively. He opined that voter apathy was also caused the militarilisation of the election, intimidation of voters, vote buying and rigging as some of the problems encountered by the electorate in exercising their franchise. He also spoke of political awareness in the North. “The fact that the two main candidates are from the North encouraged voters in the form well very well in many states in particular. Even in Adamawa, region to be more interested in the presidential election than their his own state, he only got 51 percent of the votes, compared to 99 Southern counterparts. percent for Goodluck Jonathan in Bayelsa State in 2015. President “The absence of any prominent candidate with widespread appeal Buhari on the other hand won his state, Katsina by about 93 percent in the South also explained why some voters were not enthusiastic to in 2015 and 79 percent in 2019,” Lekan Bolarinwa, a political analyst exercise their franchise,” he said. told Newswatch Now. That notwithstanding, the performances of the Third Force in the “The performances of Abubakar have also shown that he does not 2019 presidential election cannot be discounted. Although an un- have any political strong base, perhaps because the two leading can- written zone formula had given it to the North to produce the next didates are from the North,” he further said. president for the country for another four years, the South still had Besides, also not to be dismissed is the fact that the presidential the highest number of persons gunning for the president. Even then, election showed that there was considerable voter apathy in the South only a handful of them actually showed up in terms of visibility and than in the North. In the North, 41 percent of the eligible voters turned all of them performed dismally during the poll itself. out for the election, while the South recorded 27 percent. Indeed, from the outcome of the 2019 presidential election, the “The regional trend has persisted for many years and this tends to impact of the Third Force appeared to have come from the People’s reinforce the argument that Northerners are more politically aware Coalition Party, PCP, founded by Nicholas Felix, an Edo-State born than Southerners. And when you look at how the North voted in this Nigerian pastor based in the United States. He came third in the election you would discover that it was not issued-based. Buhari has presidential election with 110,196 votes, about one percent of what cult-like following in the North, some of them are ready to lay down the PDP candidate got. their lives for the president. But Atiku does not have such fundamental But analysts suspected that the PCP candidate possibly benefitted followers.

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 11 from the fact that the logo of his party was right above that of the PDP the alternative third parties only accounted for less than four percent on the ballot paper, and that the party’s green-white-red logo was likely of the votes cast. This, therefore, undermined the argument that they mistaken for the PDP’s by thousands of voters. would have done better by binding together. Another new entrant into the Nigerian political fray is Kingsley “In spite of their strong TV performances and general positive Moghalu, the candidate of the Young Progressive Party, YPP. Moghalu sentiments across the country, the seemingly public support did not was a bundle of ideas, but a greenhorn in the Nigerian politics. After translate to votes. On the other hand, it is also possible that voters he was adjudged by many observers to have won the alternative can- simply chose not to vote third parties to avoid wasting their votes. So, didate during the electioneering, he nonetheless failed to defeat his this is a big challenge for the third parties to prove their mettle and rivals at the polls. Despite the fact he got just 21,886 or 0.0008 percent inspire more confidence in future elections if they want to remain of the total votes, he beat likes of Fela Durotoye of the Alliance for relevant in Nigeria politics,” Bolarinwa said. New Nigeria, who polled 16,779 votes and Oby Ezekwesili of the Al- Nevertheless, he opined that the participation of this new crop of lied Congress Party of Nigeria, ACPN, who pulled out the race on politicians in the presidential election may have lifted the standard of Thursday, January 24 and still received 7,223 votes. presidential candidates in the country and have also encouraged more Omoyele Sowore, the candidate of the African Action Congress, got participation of young Nigerians. 34,003 votes in the election. Interestingly, the combined votes for all “If the third force strength is harnessed, 2023 could be an opportunity to break the two-party hold on Nigerian politics. The only caveat is that there is an expectation that the 2023 president will come from the South-East of Nigeria,” another analyst said. But before the 2023 elections, the Presidential Election Tribunal would have decided on the petitions of Abubakar and three others against Buhari. Then, a lesson or two would have been learnt on how to organise a more acceptable election. But in the meantime, President Buhari has promised to leave behind a legacy of credible election by the time he leaves office in 2023. And that he will leave office better than he met it. He said: “The new administration will intensify its efforts in security, restructuring the economy and fight- ing corruption. We have laid down the foundation and we are commit- ted to seeing matters to the end. We will strive not to feel left behind or left out.” Nevertheless, analysts said that the conduct of the 2019 elections left much to be desired and that the president would do Nigeria a lot of good by signing the 2019 electoral bill which he had rejected before the election. “The whole world is going digital; the best time to introduce electronic voting is now; and signing the new electoral bill is a step in the right direction,” Vincent said. Results of presidential elections 2019 and 2015 So, should Nigerians expect subse- quent elections in the country to be electronically conducted to eliminate President 2019 rigging? The ball is now in the court of the president and Nigerian legisla- Buhari 55.60% tors to make this a reality. But whether Atiku 41.22% they have the political will to do so is others 3.18% a matter of conjecture. Margin: 3,918,870

12 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 Candidate Party Votes %

All

MuhammaduBuhari Progressives 15,191,847 55.60

Congress

People's

AtikuAbubakar Democratic 11,262,978 41.22

Party

Peoples

Felix Nicolas Coalition 110,196 0.40 Party

African

Obadiah Mailafia Democratic 97,874 0.36

Congress

All Progressives Gbor John Wilson Terwase 66,851 0.24 Grand

Alliance

Action YabagiSani Yusuf Democratic 54,930 0.20

Party

Grassroots Development Akhimien Davidson Isibor 41,852 0.15 Party of Nigeria

African Ibrahim Aliyu Hassan Peoples 36,866 0.13 Alliance

Donald Duke Social 34,746 0.13 Democratic

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 13 Party

African

Omoyele Sowore Action 33,953 0.12

Congress

Save Nigeria Da-Silva Thomas Ayo 28,680 0.10 Congress

Advanced Peoples Shitu Mohammed Kabir 26,558 0.10 Democratic Alliance

Allied Yusuf MammanDantalle Peoples' 26,039 0.10 Movement

Young

Kingsley Moghalu Progressive 21,886 0.08 Party

Progressive Ameh Peter Ojonugwa Peoples 21,822 0.08

Alliance

Ositelu Isaac Babatunde Accord Party 19,209 0.07

Alliance for FelaDurotoye 16,779 0.06 New Nigeria

Masses Bashayi Isa Dansarki Movement of 14,540 0.05 Nigeria

Osakwe Felix Johnson Democratic 14,483 0.05 People's

14 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 Party

Action Abdulrashid Hassan Baba 14,380 0.05 Alliance

Advanced NwokeaforIkechukwuNdubuisi Congress of 11,325 0.04 Democrats

Northern MainaMaimunaKyari People's 10,081 0.04

Congress

Providence Victor Okhai Peoples 8,979 0.03 Congress

Advanced ChikeUkaegbu 8,902 0.03 Allied Party

Allied Congress ObyEzekwesili 7,223 0.03 Party of Nigeria

National Ibrahim Usman Alhaji Rescue 6,229 0.02 Movement

New Nigeria Ike Keke People's 6,111 0.02 Party

National Moses Ayibiowu 5,323 0.02 Unity Party

Awosola Williams Olusola Democratic 5,242 0.02 Peoples

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 15 Congress

Muhammed Usman Zaki Labour Party 5,074 0.02

Green Party Eke Samuel Chukwuma 4,924 0.02 of Nigeria

All NwachukwuChuksNwabuikwu Grassroots 4,689 0.02 Alliance

Peoples Party Hamza Al Mustafa 4,622 0.02 of Nigeria

All Blended Shipi Moses Godia 4,523 0.02 Party

Fresh

Chris Okotie Democratic 4,554 0.02 Party

Abundant Nigeria Tope Fasua 4,340 0.02 Renewal

Party

Freedom And Onwubuya 4,174 0.02 Justice Party

Nigeria For AsukwoMendieArchibong 4,096 0.01 Democracy

Sustainable Ahmed Buhari National 3,941 0.01 Party

16 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 National SalisuYunusaTanko Conscience 3,799 0.01

Party

Alliance ShittuMoshoodAsiwaju National 3,586 0.01 Party

All People's ObinnaUchechukwuIkeagwuonu 3,585 0.01 Party

United BalogunIsiakaIshola Democratic 3,170 0.01 Party

Advanced Nigeria ObajeYusufuAmeh 3,104 0.01 Democratic Party

All Grand Chief Umenwa Godwin Alliance 3,071 0.01 Party

Reform and Israel Nonyerem Davidson, Advancement 2,972 0.01 Party

Democratic Ukonga Frank 2,769 0.01 Alternative

Mega Party SanturakiHamisu 2,752 0.01 of Nigeria

Mass Action Adesanya-Davies Mercy Joint 2,651 0.01 Olufunmilayo Alliance

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 17 Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim Peoples Trust 2,613 0.01

Yes Ali Soyode Electorates 2,394 0.01 Solidarity

Restoration NseheNseobong Party of 2,388 0.01 Nigeria

Coalition for OjinikaGeffChizee 2,391 0.01 Change

National RabiaYasai Hassan Cengiz Action 2,279 0.01 Council

National Eunice Atuejide 2,248 0.01 Interest Party

Alliance of Dara John Social 2,146 0.01 Democrats

Fagbenro-byron Samuel Kowa Party 1,911 0.01 Adesina

Change Emmanuel Etim 1,874 0.01 Nigeria Party

Chukwu-Eguzolugo Sunday Justice Must 1,853 0.01 Chikendu Prevail Party

Independent MaduNnamdiEdozie 1,845 0.01 Democrats

18 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 Re-build Osuala Chukwudi John 1,792 0.01 Nigeria Party

Hope Albert Owuru Ambrose Democratic 1,663 0.01 Party

Better Nigeria David EsosaIze-Iyamu 1,649 0.01 Progressive Party

Unity Party Inwa Ahmed Sakil 1,631 0.01 of Nigeria

National Akpua Robinson Democratic 1,588 0.01 Liberty Party

United Mark Emmanuel Audu 1,561 0.01 Patriots

Nigeria Elements Ishaka Paul Ofemile 1,524 0.01 Progressive Party

Liberation Kriz D avid 1,438 0.01 Movement

Nigeria Community Ademola Babatunde Abidemi 1,378 0.01 Movement Party

National A. Edosomwan Johnson Democratic 1,192 0.00 Liberty Party

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 19 Alliance for a Angela Johnson United 1,092 0.00 Nigeria

Change Abah Lewis Elaigwu Advocacy 1,111 0.00 Party

We The Nwangwu Uchenna Peter People 732 0.00 Nigeria

Invalid/blank votes 1,289,607 –

Total 28,614,190 100

Registered voters/turnout 82,344,107 34.75

Source: Vanguard

By state

State Buhari Atiku Sowore Moghalu Durotoye Duke Mailafia

20 | Newswatch Now May, 2019

Abia 85,058 219,698 212 88 720 472 336

Adamawa 378,078 410,266 282 109 162 978 3,989

AkwaIbom 175,429 395,832 222 118 95 92 230

Anambra 33,298 524,738 124 4,091 45 932 227

Bauchi 798,428 209,313 183 112 46 516 296 Battle for supremacy In closely fought governorship polls, the ruling All Progressives Congress and Peoples Democratic Party, shoved aside more than 70 parties to emerge winners

By Olu Ojewale Indeed, Governor Jubrilla Bindow of Ad- INEC to resume collation of results of the state’s t was no doubt a battle for supremacy amawa State failed to get re-elected as he lost gubernatorial election. The INEC had declared between the ruling All Progressives Con- to Hammadu Fintiri, his main challenger and the Bauchi election inconclusive on the grounds gress and the main opposition, the Peo- candidate of the PDP. After a legal battle, which that the number of cancelled votes was higher ples Democratic Party, PDP, in this year’s had temporarily put the supplementary election than the margin of lead between the two top governorship elections. In the contest, which I in the state on hold, the re-run was eventually political parties. held between Saturday, March 9 for the main held March 28, leading to the victory of Fintiri. The electoral body later announced that it election and supplementary poll of March 23, The challenger won by polling 376,552 votes to would resume collation because it found out Nigerians elected new governors in 29 states defeat the incumbent governor, who got 336,386 that the number of cancelled votes was tampered out of the 36 states of the federation. The seven votes. Abdul-Azeez Nyako of the ADC scored with, a decision Abubakar and the APC chal- other states are not due for gubernatorial elec- 113,237 votes to place third, followed by Em- lenged in court. tion until later. manuel Bello of the Social Democratic Party, But in a judgment delivered on Monday, Of the 29 candidates elected governors, 19 of SDP, who garnered 29,792 votes. March 25 Justice Inyang Ekwo, a federal high them are serving governors seeking for a sec- Fintiri, who was the speaker of the Adamawa court judge ordered the INEC to proceed with its ond term in office, while 10 are new faces. The House of Assembly in 2014, also served as activities geared at concluding the governorship states where the governorship run-off poll took acting governor in July 2014, following the election in the state. place on Saturday, March 23 are Bauchi, Benue, impeachment of the then Governor Murtala In any case, the Governor Abubakar has since Kano, Plateau and Sokoto. Adamawa State had Nyako. congratulated the governor-elect and offered its own on Thursday, March 28 in obedience to According to available information, Bindow him a hand of friendship to make the handover court orders. could not be re-elected because of the strong smooth. Nevertheless, the two leading national politi- presence of Atiku Abubakar, the defeated presi- Fintiri and Muhammed are the first incum- cal parties were the victors even though more dential candidate of the PDP, who is an indigene bent governors in their states to be defeated since than 70 other political parties featured in the of the state. Besides, there was no outstanding the return to democracy in 1999. gubernatorial contest. At the end of the exercise, performance on the side of the incumbent gov- Another intriguing thing about the governor- the APC won in 15 states and the PDP won in ernor to give him an edge over his rival. ship election is that some powerful godfathers 14 states. Contrary to speculations and because the lost their might. The political machineries of the The outcome of the election from the results APC had won in the presidential race, Gover- erstwhile godfathers in their various states failed released by the Independent National Electoral nor Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi State was to deliver the goods as new formidable power Commission, INEC, somewhat rubbished the expected to win. But he lost to Bala Mohammed, blocs emerged. Hence, the likes of Bukola Saraki, myth about the power incumbency in some a former minister of Federal Capital Territory the Senate president, from Kwara State; Godswill states. The experience of the states such as and candidate of the PDP. Muhammed Kyari, Akpabio, a former governor and chieftain of Adamawa, Bauchi, Kwara, Gombe, Oyo, Ogun, the state returning officer, while declaring re- Akwa-Ibom State; George Akume, a former and Imo showed that incumbent governors sult said: “PDP candidate polled a total 515,113 governor of Benue State and Aliyu Wammako, either lost election or could not impose their votes, while his closest rival, Governor Mu- a senator and former governor of Sokoto State, candidates. Observers say this has demonstrated hammad Abubakar of the ruling APC scored had their political ego seriously bruised as their that Nigerians are becoming more politically 500,625.” chosen candidates lost in the election. sophisticated to determine who they want as Kyari said Muhammed of the PDP having Indeed, the departure of Saraki from the their leaders. scored the highest number of votes of 515,113 APC to the PDP was expected to leave the APC Of all the 19 incumbent governors who sought votes was declared the winner and therefore prostrate in the state as the Senate president for a second term in office only two of them lost returned as governor-elect on March 25. was regarded the father of politics in the state. to their opponents. They are the governors of Earlier in the day, a federal high court in But this was not so in the last election. Even Adamawa and Bauchi states who contested on Abuja had dismissed a suit filed by Abubakar, the senator’s re-election bid suffered a surprise the platform of the APC. Their opponents from and the APC challenging the decision of the defeat. Saraki lost to Yahaya Oloriegbe, the APC the PDP won convincingly.

