Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed March 30 to decide whether or not it would void the choice of Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) as All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) Presidential candidate in April 21 election.

Justice Anwuri Chikere adjourned the case yesterday after the conclusion of arguments by counsel to parties in a suit challenging the candidature of Buhari.

if BUHARI AND ATIKU are out. what will the next stage be for Nigerian?s


http://www.champion-newspapers.com/news/article_2.htm

Buhari is by no means out, they are challenging his candidature in court and until proven otherwise he remains a candidate. Its a different thing from an Atiku who is not a candidate in the first place and needs a court pronouncement before he can contest.

Buhari's case will not be concluded before April 14, besides that it is the problem of ANPP to worry about and not Nigeria. No one should loose sleep over his candidature cos the race in my view is between yaradua and utomi.

Here we go again with another wasting of time, energy and money.

I say, allow all of them to contest and spend more money on educating voters and empowering voting process. This strategy will solve some of our problems forever.

Stopping few of these folks from contesting will not solve anything, but create more trouble for us.

Could you guys see how long federal government has been trying to stop these candidates? It is a sign that something is wrong with this process.
It seems to me that every other day in Nigeria we go back to square one of this candidacy stopping process.

Enough is enough; we've spent enough money, time and energy fighting this RatRace war. It is time to try new process.

With solid education for the voters and reliable empowering of the voting process will guarantee everyone that "just because you've contested doesn't win you the position"

I think our main problem here is insecurity of the voters and voting process

McKren:

Buhari's case will not be concluded before April 14, besides that it is the problem of ANPP to worry about and not Nigeria. No one should loose sleep over his candidature because the race in my view is between yaradua and utomi.

Utomi? Where? Niger Delta, Lagos or Nigeria?

Has he started any meaningful campaign? Has he visited the North, South East etc to campaig and tell them why he should be voted for?

Personally, any southerner that is vying for the presidency at this time in Nigeria is only wasting time. I guess people just make money from feeding some of these politicians what they want to hear and not what they should hear.

On Buhari, having led a coup in Nigeria before it is an insult on Nigerians to allow him take part in the very institution he forced out using the barrel of a gun, an action that brought about the likes of IBB, Abacha and their attendant problems.

@BigB1

We are practising democracy guided by our constitution. We can not choose what bits of constitutional democracy we will uphold. If the constitution says certain characters should not be allowed to take part in election, we must adhere to it so corrupt politicians learn their lesson.
We can not have a situation where the man who occupies the highest authority in the land has a worldwide known moral burden, he will simply not command authority. No one wants that.

which section of the constitution are you talking about.

This bolekaja fight is not about constitution as
much as it is about egoism.

Its a shame that Utomi is not campaigning as much as he should do. Maybe financial or logistic reasons you know.
However that being said, the North/South power shift agreement though very necessary for stability is not backed by any law. Practically it is natural that power will shift to the North but you cant say Pat Utomi is not in the race because if not for anything he is recognised by INEC.
We also have to have a contest and most of the northern opposition to Yaradua represesent everything we dont want as a nation in 2007.

While the election is almost a formality, for the records we have to pretend their is a contest between Yaradua and Utomi who happens to be the only Presidential candidate we can look up to from the south. The likes of Orji Kalu are simply a waste of space.

Blow:

which section of the constitution are you talking about.

This bolekaja fight is not about constitution as
much as it is about egoism.

I suggest you go read section 137 of the constitution yourself and not a newspaper summary of the constitution and its provisions given by either Lai Mohamed or Prof. Ben Nwabueze.

McKren:

Its a shame that Utomi is not campaigning as much as he should do. Maybe financial or logistic reasons you know.
However that being said, the North/South power shift agreement though very necessary for stability is not backed by any law. Practically it is natural that power will shift to the North but you can't say Pat Utomi is not in the race because if not for anything he is recognised by INEC.
We also have to have a contest and most of the northern opposition to Yaradua represesent everything we don't want as a nation in 2007.

While the election is almost a formality, for the records we have to pretend their is a contest between Yaradua and Utomi who happens to be the only Presidential candidate we can look up to from the south. The likes of Orji Kalu are simply a waste of space.

I guess I agree with your response in its entirety. It sure would give a sense of a real contest.

I simply don't think it is right for people that surround him that give him hope that he could win the next election.

I gave candid advice to a friend that was once aspiring for the presidency but couldn't get a ticket so he now settled for the senate for Lagos West under one of the new parties.

