By Femi AribisalaPremium Times April 7,
2015
How Jega Defeated Jonathan for Buhari in
the Election,
By Femi Aribisala 2015-04-07 on Tuesday,
Columns, Issues of the Day
The innovation of the Permanent Voters
Cards is designed to permanently
disenfranchise the South. If this is not
redressed immediately, the North will
always determine the winner in Nigerian
elections.
If you did not see my column last week, it
was because I did not want to rain on
anyone’s parade. I wanted the euphoria
over the bullet we missed by avoiding the
riots that would have ensued had the APC
been defeated to subside. But I am now
back to tell you that the presidential
election was a big INEC rigmarole. Long
before Jonathan lost the election to
Buhari, he had been defeated by the
machinations of Jega and INEC.
As a matter of fact, General Buhari did not
win this presidential election: President
Jonathan lost it. The president lost
because he allowed himself to be
defeated. Maybe he did not want to
remain in power badly enough. Or maybe
there was a side of him that felt there is
honour in being the first incumbent
president to lose an election in Nigeria.
Whatever the case; he failed to heed the
warning of many that, like Aminu
Tambuwal and Lamido Sanusi, Attahiru
Jega was working for the enemy.
Failure of Tinubu
With the coalition of Bola Tinubu’s ACN
and Buhari’s CPC, many concluded that
the outcome of the 2015 presidential
election would be determined in the
South-West. The assumption was that
Tinubu would provide the killer-punch
that had been missing in Buhari’s earlier
failed attempts. However, this has proved
to be mistaken. Tinubu failed to clean up
the South-West with his broom for the
APC. Indeed, in order for the APC to
prevail in Lagos with only 160,000 votes,
INEC had to ensure that many non-
indigenes could not get their PVCs.
The truth of the matter is that, quite
apart from the shenanigan of having a
Redeemed Yoruba pastor as Buhari’s vice-
presidential running-mate, the people of
the South-West don’t like Buhari. In the
2011 election, they said this emphatically
by giving him a paltry 321,000 votes out
of the 4.7 million cast in the geopolitical
zone. This time, in 2015, Buhari received
2.4 million South-West votes, with a
plurality of 600,000 over Jonathan.
However, most of those votes were
actually not for Buhari: they were against
Jonathan.
In the end, the South-West vote was
neither pivotal to Buhari’s victory nor
central to Jonathan’s defeat. Tinubu’s
assistance for Buhari ended at the APC
presidential primaries where he got
Buhari nominated against the wishes of
Northern delegates. All Tinubu did at the
level of the presidential election was to
give a façade of national spread to
Buhari’s essentially Northern victory. This
factor will soon come to haunt Tinubu and
his South-West cohorts when it is time to
share the spoils of victory in the Buhari
administration.
Should APC lose the Lagos governorship
election, Tinubu would be left in a
quandary. All the Northern timber and
caliber who were missing in action
throughout the campaign when Tinubu,
Fashola and other Southern politicians
were running helter-skelter with Buhari,
will soon come out of the woodwork to
claim their Buhari inheritance. Inevitably,
they will overshadow the Southern
brigade. Vice-President Osinbajo will
simply be sent to fetch water when
crucial decisions are to be made by
Northern “born-to-rule” elements.
Southerners without coattails
In order to defeat the PDP, APC needed
to undermine Jonathan in his areas of
greatest strengths – the South-South and
the South-East. However, APC men like
Amaechi, Okorocha and Oshiomhole
proved to be paper-tigers in these areas.
In Rivers, Amaechi was disgraced. With all
his bluster, he could only deliver 69,000
votes to Buhari; while Jonathan made off
with a whopping 1.45 million. No wonder,
therefore, that the governor tried to save
face by saying there was no election in
Rivers. He even rented a crowd to go on a
perfunctory demonstration.
Chinem Bestman sent me a text message
from Port Harcourt with the same
complaint that the election was rigged. I
answered by asking him if there has ever
been a free and fair election in Rivers
since 1999. Amaechi knew the ropes,
therefore when he came for accreditation,
he asked to see the election result sheet.
He knew the traditional rigmarole in
Rivers was to doctor the report sheet.
Now that he has been out-rigged, he is
singing a different tune; asking Rivers
people to forgive him.
In Imo, Okorocha was humiliated. He
could only deliver 19% of the vote to
Buhari. It looks like the governor is going
to need another job very soon as he is
unlikely to be re-elected. In Edo,
Oshiomhole did much better. APC lost
with 208,000 votes to PDP’s 286,000.
Nevertheless, Oshiomhole tried to
explain this away by complaining that PDP
used the military to manipulate the
election. However, when INEC announced
the results, APC won the senatorial
election in Edo North; one of the places
where the governor claimed PDP used
the military to rig.
Assault on the South-East
Godsday Orubebe grabbed the
microphone during the collation of the
election results and alleged to the whole
world that INEC chairman Attahiru Jega is
partial and tribalistic. His outburst may
have been embarrassing, but it is not
entirely without justification. The