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 21 Accreditation of voters candidate in the contest for the Kwara Central which had 30 contestants, Wamakko, formerly mer governor, the candidate of the Accord Party, Senatorial District. Oloriegbe polled a total of of the PDP, now in the APC, supported Ahmad AP, and Ifeanyi Araraume, the candidate of the 123, 808 votes to defeat Saraki who polled 68, Aliyu Sokoto, his new godson against Tambuwal, All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA. 994 votes in the four local governments of Kwara a former PDP member, who later went to the The Imo State electorate eventually elected Central Senatorial District. APC, and now back to the PDP. Ihedioha of the PDP with 273,404 votes to To crown Saraki’s electoral debacle, Abdul- Indeed, Tambuwal was elected to office in defeat Nwosu of the AA, who scored 190,364 Rahman Abdulrasaq, the governorship can- 2015 on the platform of the APC, before he votes. Ararume of the APGA came third, scor- didate of the APC, won the poll with 331,546 dumped the party in 2018 and returned to ing 114,676 votes, while APC’s Uzodinma came votes, while Rasak Atunwa, the PDP candidate the PDP. Consequently, Wamakko supported fourth with 96,458 votes. lost and Saraki’s anointed candidate lost, having Aliyu-Sokoto in the March 9 gubernatorial What happened in Imo State re-echoed in garnered 114,754 votes. election. Ogun State. Just like in Imo State, Governor Ibi- Just like Saraki, Akpabio’s hold on the politics Eventually, Tambuwal won the election by kunle Amosun had pencilled down a successor of Akwa Ibom State similarly suffered in the last polling 512,002 votes, while Aliyu-Sokoto gar- in Adekunle Akinlade. But when the governor general election. In the manner Saraki dumped nered 511,660 votes. Meaning that Tambuwal failed to swing the primary election in favour of the APC, Akpabio dumped the PDP and moved won with a slim margin of 342 votes; the lowest Akinlade, he advised his protégé to move to the to the APC. Apart from losing his senatorial re- margin of votes in the election. Allied Peoples Movement, APM. election bid on the platform of his new party, the Similar efforts by Governor Rochas Okorocha Although Amosun is generally seen as a big former governor was also unable to deliver Akwa of Imo State to install Uche Nwosu, his son- factor in Ogun State as he campaigned vigor- Ibom for the APC. Nsima Nkere, his preferred law, as his successor failed right from the state ously for Akinlade, his anointed successor, Dapo candidate, who served as his deputy in the state primary of the APC. Having failed in his plan Abiodun, the APC governorship candidate, won house, lost to Governor Udom Emmanuel, his to secure the APC governorship ticket for him, the poll on March 9. former political son who refused to follow him Nwosu moved to the Action Alliance, AA, to In any case, Amosun’s plan to enthrone a suc- to the APC. Emmanuel scored 520,163 votes to realise his ambition. cessor was seen by many political watchers of the defeat Nkere who scored 172,244 votes. So, in the state where there were 65 candidates, Ogun State as struggle between Amosun on one Another godfather who lost in the election is Hope Uzodinma, a senator, got the APC ticket, hand and Bola Tinubu and Segun Osoba, former Aliyu Wamakko, a former governor of Sokoto while Emeka Ihedioha, a former deputy speaker governors of Lagos and Ogun State, as well as State, who lost to Governor Aminu Tambuwal, of the House of Representatives, won the PDP Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on the other. his estranged godson. In the governorship race ticket. Also in the race were Ikedi Ohakim, a for- Trouble started as far back as 2011 when

22 | Newswatch Now May,February, 2019 2019 Amosun received the support of Tinubu and Osoba in his emergence as governor on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria. Then as a consensus candidate of the party, he ended the reign of the PDP in the state after his unsuccessful bid with the defunct All Nigeria’s Peoples Party, ANPP. But along the line, he fell out with the duo over appointments into his cabinet ahead of the 2015 elections, which prompted Tinubu and Osoba to work against his re-election bid in 2015. That apparently set the stage for the bickering over Akinlade, whom the governor preferred as his successor. But Abiodun, a serving member of the House of Representatives for Egbado South Ahmadu Fintiri Jibrilla Umaru Bindow and Ipokia Federal Constituency, had the sup- become governor-elect on that day, and will be votes cast is 846,222. port of the vice-president and other national subsequently sworn in on May 29 as governor “Ortom scored 434,473 votes while Jime leaders of the APC, got the APC. of Oyo State. scored 345,155 votes. That Samuel Ortom of Another reason for resisting Amosun’s choice Ladoja’s prediction came to pass. Makinde the PDP, having satisfied the requirements of of Akinlade was the purported violation of the was declared the winner of the poll with 515,621 the law and scored the highest number of votes formula of allowing power to oscillate between votes, while Adelabu, popularly called Pen- is hereby declared the winner and is returned the Ijebu-Remo on one side and Egba-Egbado kelemesi and the APC candidate got 357,982 elected.” axis on the other. For trying to install Akinlade, votes. Another incumbent governor who got re- Amosun was seen as trying to impose someone Another testing ground for the ruling APC elected after the supplementary poll is Solomon from his geographical zone as his successor. was Benue State. In July, 2018, Governor Samuel Lalong of Plateau State. In the March 9 election Akinlade is from Yelwa, the Egbado area. Ortom with his supporters defected to the PDP contested by 21 candidates, Lalong had scored Nevertheless, Abiodun won the election hav- over incessant attacks of herdsmen on farmers in 583,255 votes, while Useni received 538,321, ing polled 241,670, while Akinlade got 222,153 the state. But some prominent politicians such as thereby prompting the INEC to declare the elec- votes. George Akume, a former governor of the state, tion inconclusive because the 44,929 margin of Governor Isiaka Ajimobi of Oyo State is an- decided to remain in the APC. lead was less than the total number of cancelled other governor who failed in his bid to install With his political clout in Benue State, Akume votes which the commission put at 49,377. a successor as well as his bid to return to the supported Emmanuel Jime, a former member In any case, at the end of the rerun poll, Senate. The APC governorship was rejected of the House of Representatives and former Richard Kimbir, the INEC returning officer in at the poll for the Senate and so was Adebayo managing director, Nigeria Export Processing the state, who announced the results in Jos, said Adelabu, the APC candidate in the gubernato- Zones Authority, NEPZA, and the candidate Lalong polled 595,582 votes to defeat 23 other rial election. of the APC. He faced Ortom who was vying candidates, including Useni, who got 546,813 To ensure Adelabu’s defeat, on Tuesday, March for a second term in the election. Despite the votes. 5, five opposition parties in the state went into a allegation of unpaid salaries and sundry allega- Kimbir said that the results for the nine coalition to run against him. The parties in the tions, the incumbent governor eventually won LGAs that took part in the supplementary poll, coalition, including African Democratic Con- the election. including Barkin Ladi, Bassa, Bokkos, Jos North, gress, ADC; Zenith Labour Party, ZLP; Social Sebastine Maimako, the Benue State gover- Kanam, Langtang South, Mangu, Pankshin and Democratic Party, SDP; the New Progressive norship returning officer declared Ortom as the Shendam, showed that Lalong scored additional Movement, NPM, and the PDP. The coalition winner having polled 434,473 votes to defeat 12,327 new votes, while Useni got 8,487. adopted Seyi Makinde, the PDP candidate, Jime, his closest opponent, who got 345,155 He added that there was no cancellation of for the governorship poll while retaining their votes. results during the supplementary poll. separate structures for the House of Assembly Ortom had polled 410,576 votes, while Jime In his acceptance speech shortly after he was elections. received 329,022 votes in the March 9 election. declared winner, Lalong said his victory was a Rashidi Ladoja, a former governor, who is also But the election was declared inconclusive. So, referendum by the people to move the state to the Osi Olubadan of Ibadanland and a chieftain the supplementary election results of March 23, the next level. The governor said the outcome of the ZLP, led the coalition. In the public pres- gave Ortom another 23,897 votes while Jime got of the election “was clearly an amazing show of entation of the joint candidate during a press 16,133 votes. confidence and trust,” which the people had for conference, which held at the NUJ Press Cen- In his analysis of how Ortom won the poll, his administration. tre, Iyaganku, Ibadan, raising Makinde’s hand, Maimako said: “Number of total registered The ruling APC similarly won in Lagos State. Ladoja said: “It is my pleasure to present to you voters is 2,471,894 while accredited voters It was not only a victory for the party but also the agreed candidate for the election coming up are 858,947, number of valid votes is 830,954, for Ahmed Tinubu, a national leader of the APC on Saturday March 9, and who Insha Allah, will rejected votes, 15,268 and the number of total and godfather of Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 23 In the poll, it was a straight contest between Sanwo-Olu of the APC and Jimi Agbaje of the Ali Madaki, a PDP member of the House of The governor took the risk of running with a PDP. During electioneering, Agbaje had pointed Representatives from Dala in Kano, who led fellow Muslim and won. at revolution going on in Kwara State against the protest, pointedly told the returning officer Besides, el-Rufai was accused of alienating Saraki, telling Lagosians that Tinubu had been to stop the collation of the results. Madaki said some of those who helped him into office in the only person picking governors for the state in a press interview: “What happened in Kano 2015, who are now in opposition. The Kaduna since he himself left office in 2007. was not an election; the fraud did not pass the State governor is also known for a number of Nevertheless, Sanwo-Olu garnered 739,445 integrity test. In Gama, and most parts of Kano controversies including the sack of 22,000 votes to defeat Jimi Agbaje who garnered 206,141 State, there was no election, rather it was thug- teachers in 2018 and in 2017, the sack of 4776 votes. Agbaje immediately conceded defeat and gery aided by the state government. What you district and village heads as well as their staff, congratulated Sanwo-Olu. call an election should be cancelled.” now pruned to only 77 districts and 1,429 vil- But the PDP opposition party in Kano State In its reaction, the APC said the PDP was lages. questioned the integrity of the supplementary afraid of losing the election, hence, the call for That notwithstanding, the governor relied election results which gave Governor Ibrahim the cancellation of the rerun. heavily on some projects his government had Ganduje victory in Kano State. Ganduje was Indeed, media reports said there was wide- done in the past four years such as road con- on Sunday, March 24 declared the winner of spread disruption and violence during the sup- struction, renovation, school renovation and the governorship election after he garnered plementary election in Kano on Saturday March others. “That is why we are asking the people of 1,033,695 votes to beat Abba Yusuf, the PDP 23, as thugs attacked voters and journalists on Kaduna State to give us another mandate. We candidate, who scored 1,024,713 votes. election duty. A reporter, who witnessed the have worked tirelessly to make the state a bet- The declaration made by Bello Shehu, the state violence, said on radio on Sunday that he was ter place. We need the support of the people to INEC returning officer, showed that Ganduje shocked at the level of impunity exhibited by the continue in this direction,” el-Rufai said at one won with 8,982 vote margin. thugs because the Police refused to intervene to of his campaigns. In the main election of March 23, Ganduje had stop the thugs. “The Police were compromised As it was experienced in the February 23 scored 987,819 votes and trailed Yusuf, who got in this supplementary election. The election presidential election, Borno State again recorded 1,014,474 votes at the time. Yusuf had then led was disrupted by thugs who ordered journalists, another surprise. Babagana Zullum, the APC with more than 26,000 votes. including foreign journalists to leave the polling candidate won the governorship election by a However, in the supplementary poll, the areas. We cannot say which party the thugs were wide margin. He polled a staggering 1,175,445 governor got additional 45,876 votes to cancel working for, but the Police did not do anything votes to defeat Mohammed Imam, his PDP the lead and bring his final tally to 1,033,695, to safe harmless reporters and voters from the opponent, who garnered a measly 66,117 while Yusuf garnered additional 10,239 votes harassment,” the radio reporter said. votes. from the run-off election to bring his overall All seemed peaceful in Kaduna State, where As in the presidential election, the large total 1,024,713. Governor Nasir El-Rufai of the APC won a number of votes recorded in Borno State was Before of the announcement of the final second term. He got 1,044,710 votes to defeat surprising for a state that has been ravaged by results, supporters of the two leading parties Isah Ashiru, a former member of the House of Boko Haram insurgents and many of the voting were hotly engaged in an altercation over the Representatives and candidate of the PDP, who population are scattered about. outcome of the re-run poll. The clash centred garnered 814,168 votes. What perhaps was more surprising about on the collated results of Nasarawa, a key local Balancing religion equation is an unconsti- the elections in Borno State, is how the state government area where 38,181 voters registered tutional rule that Nigerian politicians choose could be so organised that there was a huge in Gama Ward. The APC was declared winner to obey. But not El-Rufai. When asked why he turnout, but voters of a relatively peaceful state in Gama by polling 10,536 votes to the PDP’s chose Hadiza Balarabe, a fellow Muslim, as his like Rivers State could not have a peace election 3,409 ballots. running mate, the governor said Government process. But the PDP members at the collation centre House “was not a place for worship but where Indeed, for three weeks Nigeria was kept in protested saying that election did not hold in people work,” adding: “Muslim-Muslim ticket palpable anxiety as election process was halted the ward. They also demanded the cancellation is not a religious ticket but a competent and in the state following allegations of violence, of the entire supplementary election on the performance ticket.” On the other hand, Ashiru militarisation, and other crimes. grounds that it was marred by violence and other has Sunday Marshal Katung, a Christian, as his On Wednesday, April 3 the INEC declared forms of “fraudulent practices.” running mate. Governor Nyesom Wike as the winner of the Rivers State governorship election. This followed the completion of collation of results of the March 9 election. The exercise was suspended by the electoral body on March 10 following reports of violence in the state. According to the results announced by the returning officer of Rivers State, Wike of the PDP won after polling 886,264 against Awara Biokpomabo, his closest rival and candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, who polled 173,859. Reacting, Wike dedicated his victory to the people of the state, saying that he was over- whelmed by the total support and love they displayed during and after the general election. Bala Mohammed Muhammed Abubakar Speaking at the Government House, Port 24 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 ship, state and National Assembly candidates held by the APC in the state and declared that the INEC accepts the party’s candidates for the elections. Dissatisfied with the state high court decision, the appellants approached the appeal court, challenging the decision on the grounds that the state high court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit among others. In the gubernatorial poll held on March 9, the INEC had declared Mukhtar Shehu of the APC as the winner after he polled 534,541 votes to defeat Bello Mutawalle of the PDP, his closet rival who garnered 189,452 votes. As it were, gubernatorial election was held in four of the five states in the South East. In any case, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi and Imo states elected Rochas Okorocha Emeka Ihedioha the PDP candidates. Anambra State election is off-cycle. The results showed that the APC did Harcourt, after the declaration, Wike expressed they did not participate in the election. not win any state in the South-East, but the PDP gratitude to the people for standing by the PDP The appeal was filed by Kabiru Marafa, the won in all the six regions of the country. despite “the illegal actions of the enemies of chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum In the South-South, the six states in the region democracy.” He thanked PDP members for (Downstream), and 129 others through Mike are Edo, Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers, Cross River and their show of courage, despite intimidation by Ozekhome, SAN, their counsel. The respondents Akwa Ibom State. But both Edo and Bayelsa security operatives who wanted to change the were Kabiru Liman-Danalhaji and 139 others State governorship election are off-cycle. The will of Rivers people. represented by Mahmud Magaji SAN as lead four states where elections were won by the He said: “Those who died did so not because counsel. P D P. they were criminals, but because they wanted Delivering the judgment based on unani- Aminu Masari, the APC governorship can- to defend their votes; we dedicate this victory mously decision, Justice Tom Yakubu held that didate in Katsina State, which is the president’s to those who were killed. the lower court failed in its duty to properly home state, scored an overall highest vote of “They protected our votes and they defended evaluate the evidence before it. 1,178,868, to defeat Yakubu Lado of the PDP, us. We pray God to grant their families the Hence, Yakubu said: “Based on available who scored 488,705 votes. strength to bear the losses. We shall continue to facts, the respondents did not contradict the That notwithstanding, the battle for suprema- support the families.” INEC evidence on conducting the said primary cy in the states where elections were held is not He promised to run an inclusive government, election.” over. In the states like Benue, Ogun, Plateau, which would accommodate all shades of interest. The presiding judge said: “Documented evi- Kano, Sokoto among others, the losers have put Thus, he extended a hand of fellowship to his dence has upper consideration than oral ones.” their opponents on notice that they will head- opponents, saying that nobody won or lost, but Other judges in the case were Tijjani Abubakar ing for the elections tribunal to recover their Rivers people won. and Jamilu Tukur, perceived stolen mandate. Uche Secondus, the PDP national chair- Besides, the judges agreed that the judgment Nevertheless, some of the flaws recorded in man, congratulated Rivers people for standing should serve as “bitter lesson” for political par- the conduct of the 2019 general election are firm and insisting on the right thing being ties as they ought to follow legitimate guidelines major concerns of many Nigerians. For instance, done. and rules. Odoh Michael, a political analyst, pointed at The APC did not feature in the election. “Domestic affairs of political party activi- reports of violence and vote buying allegedly Courts had ruled that the party did not hold ties must act within the confines of the law in perpetuated by some politicians in states such as any acceptable primary as mandated by the dealing with party members and elections,” the Kano, Rivers, Kaduna, Lagos among others and electoral law. Hence, Awara of the AAC rose to judges said. retorted: “It is difficult for credible candidates to prominence after securing the backing of the The Zamfara State High Court had recognised win election in our violence prone and money APC bigwigs. the primary elections that produced governor- based political system. The monetisation of poli- The APC is also poised face some difficulties to in Zamfara State, even though its candidate won the gubernatorial election. The Court of Appeal, Sokoto Division, on Monday, March 25 set aside the judgment of a Zamfara State high court, which allowed the party to field candidates in the general election held in February and March 2019. The appellate court’s judgement means that all the candidates of the APC that won the polls in the just concluded general election have been left in the cold as their certificates of return would have to be withdrawn since in the eyes of the law, Ibikunle Amosun Dipo Abiodun

