Contrary to President Goodluck Jonathan’s dismissal of the Ekiti rigging audio recording as a fabrication that is not worth his attention, the spokesperson for his campaign, Femi Fani-Kayode has admitted that the tape is genuine but that the characters involved in the meeting captured in the recording were not discussing how to rig the 2014 governorship election in Ekiti state.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, Mr. Fani-Kayode said his team had listened to and reviewed the recording and that it came to the conclusion that the opposition All Progressives Congress turned fact on its head by claiming that Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state; former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro; and the Minister of Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan, who featured in the recording, planned how to rig the election.

“We have listened to the audio clip and we make bold to say that the discussion that took place in it did not make any mention of any form of rigging in the Ekiti state governorship election and neither did it contain any evidence of any conspiracy to rig,” he said.

Mr. Fani-Kayode also said rather than attempting to orchestrate rigging, what the audio clip clearly revealed was Governor Fayose expressing concerns that a military commander was not acting on information about illegal movement of weapons into certain parts of the state.

“The Governor and others were apparently worried that safety of the voters and INEC officials could be compromised if security measures were not strictly enforced,” he said.
Mr Fani-Kayode’s admission of the authenticity of the tape is another chapter in the series of contradictory responses from the ruling party and those at the centre of the vote rigging plot.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, last Friday, Mr. Jonathan said he would not investigate the authenticity of the audio recording because it was a “fabrication.”

“It’s all fabrications. Why should I investigate things that are not real?” he asked.

Using forensic analysis that compared the voices in the recording with public record samples of the individuals in the recording, Guardian Consulting, The New York-based security firm, that helped authenticate the recordings, confirmed that the tape was genuine.

“The voices from the recording were subjected to a Forensic Voice Frequency Comparison against known samples and were found to match to a 98 per cent degree of certainty,” the firm said.

Mr Jonathan’s dismissal of the tape as a fabrication came after Mr Obanikoro denied taking part in the meeting and threatened to sue PREMIUM TIMES and Sahara Reporters for their vigorous reporting on the matter.

Mr. Adesiyan confessed that the recording was genuine but that it was more of an altercation between Mr. Fayose and Mr. Momoh after the former accused the later of favouring the then governor of the state, Kayode Fayemi.

“Fayose accused the General who supervised the Ekiti election of taking bribe from Fayemi and APC, that was two days before the election. They called me because they said the General disarmed policemen and I told him to allow the policemen to do their job,” he told the Sunday Punch newspaper.

After initially claiming his voice was manipulated using speech software such as Natural Voices, Mr. Fayose later admitted during a political event in Ekiti that it was his voice that was captured in the tape but claimed he was rebuking Mr. Momoh for favouring the APC.

“If you listen to the tape about military rigging in Ekiti. Listen to the tape you will see that I was the one accusing the army of compromise. Listen, take time to listen. But they would come back with propaganda and saying it all as if the whole world of propaganda belongs to them,” he said.


Counter Allegation
While challenging the APC to do a critical content analysis of the discussions in the audio clip, Mr. Fani-Kayode said it was the APC that rigged the governorship election in Osun state.
“During the course of those elections, some of their agents gathered in secret locations where they thumb-printed ballot papers in favor of their governorship candidate, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola,” he said.

Mr. Fani Kayode also played a video tape he claimed proved the APC rigged the election in Osun state.

“It is ironic that instead of purging itself of its own insatiable appetite for rigging and cheating, the APC, through its Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, chose to call a press conference in which he alleged that our leaders were ordering soldiers to rig in Ekiti state.

“This is a clear case of the pot calling the kettle black,” he said.

APC, Buhari calling for violence At his press conference, Mr. Fani-Kayode also accused the APC and its presidential candidate of veiled attempts to instigate violence in the country, while also undermining the nation’s armed forces.

“It is now very clear to us that the APC is determined to cause security breaches in the next few weeks. This has been confirmed by their vigorous campaign of calumny against the military and their consistent demand that soldiers must not be deployed for security surveillance at the polling booths in the forthcoming elections,” he said.