evidence of INEC’s partiality is compelling.
Although President Jonathan put a call to
Orubebe to stop his protest, and he has
decided to accept the verdict of INEC, that
does not mean we should sweep INEC’s
shenanigans under the carpet.
It is easy to fob off Orubebe by saying he
was only being emotional because he is a
PDP man from Niger Delta, a kinsman of
Mr. President who “lost” the election.
That just won’t cut it. I am not a Niger
Deltan. I don’t belong in the PDP. I don’t
know Goodluck Jonathan and I have
never ever met him or spoken to him.
Cynical Nigerians believe anyone who
supports Jonathan must either be in his
pay or be looking for a job. Neither
allegation is applicable to me. Jonathan
ostensibly received 12.8 million votes;
surely all these people were neither in his
pay nor Aso Rock job-seekers.
My faith requires me to support the
weak. Therefore, I will always support the
minority against the tyranny of the
majority. We cannot be reliant on South-
South oil in Nigeria and then treat one of
their sons as if he is an impostor for being
president of the country. The fact of the
matter is that this presidential election
was the result of a vicious and malicious
gang-up of the majority ethnic groups
against the minorities.
Since the civil war, the Igbos of the
South-East have been treated as if they
are a minority ethnic group in Nigeria
when in fact they are one of the
majorities. In order to diminish Jonathan’s
votes, a major assault was made against
them; recognising that they are some of
the staunchest Jonathan supporters. In
2011, the Igbo gave Goodluck Jonathan a
decisive 5 million votes. The task of INEC
in 2015 was to ensure that did not recur.
INEC rigmarole
Buhari prevailed as a result of a
deliberate disenfranchisement of the Igbo
by INEC through the manipulation of PVC
distribution and the failure of the card
reader in the South-East and the South-
South. INEC ensured that, far more
disproportionately and relative to other
geopolitical zones, millions of South-East
voters disappeared between 2011 and
2015, in order to provide a smooth
passage for a Northern presidential
candidate; which turned out to be Buhari.
The first strategy of INEC in this regard
was to create 29,000 additional polling
units, allocating 21,000 of these to the
North and only 8,000 to the South. In
this crass manipulation, INEC gave more
additional polling units to Abuja than it
gave to the entire South-East. However,
widespread outcry over this proposal
forced INEC to jettison it despite
protracted resistance by Jega.
But INEC had a plan B: the registration of
voters and the collection of PVCs. This
was bogus and lopsided; skewed most
especially against the South-East where
only 7.6 million were registered and 5.6
million PVCs collected. Compare this with
the war-torn North-East: 9.1 million were
registered and 7.4 million collected. But
the most outrageous were the figures of
the North-West. 17.6 million registrations
and 15.1 million collections were
recorded in the North-West; much more
than the figures in the entire South-East
and South-South combined.
On Election Day, news of a bomb blast in
Enugu served to discourage people from
coming out to vote in the South-East. In
addition, there was widespread late voter
accreditation and voting in the South-East
as well as the South-South. One reason
for this was the massive failure of the
card-readers in these zones, highly
suggestive that they were programmed to
fail there.
Quite incredibly, the card-reader failed to
recognise even the president. It took
President Jonathan 35 minutes to get
accredited; but within five hours, we are
meant to believe that 2.5 million voters
in Kano were duly accredited. In the
middle of the election, INEC changed
from card-reader to manual accreditation.
This suddenly brought into play the huge
voter registrations in the North-West.
Cell-phone video recordings showed
many of the North-West’s bloated PVC
holders to be under-aged children.
Abracadabra
The total effect of these machinations is
that over 2.4 million South-East voters
were successfully disenfranchised. 38
million people nationwide voted for
Buhari and Jonathan in 2011. In 2015,
this figure shrank to 28 million. The votes
of the South-West remained virtually
constant. 4.6 million people of the South-
West voted in 2011: 4.2 million in 2015.
But compare this with what happened in
the South-East. 5 million people voted in
2011, only 2.6 million in 2015. That is a
drastic drop of 2.4 million.
While Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Jigawa and
Bauchi were posting their traditional
humongous figures; Imo, Anambra and
Abia were posting relatively disappointing
figures. Jigawa used to be a part of Kano,
when Kano was said to be bigger than
Lagos. In the 2015 election, the votes of
Jigawa and Kano combined was double
that of Lagos. Lagos had 1.4 million
votes. Jigawa and Kano had 3.1 million;
virtually all for Buhari.
While the internally displaced
Northerners in the North-East could vote,
internally displaced Igbos from the North
could not. In places like Lagos and Kano,
many non-indigenes were not even given
their PVCs. In effect, the innovation of
the Permanent Voters Cards is designed
to permanently disenfranchise the South.
If this is not redressed immediately, the
North will always determine the winner in
Nigerian elections.