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 25 public analyst, in a piece entitled “Nigeria 2019 Governorship Election: Appraising the Verdict,” said: “The 2019 general election is the worst in Nigeria’s history. It is the most protracted and onerous, despite being the most expensive. The poll scheduled to wind-up in three weeks dragged on for six and still counting.” He said the process that rendered the governorship elections inconclusive in some states and allowed the supplementary elections gave room for manipulations, vote buying and violence, especially as witnessed in Kano State. In summation, all the analysts expressed fear that Nigeria’s democracy is in danger consider- ing the level of violence recorded in Kano, Rivers Ogun, Lagos states among others during the last general elections. They also suggested that electoral law should be very strict to deal with erring politicians and supporters. Samuel Ortom George Akume Expressing sadness over the killing of Temi- tope Olatoye, a member of the Federal House of Representatives representing Lagelu/Akinyele tics is denying the best an opportunity to lead the should be enacted.” Federal Constituency, Oyo State, during guber- rest. If this is not contained, Nigeria will in a few He pointed out that political godfatherism is natorial election, Ajimobi said the violence that years be governed by fraudsters and drug barons. fast eroding the confidence of the electorate and characterised the Saturday, March 9 election was They’re the only ones who can afford to fund their trust in the ballot as a means of electing uncalled for. Olatoye, 47, was allegedly killed by our expensive campaigns and politicking.” credible people. miscreants at Lalupon in Lagelu Local Govern- In his submission, Tomi Vincent, a Pan-Atlan- In his own submission, Omoshola Deji, a ment Area of Oyo State. tic University Thus, Ajimobi argued that: “Nobody’s ambi- don warned tion should be worth the blood or life of any that: “As long citizen. I am, therefore, appalled that some as electoral unscrupulous politicians and their followers offenders re- have turned this contest into a do-or-die affair, main unpun- which is alien to democratic norms in saner ished, people climes. will not desist “We struggled hard for this democracy, and from perpe- for it to be entrenched we must eschew every act trating crime of bitterness, desperation and foul play during and fraud dur- elections. In life, you win some contests and you ing elections. lose some. If we imbibe this philosophy, we will A strict pen- take every victory and defeat with equal measure alty such as jail of equanimity.” Are Nigerian politicians ready terms with no to subscribe to Ajimobi’s philosophy? Time, option of fine Aminu Tambuwal Aliyu Wammako indeed, will tell.

Full list of governors in Nigeria 12. Ifeanyi Okowa (PDP) Delta State 27. Ahmadu Fintiri (PDP) Adamawa State 13. Babagana Zulum (APC) Borno State 28. Bala Mohammed (PDP) Bauchi State Below is a full list of governors elected 14. Mallam Nasir El-Rufai (APC) Kaduna state 29. Nyesom Wike (PDP) Rivers State. in 2019 and their parties: 15. Emeka Ihedioha (PDP) Imo state 16. Mohammed Badaru (APC) Jigawa state States where the governorship elec- 1. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi – (PDP) Enugu State 17. Aminu Masari (APC) Katsina State tions did not take place include: 2. David Umahi – (PDP) Ebonyi State 18. Atiku Abubakar Bagudu (APC) Kebbi State 3. Inuwa Yahaya (APC) Gombe State 19. Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq (APC) Kwara 30. Ekiti (APC) John Fayemi 4. Okezie Ikpeazu (PDP) Abia State State 31. Bayelsa (PDP) Seriake Dickson 5. Abubakar Bello (APC) Niger State 20. Abdullahi Sule (APC) Nasarawa State 32. Kogi (APC) Yahaya Bello 6. Seyi Makinde (PDP) Oyo State 21. Muktar Idris (APC) Zamfara State 33. Osun (APC) Gboyega Oyetola 7. Emmanuel Udom (PDP) Akwa Ibom State 22. Darius Ishaku (PDP) Taraba State 34: Ondo (APC) Rotimi Akeredolu 8. Ben Ayade (PDP) Cross River State 23. Samuel Ortom (PDP) Benue State 35. Edo (APC) Godwin Obaseki 9. MaiMala Buni (APC) Yobe State 24. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje (APC) Kano State 36. Anambra (APGA) Willie Obiano 10. Babajide Sanwo-Olu (APC) Lagos State 25. Aminu Tambuwal (PDP) Sokoto State 11. Dapo Abiodun (APC) Ogun State 26. Simon Lalong (APC) Plateau State

26 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 Buhari: why and how he won

President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory is a product of his achievements which cut across socio- economic lives of Nigerians

By Garba Shehu

RESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari, who came to office in a seismic political shift that swept out of office 16 years of continuous rule by the People’s PDemocratic Party, PDP recorded yet another resounding victory to win a second term in office, leading his closest rival by a record-setting four million votes. His party, the All Progressives Congress, APC gained the highest parliamentary majority in the Fourth Republic in the Senate and the House of Representatives, giving the President an ample room to carry out reforms he wished to carry out, but was outmaneuvered and frustrated by the Eighth National Assembly. While campaigning for the 2015 general elections, President Buhari’s APC made promises to end Boko Haram terrorism and secure the country for it to be efficiently managed; to restructure the economy, halt its downward slide and create jobs and to fight corruption because, as the president repeatedly says, “if Nigeria doesn’t kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria.” His climactic victory against the then incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, his strong message on the three issues as listed above, his practical and serious approach helped to awaken a nation mis- led by characters who placed self above nation for sixteen years and more. The Buhari administration has established for itself an anti-corruption reputation and has been in office nearing four years without a major scandal. The African Union has on account of this, selected the President as the continent’s anti-corruption champion. The Buhari administration can pat itself on the back for this achievement when it is viewed against the established culture in which corruption is the norm. To win the war against corruption and institute transparency in the affairs of government, the Buhari administration introduced a number of fiscal reforms and plugged several leakages. In the firm belief that the party was not mis- President Buhari: taken about the problems facing the country, Four more years Candidate Buhari went into the February, 2019

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 27 campaign on the same issue platforms. The respectively. Nigeria has today achieved near In dealing with security, one of the first major President and his party looked certain of victory self-sufficiency in rice production. steps by the Buhari administration was the revi- from the sea of crowds that attended his political Government has launched a series of fund- talisation of the Multi-national Joint Task force, rallies all over the 36 states of the federation. He ing and capacity development initiatives to MNJTF aimed at combating transborder crime was the only candidate to have campaigned at support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. and the Boko Haram insurgency. The MNJTF least once in each state and the Federal Capital The work of the Presidential Enabling Business has the support and participation of neighbour- Territory. Environment Council (PEBEC), inaugurated by ing countries Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Benin, These rallies attracted large crowds, mostly President Buhari in August 2016 has resulted in addition to Nigeria. of the poor who are trusting in his impeccable in moving Nigeria up 24 places on the World On the day of his inauguration, the President qualities of honesty and integrity, and have Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings, and had directed the relocation of the command and bought into the idea that he will quickly push earning a place on the list of 10 most improved control centre of the Boko Haram war to Mai- their country onto the top by lifting up the economies. In this regard, the administration duguri, the epicentre of the insurgency. economy, creating jobs, securing the nation and has issued a number of Executive Orders on im- The military has since proclaimed victory over ending the nightmarish corruption which had proving efficiency in the business environment the Boko Haram terrorists, following the capture become the order of the day. Some of the events and promoting local content. of their operational and spiritual headquarters, were marked by incidents of road accident, po- The Buhari administration has also demon- “Camp Zero” in Sambisa Forest. dium or building collapse and stampede leading strated a single-minded commitment to upgrad- So far, more than one million displaced to tragic losses of life. ing and developing Nigeria’s transport, power persons have returned to their homes and com- At many of those well-attended rallies, and health infrastructure. munities. About 20,000 hostages have been the venues fell short of the people gathered. Road projects are ongoing across every state of freed. One hundred and six (106) Chibok Girls, Thousands of supporters outside tried to barge the country, with many of these projects having abducted in April 2014 and 105 Dapchi Girls into the inner rings of the venues. Pleas were been abandoned for many years. abducted in February 2018 have been released not heard by surging crowds which resorted The country’s narrow-gauge rail network of and reunited with their families sometimes to throwing chairs, sachet water 3,500 Kms is currently being upgraded; Abuja’s In the area of diplomacy and international and bottles into the no-man zones in front of light rail system has been completed and com- relations, the Buhari administration has re- the stage. missioned with a link to the Abuja-Kaduna rail established Nigeria’s position and influence in It was evident from the commencement of line, which has equally been completed and regional and global arena. the campaign that President Buhari had a a two- launched. The Ibadan-Lagos standard gauge As a political leader, Muhammadu Buhari pronged election strategy, one to showcase the rail is being test run. Ibadan-Kano has been enjoys three formidable assets-- his record as a achievements of his administration in its first awarded. disciplined former Army General, his reputa- term and two, to cash in on his popularity with The administration has successfully recon- tion as an honest leader who has not allowed the lower rungs of the population. structed the Abuja Airport runway, completed corruption to flourish under his watch when he The party itself doubled down on President and commissioned new terminal buildings in served as a state Military Governor, Minister Buhari by zeroing in on his image as a diligent, Port Harcourt and Abuja with Lagos, Kano, Enu- of Petroleum and Military Head of State and coolheaded and incorruptible leader. In that gu and the others soon to be inaugurated. the public perception of his record as one who enduring appeal, the APC saw a trump card Several water supply projects and dam/irriga- stands for and by the truth, Mai Gaskiya. going into the election. tion projects have been completed and many The main opposition to President Buhari, Nobody can question President Buhari’s more on the way to being delivered. About the Peoples Democratic Party failed to realize achievements. They are there for all to see. 100 ecological projects have been awarded and how much these qualities meant to ordinary The administration has significantly curtailed completed in the six geopolitical zones. Nigerians; they did not reckon with the disil- corruption to the point of abolishing what The Buhari administration has more than lusionment of the citizens with their perceived is called “grand corruption.” Given Treasury doubled power generation capacity. It has in- acts of commission and omission for the 16 years Single Account,TSA, the Integrated Payroll and creased generation to 8,100 MW and expanded they were in power. Personnel Information Scheme, IPPS, the Bank transmission to more than 7,000 MW capacity, They must by now, have realized with the Verification Number, BVN number and Whis- and has successfully deployed thousands of benefit of hindsight, that demonization and tle Blower schemes, it is no longer possible for solar power systems to rural and urban house- denigration of an individual does not bring in people in authority to, for instance, request the holds. poll dividends. In their campaigns, they chose withdrawal of millions, or sometimes billions This is an administration that has been invest- to demonise and denigrate Muhammadu Buhari of Naira or US Dollars to be shared among ing in people. It has introduced a social Invest- as President. It did not pay. party members as was the practice under the ment Programme (SIP), which so far, has four Before and after this election, there is no face past administrations. To boot, the Buhari ad- components. These are the N-power employ- in the opposition who can match President Bu- ministration has signed onto the global Open ment scheme that is hitting 500,000 this year, hari’s inspiring character and personality. Many, Government Partnership, OGP. the home grown school feeding program that including this reporter believe that it wasn’t the Reforms are being carried out in the justice feeds more than nine million school children rail, road or achievements in the power sector sector with a number of domestic legislations across the federation, the Government Enter- that won this election for President Buhari. No and international agreements to facilitate the prise and Empower Program, GEEP giving out doubt, these and many others are important. identification, tracing, freezing, recovery and interest-free loans to millions of market women, They may have added a bit here and a bit there. forfeiture of ill-gotten assets. traders, artisans and farmers and the conditional But what won it for him, was the focus by the The administration’s primary sectors of ag- cash transfer, CCT which pays N5,000 monthly voter on the single most important factor of riculture and solid minerals have experienced to the poorest and most vulnerable households Mai Gaskiya. growth of 180 and 565 percentage points in the country.