Mr. Fani-Kayode also alleged what he termed subtle threat of violence by Mr. Buhari at an APC leadership meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.

“General Buhari said that the patience of the APC and its leaders were on test. One wonders what he means by that and what he and his supporters intend to do once that patience runs out.

“In an AFP news report of Friday, February 6, 2015, he was asked if he would accept the outcome of the presidential election no matter how unfavourable. Listen to his answer: “I am not going to lose; so I won’t answer that question.”

“Again, only yesterday, Wednesday, February 18, 2015, in an interview on ARISE Television, General Buhari was asked what his reaction would be if he loses the election. His answer was: “We shall see.”

“As far as we are concerned, these are ominous and subtle threats to unleash violence on the Nigerian people and all those that he perceives are his enemies in the event of his losing the election,” he said.

Mr. Fani-Kayode said Mr. Buhari has succeeded in inflaming the destructive passion of his supporters in the northern part of the country on many occasions in the past.

“We recall his unacceptable remarks on May 15, 2012 when he said “if what happened in 2011 should happen again in 2015, the dog and the baboon would be soaked in blood”.

“We witnessed the orgy of violence that they unleashed shortly after the announcement of the results of the 2011 presidential election, which the Sheik Lemu Committee, in its report to the Federal Government, said was caused by Buhari’s inflammatory statements.

“We recall with sadness the massacre of some of our vibrant youth corps members who participated in the 2011 election as INEC’s ad-hoc staff in Bauchi State.

“We are concerned that the same thing may happen again given General Buhari’s divisive and inciting comments coupled with the APC’s violent disposition,” Mr. Fani-Kayode said.

He said the attempt by the APC to discredit the use of soldiers by promoting some “misleading audio footage of the so-called rigging during the Ekiti governorship election, in which one Captain Sagir Koli was the dramatis personae, is childish and absurd”.

He said the Nigerian Government deployed soldiers in the Anambra, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial elections and all those elections were devoid of violence.

“Remarkably, the APC won in Edo and Osun; APGA won in Anambra, Labour Party won in Ondo while PDP won only in Ekiti State,” he said.

He added that the basis on which the APC is agitating for the exclusion of soldiers from the election by sponsoring court cases is patently dubious and untenable.

“The reason that the APC and its leaders do not want soldiers deployed is to be able to intimidate voters and unleash violence on the polity once they lose the elections.

“They know that it would be far more difficult for them to do that when soldiers are on the streets.

“With these dishonourable tactics and desperate acts by the APC, we are the ones who should be worried and who should be complaining but, unlike Buhari and the APC, our patience is not running out because we are committed to a peaceful election and we completely reject the option of violence,” he said.

President Goodluck Jonathan and his closest cronies are still collaborating with a tight-nit circle of military officers to scuttle Nigeria’s general elections that had been postponed by six weeks from the original date of February 14, 2015, according to revelations by several political and security sources.

After failing to gain traction with the floating a so-called government of national unity, Mr. Jonathan and his associates have placed renewed hope in persuading some top military generals to force another postponement of the elections, once again using insecurity as their ruse.

SaharaReporters had revealed through several reports that President Jonathan was set on invoking the climate of insecurity in Nigeria’s northeast to win a postponement of the elections. However, with members of his party admitting that Mr. Jonathan’s electoral fortunes remain dire, the president has been persuaded by hawks close to him to try a fresh tactic of using the uneasy military situation in the northeast to thwart the elections.

Our sources disclosed that the latest plot is being anchored by the National Security Adviser, retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki, who has virtually assumed the functions of the Minister of Defense, Aliyu Gusau. The minister of defense, Gusau who is the NSA's in-law has been tipped to head an interim government in case it becomes a necessity. A military source told SaharaReporters that Mr. Sambo was now deploying his tremendous financial power to recruit top army generals into doing his bidding. Apart from the NSA, Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison Madueke and Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State were identified as the other important players in the latest risky gamble to further postpone elections.

