[size=18pt]Nigerians contemplate the price of democracy [/size]
From KARL MAIER in Lagos

Saturday 01 August 1992 - The Independent



MONEY talks in Nigeria, and never more so than during the campaigns that have led up to today's first round of presidential primaries to decide which two candidates will contest the 5 December elections for the right to lead the country after a return to civilian rule next January.

Twenty candidates have entered the primaries, to be held each Saturday over the next six weeks, in the quest for nomination by Nigeria's only two legal parties, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the National Republican Convention (NRC), both created and funded by President Ibrahim Babangida's seven-year- old military government.

While vote-buying has traditionally tarnished Nigerian elections since independence from Britain 32 years ago, many observers argue that spending on this year's campaign is unprecedented. One SDP candidate, a multi-millionaire businessman, Arthur Nzeribe, has said he has pounds 25m in his war chest. At rallies, presidential hopefuls are expected to pay the crowds who turn out, local government officials, dancers, and often the journalists covering the event.

'This could lead to a moneytocracy . . . a government of moneymen for more money for themselves and for those who paid their initial bill for their elections,' General Olusegun Obasanjo, head of state in 1975-79, said in a recent lecture.

The two parties also got into the act by imposing levies of pounds 10,000 to pounds 13,000 on each candidate, ostensibly to reduce the number of contestants from the original more than 60. 'The moneybags have hijacked the parties,' Segun Ogundimu, who withdrew from the race, told the independent Lagos newspaper, The Guardian. 'I was under the impression that the government was keen on creating a new political culture. It was as if the presidency is for sale.'

The leading candidates for the NRC, whose political base runs from the Hausa-Fulani people of the north-west to the Ibos of the east, are a former minister of industries, Adamu Ciroma, a former intelligence chief, Umaru Shinkafi, and a newspaper publisher, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu. Frontrunners in the SDP, which is dominated by the Yoruba people of the south-west and minority ethnic groups in central and north-eastern Nigeria, include a former finance minister, Olu Falae, a former army chief of staff, Shehu Musa Yar'adua, and ex- Senate leader Sola Saraki.

The sources of the candidates' campaign funds and their past behaviour have been investigated by the State Security Service (SSS), but the National Electoral Commission said on Thursday that it would not exercise its right to ban candidates without explanation until after the primaries.

Some human rights activists have charged that such bannings could create enough instability to allow Gen Babangida to fulfil what they allege is his 'secret agenda' - to stay in power. Despite the President's repeated vow to leave office next January, the past month has seen increased calls from pro-government groups for the military to remain. 'We believe that their leaving now would amount to abdication of authority to imminent future chaos and disorder,' a group known as the Third Eye said in a recent two- page newspaper advertisement. 'The anarchists must not have their way to divide our nation.'

[size=18pt]Nigeria to re-run presidential vote

Friday 07 August 1992 - The Independent[/size]


LAGOS (AP) - The Nigerian military government yesterday annulled results of the first round of presidential primaries, plagued by reports of widespread vote rigging.

Fresh voting will be held next month. It was not clear whether the President, Gen Ibrahim Babangida, would be able to stick to his timetable to hand over power to a civilian government by early January. Both of the country's political parties had said earlier this week that the primary voting should be thrown out.

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Once Upon a Time! How did we get it so wrong?

[size=18pt]Nigeria elections fail to stir hard-pressed voters: The change people want is not on offer

Thursday 10 June 1993 - The Independent
[/size]
NIGERIA is literally crawling towards its first presidential elections in a decade on Saturday as widespread power cuts and fuel shortages overshadowed the campaign finales by the two military-approved contestants, millionaire Muslim businessmen Bashir Tofa and Moshood Abiola.

The fuel shortages in Africa's biggest oil producer, due to strikes, and the extended power failures, caused by low gas pressure at three plants, effectively shut down the country's commercial centre, Lagos, and left millions of people stranded or caught up in unprecedented traffic jams.

A work-to-rule this week by staff at the state oil company, NNPC, over wages and working conditions halted production and caused cars with empty petrol tanks to clog the streets. It also brought shortages of diesel fuel, which companies and wealthy home-owners use to counter the power cuts.

Temporary fuel shortages are routine in Lagos, and chronic scarcities have gripped northern Nigeria for the past two years. But they have been particularly severe in the run-up to the election, the penultimate stage of General Ibrahim Babangida's much delayed transition to civilian rule, now scheduled to end in a handover on 27 August.

'The reason you do not see trouble, protests and demonstrations is because all the people want Babangida just to go,' said Femi Adeniji, a Lagos motorist who queued for five hours to buy petrol on Tuesday. 'No trouble and no excuse for the army boys to stay.'