28 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 Goodbye 8th National Assembly The character of the 9th National Assembly will be different as many of its key members fail to return

By Demola Abimboye inauguration on May 29. youngest arm of government in Nigeria, having On hand to receive the new legislators were suffered most during the military rule. “The or many of the newly elected senators top shots of the National Assembly Management legislature often appears to be the weakest arm and members of the House of Repre- and Bukola Saraki, president of the 8th Senate of of government. It is therefore necessary to focus sentatives, the orientation programme the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Although Saraki efforts on strengthening this important institu- packaged by the National Assembly lost re-election to the upper legislative chamber, tion. The legislative arm of government must FManagement was a good beginning for the task he nonetheless enjoined the successful ones to be strong, because when the legislative arm is ahead of the 9th National Assembly. On Sunday guard jealously the independence of the legisla- strong, democracy will be strong,” he said. March 31, 2019, the gaily dressed legislators ture and assert separation of powers, to ensue Saraki’s parting shots might not be uncon- trooped to the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, accountability in governance. nected to the new composition of the two venue of the programme, for this important He told the lawmakers that the role of the chambers of the National Assembly following assignment, two clear months to their formal legislature is compounded by its being the the February 23 and March 9 elections. Although

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 29 the All Progressives Congress, APC, that won elections while 4,680 vied for seats in the House Kwara, Saraki’s home state; Benue, Taraba the 2015 presidential elections, had majority in of Representatives. and Plateau. the two chambers, the main opposition Peoples Total registered voters, according to INEC, On February 22, crisis erupted in Kano, when Democratic Party, PDP, out maneuvered it in the were 84 million but only 72,775,585 collected supporters of the APC and PDP clashed in Kofa election of principal officers. In the 8th Senate, their permanent voter’s cards (PVC), a pre- town, Bebeji district of Kano. Two persons were APC had 57 senators, PDP 48 while African requisite for voting on election day. killed, while 40 vehicles, 12 motorcycles and Democratic Congress, ADC, All People’s Grand INEC registered 91 political parties to partici- houses were burnt. Alliance , APGA, Social Democratic Party, SDP, pate in the elections; 119,973 polling units and On polling day, February 23, more than a and African Democratic Party, ADP, had one 57,023 voting points across the country. dozen people died in a bomb attack by Boko each. The PDP effectively used its members who Months before the February 23 NASS elec- Haram terrorists in Yobe. In Oyo State, Temi- had decamped to APC to corner leadership positions, tension was high as politicians threatened tope Olatoye, (a.k.a. Sugar), a member of the tions in the two chambers to the dissatisfaction mayhem should the process lack transparency. House of Representatives, was shot in the head of the ruling party. To ensure voters’ safety President Muhammadu by suspected political thugs few minutes after Consequently, the APC went into the 2019 Buhari announced wide ranging measures voting in Lalupon, Ibadan. He died the next National and State Assembly elections deter- including the order that ballot box snatchers day at the Intensive Care Unit of the University mined not to allow history to repeat itself. Al- should be shot on sight. Few days to the D- College Hospital, Ibadan. though the elections were originally scheduled day, hundreds of thousands of security agents Olatoye, who won the 2015 election as a for February 16, 2019 and March 2, 2019, about from the Nigeria Police Force, Nigerian Army, candidate of the All Progressives Congress, lost five hours before commencement of the first leg, Department of State Security, DSS, Economic re-election to the House on the platform of the INEC postponed the elections due to logistical and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and Action Democratic Party. problems. This marked the third time elections Nigeria Civil Defence and Security, NSCDC, Clement Nwankwo, convener of the Situ- would be postponed in Nigeria. They were post- were dispatched across the country, especially to ation Room, comprising over 70 civil society poned in 2011 and 2015. flashpoints - Kano, the commercial nerve centre groups, said 16 people were killed in election INEC subsequently announced new dates – of Northern Nigeria; the Boko Haram terrorist violence across eight states, while the Lagos- February 23 for National Assembly and March 9 ravaged states of Borno and Yobe; the politically based consultancy, SBM Intelligence, reported for State Assembly elections. A total of 109 sena- restive states of the South South region especially 35 deaths. tors and 360 representatives were to be elected Akwa Ibom and Rivers. In many states, the card readers malfunc- for the National Assembly across the 36 states Others were Lagos and the so-called Wild, tioned, thereby disenfranchising many regis- and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT. About Wild West, the South East geo-political tered voters. In Zamfara State for instance, the 1,904 candidates contested in the senatorial zone, PDP said no voting took place and there was

But Kola Ologbondiyan, national publicity“ secretary of PDP, said it amounts to empty grandstanding and self-delusion for President

Muhammadu Buhari and Oshiomhole to posture as

if the presiding offices and committee chairmanship in the National Assembly“ are the exclusive rights of the APC

Many members of the National Assembly are not returning for the 9th Assembly

30 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 no single result sheet in any polling unit in the decrease of eight seats from the 8th Senate. A of APC also ruled out voting by the legislators entire state. In Rivers State, security men were breakdown showed that it won all three seats in to elect their leaders but that the party could reportedly involved in ballot box snatching Akwa Ibom, Benue, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu just draw up a list. It’s a winner takes all,” he while armed soldiers stormed collation centres and Rivers States; two in Abia, Adamawa, Anam- said, adding “There is no room for power shar- in Ikwerre, Emohua and Okrika Local Govern- bra, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ondo and Taraba States ing. We do not need them (PDP) to run this ment Areas, stole electoral materials while INEC and one in FCT, Imo, Kaduna, Kogi, Osun and government.” electoral officers were accused of cooking up Plateau States. The Young People’s Party, YPP, But Kola Ologbondiyan, national public- results. won one seat in Anambra State. ity secretary of PDP, said it amounts to empty In Lagos, there were allegations of deliber- In the House of Representatives, APC grandstanding and self-delusion for President ate disenfranchisement of the Igbo who have a clinched 222 seats and PDP 111. APGA won Muhammadu Buhari and Oshiomhole to pos- considerable voting strength. In one instance, seven; People’s Redemption Party, PRP, two; ture as if the presiding offices and committee a mob attacked the leader of the Odua People’s Labour Party, one; Social Democratic Party, SDP, chairmanship in the National Assembly are the Congress, OPC, in Okota over alleged ballot two and ADP, one. exclusive rights of the APC. “For emphasis, Sec- box snatching. Electoral materials were burnt In the State Assembly elections, the APC had tion 50 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is in some polling units in this densely populated majority in at least 22 states, PDP, 13 and APGA, clear in providing that there shall be: (a) a presi- area of the state. one. In Sokoto State, for instance, APC clinched dent and Deputy President of the Senate, who In Anambra State, 14 suspects were arrested 16 seats while the PDP which won the gover- shall be elected by the members of that House by the state’s Police Command, for various elec- norship election has 14 seats (see table). Yusuf from among themselves; and (b) a Speaker and toral offences including ballot box snatching, Dingyadi, senior special assistant to Governor Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, disruption of elections, malicious damage. Aminu Tambuwal told Newswatch Now that who shall be elected by the members of that Despite the skirmishes, APC won 65 seats in this is not a worrisome situation for the state House from among themselves,” he said. the Senate, eights seats more than it won in the helmsman. “We know how we play our politics He added: “Section 92 (1) makes the same 8th Senate. The party won all three senatorial in Sokoto,” he said. provision for the election of the Speaker and seats in Bauchi, Borno, Ekiti, Gombe, Jigawa, Against this background of sweeping victory Deputy Speaker of State House Assembly.” Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, for the APC - it has 25 seats more than the PDP Onukwube Uche Ezechukwu, member, Peace Niger, Ogun, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara States. It in the Senate and ahead of PDP by 100 seats in and Reconciliation Committee of PDP Presi- won two in Kaduna, Osun, Oyo and one each in the House of Representatives - not a few Nigeri- dential Campaign Organisation, is worried by Abia, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Imo, Kogi, ans are worried that the ruling party might turn the frenzied and abrasive manner the two APC Ondo and Taraba States. the National Assembly into a rubber stamp. Al- leaders have been talking down on the legislators The PDP won a total of 40 senatorial seats, a ready, two national figures of the party – Adams as “if they are school children about to resume a Oshiomhole and Bola Tinubu, national chair- brand new term, while Tinubu and Oshiomhole man and national leader of the party respectively, are their headmasters, with canes at the ready have given fillip to this thought. and very eager to chastise and whip any erring Both men are insisting that Ahmed Lawan pupil into line.” from Yobe State and Femi Gbajabiamila, Lagos, He said both men have kept nobody in doubt must be made Senate President and Speaker of that they are now the party and ipso facto, any the House respectively. Tinubu warned against vituperation of theirs, no matter how out of what the APC suffered in 2015 when some of its tune, represents the official stand of the party. lawmakers connived with those of PDP which “Tinubu had tried to play the same card in 2015 was the minority, and elected those against the but was bested by the better-prepared legislators party’s choice as principal officers. of the two chambers when they picked principal He said: “We were a little careless in 2015. We officers, different from the two that Tinubu had created the opportunity for serpent to get into wanted to impose. There is nothing to suggest our party and we are not going to allow that to that the same, or even worse scenario would not happen again. We are going to respect our party be enacted this year, as there is palpable anger, and we are going to apply the whip. even within the ranks of the APC membership “It is either you stay with us or you follow us against the effrontery of the these two men, and or you leave. We would not take that this time, hence, the high possibility that the legislators no matter who you think you are. That is how it from the APC and the other parties might want is built. Why do you want to deviate from what to prove that they are nobody’s rubber stamp, has been structured? We look at our reward and therefore move to show a mind of their system equally, zone by zone.” own by marooning Oshiomhole and Tinubu Oshiomhole, at a gathering of the newly with their self-serving agenda,” he argued. elected APC members of the House of Rep- Ezechukwu called on the new legislators to resentatives, said that because his party has a make themselves effective in the eyes of Nigeri- majority in the two chambers, no legislator of ans by establishing their independence early in other parties would be elected to any leadership their tenure, thereby demonstrating to the two position or picked as a committee chairman. “It APC leaders that they are not members of the is the winner takes all,” he said. legislative houses or are the legislators anybody’s Lanre Isa-Onilu, national publicity secretary school children or lackeys.

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 31 THE LOSERS In the just concluded National and State Assembly elections, some notable Nigerians lost out in the power contest. The winners and losers are not only those who contested elective positions but also the godfathers - those who helped them achieve victory or defeat.

Bukola Saraki Abiola Ajimobi Top on the losers list is Bukola Saraki, president Abiola Ajimobi had looked forward to a of the 8th Senate. He lost the Kwara Central senato- retirement plan, after eight years as Oyo State rial seat to Ibrahim Oloriegbe of APC. governor, in the Red Chamber, as the Senate Saraki’s fall from power had long been planned Chamber is referred to. But Mr “Constituted by APC stalwarts after he defied the party and Authority,” a tag he earned after an open emerged as Senate President on June 9, 2015 outburst against students of Ladoke Akintola against Ahmed Lawan, the party’s choice. He, University, Ogbomoso, who were protesting however, spent his tenure battling APC leaders and the shutdown of their institution in January fending off allegations of corruption, money laun- 2017, lost his bid for Oyo South senatorial dering and false declaration of assets. He survived seat to Kola Balogun of PDP. many impeachment plots and was exonerated by But he quickly consoled himself: “If I lose the Supreme Court on corruption charges. the ticket and the party was able to gain, These persecutions forced Saraki to defect to then it is nothing to feel sad about. If we PDP on August 1, 2018 where he sought the party’s won two out of the three Senatorial seats presidential ticket but lost to Atiku Abubakar. He and we picked nine out of 14 federal con- was thereafter named the director general of the stituency seats, then we should congratulate PDP Campaign Organisation and subsequently ourselves,” he said. given the ticket to return to the Senate. Rabiu Musa But the APC in a carefully orchestrated plot Kwankwaso tagged “Enough is Enough” ensured he lost Kwara Before the elections, Senator Kwank- Central senatorial seat. waso’s image loomed large in Kano, especially through his Kwankwasiyya Movement whose members with their ubiquitous red caps filled campaign venues to the brim. But he failed to deliver any senatorial seat for his party as APC carted away the three slots.