Whilst Ms. Alison Madueke has been providing funds to finance the new plot, Governor Mimiko has been offering strategic advice on how to combat politicians within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) who may be opposed to the scheme.

Our military sources said the evolving machination threatens to polarize the military as several mid-level officers are reported to be furious with their superiors who are warming up to the idea.

One source described President Jonathan as unperturbed by the clamor for elections, telling members of his kitchen cabinet that his decisions are based upon advice from army generals fighting against Boko Haram.

Although Nigeria’s military top brass had claimed that they would wipe out Boko Haram in six weeks, the evidence points to the reality that the Islamist terrorist group may be growing stronger and increasing its ability to strike against new targets. Recently, the Islamist insurgent group has launched a series of attacks on Gombe and Adamawa State, the latest state in the northeast. They have also captured a few more towns in Borno State.

The postponement of the election appears to have given Boko Haram militants a new boost. In a recent video released few days ago by its leader, Abubakar Shekau, the group talked about their disruption of the upcoming elections.

One security source said the latest plan to scuttle the elections would involve a deliberate effort to allow the security climate to worsen across Nigeria. One plank of the plan is to sponsor Niger Delta militants to cause havoc in the oil-rich delta region in the coming weeks. If the situation becomes dire enough, President Jonathan would then have grounds to declare a national emergency that would make elections impossible in March.

Recently, political thugs financed by Mrs. Patience Jonathan began shooting at opposition rallies held in Rivers State. Such politically-motivated attacks have also been planned for several other states of the federation to create an atmosphere that would get more Nigerians to accept the unviability of holding elections, according to several sources. “The goal by Mr. President is to achieve another postponement of the elections, but this time by six months,” a source familiar with the plot disclosed.

A source stated that the plan explained the fact that Nigeria’s security services have yet to schedule an inter-agency briefing with top officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to discuss a comprehensive strategy for guaranteeing security during the elections.

Mr. Jonathan’s military option is meant to proceed in tandem with a parallel plan to offer massive bribes to members of the National Assembly to win their support for a six-month extension of the tenure of his administration. Several lawmakers said they were aware of the plan, but added that there was little hope of a majority of legislators backing the plan.

In what represents a third plank of the plot, several cronies of Mr. Jonathan have filed or plan to file lawsuits aimed at scuttling the elections by seeking the disqualification of the APC’s presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari. At the latest count, some 11 lawsuits have been filed by persons or entities tied to Mr. Jonathan, including the government of Plateau State which has filed a case asking INEC to discard it current voters roll in favor of the one used in 2011.

CoolKizzy:
[s]Why has nairaland gone from a public forum to a tool of propaganda for APC? Seun, we dey watch. see useless APC propaganda making front page on daily basis.
You will read some topics with pure propaganda title proudly on nairaland front page.
Continue.[/s]

Contrary to earlier denials, embattled ministerial nominee, Musiliu Obanikoro, has confessed to several Senators in Abuja that he did participate in an election-eve meeting in Ekiti in June 2014 in which a group of politicians and government ministers met with a Nigerian army general to rig the governorship election in favor of Ayodele Fayose, the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

The meeting, which is now known as “Ekitigate”, was secretly taped by an army captain who was subsequently forced to flee for his life.

Despite the scandal, President Jonathan went ahead to nominate Obanikoro into his cabinet for the second time, and the nominee is lobbying the Senators to give him a pass during his upcoming nomination hearing. It is in the process that he has confessed to some of them that he was indeed present at the rigging meeting in Akure, on behalf of the President, to ensure that everything went smoothly.

Obanikoro’s story is that he was simply making “peace” between the army and Ayo Fayose at the meeting, claiming that he was not party to any conversation about rigging. On the contrary, Obanikoro, who was at the time junior Minister for Defence, is overheard clearly on the tape bragging about the authority granted him by President Jonathan.