People should be able to draw a line between wishes and reality.

Quote it for us here now
I've read it sometime ago
but I cant pick the details now.

@McKren:

Where have you been all these years?
Are you trying to quote our constitution to me? (the same constitution that reminds me of a living room carpet, that everyone steps on)
Please, don't go there.

To solve our problem, one must purely understand the problem.

How long does it take to stop a candidate from contesting?
Who are the people making this decision?

I see stopping candidates from contesting as a fragile short cut solution that will create more trouble for us, my friend.

It's been too long fighting this RatRace war, it's time to change the chapter by implementing a long term solid solution.

Educate the voters and empower the voting process

Thats right

I think Utomi is campaigning in the south

He needs to create more publicity in
the North too

Utomi's fate should be in the votes of Nigerians
and not in South/North powershift arranged by
some power mongers.

The problem is clear and very simple; but no one has balls and enough common sense to come up with a long term solution.

Problem has a lot to do with the corrupt culture and system:

Insecurity of the voters and voting process.

If you stop me from contesting, but my cousin or brother or best friend happens to win the position, what different does it makes to me in Nigeria?

Stopping candidates from contesting is a fragile short cut solution, which we love in Nigeria.

@Blow

137. (1) A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of
President if -
(a) subject to the provisions of section 28 of this Constitution, he
has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a country other than
Nigeria or, except in such cases as may be prescribed by the National
Assembly, he has made a declaration of allegiance to such other
country; or
(b) he has been elected to such office at any two previous elections;
or
(c) under the law in any part of Nigeria, he is adjudged to be a
lunatic or otherwise declared to be of unsound mind;
or
(d) he is under a sentence of death imposed by any competent court of
law or tribunal in Nigeria or a sentence of imprisonment or fine for
any offence involving dishonesty or fraud (by whatever name called) or
for any other offence, imposed on him by any court or tribunal or
substituted by a competent authority for any other sentence imposed on
him by such a court or tribunal; or
(e) within a period of less than ten years before the date of the
election to the office of President he has been convicted and
sentenced for an offence involving dishonesty or he has been found
guilty of the contravention of the Code of Conduct; or
(f) he is an undischarged bankrupt, having been adjudged or otherwise
declared bankrupt under any law in force in Nigeria or any other
country; or
(g) being a person employed in the civil or public service of the
Federation or of any State, he has not resigned, withdrawn or retired
from the employment at least thirty days before the date of the
election; or
(h) he is a member of any secret society; or
(i) he has been indicted for embezzlement or fraud by a Judicial
Commission of Inquiry or an Administrative Panel of Inquiry or a
Tribunal set up under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act, a Tribunals of
Inquiry Law or any other law by the Federal or State Government which
indictment has been accepted by the Federal or State Government,
respectively; or
(j) he has presented a forged certificate to the Independent National
Electoral Commission.

Take note of the bit in bold

I think the problem lies in the presidency, Federal government and the INEC. all this issue grievance and

litigation should have been properly investigated before they publish the contestant names. Why waste

money and energy only to be disqualified by a court house? that just tells you we have issues in Nigeria

that supersedes just one man.

Atiku was indicted and a white paper released, ordinarily he stands disqualified but I guess he is only taking advantage of the many loopholes in our constitution to kill time and enjoy the immunity the office carries otherwise by now he may have been sent to jail.

Our senators missed a huge chance to remedy a lot of mistakes in our constitution when they discarded every single amendment all in the name of 3rd term.

I hope we will not spend another 4 or 8 years to draw up another list of constitutional amendments.

@BigB1

What you simply got to understand is that western model democracy will simply not get us out of the dolldrums, how do you hope to educate the electorate in a country where the same set of people you want to educate the electorate against control at least 60% of the media and what they say. In a country where the same set of people have successfully through media propaganda make it look illegal to implement what the constitution say especially when it is not in their favour?
What electorate do you even want to educate, an electorate that have been so impoverished that they no longer know what they want, give them N1000 they throw all you have taught them to wind because they need to eat for that day. Some of those who will make up this so called electorate you talk about include those who placed priority over inscription of religious signs on naira over its purchasing power.