Olubankole Wellington Godswill Akpabio Olubankole Wellington, better known A two term former governor of Akwa Ibom by his stage name Banky W, contested on State and Senate Minority Leader of the 8th the platform of Modern Democratic Party, Senate, Godswill Akpabio had defected from the MDP, for the Eti-Osa federal constituency PDP to the APC on August 8, 2018, to ensure his seat in the House of Representatives. The return to the Red Chamber. 37-year-old R&B singer campaigned with The ruling party celebrated this big catch and characteristic razzmatazz but lost to Baba- paid television networks to stream the event live jide Obanikoro of APC. from a capacity filled Ikot Ekpene stadium. But the APC did not know that it had purchased copper for the price of gold. He lost the elec- Shehu Sani tion. One of Nigeria’s famous human rights activists, Shehu Sani engaged Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State in supremacy battle for most of his four years as a federal legislator. At the height of the duel, Sani decamped to PRP to retain his senate seat. He lost to Uba Sani of the APC. While the winner scored 355,242 votes, Sani polled 70,613 votes and came a distant third in the race.

32 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 THE WINNERS Adams Oshiomhole Dino Melaye Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman Dino Melaye, the stormy petrel of Kogi West of APC, shares in the collective victory of politics, had been on the wrong side of APC the party even though he delivered only one for his support for Saraki since 2015. Last year, senatorial seat in Edo, his home state. he defected to PDP alongside the Senate president. During his travails, Dino pulled one stunt after another as law enforcement agents hounded and encircled him for alleged culpable homicide. Last February, he defeated Smart Adeyemi of the APC.

Kola Balogun Kola Balogun stands out as the only man who defeated an incumbent APC governor in the South West for a senatorial seat. The Aishatu Binani PDP flag bearer defeated Governor Abiola This 47-year-old legislator is the only female Ajimobi of Oyo State. from Northern Nigeria to be elected into the 9th Senate. Binani shocked her male rivals to clinch a ticket on the platform of APC in Adamawa State, the home state of Atiku Abubakar, PDP presidential candidate. Bola Tinubu The national leader of the APC is another important winner. The acclaimed godfather of APC delivered 14 out of 18 senatorial seats and 52 members of the House of Representatives in the South West to his party.

Ibrahim Oloriegbe In Kwara central senatorial zone where the Sarakis have held sway for decades, Ibrahim Oloriegbe is an underdog. But backed by the APC machinery and the “Enough is enough” battle cry of Kwarans, Oloriegbe defeated Saraki in all four local governments in the zone. He polled 123,808 votes to Saraki’s 68,994. Yakubu Dogara Pundits had ruled out Yakubu Dogara, current Speaker of the House of Representatives, from retaining his seat after defecting to the PDP last August. However, the lawmaker from the Christian minority area in a predominantly Muslim state won Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa federal constituency which he has been representing since 2007.

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 33 STATE HOUSES OF ASSEMBLY ELECTION RESULTS

S/N STATE PARTY NO OF SEATS 1. Abia PDP 19, APGA 3, APC 2 24 2. Adamawa PDP 13 APC 11 ADC 1 24 3. Akwa Ibom 4. Anambra 5. Bauchi 6. Bayelsa PDP-17, APC-4 24 7. Benue 8. Borno 9. Cross River PDP 25 25 10. Delta 11. Ebonyi 12. Edo APC 24 24 13. Ekiti APC 24 14. Enugu PDP 24 24 15. Gombe 16. Imo PDP 13, AA 8, APGA 6 27 17. Jigawa APC 30, 30 18. Kaduna 24 19. Kano APC 29; PDP 13 42 20. Katsina APC 34 34 21. Kebbi 22. Kogi 23. Kwara APC 24 24 24. Lagos APC 40 40 25. Nasarawa APC 14 PDP 5 ZLP 1 26. Niger APC 27 27 27. Ogun APC 21, PDP 3 26 28. Ondo APC 23, PDP 2, ZLP 1 26 29. Osun APC 23, PDP 3 26 30. Oyo PDP 26, APC 5, ADP 1 32 31. Plateau 32. Rivers PDP 32 32 33. Sokoto APC 16 PDP 14 30 34. Taraba 35. Yobe 36. Zamfara

34 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 Bukola Saraki Godswill Akpabio Shehu Sani How the mighty fell What was thought impossible happened at 2019 polls as political heavyweights were booted out

dynasty which has bossed Kwara State politics since the Second Republic, By Soji Akinrinade when Bukola’s father, Olusola, was the political king. However, the Senate president not only lost his re-election battle, his ime changes political fortunes. From a powerful and dominant political dynasty is now in tatters. His opponent for the senate seat was kingmaker today to superintending over a crumbling political Ibrahim Oloriegbe, not an unknown politician. He was majority leader in house of cards, things can all change dramatically, particularly the Kwara State House of Assembly between 1999 and 2003 and duelled in politically porous Nigeria where politics is less ideologically with Saraki for the Senatorial seat in 2011 under the platform of Action based and politicians move seamlessly from one party to another. T Congress of Nigeria but lost. This time, however, he trounced Saraki. Some powerful politicians felt the full force of this wind of change at the Saraki’s fall from grace was not by happenstance. It was a long time last general election, starting off as the super politicians but ending up as coming. There had been moves to wrest control of Kwara politics from his a political humpty-dumpty with shattered dreams. family since the days of the late Olusola, Bukola’s father, who was Senate Despite their professed political strength locally and nationally, some Leader in 1979 during the Second Republic. of them lost their re-election battle badly to new political figures and The late Olusola was godfather to leading politicians, wielding enormous upstarts. power of patronage, making and unmaking political office holders. He Arguably the biggest loser in the 2019 elections is the third most pow- made his son, Bukola, governor of Kwara State in 2003, but after finishing erful political office holder in the country Bukola Saraki, the incumbent his second term in 2011, Bukola became the kingmaker, supplanting his Senate president, representing Kwara Central Senatorial District. He father who later died in November 2012. started as a founding member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, but The grouse of Kwarans has been that they had gained very little devel- ended up as a candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, opmentally during those years when the Sarakis and their surrogates were which he originally dumped to join the APC prior to the 2015 general the lord and master of Kwara politics. What made matters worse for Sena- elections. tor Saraki is that by outfoxing his party, APC, in 2015 to clinch the senate He was regarded as a shoo-in for re-election because of his perceived presidency, and to the chagrin of President Muhammadu Buhari and his political strength, and also because he is the custodian of the Saraki political government, he made powerful enemies of his party’s top hierarchy. He

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 35 was literally a sitting duck. watch Now that Buhari is very popular in Kwara State and many Kwarans It wasn’t a surprise that as the 2019 election drew nearer, opposition felt that Saraki masterminded most of the plots against the president in to Bukola Saraki and what he represented in national and Kwara politics the upper chambers of the National Assembly. He said: “Most enlightened morphed into a powerful grassroot movement known as “Otoge”, (it’s Kwarans were not happy with his (Saraki’s) role in the senate, especially enough) which pulled in names like Lai Mohammed, current Minister of when he converted the hallowed chamber to a bastion of opposition against Information and Culture, AbdulRazak AbdulRahman, governor-elect and President Muhammadu Buhari. member of the APC, and Oba Abdulraheem, the Talba of Ilorin, who was “The manner of his emergence as president of the senate did not help once vice chancellor of the University of Ilorin. matters. It must be remembered that in the 2015 elections, Buhari secured According to Premium Times, an online news platform, the term Otoge more votes in the Kwara Central senatorial district than Saraki. That’s a was, by popular narrative, coined and popularised by Ibrahim Labaeka, a clear indication that Buhari’s victory in Kwara had little or nothing to much-revered Islamic music artiste, and a member of the Islamic Musi- do with Saraki. When he championed opposition against Buhari in the cians Association of Nigeria, ISMAN. He was said to have had a falling out area of delayed budget and other filibustering tactics, including the non- with the Saraki group and came up with Otoge, which eventually became confirmation of Magu (as EFCC boss), it was clear that Saraki was no a powerful political mantra in Kwara State politics in the build-up to the longer on the same page with Kwara people.” 2119 elections. Nurudeen added: “Despite his acquittal by the Supreme Court, many The otoge mantra resonated with Kwarans such that it was not only Kwarans were not convinced that his hands are not soiled with corrupt Saraki who was voted out, the revolution swept off all three Senatorial practices. He took questionable pensions and other awful benefits in a state seats, six House of Representatives seats and 24 State House of Assembly with huge infrastructure deficit and huge salary arrears for civil servants seats, and deposited them in the APC column, making the party completely and pensioners. Unlike his father, Olusola Saraki, who was more at home dominant in Kwara State. The king is naked. with the grassroots, Bukola is politically detached and elitist in his gait Nevertheless, APC did not achieve this feat all by itself. It had an ally and comportment, which, at times, verges towards arrogance. He could Bukola Saraki’s sister Gbemisola, a former senator. To her, it was simply have been defeated before now but was rescued by the Buhari hurricane payback time. When Bukola finished his second term as governor of Kwara, of 2015 as well as the state apparatus which was at his beck and call until his late father had anointed Gbemisola to succeed him. But Bukola de- recently.” murred and supported Abdulfatah Ahmed against his sister who decamped When asked if there would have been any difference had Saraki not from PDP to the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria, ACPN to realise her been Atiku Abubakar’s presidential campaign director and had more gubernatorial ambition. Gbemisola lost, Ahmed won and Bukola became time to focus on his own campaign, Nurudeen said: “he was on ground king of Kwara politics. as he was shuttling between Ilorin and Abuja. More than any other time Sikiru Lanre Nurudeen, a lecturer in the department of Political Science in his political odyssey, the last election was the first time Saraki led the and Public Administration at Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, told News- campaign of his party vigorously. One beneficiary of Saraki’s generosity Anyila Ibrahim, who spoke to Newswatch Now said it was Gov- ernor Ahmed’s poor performance that im- pacted negatively on Saraki’s electoral vi- ability. He added that “the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, trial affected Saraki so much that he could not at- tend and provide necessary attention to his people, not to talk of correcting or caution- ing the governor of the state to do the necessary things.” However, this electoral loss and the defeat of Atiku Abubakar in the presidential election by Buhari means that Saraki would be much diminished in

Ready to vote: Nigerians display their PVCs

36 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 the new political dispensation and would have his job cut out rebuilding his political empire. Senator Godswill Akpabio’s re-election loss in Akwa Ibom is almost as bad as Saraki’s. Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, is a widely acknowledged powerful godfather and kingmaker in his state, having been instrumental in the making of his successor Udom Emmanuel, in 2015. He also made the election of many of the national and state house of assembly members possible during the same 2015 elections. Such was his political dexterity that as a first term senator he was elected minority leader of the opposition PDP. But as it is usually the case in Nigerian politics, the godfather and his godson parted ways and became arch political rivals in Akwa Ibom State. Akpabio decamped from the PDP to APC with a promise to take his state into the political column of the governing national party, which was now thought to be closing its eyes to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC’s, charges against him. Akpabio’s new mission in Akwa Ibom State was like scoring an own goal and not only didn’t he win the state for All Progressives Congress party, he lost the Abiola Ajimobi re-election battle in his own Ikot-Ekpene Senatorial District. Although he’s contesting it, his own people deserted him and voted for Chris Ekpenyong of PDP, a former deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State. A watcher of Akwa Ibom State politics who gave his name as Editi said: “I must say his defeat hurts me till this day. And when I remember whom he lost to, it hurts even more. We replaced an erudite senator with a sleeper.” Nevertheless, Akwa Ibom State is generally accepted as a PDP state and most political observers in the state thought that Akpabio’s gamble was a big mistake. The campaigns were divisive, brutal, violent and were laden with charges and coun- ter-charges of inciting violence. In the end the people of the state rejected Akpabio and his new political party, APC. Inox Bradford, a social commentator said Akpabio did everything within his power “to win that election but the people resisted him because of the party he joined. APC is alien to the people of the state. We are also peace-loving people. He became a changed man and almost started beating the drums of war when he joined the APC. Baring a miracle victory at the electoral tribunal, Akpabio has a lot of work to do to recover lost political ground in the state. Of course, nothing is impossible in Nigeria politics. For Governor Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, having served two terms and in his own estimation, done fairly well in the delivery of democracy dividends, most observers thought he was a shoo-in for one of the state’s three senatorial seats at the election. But because candidates propose and the electorates dispose, Ajimobi, who ran again under the APC banner, lost the Oyo South Senatorial District to Kola Balogun of the Dankwabo PDP. Balogun polled 105,720 votes to Ajimobi’s 95,279. It was an unanticipated result for a politician who had dominated Oyo States However, his second term was turbulent as he spent much time dousing politics for the past eight years, and had broken that second term curse the fire of discontent in the state. His major problem was in the city at the and was re-elected governor in 2015. heart of Oyo State politics – Ibadan. Ibadan politics is unrelenting and In his first term he was applauded for some of the good works he did unforgiving. Former governors who have felt the wrath of Ibadan politics cleaning up Ibadan, probably the filthiest city in the south-west, build- include Rashidi Ladoja and Alao Akala. But the crux of the issue for Aji- ing infrastructure, particularly road construction and rehabilitation and mobi was his battle with the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji. To introducing free shuttle buses for workers and students. The 43-seater the chagrin of one of the pre-eminent traditional rulers in Yorubaland, buses conveyed civil servants and students to and from their offices and Governor Ajimobi appointed Obas with beaded crowns while reforming schools daily.