Prior to admitting his involvement to the Senators, the former minister met with President Jonathan to discuss the tape and his role. A presidency source said Obanikoro told President Jonathan he was present at the meeting but that a part of the audio-recording was “doctored”.

They said President Jonathan had called him to the meeting to discuss how to mitigate the damage created by the leaked tape. He told the Senators categorically that it was Jonathan himself who had sent him to Ekiti to help Fayose win the election. On the tape, Obanikoro says, at least twice, that he is on a “mission” for the President.

He also reportedly told President Jonathan at their meeting that he had asked his US-based lawyers to do a separate voice analysis of the tape and that the lawyers came back with “proof” that certain aspects of the tape had been doctored by SaharaReporters to make the regime look bad. Counting on that assurance, President Jonathan told a team of reporters from the Wall Street Journal during an interview that the tapes were not real and that he would not investigate the incident.

Obanikoro also told President Jonathan that his US-based lawyers had assured him that they could file some cases against SaharaReporters in the US to “teach SaharaReporters and its publisher, Omoyele Sowore” a lesson. He explained to the president that with enough financial support, his lawyers would file the case and also employ private detectives to take down SaharaReporters. President Jonathan reportedly nodded at the idea, and asked Obanikoro not to worry.

Following that meeting, the former Minister began a series of legal threats last week claiming to have sued SaharaReporters, as well as The Punch newspaper and Premium Times, both in Lagos. Up until now, those newspapers are yet to be served copies of the lawsuit.

On Tuesday night, Obanikoro, who is also a US citizen, assured some of the Senators that his US lawyers had already filed the libel suit against SaharaReporters in New York.

On Wednesday, Obanikoro deployed a small rented a crowd of protesters to hold placards in front of the National Assembly to denounce the All Progressives Congress.

It is to be noted that two other key participants at the meeting, Police Minister Jelili Adesiyan and Ayo Fayose, the beneficiary of the Ekiti governorship rigging, have admitted that they were at the meeting that was taped by the army captain.

For Obanikoro’s role in the rigging of the election, APC has advocated his being banned from holding any public office, and asked the Senate not to confirm him. Mr. Jonathan is known to have re-nominated Obanikoro as his prize for stepping down from the PDP governorship race in Lagos.

clevvermind:
she is a thief. Be truthful for once.

PhockPhockMan:
Have you ever asked yourself where Mrs Buhari got 135 million naira used in buying drugs for Adamawa people? The same woman whose husband couldn't afford 27 million naira for APC nomination form?
If you're dreaming to see Buhari as a president of Nigeria in your life time, then you must be joking.

shaqhead:

SMH Are u for real? I mean u say those words to ur children...I tire for ur case...I give up

Another set of six Peoples Democratic Party members of the House of Representatives announced their defection to other political ‎parties on Tuesday.
The move came just as lawmakers reconvened from recess in Abuja.
Three of the defectors joined the All Progressives Congress, two joined the Labour Party, while one switched camp to Accord party.
Details later…

So, we see this advert as the handiwork of some very desperate politicians who want to blackmail the presidential candidate of the APC, using the Islamic card. And we don’t see think this election has to do with religion.

Arysexy:

[s]
That's yoloba for u, the attack igbos are receiving from them ddaily is bc igbos refused to join them in d selfish agenda they are fronting.

U can imagine what will happen to the igbos and ijaws if these gambaris and their slave down south use the unwary ones to clinch power[/s].

OEPHIUS:

People forget that we can actually go back to bring back scores and scores of times that the PDP went to crawl and beg President Obasanjo. Now that he left, it now surfaces that he is evil? Please I am calling bullshít right here

chukwudi44:
New York Times can go to hell!!!! What sort of democracy would have been born from the disenfranchisement of over 25 million eligible voters.
Abeg make them park well jare.