In a situation like this what do you do leave this people to be exploited forever?? or look for perculiar solution to our perculiar problems.
BigB1 you see, supporting what OBJ does have these days become politically incorrect and I dont wish to engage in that argument but I have no doubts in my mind that 10years down the line we will look back in history and glorify this political dramma and confusion playing out in our country because it is one of those rare situations where the grass tends to benefit from a fight between elephants.

Afam:

Our senators missed a huge chance to remedy a lot of mistakes in our constitution when they discarded every single amendment all in the name of 3rd term..

Afam  I refused to agree with that statement, I think it was deliberate on their part, they are paid to

legislate the law and there should be no room for error.  if you and I misbehave on our jobs we know what

the remedy will be. Nigeria need Prayers and a visionary to turn things around.

You do not stop the spreading of HIV by asking people not to have sex or not to become gay or not to do drug; instead you educate people and implement reliable process to monitor the virus.

That is an effective and efficient way to establish a long term resolution.

Enough of this BS; nothing is going to be solved if we continue to run after a stupid process that is being dictated by also corrupt individuals.

Wake up, folks

Afam:

Our senators missed a huge chance to remedy a lot of mistakes in our constitution when they discarded every single amendment all in the name of 3rd term.

OMG! Someone else noticed this as well. I thought I was the only one.

they were too busy collecting 50 Million bribe and trying to cover it up from exposure.

Presidential Election Minus Buhari Minus Atiku = Obasanjo's Candidate.

God help Nigeria! It Shall be Good by God's Grace.

The electoral commission should allow Adolf Buhari to waste as much of his stolen wealth as possible in a fruitless campaign of purchasing fake support all over Nigeria,  before they go ahead and disqualify him at the last minute so that he can go back to his village with his mangy tail between his legs.

Who knows, if the intensity of frustrated ambition so created becomes overpowering enough, Buhari might just go ahead and commit suicide to the absolute delight of all who remember his sadistic military dictatorship of the 1980's, and to the profound relief of the international community who have listened with grave concern to Buhari's recent ranting about his intention to turn Nigeria into an Islamic Sharia Taliban terror state.

Go ahead on Buhari, knock yourself out  and write a whole bunch more checks to your  "supporters", you dumb, anal-retentive retard.

We can all attest Buhari did not steal from Nigeria at least to many people knowledge, but talk of IBB, ABACHA he set the prelude to this people, so I still don't think we need Buhari to reform Nigeria

what's the news on Buhari, Aka Coup head

he is still waiting till the 30th to know his faith I guess, we all know he has no change of winning the election any way

OBJ does not want Atiku to contest because he is well aware of the man's exploits in the last two elections. Atiku is a master strategist and manipulator. He has a massive war chest and is willing to spend over 1 billion dollars to achieve his aim to be President. Once the cat is out of the bag, it's hard to predict where it'll end up.


OBJ cannot take anything for granted, it's best to err on the side of caution.

Buhari has started failing already!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahmed Sani of Zamfara has resigned chaimanship of his campaign organisation on health grounds. That to me is an exit strategy

Bukar Abba Ibrahim of Yobe State was spotted this week saying publicly in Yobe that the luckiest Presidential candidate from any political party should win.

Adamu Aliero of Kebbi State thinks the ANPP has lost focus and has backed out

Modu Sheriff of Bornu State is secretely romancing the PDP

Bafarawa who used to be an ANPP governor is contesting under DPP

Thats five potential ANPP strongholds gone, tell me how Buhari hopes to win this eletion?
Buhari may not even win in his state as the front runner is the imcumbent governor of his home state, who will vote him in the south?? he simply does not appeal to southerners
I have said it in this forum before that ANPP endorsed PDP Presidency the day they chose Buhari

And it continues to get funnier and funnier. well as i always say, lets wait and see. My candid advice for peeps back home in 9ja is to start stockpiling stuffs cos, the the months ahead are uncertain

ugodaniel:

And it continues to get funnier and funnier. well as i always say, lets wait and see. My candid advice for peeps back home in Nigeria is to start stockpiling stuffs because, the the months ahead are uncertain

I hope you are not using fear and scare tactics like Bush has been doing in the US to control its citizens.

OBJ recently made a comment that I agree completely with.

He stated that Nigerians should disregard the claims by the opposition that he wants to postpone the elections because in the real sense the opposition does not want the elections to hold simply because they do not want their immunities to end and that they are afraid of what might happen after their immunties are gone.

On this analysis alone, OBJ is dead right!

lol @ adolf buhari

lol @ adolf buhari