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 37 further alienated the voting public when his urban renewal programme led to part demolition of the music house of Yinka Adefele, a very popular musician. The house was home to his radio station, Fresh FM. It was a PR disaster for the governor who was now accused of stifling dissent in his state by trying to shut down the radio station. Despite the fact that he spent state money to rebuild the damaged building, the damage had been done and there was no walking it back. He was accused of implementing the law without human face. The pent up anger in reaction to what many believed was “gubernatorial arrogance” culminated in his loss of his senatorial district to a first timer. Many other politicians right across the country faced different home-grown rebellion and political calculations which eventually led to their defeat in governorship and senatorial elections. Governor Ibrahim Dankwabo of Gombe State is by any definition a rising star who has done fairly well for his state. Despite Gombe being a Buhari stronghold, he won re-election in the state for the PDP in 2015. The trick, however, was that he also supported Buhari for the presidency. This time around he wanted to be a senator. He, however, did not get any benefit of the doubt from Buhari voters who supported APC’s Sa’idu Alkali Shehu Sani because both the presidential and national assembly elections were held on the same day. In Kaduna State, Shehu Sani, fiery and irascible political and human rights activist and APC senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District, lost his battle for re-election. Run- ning battles with state governor Nasir El-Rufai meant he had to eventually dump APC to join the Peoples Redemption Party, PRP. He had probably overestimated his political strength and a good evidence of this was his inability to win his polling unit. He lost badly to his APC opponent Uba Sani. He came third behind Sani and PDP’s Lawal Adamu. But Shehu Sani will remain in the fray as a political activist. The Bauchi governorship race was between two political heavyweights, the incumbent, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar and former FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed who was PDP’s candidate. With Buhari winning Bauchi State by more than half a million votes, it was widely expected that the incumbent APC governor Abubakar would also win the state. However, Abubakar who won handsomely in 2015, riding the coattails of President Buhari, narrowly lost to Mohammed by 500,625 votes to 515,113 votes. The incumbent governor was accused of mismanaging the goodwill of his people and was regarded as aloof and “too elitist” He was alleged to have spent most of his time in Abuja and paid scant attention to the pressing needs of the state. Newswatch Now learnt that the battle to deny him a second term cut across political lines and was led by the incumbent Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, who quoting Henry Clay, an author, said: “An oppressed people are the Olubadan-in-council. The Oludadan himself became His Imperial authorised whenever they can, to rise and break their fetters.” The rest is Majesty, moving up from His Royal Majesty. Oba Adetunji regarded the history and Abubakar made another history by becoming the first governor reform and appointments as an affront to his authority and didn’t mince to lose re-election in Bauchi. words about it. It was therefore impossible for the Olubadan to support What the 2019 elections have shown is that despite the hue and cry about the senatorial ambition of Governor Ajimobi. various election problems and malpractices, the pull of local politics is still The governor also antagonised the students when he had a verbal strong and often make and unmake even political heavyweights and god- altercation with them during a demonstration. Rather than pacify the fathers. They have shown once again that politicians who take their elec- restive students, he fired verbal volleys at them rebuking them for not torates for granted may pay the price for their political insensitivity. respecting “constituted authority”. Many people thought he had lost the Reported by Yusuf Mohammed plot and wasn’t in touch with a huge segment of the voting public. He

38 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu, addresses a world press conference A performance below par INEC’s well laid election plans fail to curb politicians’ desperation

By Ishaya Ibrahim known 25 days after the vote was cast. at all the 119,973 polling units in the country “I think the 2019 elections generally fell be- was introduced to enable party agents and ob- erhaps, it was not just the prepara- low the par of what people expected because, servers independently collate the results. tions. The team at the Independ- in 2015, there was a better-organised elec- But what went wrong? Oseni offers insight. ent National Electoral Commis- tion,” says Tunde Oseni, Head of Department, “The political actors are becoming desper- sion, INEC, headed by Professor Politics and International Relations, Lead City ate day in day out to get power. The do or die PMahmood Yakubu, put in so much effort to University, Ibadan. mentality has affected our political system. It make the 2019 elections a hitch-free exercise. But the INEC had tried to avert some of shouldn’t be,” he said. At least so it was said. those lapses by planning early. They had well A lawyer, Wale Ogunade who is also the But the elections, held on February 23 and ahead of time, in March 2017, determined the President of Voters Awareness Initiative, an March 9, led to many deaths. No less than date for the 2019 general elections, and other election watchdog, agreed with Oseni. “It is 58 citizens were reportedly killed during the future elections - National elections would be not really much about the preparation. It has exercise, according to the Nigeria Civil Society held on the third Saturday of February in the more to do with the activities of the stakehold- Situation Room. year of election, while state elections would ers, the political actors. They did not abide by Even after the unexpected postponement a take place two weeks later. the rules at all. It now made the job of INEC few hours to the poll to allow INEC smoothen INEC also adopted simultaneous ac- very difficult. I hope that INEC has now some rough edges, there were reports of the creditation and voting which was supposed learned its lessons,” he said. late arrival of election materials, Smart Card to checkmate multiple voting. The use of Author of ‘Nigeria: Worth Dying for’, Ogu Reader malfunctioning, vote buying, and incidence form was abolished. Instead, if a Bundu Nwadike, said a sign that all was not cancellation of elections in many polling units. voter biometric can’t be authenticated by the well with INEC’s plan for the election was The implication was that five states’ elections Smart Card Reader, SCR, the manual register when it suddenly postponed the elections on were declared inconclusive. In Rivers, the would be used. February 16, at 2 am, the same day the poll winner of the governorship election was only A poster-sized result sheet to be displayed was to be held.

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 39 declared winner under duress. “With nearly N250 billion as their budget, INEC has already wielded the big stick they had no reason to postpone the elections on Okorocha. Festus Okoye, INEC commis- and having four years to plan. To me, the 2019 sioner in-charge of Information and Voter general elections was a setback. The 2015 Education said certificates of return is only elections were relatively more peaceful,” he issued to those who won an election and must said. be done through the free will of a returning But in 2015, there was a postponement, officer. although influenced by the office of the then “What INEC is saying is that you can’t National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo engage in bad electoral behaviour and expect Dasuki, who asked for at least six weeks to INEC to reward you with a certificate. Our enable security forces to dislodge Boko Haram certificate is only for those who won freely,” fighters from the territories they were holding he said in the North Eastern part of the country. But Okorocha denied any wrongdoing, For the 2019 election, Yakubu said bad accusing INEC of colluding with his political weather, which made them resort to moving Tunde Oseni enemies to deny him his mandate. logistics by road instead of airlifting them, and Okorocha has since gone to court to chal- coordinated fire sabotage targeted at three of lenge INEC’s stand, and the commission said their local government offices in Abia, Plateau it would comply with whatever decision the and Anambra States, caused the postpone- court made. ment. A lawyer, Abdulaziz Ibrahim believes that A new date of February 23 for the national INEC has the powers to withhold Okorocha’s poll, and March 9, for the state election, were certificate because forcing someone to act announced. under duress is equal to violence. The electoral process was largely peaceful “The ad hoc staff are advised that when and transparent in many areas, but bloody in there is violence, they should leave the scene others. in order to save their neck. But the issue of In Rivers, voting was yet to commence an election officer being held at gunpoint to when reports dominated the social media that announce the result, it is not envisaged. But gunmen had taken over the streets, shooting INEC has the powers to withhold the an- sporadically. Some of the gunmen were said to nouncement of the result, and deny him his be kitted in Army uniforms. certificate,” he said. Although the 6 Division spokesman in Wale Ogunade The 2019 elections have come with its les- Port Harcourt, Aminu Iliyasu, said those sons, says Ogunade, and he believes that the were thugs, but one INEC official in-charge take away is for the commission to push for an of Okrika local government area, Leo Okon, electoral law that would accommodate elec- named a particular Captain Inuwa of leading tronic voting, and prescribe punitive measures soldiers to disrupt the election process. for mischievous political players. A fact-finding panel of INEC team Oseni elaborates on how technology can later indicted some element of the Army of aid a successful election. disrupting collation of results in some local “The use of technology cannot be overem- government in Rivers State, although they phasized in any aspect of an election. From the kicked. time you are registering people. When you talk For Oseni, the action of security agencies of underage voters, technology should be able trying to undermine the electoral process was to determine that. You don’t need your birth a systemic deficit in those organisations. certificates. Use technology to ensure that the “How do we ensure that those in the agen- people who registered are the same people that cies have this patriotic feeling that I’m not vote. there to obey politicians but rather to obey my “We should be thinking about e-voting even nation. How do we instil that kind of sense though it may be too early and premature for of patriotism, sense of nationalism, sense Ogu Bundu Nwadike now, but we should be thinking of it may be altruism in the security people? And that will in the next decade of our democratic practice take some time because it starts with how elections did not envisage. and make sure that mischievous politicians you recruit them, how you control them. It The Returning Officer, Ibeawuchi Innocent, are not allowed to hack or control the use of also tells about federalism and the control for a professor of Maritime Technology, said the technology to their own advantage. security agencies, how do you ensure that they result he was announcing was not done on his “Government should also be more serious do what is good for the nation and not for an own free will. on how to deploy technology to gather intelli- individual,” he said. “I declared this thing before under duress; gence. You can use drones to monitor elections While Nigerians were bemoaning the situa- I’m still under duress declaring this one,” he particularly in Riverine and hinterlands to en- tion in Rivers, in Imo, something novel hap- said. sure that when people are snatching boxes you pened during the announcement of the result Rochas Okorocha, the governor of Imo would know within minutes so that you can go of the Imo West Senatorial election which the State was the All Progressives Congress (APC) there and arrest the situation,” he said. Electoral Act and the guidelines for the 2019 senatorial candidate for the election and was the person the returning officer said he

40 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 residents of Arapaja compound, Kudeti, in the Ibadan South-East Local Government Area of Oyo State, February 23, 2019, would be remembered for the violence and attendant bloodbath that threw the community into mourning. On that day during the conduct of the presidential and National Assembly elections, some masked gun-wielding hoodlums stormed the polling booth in Arapaja compound, shooting sporadically into the air to scare the voters that had converged on a collation centre in the area. It was a few minutes after the 2pm time set by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the conclusion of voting that the gunmen opened fire on the armless voters. A female security operative manning the unit fled to save her life. But a 25-year-old Hamzat was unlucky. Eight bullets reportedly pierced through his body and he died on the way to the hospital. In Lagos State, areas believed to be the strongholds of the opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, had its own share of violence. Areas Ballot snatching was a recurring decimal like Okota, Isolo, Oshodi, Alaba and Ajegunle each had their own share of the violence. In Okota, political thugs were said to have arrived on motorbikes before the voting started threat- ening anyone who voted against the candidates We learnt nothing, of the All Progressives Congress, APC. They later destroyed thumb-printed ballot papers. The thugs were also alleged to have set electoral materials on fire. The Okota incident took an forgot nothing ethnic colouration as Igbo residents of the area were disenfranchised as political thugs who were Election malpractice reared its ugly head again. From believed to be Yoruba stopped them from casting their votes because of their belief that Ndigbo ballot snatching to ballot stuffing and outright violence, it would vote for Atiku Abubakar, presidential was chaos all the way candidate of the PDP instead of Muhammadu Buhari, generally believed to have been endorsed By Pita Ochai by the Yoruba race. Coalition of Civil Society Organisations for the However, members of the Oodua People’s igeria will on May 29, this year, 2019 general elections, about 260 people died Congress, OPC, and Afenifere, the Pan Yoruba celebrate 20 years of uninterrupted as a result of violence across the country from organisation later appealed for calm while de- democratic governance with its October 2018; when campaigns kicked off till nouncing one Demola, alleged to be the leader transition from military to civil- the conclusion of the elections. of the ballot box snatchers. He was killed during Nian rule in 1999. After two decades under a One of the victims of election violence was the violence. democratic dispensation, it was expected that Temitope Olatoye alias Sugar, who was until his In Rivers State, a soldier and five other persons the 2019 general elections, which is the sixth in death a member of the House of Representatives were killed while man others sustained injuries a row would have been free, fair and devoid of for Lagelu/Akinleye constituency of Oyo State. in the violence that trailed the Presidential and election malpractices. He was assassinated while returning from his National Assembly elections. The soldier, a However, the reverse was the case as violence; village after casting his vote in the governorship lieutenant, was killed at Abonnema, headquar- vote buying, ballot snatching, hijacking and election of Saturday, March 9, 2019. According ters of Akuku Toru Local Government Area, destruction of electoral materials, militarisation to reports, the deceased was ambushed by some while Mowan Etete, a chieftain of the APC, and of the process, voter apathy, voter intimidation political thugs who assailed him with bullets. former Chairman of Andoni Local Government and killings manifested in the recent election of Olatoye, who was gunned down in Elesu vil- Council, was killed alongside his elder brother candidates into the Presidential and National lage, Lalupon, Lagelu, was immediately rushed and cousin in Asarama. As a result of violence, Assembly held on February 23. The despicable to the Accident and Emergency ward of the the collation of the governorship/state assembly election malpractices were replicated during University College Hospital in Ibadan by his election results was suspended for about three the March 9 governorship and State Houses of supporters, before being moved to the Intensive weeks. Assembly polls. Care Unit, where doctors battled to save his The commission said soldiers and some armed In virtually all parts of the country, the elec- life. He was confirmed dead at about 8.00 pm gangs contributed to the charged atmosphere tions were marred by violence. According to same day. that made it difficult for electoral officers to report from the Civil Society Situation Room, a For the family of Monsuru Hamzat and continue with collation at the state INEC head-

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 41 A polling station attacked by hoodlums quarters in Port Harcourt, the state capital. at Ojoku in Oyun Local Government Area in ment Area of Akwa Ibom State. Elections had Also, an unconfirmed number of persons Kwara South. The attack was specifically against to be suspended in Azendeshi ward in Benue believed to be members of the PDP were killed supporters of Ashiru as he was leading a cam- state because of the attack and destruction of following the eruption of violence before the paign rally to the palace of the traditional ruler election materials by suspected thugs. Some commencement of accreditation and voting of Ojoku. Ojoku is the hometown of Senator vehicles transporting election materials to in Asari-Toru, Akuku-Toru and Degema Lo- Ibrahim of the PDP, who was seeking re-election. the polling units were attacked by hoodlums cal Government Areas of the state. Nnamdi Several witnesses that the attack was caused by along Zaki Biam in Ukum LGA. Some escorts Omoni, Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, the chants and exchange of political slogans, including INEC officials and party agents were Rivers State Command said that Etete was in “O to ge” (meaning enough is enough) by APC injured. his house when unknown gunmen scaled the supporters and “O tun ya” (one more time) by Festus Okoye, a National Commissioner of fence, entered the house and killed him and PDP supporters. This made the two opposing the Independent National Electoral Commis- his brother. camps to launch attacks against each other using sion, INEC, said that the electoral body did all A local election observer was also killed by dangerous weapons. Senator Ibrahim and eight within the law to ensure free and fair elections stray bullet in Enugu State. The stray bullet was other suspects were later arrested by the police but its major challenge was with the politi- fired by a policeman to disperse a group of pro- over the violence. cians who were bent on winning at all cost. “As testers. The Enugu Police Command said that A similar violent action took place in the oil- INEC was planning and preparing for free and the protesters were pushing for the postpone- rich Bayelsa State when armed men in military fair elections, politicians were also planning and ment of the gubernatorial poll to give more time uniform killed Reginald Dei, a photographer preparing ahead but not to improve or better for Ayogu Eze, the governorship flag bearer of attached to Government House Yenagoa, and the election. Their plan and preparation was to APC to campaign. Before the election, Eze was Seidougha Taribi, the PDP Ward Chairman for perfect malpractices,” he said. battling to wriggle out of a legal tangle over the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Clement Nwankwo, Executive Director, his nomination. He was only cleared to run by Bayelsa State. Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, and con- the court few days to the elections. Eze’s sup- The destruction of electoral materials in vener, Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, porters insisted the election should be delayed some states caused setbacks to the timetable. NCSSR, said that an ideal election is for citizens so that he would have enough time to canvass Just hours to the presidential and national as- to democratically exercise their rights to choose for votes. sembly elections, containers with about 4695 their government, and as such no election should In kwara State, a violent clash between APC smart card readers meant for the election were cost lives. and PDP supporters led to the death of two destroyed by fire that razed INEC facility at the Browne Onuoha, a Professor of political persons. The clash was between the follow- Anambra state INEC headquarter in Awka. Just Scientist from the University of Lagos, said ers of Lola Ashiru, the senatorial candidate of about 24 hours to the governorship and House that democracy in Nigeria is in a terrible state APC for Kwara South and Rafiu Ibrahim, the of Assembly polls, unidentified hoodlums burnt judging from the level of election malpractices PDP senatorial candidate. The crisis occurred down the INEC office in Ibesikpo Local Govern- in the recent polls. Its practice defies universal