They can write anything they want,it would not have any impact on the elections

Sunnybobo3:


[s]APC recruits Obasanjo as navigator December 22, 2013 By -http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2013/12/22/apc-recruits-obasanjo-as-navigator/[/s]

2undexy:


Chad or Togo....either of the two

In an editorial on Monday, the New York Times slammed the postponement of the Nigerian elections. It pointed out that the action might have been more credible if President Goodluck Jonathan’s government had not spent much of the past year playing down the threat posed by Boko Haram and if there were a reasonable expectation that Nigeria’s weak army has the ability to improve security over the next few weeks.

“It appears more likely Mr. Jonathan grew alarmed by the surging appeal of Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who has vowed to crack down on Boko Haram,” the article said. “By dragging out the race, Mr. Jonathan stands to deplete his rival’s campaign coffers, while he continues to use state funds and institutions to bankroll his own.”

Recalling that Buhari led a coup against a democratically elected government in 1983, it argued that his emergence as potential winner of the forthcoming election is more of an indictment of Jonathan’s dismal rule than a recognition of the former military chief’s appeal.

It criticized Jonathan’s performance over the abduction of the Chibok girls and the attacks by Boko Haram, saying they have exposed the weaknesses of Nigeria’s armed forces and the dysfunction of the government.

“Beyond security matters, entrenched corruption and the government’s inability to diversify its economy as the price of oil, the country’s financial bedrock, has fallen have also caused Nigerians to look for new leadership. Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa, and a relatively young democracy, cannot afford an electoral crisis.”

It would be recalled that following an endorsement of Buhari by The Economist in its edition dated February 7, a sulking Jonathan said he did not need the support of the magazine.

Text of the editorial by the New York Times:

Nigeria’s Miserable Choices

The Nigerian government was supposed to hold presidential elections this past weekend, which presented voters with the dispiriting choice of keeping a lousy incumbent or returning to power a former autocratic leader. Now they will have to wait at least six weeks to cast votes.

The Nigerian election commission said earlier this month that it had pushed back the vote until at least March 28, after the country’s security chiefs warned that they could not guarantee the safety of voters in northeastern areas of the country where Boko Haram, the extremist militant group, captured international attention last spring when it abducted hundreds of schoolgirls. On Friday, Boko Haram fighters attacked a village in neighboring Chad for the first time, an alarming sign of the group’s expanding strength in a region that also includes areas of Cameroon and Niger.

Any argument to delay the vote might be more credible if President Goodluck Jonathan’s government had not spent much of the past year playing down the threat posed by the militants and if there were a reasonable expectation that the country’s weak military has the ability to improve security in a matter of weeks.

It appears more likely Mr. Jonathan grew alarmed by the surging appeal of Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who has vowed to crack down on Boko Haram. By dragging out the race, Mr. Jonathan stands to deplete his rival’s campaign coffers, while he continues to use state funds and institutions to bankroll his own.

That Mr. Buhari, who helped launch a coup against a democratically elected government in 1983 and ruled until late 1985, has emerged as potential winner is more of an indictment of Mr. Jonathan’s dismal rule than a recognition of the former military chief’s appeal.

Nigerian voters have grown increasingly worried about the stunning rise of Boko Haram, which has committed terrorist atrocities including bombings.

The abductions and attacks by the group have exposed the weaknesses of Nigeria’s armed forces and the dysfunction of the government. Although Mr. Jonathan’s government has in the past been less than enthusiastic, and at times obstructive, in response to offers of American and European aid, he appears to be growing increasingly worried. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal last week, he said he would welcome American troops to fight the insurgency.

Beyond security matters, entrenched corruption and the government’s inability to diversify its economy as the price of oil, the country’s financial bedrock, has fallen have also caused Nigerians to look for new leadership. Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa, and a relatively young democracy, cannot afford an electoral crisis. That would only set back the faltering effort to reassert government control in districts where Boko Haram is sowing terror. The security forces may not be able to safeguard many districts on Election Day. But postponement is very likely to make the security threat worse.

*An editorial by New York Times published today with the title, ‘Nigeria’s Miserable Choices’