You have no point..if the card reader fails to read ur finger prints..u r advised to wash ur hands.. nd if u r still unable to be verified by d card reader..an incidence form would be filled for u and u will proceed with accreditation and voting.. so what took GEJ 35 mins to get accredited.. the whole scenario was stage managed just to discredit the card reader and allow for manual voting in the SS and SE. The only time when u v a problem is when the card reader refuse to read ur PVC.. so don't sell lies for us here..

Mr. Aribisala has finally run mad.

espn:
You have no point..if the card reader fails to read ur finger prints..u r advised to wash ur hands.. nd if u r still unable to be verified by d card reader..an incidence form would be filled for u and u will proceed with accreditation and voting.. so what took GEJ 35 mins to get accredited.. the whole scenario was stage managed just to discredit the card reader and allow for manual voting in the SS and SE. The only time when u v a problem is when the card reader refuse to read ur PVC.. so don't sell lies for us here..

There are video evidence on youtube, showing children in most northern states voting without incidence form or card readers.

bnovative:

There are video evidence on youtube, showing children in most northern states voting without incidence form or card readers.

there are evidence on youtube where people were just thumb printing for PDP without accreditation or voting.

Op if u never full one bucket wit tears make thunder fire u.

bnovative:

There are video evidence on youtube, showing children in most northern states voting without incidence form or card readers.

espn:
there are evidence on youtube where people were just thumb printing for PDP without accreditation or voting in Rivers, Delta, Akwa Ibom and other states in SS and SE.

Perfect answer

theV0ice:


Perfect answer

out of all the issues raised in the article, he wanted to paint a picture of a perfect electioneering process in the north, and that made me draw his attention to youtube videos. How about the number of registered voters in kano surpasing that of lagos?

bnovative:

out of all the issues raised in the article, he wanted to paint a picture of a perfect electioneering process in the north, and that made me draw his attention to youtube videos. How about the number of registered voters in kano surpasing that of lagos?

you're very wrong on this point. see the below

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/with-5-8m-registered-persons-lagos-tops-states-with-eligible-voters/199345/

Lagos has 5.8m while Kano has 4.9m

This article is the plain truth

unfortunately my country never learns

Its ok to gang-up against the ethnic minority in Nigeria and play the system to suit the majority. This is unfortunately how our country works

The question is "for what"? For Buhari?

I wish Nigeria Goodluck.

Aribisala still has 4 yrs to wail, He shouldnt waste his energy before the race has even begun

espn:
You have no point..if the card reader fails to read ur finger prints..u r advised to wash ur hands.. nd if u r still unable to be verified by d card reader..an incidence form would be filled for u and u will proceed with accreditation and voting.. so what took GEJ 35 mins to get accredited.. the whole scenario was stage managed just to discredit the card reader and allow for manual voting in the SS and SE. The only time when u v a problem is when the card reader refuse to read ur PVC.. so don't sell lies for us here..

You are the one who has got no point. Failure of the card readers here is not failure to recognise finger print but failure to recognise the PVC itself. For you to fill an incident form, the card reader must recognise your PVC first.

When i hit the op's words 'Attahiru Jega working for the enemy' I didnt want to read further.

I wonder why some people like this op cant even try to be unbiased.

mikeansy:
This article is the plain truth

unfortunately my country never learns

Its ok to gang-up against the ethnic minority in Nigeria and play the system to suit the majority. This is unfortunately how our country works

The question is "for what"? For Buhari?

I wish Nigeria Goodluck.

^^^I'm not surprised by all these revelations! The only mofos that will pour scorn on this report are (unsurprisingly) core northern born-to-rule apostles, and (surprisingly) gullible and slavish southerners who see nothing wrong in the wickedness going on in this country!

Anyway, we Igbos have always managed to keep our heads above the water, no matter the machinations of our haters; it's the South South/Ijaws i'm pitying!

I'm still wondering where they (the born-to-rule northern oligarchs) procured the powerful jazz they've been using on some us misguided and naive southerners.......it's quite potent i have to admit!