'People are fed up with the military,' said Tony Adefuye, a senator. 'They want a change.'
[img]http://2.bp..com/_GrDAQ4MFcs4/TGqsJh3fojI/AAAAAAAAB1E/nsMKbhMCivM/s400/ibb.jpg[/img]
Both presidential candidates, Mr Abiola for the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Mr Tofa for the National Republican Convention (NRC), have spent most of the campaign pledging to build a promised land of low inflation, high employment and a strong national currency, the naira. The independent African Guardian weekly described the campaign as 'All Blah Blah and no bite'.

Mr Abiola, a Yoruba chief and flamboyant publisher of the Concord Group, has said that if elected, he would ensure that the Nigerian national football team reaches the World Cup finals next year in the United States.

Neither Mr Tofa, 45, a bank chairman from the northern city of Kano, nor Mr Abiola, 55, have squarely addressed the problems of rampant corruption, restoring local and foreign investor confidence in the flagging economy, or how to reduce Nigeria's dollars 29bn ( pounds 19bn) foreign debt.

The two candidates have close links to the military and have promised not to investigate financial mismanagement and graft under the Babangida government. Both have been accused of financial wrongdoings themselves. They have also pledged continued support for Nigeria's 16,000-strong military intervention force in Liberia, which is costing the country dollars 150,000 per day.

Nigeria needs a deal with the International Monetary Fund for the Paris Club of government creditors to consider a substantial debt write-off. But talks with the IMF to replace a reform programme that expired in April 1992 have stalled. Western creditors have said by running up massive budget deficits and permitting corruption to run free, the Babangida government effectively abandoned its reform programme two years ago.

In January, after breaking its third self-imposed deadline to hand over power, the military set up a 'transitional council' headed by a respected businessman, Ernest Shonekan, ostensibly to run the country. The council drew up a highly praised budget but because it does not oversee key spending it has been dismissed by most Nigerians and foreign bankers as a public relations exercise to woo the Western business community.

[size=18pt]Nigerian voters look for a leader: Lagos demands withdrawal of US embassy spokesman after Washington insists elections, the first for 10 years, should go ahead.

Saturday 12 June 1993 - The Independent[/size]

NIGERIA's first presidential elections in a decade, due to take place today, were almost called off after a high court ruled late on Thursday in favour of an application to have the vote halted. General Ibrahim Babangida's eight-year-old military government decided to go ahead with the election following an emergency meeting of the National Defence and Security Council yesterday. Military decree 13, issued earlier this year, had said that no court ruling could halt any part of the programme of transition to civilian rule.

The United States, in an unusually strong statement yesterday, said 'any postponement of the election would cause grave concern to the US government'. This prompted Nigeria to demand the withdrawal within 72 hours of Michael O'Brien, the embassy spokesman, accusing him of 'blatant interference' and describing his statement as 'unacceptable'.

Shortly afterwards, the News Agency of Nigeria reported that the Centre for Democratic Studies had withdrawn accreditation for eight US election monitors, claiming this was a 'sequel' to the US statement.

The application to stop the election came from the Association for a Better Nigeria, a shadowy group headed by a millionaire businessman, Arthur Nzeribe, and reportedly made up of wealthy businessmen and former politicians. It called for Gen Babangida to stay in office four more years, arguing that neither of the two candidates, Moshood Abiola and Bashir Tofa, both Muslim businessmen, was qualified to lead Nigeria.

Leadership, it is generally agreed, is the one ingredient missing in Nigeria's cultural mix to promote economic development, clean government and more loyalty to the nation and less to the individual - a view not shared by the authorities.

Retired General Olusegun Obasanjo, the only military president to have handed over to an elected civilian government (in 1979), fears the lack of leadership will tear apart the country's 90 million people and 250 ethnic groups. There is also a growing consensus that today's elections will not solve the problem.

Gen Obasanjo, Nigeria's candidate in 1991 to become UN Secretary-General, believes Gen Babangida's government is largely to blame. 'This administration has shown the weakness of (its supporters),' he said, in an interview at his farm 30 miles outside Lagos. 'You can determine the commitment of the elite followers by what you put in their mouth at that particular time. No commitment.'

Neither Mr Tofa, the northern banker standing for the National Republican Convention, nor Chief Abiola of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), a former executive of International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) and owner of the Concord publishing house, were their parties' first choices. Gen Babangida cited corruption and vote-rigging as reasons to ban more mainstream politicians. Neither Mr Tofa nor Mr Abiola contested last year's primaries, after which the military declared that group of contestants ineligible.

Last month, at a meeting with leading politicians and former military leaders, Gen Obasanjo and his supporters faulted Gen Babangida's transition programme but demanded that he leave office on 27 August as scheduled. The president had already laid down how parties would be formed, what their names would be, and what was in the constitution, he said. 'Obviously, he has done his homework even before the parties were formed. Maybe this will lead to a handover, maybe it will not.'