42 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 standards of acceptable behaviour. To him, while but this seems not to have yielded much fruit. registered voters - Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Rivers, everything is wrong with democracy in Nigeria, The Coalition of Civil Society Groups, CCSG, less than half of the registered voters turned out the greatest danger to its development is election in its report as election observer said that vote- at the polls. In the presidential and National violence. He noted that elections in Nigeria are buying was prevalent in 16 states of the federa- Assembly elections, Lagos state with 6,313,507 regarded as do-or-die affairs with politicians tion. There were reported cases of vote buying registered voters recorded 1,156,590 (18.3 per- willing to unleash violence to achieve their in Adamawa, Sokoto, Lagos, Delta, Enugu, Ekiti, cent) total votes. In Kano State with 5,391,581 ambition. That desperation was the cause of the Bauchi, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Kwara, Zam- registered voters, only 1,964,751 voted (36.4 violence during the last general elections. fara, Kebbi, Oyo, Kano and Osun States within percent), only 1,709,005 (44.3 percent) voted in Nigeria is one of a few countries, where the the range of N500 and N5,000. Abiola Akiyode- Kaduna state of the 3,861,031 total registered signing of “peace accords” always precedes a gen- Afolabi, the Executive Director of Women voters, 3,215,273 registered in Rivers State but eral election. Why? This is because politicians Advocates Research and Development Centre, only 666,585 (20.7 percent) turned out in Rivers and their supporters treat elections as a state of WARDC, who observed the elections, stated: State. The statistics were not much different in war. In 2011, over 800 people died in violent “The democratic space is definitely on sale. From the governorship and state house of Assembly clashes after President Goodluck Jonathan was our assessment, the general electioneering pro- elections. declared winner of the presidential election. In cess for 2019 is a big retrogression from where Atiku Abubakar, the flag bearer of PDP, 2015, the National Human Rights Commission, we are coming from. It has brought us back not blamed the apathy in the polls on alleged rigging NHRC, stated 58 deaths across 22 states during only to 2007.” in the February 23 presidential and National the general elections. While the government made efforts to ensure Assembly elections. Many Nigerians believe that the militarisation security during the elections, the 2019 general The Coalition of Democrats for Electoral of the election was to help abate malpractices. election recorded the lowest voters’ turnout. Reforms, CODER, has decried the apathy that President Buhari had warned before the gen- About 84 million registered to vote but only 29 characterised the general elections, saying the eral elections that malpractices would not be million voted in the presidential election, 34.75 national average of voter turnout was 34 per cent. tolerated. To dissuade Nigerian from towing percent of the total registered voters. Accord- CODER said its data suggested the problem was the path of election violence, the President had ing to data from the International Institute for more prevalent in urban centres, particularly ordered security agents to “deal ruthlessly” with Democracy and Electoral Assistance (I-IDEA) among the elite. ballot box snatchers which generated much the turnout of voters at the 2019 presidential Wunmi Bewaji, the Executive Director/Chair controversy. In most parts of the country, there election is the second lowest in the history of Transition Committee, linked the develop- were heavily armed security agents drawn from elections held in African countries — the lowest ment with a number of factors, including the the Department of State, DSS, the Nigerian being 32.3 per cent in the 1996 Zimbabwean INEC’s failure to develop and enhance its hu- Army, the Nigeria Police, the Nigerian Security presidential election. man capital. It also identified lack of access to and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, and several The turnout during the governorship and weak and vulnerable groups, such as the aged, others. House of Assembly elections held on March the sick, disabled and illiterates, as well as what Another disturbing feature of the 2019 general 9 was lower than that of the presidential and he described as the growing phenomenon of elections was vote buying. From recent elections national assembly. It was characterised by poor ‘judicialisation’ of the country’s democracy. in states like Ekiti, Osun, Edo, Anambra, vote voter turnout in all the 36 states of the coun- Bewaji said the data was alarming, with millions buying assumed a worrisome dimension. INEC try and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of uncollected Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) at devised a mean of curbing it by disallowing the Abuja. INEC offices nationwide. He said: “To safeguard use of mobile phones around the voting areas, In the five states with the highest number of our democracy, there is the need to explore voters’ pre-registration and incentivisation of franchise with the introduction of a Voter Participation Certificate (VPC) with attendant benefits and consequences. For example, possession of a valid VPC could be made a criterion for employment/promotion in the civil service, for postgraduate admissions, participation in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), to obtain driv- ers’ licence, international passports, for registration of companies etc.” The CODER director said “the lo- cation of polling stations, haphazard placement of voting materials, self- accreditation etc. all add up to disen- franchise many, especially the aged, the sick, disabled and illiterates.” From all indications, consolidating democracy in Nigeria appears to be in crisis as a result of the challenges of electoral malpractices which manifest in form of corruption, insecurity and weak Security officials intervene in intense stand off at a polling station democratic institutions.

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 43 Getting ready for voters: the youths didn’t show up in large numbers

84 million registered voters. By these numbers, this year’s presidential election attracted the Why we don’t vote least number of voters since 1999. Could it be because the two major contestants, Mr. Muham- Nigerians prefer to talk but “forget” to vote madu Buhari (APC) and Mr. Atiku Abubakar (PDP) have identical biometric statistics? They are both Fulani from the North. They are both muslims. They are both tall, and they are both By Ray Ekpu produced the lowest voting figures since our in their 70s. But that is where the similarities return to civil rule in 1999. Look at the figures: end because the contrasts are stark. Buhari is he headline, why we don’t vote, In 1999, 30.2 million people voted out of 57.2 perceived as honest, simple and disciplined but contains both seeds of accuracy and million registered voters (52.1%). In 2003 out of tyrannical, partisan, inflexible and unforgiving. inaccuracy. It is not true that we don’t 60.8 million registered voters 42 million voted Atiku is seen as cosmopolitan, liberal-minded vote. We do. In the recently concluded (69.1%). In 2007 35.5 million people cast their and de-tribalised but unscrupulous, disloyal, Telections, we, many of us, voted. But the truth, votes out of 61.6 million voters (57.6%). In 2011 dodgy and a political adulterer. These are some the unvarnished truth, is that we make a lot of 40.7 million people voted out of 73.5 million reg- of the qualities pinned on them by their admirers noise about our love for democracy but we don’t istered to vote (55.3%). In 2015 only 29.4 million and traducers but in the Nigerian voting scheme vote in large numbers as a physical expression people voted out of 68.8 million (42.7%) but dur- those attributes seem to count for little. What of that love. Love talked about but love not ing the recently concluded presidential election matters more is the ability to mobilise the voters exhibited. only a miserable 28.6 million people bothered to your side by hook or crook. But the biometric The recently concluded presidential elections to vote out of a whopping voting strength of similarities between Buhari and Atiku could

44 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 not satisfactorily explain the reason for apathy. risation of the electoral process in all states of gun-totting, ready-to-shoot security men was a In 1999 the two combatants Chief Olusegun the Federation. Ordinarily, the huge presence of disincentive to venturing out to vote. Obasanjo and Chief Olu Falae had similar at- security personnel ought to be an assurance to The violence recorded in some parts of the tributes: they are both Yoruba, Christian, tall potential voters that they will be protected and country during the campaigns may have told and experienced public servants though they they will not be in harm’s way. But ironically the voters that those incidents represented, possibly, both have contrasting temperaments and career large presence of the security personnel espe- a foretaste of what was to come during the elec- statistics. Despite the similarities between them cially the Army, raised some doubts about not tions. In Ogun State, an APC State, the campaign 52.1% of the registered voters went out to vote only their safety but also the possible freeness was disrupted with President Buhari who is the for them. The relatively high turnout must have and fairness of the election. The wide percep- leader of that party in attendance. Because of been affected by the desire of people to bring the tion was that the ruling party was likely to use violence the campaign had to be stopped and the unfortunate June 12 episode to a closure since the Army to manipulate the election for the sit- President provided a shield by his security op- it was obvious that the Yorubas who had lost an ting President. Eventhough there were reported eratives. There were several other cases in some MKO Abiola presidency through the election cases of the military’s unprofessional conduct in other States, some of them involving killing and annulment were likely to have one of their own, some states it is doubtful if these incidents were maiming of people. So those who stayed away either Obasanjo or Falae, through the election widespread enough to make any significant dif- from voting felt justified in doing so because of 1999. ference to the outcome of the election. But the self-preservation is the first law of nature. Could it be that the large army of presidential more serious aspect of the militarisation of the In the basket of reasons for low voter turn- candidates, 73, in 2019 was a dampener for those election was the statement by President Buhari out we can include the perceived glitches from who would have wanted to vote? Could they have that the military should “deal ruthlessly” with INEC, reports of non-arrival of voting materi- said to themselves that such a large crowd had re- ballot box snatchers. That statement was the als, burning of INEC offices and delivery vans, duced the election to a joke and that they did not exact definition of extra judicial killing because low voter enlightenment, low confidence in the want to be part of the circus show? That might the Electoral Act 2010 has actually prescribed a electoral umpire, doubts whether their votes not be a very plausible explanation because in penalty of 24 months jail sentence for such in- would count or even be counted. 2003 there were 20 presidential candidates and fringements as ballot box snatching. In response Another reason for the voter apathy may have there was a 69.1% voter turnout. That large to the statement of the President who is also the been the sequence of the elections. In normal turnout which beat the 1999 figure of 52.1% Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, the settings, the presidential election being the most may have been accounted for by the fact that Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Tukur Buratai important should have brought up the rear. people were now convinced that democracy was stated that the President’s command will be That is what happened in most of the elections here at last, no more annulment or truncation obeyed to the letter. This was scary, very, very in the past. That arrangement gives the election or elongated transition programme. Reality had scary and a huge dampener to voter turnout. manager the opportunity to test its strength come to town. But even in the 2007 presidential The Nigerian security forces do not have a solid and discover its weaknesses in the execution of election the voting turnout was high, 57.6% ev- reputation for civility or for respecting the hu- the lower league elections. In that process the enthough there were 27 presidential candidates. man rights of Nigerians. Very many examples enthusiasm and voting appetite of the populace The voters may have said to themselves: the more of their misbehaviour or unruliness are dotted is whetted in readiness for the big event, the the merrier. all over the media every week. For people who presidential election. But Nigeria’s political elite In the last presidential election, there were needed to be persuaded to go out and vote the in their wisdom, or lack of it, had decided that, easily discernible causes of low turnout. The prospect of their being harmed or harassed by contrary to convention and commonsense, the election was shifted by one week just a few hours to the opening of polling. The announcement of the shift was done at the mysteri- ous hour of 2.30 in the morning and if it had been on April 1, many would have thought it was a cruel April Fool joke. Many people who registered to vote in their home states had definitely travelled home only to be told, “no show.” Many of them could not wait for another week in order to vote because that would amount to a disruption of their life, work or business. They simply returned to their place of normal residence. Most of them did not go back home to vote on the rescheduled date. The election lost them. The second reason for the low turnout was the extreme milita- Polling station or war front?

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 45 Aftermath of an attack on a polling station

big masquerade should appear first. It seemed question to ask: where were the youths? Also, translated into the desire to vote for one of them. to many voters that the insistence on the presi- in the same vein, we had 39, 598,664 registered But the enthusiasm by the politicians to offer dential election coming first had in its womb female voters. That is 47.14% of the voters. themselves for service was only matched by the the seeds of mischief and manipulation and they Again, you can also ask: where were the women? voters’ readiness to ignore them. would rather not be a pawn on that chessboard The questions about youths and women are Another irony. The struggle to wrestle military of mischief and manipulation. particularly pertinent because they constitute dictators to the ground and take our country It is also possible that some voters may have a sizeable chunk of the population; they are the back lasted for a total of 28 years, first from 1966 asked themselves whether or not standing in ones likely to be more affected by policy issues to 1979 and then from 1984 to 1999. During this the rain or sun to vote was worth the trouble. on unemployment, education, poverty, gender period many activists, journalists and politi- The populace have often felt that Nigerian equality, violence, health, human rights and cians lost their lives or liberty. Others went on politicians hardly fulfil their promises, even similar issues now and in the future. Why would exile, established pirate radio stations abroad to those ones printed in their manifestoes. So the they not want to contribute even in a minor way beam their messages to those at home. For the voters, some of them, have learnt to think about to the shaping of that present and that future first time, the words “guerrilla journalism” crept the worthlessness of those words vomited by by the simple act of voting? Do they think, into our lexicon. Now, after all the wahala we ac- Nigerian politicians. And because of this slippery like many other Nigerians, that that future has quired our freedom from military dictators and posture of our politicians the serious media have already been decided behind their backs by the indicated that we were ready for elected civilian often resorted to documenting and displaying political elite who are mainly “old school?” Even administration which we have come to call de- the promises made by politicians, where, when if they think so do they simply want to throw mocracy, then we lost interest by largely refusing and on what occasion. This scenario indicates up their hands in despair instead of starting a to vote. What is the explanation for this loss or that many potential voters may believe, based fight for the renovation of that present and the lack of interest? Are we suffering from the effect on past experience, that their votes will make no recovery of that future? of war weariness, the war to send the soldiers difference, that the politicians are not promise The voter apathy situation is replete with iro- back to their barracks? Or having got democratic keepers but promise killers. In that case, they nies. The politicians seemed to show numerical structures in place, do we feel that the job has ask themselves, isn’t it better to stay at home enthusiasm by 73 of them throwing their hats been done, that we can go home and rest and and sleep or watch football or African magic into the ring, to use a threadbare expression. leave the politicians to do their jobs? If that is the or Zee-world or have sex. They answered, “it is Eventhough many of these so-called presidential reason, then that is a mistake. Democracy’s work better.” The election lost them. candidates did not do much more than get their is never done. It is a continuing and continuous The voter apathy has thrown up some not parties on the ballot, the sheer number and vari- battle because anti-democratic forces are never easily explicable dimensions to our political ety of presidential aspirants should have been a far away even within democratic structures. The life. Among the registered voters there were 42, source of curiosity, interrogation and interest to tree of democracy must constantly receive the 938,458 youths whose ages ranged from 18-35. serious minded citizens. They should have asked water of nourishment for it to survive and thrive. They constitute 51.11% of the registered voters. who among the multitude might be persons The checks and balances that stakeholders can Since only 28.6 million people voted in the 2019 of exceptional interest to them apart from the place on those who manage our democracy is presidential election I think it is a pertinent two well-known candidates. That should have the manure that democracy needs for its growth