This man is a perfect example of someone that went to school but still remain uneducated. He has the skill but he lacks knowledge. He needs anointing to deliver his skull.

IGBOSON1:


^^^I'm not surprised by all these revelations! The only mofos that will pour scorn on this report are (unsurprisingly) core northern born-to-rule apostles, and (surprisingly) gullible and slavish southerners who see nothing wrong in the wickedness going on in this country!

Anyway, we Igbos have always managed to keep our heads above the water, no matter the machinations of our haters; it's the South South/Ijaws i'm pitying!

I'm still wondering where they (the born-to-rule northern oligarchs) procured the powerful jazz they've been using on some us misguided and naive southerners.......it's quite potent i have to admit!

Go hug transformer!

Sunnybobo3:


You are the one who has got no point. Failure of the card readers here is not failure to recognise finger print but failure to recognise the PVC itself. For you to fill an incident form, the card reader must recognise your PVC first.

and did u read my comment?

theV0ice:


you're very wrong on this point. see the below

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/with-5-8m-registered-persons-lagos-tops-states-with-eligible-voters/199345/

Lagos has 5.8m while Kano has 4.9m

That dude is just embarrassing himself. That is how most PDP supporters argue; with lies and outlandish conjectures.

espn:
and did u read my comment?

Yes I did.

omenka:
That dude is just embarrassing himself. That is how most PDP supporters argue; with lies and outlandish conjectures.

replying some of them sometimes can be tiring

mikeansy:
This article is the plain truth

unfortunately my country never learns

Its ok to gang-up against the ethnic minority in Nigeria and play the system to suit the majority. This is unfortunately how our country works

The question is "for what"? For Buhari?

I wish Nigeria Goodluck.

There was a fox and there was a ginger bread man.

Can someone tell Femi Aribisala to feed his concocted theories to the marines!

The South East people know what they are doing!

Theses guys, ibos, decided to haunt GEJ by not coming out en-masse to vote for him.

They are playing the game damn well...they played safe!

And I see them decamping en-masse later...



Let's just wait, watch and enjoy the change!

I was expecting aribisala to be s.tupid and he didn't dissapoint,jargons upon jargons just to justify your pay,most of the votes the president won in kwra and kogi where I know well,were bought 5k each,and I read somewhere the minister of transport or so spend 16 million at his polling unit and got the president just 16 votes,a million for every vote,just accept defeat already.
Never in the history of nigeria has so much money failed to achieve its goal,the money given to emirs,obas,pastors,e.t.c..
The people were simply tired of a clueless govt that had excuses for not doing any tangile thing to alleviate its peoples conditions.
Abeg just rest it,e don do.

Sunnybobo3:


Yes I did.

then the bolded in my comment is still d same thing with what u just said.

I have never responded to this man's article. But I will today.

With just two words...



















Fvckk Off

I have been waiting for Aribisala's article since last week but the shock didn't let him show up. Now that he has finally found his voice after being disappointed, I'm not surprised by his writings.

He's just a loser. I hope his hatred for the north won't drive him insane.

Rubbish... no sense at all.

bnovative:

There are video evidence on youtube, showing children in most northern states voting without incidence form or card readers.

APGA can also confirm that there was in election is SS and SE. The result form was filled at private residence.

Alright GMB has won,everyone should move on to the next phase

This guy is spot-on, in fact, when foreign journalist asked President Jonathan if he called the opposition candidate to ask if he had issues with accreditation, I knew the election was over as it was FIXED. ( They already knew the script). It should be Buhari calling to ask and empathize with the president over the failure of the card reader. The opposition knew they could only beat PDP by outsmarting and out-rigging them. They were prepared, so they programmed the entire process.

Even if the SE and SS provided more votes, they would still have released higher figures from the North. Simple calculations. It was already worked out. How about the statistics on the cancelled votes from SS and SE? The INEC head was just fooling around punching calculator for hours, playing along the script.

The question now is............
Will they also adopt this card reading device during the census? I'm sure they will object, or program it to fail in the North so that they can manually input figures.

Egunje collectors and e-rodents should wake up to reality.

espn:
You have no point..if the card reader fails to read ur finger prints..u r advised to wash ur hands.. nd if u r still unable to be verified by d card reader..an incidence form would be filled for u and u will proceed with accreditation and voting.. so what took GEJ 35 mins to get accredited.. the whole scenario was stage managed just to discredit the card reader and allow for manual voting in the SS and SE. The only time when u v a problem is when the card reader refuse to read ur PVC.. so don't sell lies for us here..

Spot on. Mr Aribasala is sounding like a bad loser