The image of the Nigerian military remains important to Gen Obasanjo, who joined at the age of 21 and rose to lead government forces into battle during the 1967-70 Biafra civil war. That image had suffered greatly in recent years, he said, by actions such as Gen Babangida's scrapping of the primaries last year and prolonging his rule by eight months.

Military rule for 23 out of Nigeria's 33 years of independence has permanently damaged the political psyche. 'It has disoriented the totality of our political lives, and to some extent our economic lives,' said Gen Obasanjo. 'The military is now unable to perform even its own functions.'

Gen Obasanjo handed over to Shehu Shagari, later overthrown by Maj-Gen Muhammadu Buhari, whose deputy, Gen Babangida, ousted him two years later. The justification for the coup - economic mismanagement and corruption - was generally accepted. But many Nigerians now long for those days, when the naira was worth close to dollars 1, compared to less than 5 cents now, prices were a fraction of today's and the effect of falling oil prices had not taken hold.

[size=18pt]Abiola throws down gauntlet: Nigerian leader urged to 'pull back from brink' as poll annulment is condemned

Friday 25 June 1993 - The Independent[/size]

THE Social Democratic Party candidate, Moshood Abiola, declared himself president of Nigeria yesterday following the military government's decision on Wednesday to annul the 12 June presidential election .

Mr Abiola, whom unofficial results gave as the winner over Bashir Othman Tofa, candidate for the conservative National Republican Convention, told a press conference he was following the people's will.

Nigeria's military dictatorship accused the United States and Britain of inciting Nigerians against the government after the two countries imposed sanctions in protest against the regime's annulment of the elections.

Britain announced it was suspending training courses for Nigerian officers, withdrawing its military advisory team from the country and reviewing all new aid commitments. Washington cut off dollars 450,000 (pounds 300,000) in aid for training Nigerian soldiers.

In a harshly-worded statement released through the office of the number two in the military regime, Admiral Augustus Aikhomu, the government led by General Ibrahim Babangida referred to its two biggest trading partners as 'the enemy' and accused them of trying to destabilise the country. 'The federal government has unearthed a plot by the governments of the United States and Britain not only to mobilise their European allies against Nigeria but also to incite peace-loving Nigerians against themselves and their government, and incite sections of the armed forces against the government,' the statement said.

Leading Nigerians expressed outrage at the military government's decision. Wole Soyinka, the Nobel prize winner, joined other prominent Nigerians in condemning the military regime. Chief Emeka Anyaoku, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, called on the Nigerian leadership to 'pull the nation back from the brink to which it is being driven by these events'. In Lagos the Campaign for Democracy, an umbrella group of about 40 organisations advocating a return to democracy, has called for a campaign of civil disobedience.

In London, the Prime Minister, John Major, sent a message to General Babangida expressing concern at the developments. The Nigerian High Commissioner, Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji, was summoned to the Foreign Office and told of Britain's displeasure by Baroness Chalker, Minister for Overseas Development.

[size=18pt]Babangida gives a date for handover

Saturday 26 June 1993 - The Independent[/size]

NIGERIA'S military President, Ibrahim Babangida, pledged yesterday to install a democratically elected president on 27 August, writes Richard Dowden.

Earlier this week General Babangida's government annulled presidential elections. 'We shall install a democratically elected government on 27 August for this country,' General Babangida told reporters in Abuja, the federal capital, after briefing senior military and police officers on the outcome of a meeting of his top military-civilian council.

His remarks, ahead of an address to the nation, heralded the end of 10 years of military rule.

Nigeria was plunged into a political crisis on Wednesday when the military government cancelled results of the 14 June presidential election between Moshood Abiola and Bashir Tofa, which gave victory to Mr Abiola, the Social Democrat leader.

Apart from reports of a few barricades of burning tyres, Nigeria remained superficially quiet yesterday. It was people's fear of the military government rather than a willingness to accept continuation of its rule that kept them off the streets. 'We are distraught, distraught,' said one Lagos resident.

But he said that most people were busy discussing the future - and the past - or listening to the radio. There is no tradition of civic protest in Nigeria beyond the spontaneous riot. Strikes and civil disobedience have resulted in fierce repression by the authorities and there has been no time to organise mass action since President Babangida's announcement on Wednesday.

The government-controlled radio has failed to report that Mr Abiola had decided to challenge the government head-on and proclaimed himself president- elect on Thursday night. Mr Abiola, a millionaire publisher, urged the international community to back him against the military regime. 'The people of Nigeria have spoken,' he said. 'They have loudly and firmly proclaimed their preference for democracy. They have chosen me as their president for the next four years.'

Under immense internal and external pressure President Babangida had threatened action against countries interfering in Nigeria's internal affairs. Britain and the US have imposed measures against Nigeria and condemned the decision to halt progress towards democracy.