46 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 and grooming. Since 1999 we have only had six presidential interested; they are not voting; they are not regis- Over the years we have been very vociferous elections so it cannot be said that we are fatigued tering to vote; they are not going to the campaign about democracy and gone to great lengths to tell and election weary. These elections are held venue; they are just nonchalant but they do not the world that we want it and want it badly. Are only once in four years. We must therefore seek know that that nonchalance will come back to we just noise makers, the equivalent of empty to go beyond what, on the surface, we see as bite them when they have a bad leader.” barrels that make the loudest noise or are we the reasons for our election apathy. Those who In most Nigerian communities it is the elite doers, people who talk and walk the talk like make things work in most countries are the who take decisions for their people. The elite are voters in some African countries? According elite, the crème de la crème, the aristocrats, the well-educated, well-travelled, well exposed and to figures released by the International Institute haut monde but it appears that that class, the well connected to the loop of power. They control for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) upper middle class, has either lost its direction the commanding heights of the economy, they which was published by the International Centre or is nonchalant in Nigeria. During the intense are wired to the decision makers in the profes- for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) in its newslet- demonstration against the proposal to increase sions, government and the private sector. So if ter, Rwanda which leads Africa in many good the price of petrol by the Goodluck Jonathan societies work well it is largely because the elite things, had a 98.2% voter turnout in its 2017 Administration some years ago, many of the elite want it to work well and they work for it. If any presidential election. The other leading countries showed extreme indifference to the issue that had society is wobbling, as ours is, a lot of the blame are Equatorial Guinea 92.7% in 2016, Angola paralysed that government and the economy. can also be placed on the doorsteps of the elite. 90.4% in 2017, Seychelles 90.1% in 2016, Guinea They were caught sitting leisurely during the If Nigeria has unsuccessful elections we can hold Bissau 89.3% in 2019, Zimbabwe 86.8% in 2018, demonstration superintending over some bottles the elite responsible because it is they who hire Sierra Leone 84.2% in 2018, Kenya 79.5% in of choice cognac and champagne while demon- and arm thugs, who buy voters and election of- 2017, Liberia 75.2% in 2017 and Burundi 73.4% strators were brutalized by security forces. This ficials, who compromise the election tribunals in 2015. When you look at those figures from was classic nonchalance. I had referred to this and the courts whenever and wherever they some parts of Africa you wonder why Nigeria, type of nonchalance in an article I wrote for The can. No one says the non-elite are not involved a great noise maker in matters of democracy is Guardian in 2018. I said: “Bad leaders emerge in these nefarious practices. Others who are lagging behind in terms of actualization. because the citizens are nonchalant; they are not involved are fringe players who play only fringe roles. The elite are the big league players, who make things, good and bad, to happen using the obliging fringe players, inducing them, cajoling them and promising them the moon with their names on it. So the elite play a pivotal role in the success or failure of our country. What do they want? Money and power not necessarily in that order, but both are important to them. Power provides money and money can also provide power. The two are friendly and they support each other. Consummate users of power under- stand these two items as important factors in the success equation. When Mr. Olisa Agbakoba, a respected Senior Advocate of Nigeria, mounted the political podium and said that he had a data base of at least 10 million youths in the internet who are ready to make a difference in the elections, I laughed. He said they would ensure that a formidable Third Force emerges. By the gift of hindsight Mr. Agbakoba was just blowing hot air eventhough he meant well for the country. Do the youths, the major czars of ranting on the internet know what they want? If they know it, do they know how to achieve it? Do they know that their future begins today, now, and that they should not surrender the building of that future to the present elite. Why? Because the present elite, have by their acts of commission or omission, laid giant land mines for a future of which they will not be a part. Our elite, especially our educated, professional, political and military elite, are in need of a new sense of national renaissance and greatness. Olisa Agbakoba, lawyer and political activist

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 47 APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole

A party at odds with itself Ruling All Progressive Congress didn’t need the opposition to complicate its election prospects, its own members did that just fine

By Augustine Adah

he leadership of the ruling All Zamfara and Ogun, where the governor was Hope Uzodinma as the candidate of the party. Progressives Congress, APC, had on implicated in an attack on the presidential Since then, the APC’s house of commotion several occasions promised to guar- election campaign rally in the state. could not find peace, as the contentions set antee a level playing ground for all The crisis in Imo State chapter of the party the outgoing governor against the national Taspirants in order to ensure rancour-free pri- became fierce when Governor Rochas Okoro- leadership of the party, represented by Adams maries that would give the party victory in the cha insisted that Uche Nwosu, his son-in-law, Oshiomhole. 2019 general elections. However, intra-party would succeed him in office. Nwosu then won The mild drama in the state chapter of the crisis fueled by indiscipline, especially within a controversial governorship primary organ- party continued as the party leaders loyal to the ranks of leaders, played a decisive role in ised by the governor and other stakeholders, Okorocha suspended Uzodinma from the par- the conduct and outcome of the elections in but a presidential panel led by Ahmed Gulak ty in January. They accused him of supporting some states including Oyo, Ondo, Imo, Rivers, conducted a separate primary which produced a candidate of another political party in the

48 | Newswatch Now May, 2019 When the result of the governorship elec- when they believed he can be chased away and tion conducted on March 23, was released by the party would not lose anything, the result is INEC, it was obvious that the crisis has dealt what they got in the last election where a rul- a deadly blow to the party as it could not win ing party cannot win a single seat in the state the governorship position and a single seat in house of assembly, were AA won eight seats”. the state assembly. Despite the poor performance, the governor’s According to the result of the election spokesperson asserted that APC has hope in released by INEC, Uche Nwosu of AA scored the state if the leadership can retrace its step 190,364, while Hope Uzodima of APC got and mend fence with the governor. 96,458 as against the winner of the election, The case in Ogun State is similar to that Emeka Ihedioha who polled 273,404. Look- of Imo where Governor Ibikunle Amosun ing at the result, APC stood a better chance who contested and won a senatorial seat on of winning the election if the two groups had the platform of the party, failed to support closed ranks and presented a single candidate the candidate of the party in the governorship in the election. Some people believed that the election. Though the APC won the governor- personal desire of Okorocha to single hand- ship election in the state, it is believed that the edly impose candidates on the party caused margin of the votes between APC and runner the failure of the party in the state. up in the election would have been higher if One of such persons is the pioneer state the party had done everything possible to put chairman of APC in Imo State, Marshal Oka- its house in order. The crisis in the party led for. Okafor who left the party a few months to parallel congresses conducted to elect the after emerging as the chairman, disclosed to governorship candidate of the party. While Newswatch Now that Okorcha never cared the one conducted by Amosun’s caucus of the for the interest of the party during the time he party elected Adekunle Akinlade as the party’s served as the chairman and the position con- governorship candidate, the group loyal to tinued after he left the party. He alleged that former governor of the state, Segun Osoba, what the governor was interested in was to use elected Dapo Abiodun. the party to further his personal interest. The Immediately after Dapo Abiodun’s emer- action according to him continued after he left gence was ratified by the national leadership the party as Hillary Eke who came after him of the party, the crisis in the party started tot- also complained of the governor’s failure to tering from one level to the other. All efforts advance the course of the party rather that of to reconcile the gladiators before the election personal agenda. “He is not a governor that proved futile. Then supporters of Amosun believes that political party is predicated on and his preferred choice for the governorship galvanizing and bringing people into the party. ticket, Akinlade, finally defected to Allied The same fate I had with him is the same thing People’s Movement, APM. the man he foisted on the party, Eke, who was The Spokesperson for the defectors, Lamidi one of his boys as party chairman had with Olatunji declared, “After extensive and due him”. consultations with our elders, members and Imo West Senatorial District against Okorocha However, the Chief Press Secretary, CPS, stakeholders in the APC in Ogun State, we now a senator elect from the zone. However, to the governor, Sam Onwuemedo described have come to the inevitable conclusion to seek controversy over who bears the flag of the Okorocha as a political gift to Imo State and the general mandate of our people in the 2019 party was laid to rest during the presidential the entire Nigeria whose value cannot be elections on the platform of the Allied People’s rally attended by leaders and chieftains of the rubbished by anybody. According to On- Movement, APM.” party in Owerri, the state capital. wuemedo, the leading position of APC in While Amosun’s loyalists were moving into On that day, President Muhammadu Imo State before the last election was the sole the new party, the governor promised to re- Buhari after reeling out his administration’s effort of the governor but when they thought main in APC where he contested and won the achievements upon which he was relying to the party can move forward without him, the Ogun Central Senatorial seat and worked for seek for a second term in office, urged all APC result is what they got in the last election. the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari supporters in Imo State not to allow “intra or “Okorocha single handedly brought APC to in the 2019 presidential election. inter-party squabbles to remove your senses Imo and made it a party to reckon with, but However, Amosun had on several occasions of responsibility.” He went on to raise Uzod- accused some leaders of the party including inma’s hand “as the APC candidate” saying “I the national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, wish us the best of luck, you and me.” Later, of being responsible for the lingering crisis in in what appeared more like an after-thought, However, intra-party crisis the party. Buhari also raised Okorocha’s hands asking the fueled by indiscipline, es- Shortly, after President Buhari held a meet- “ ing with governorship and National Assembly people to vote for him in his senatorial ambi- pecially within the ranks of tion. After the rally when the governor knew “ candidates of the party in Abuja, Amosun in leaders, played a decisive role that there was little or nothing he could do to a press statement by the state Commissioner change the decision of the party on the choice in the conduct and outcome of for Information and Strategy, Dayo Adeneye, of candidate, advised Nwosu to join Action Al- the elections in some states titled, “The Lies Oshiomhole Represents,” liance (AA), a party he alleged to had formed declared, “He and his collaborators will fail in 2015, and picked the governorship ticket. in Ogun State.” The governor vowed that the

Newswatch Now May, 2019 | 49 a single candidate for the election. The faction loyal to Governor Abdulaziz Yari insisted on having its way in the choice of those to represent the party in the election while those in Senator Kabiru Marafa camp opposed them. The defeat of the party in Oyo and Ondo states where the party is in power and its failure to present candidates in Rivers State was as a result of irreconcilable differences between the leadership hierarchies of the party. The differences between Senator Mag- nus Abe and the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, which split the party into two factions which barred them from present- ing candidates in the elections was avoidable. The two groups conducted separate congress that led to the emergence of two governorship candidates. The matter was dragged to court where a federal high court in Port Harcourt nullified the parallel congresses conducted by the party and barred Independent National Electoral Commission ,INEC, from recogniz- ing candidates of the party in the 2019 general election. The decision of the lower court was also upheld by appellate courts. In Oyo State, the party was humiliated to a level that the incumbent governor, Abiola Ajimobi, failed in the Oyo south senatorial election to a candidate of the opposition P D P. The crisis in the party degenerated to a level that the Minister of Communications, Tinubu: APC’s chief reconciler Adebayo Shittu, wrote a letter to President Buhari, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, design of Oshiomhole and his collaborators to The Zamfara State chapter of APC may be to intervene and save the party from misfor- hijack the government of Ogun State and hand on the threshold of losing the state depending tune in 2019 elections. ‘I Appeal to you to it over to a gang of rapacious expansionists in on the awaited Supreme Court ruling on the save the soul of APC, Oyo State chapter,’ Shittu the South West would fail”. controversial primaries of the party con- pleaded in the letter. The wrangling in the state chapter of the ducted last year. The Court of Appeal sitting The minister accused Ajimobi of using an party became open to the public on Febru- in Sokoto, led by Justice Tom Yakubu, set aside undemocratic system to run the party. Unfor- ary 11 during the presidential campaign at the judgment of a Zamfara High Court on tunately, the intervention of Tinubu failed to Abeokuta when the exercise turned violent in the APC primaries that produced the party’s save the party from electoral defeat as it lost the presence of President Buhari. Many leaders candidates for governorship, National and the governorship ticket to Seyi Makinde of the of the party in attendance scampered for safety State Assembly elections. P D P. as hoodlums appeared to have taken over And last February, the Court of Appeal In Ondo State, the party with a sitting the exercise despite appeals by Amosun for sitting in Abuja set aside the judgment of the governor lost the presidential election to calm. Shouts of ole, ole, rent the air as angry Federal High Court, Abuja, which barred the the candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar. mob pelted Oshiomhle with stones. Amosun APC from fielding candidates, in consonance While APC in the presidential election scored who had earlier delivered his speech urging with the earlier decision of the Independent 241,769, PDP garnered 275,901 votes to defeat the people to vote for President Buhari in the National Electoral Commission (INEC). the ruling party. Before the general elec- presidential election came back to the podium The Federal High Court gave its ruling on tion, some chieftains of the party in the state to appeal for calm. “I beg you in the name of January 25 on the same day that another court were at loggerheads with the governor which God… this is what they want to happen… upheld the primaries organised by the state split the party into different factions. Some Please don’t disgrace me here. chapter of the party. But a three-man panel of of the chieftains of the party opposed to the “Our father is here, please don’t disgrace me. the appellate court described the judgment in governor were the senator representing Ondo I beg you in the name of God; please don’t dis- Abuja as an abuse of court process. The panel North Senatorial District, Ajayi Boroffice; grace me before our father. We have laboured held that the trial court lacked the jurisdiction ex-chairman of the party, Mr. Isaac Kekemeke; this hard. I am appealing to you. Please, leave. to have entertained the suit. a former deputy governor, Alhaji Ali Olanusi; I beg you in the name of God, please leave. I The party walked its way into the current and a House of Representatives member, Mr. beg you. I am begging,” Amosun pleaded in political doldrums when the two factions of Bamidele Baderinwa, among others. Yoruba. the party refused to work together to produce

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