₦airaland Forum

Nigeria’s ruling party looked set to see its parliamentary majority weaken as results trickled in on Sunday from an election Africa’s most populous nation hopes will be its first credible vote in almost two decades.

Election officials and party agents tallied results from 120,000 polling units stretching from the oil-producing mangrove swamps and teeming cities near the southern coast to the dustblown fringes of the Sahara desert in the north.

There were isolated reports of ballot box snatching, clashes between rival supporters in parts of the Niger Delta and two bombs in the remote northeast during the vote but observers said it appeared to have been a vast improvement on previous polls.

"I think it is fair to say this was a real election. It was a real vote," Kenneth Wollack, president of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) which was among foreign groups monitoring the polls, told Reuters.

President Goodluck Jonathan’s ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is expected to see its parliamentary majority weaken, coming under strong pressure from the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the southwest and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in parts of the north.

"The ACN is leading in the Senatorial and House of Representatives race in most states in the southwest," said Chinedu Michael, an observer from the Nigerian Committee on the Defence of Human Rights in the commercial capital Lagos.

Media in the southwestern state of Ogun said the speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole of the PDP, lost his seat, while the daughter of former president and PDP stalwart Olusegun Obasanjo lost her bid to remain in the Senate.

At a collation centre in Karo on the outskirts of Abuja, it was clear the CPC was edging out the PDP across most wards being collated there as officials called out numbers above the hum of generators.

"There is no instance of trying to rig, that’s why the other parties are moving in," said ruling party representative Theodore Ochei, despite disappointment that the PDP had lost in his ward at the centre of Abuja.

"Even if we lost as a party, we as politicians have more respect. Our leaders might sit up and begin to respect people’s views," he said.

LITMUS TEST

But the ruling party gained ground in other areas.

It won seven of 10 House of Representatives seats counted so far in the northern state of Kano, where it had previously held only five. It was also ahead in parts of Borno state in the remote northeast.

Saturday’s election, delayed by a week because of widespread logistical glitches, was the first in a cycle which includes presidential elections on April 16 and governorship polls in the country’s 36 states on April 26.

It is seen as a litmus test of whether electoral officials can organise a smooth vote and make a break with a long history of polls discredited by ballot stuffing and thuggery.

The African giant has failed to hold a single vote deemed credible by observers since the end of military rule in 1999.

Most Nigerians say the closest the country came to a free election was in 1993, polls which were annulled by former military ruler Ibrahim Babangida, helping pave the way for another six years of military rule.

But Nigerians are hopeful this time will be different.

"I am not tired because I am happy," said Nancy Godwin Bulus, a local observer from a women’s group who had sat up through the night for the count in Karo.

"Nigerians are heading for democracy. We are advancing to maturity. We are orderly."



http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za/articleprog.aspx?id=63571

‘Shock and Awe’ Elections: House of Reps Speaker Bankole Concedes Defeat; VP Sambo Hurries Out of Kaduna

As the routing of the ruling People's Democratic Party unveils surprise after surprise, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, has also done the unprecedented and the unthinkable: concede defeat to his opponent.

In a press release today signed by Chief Kayode Odunaro, his Special Adviser on Communications, Mr. Bankole commended Nigerian voters for the peaceful nature of the elections.

Mr. Bankole said the outcome of yesterday’s election on the whole reflected the wishes of Nigerians in the national quest to enshrine an enduring democracy.
The outgoing Speaker congratulated all the winners and urged the losers to absorb their defeat in good faith. “For me the race was not a life and death duel,” he said. “Of more importance is building, maintaining and developing our democratic institution and processes as a means towards true national development and greatness.”

He also commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the members of the National Youth Service Corps for doing a good job, while he condemned those bent on scuttling the electoral process through violence, particularly through bombings.

Mr. Bankole’s concession today comes on the heels of other significant defeats for the PDP that include, in Ogun State, that of Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, the daughter of former president Obasanjo; and in Osun State, the defeat of the former governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, as well as Senator Iyiola Omisore. The ACN is also sweeping Edo state while the DPP has claimed to have won various seats in Delta state.

Reports reaching SaharaReporters today also indicate that the Vice president, Namadi Sambo left Kaduna abruptly after the PDP lost the election in his ward by a wide margin.

http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/‘shock-and-awe’-elections-house-reps-speaker-bankole-concedes-defeat-vp-sambo-hurries-out-

did u just say delta state or was i mistaken maybe cos am sleeping i thought things like this only happen i bornu,bauchi,kaduna and up north yawns and goes to sleep wait oh abi its CPC

i hate long phone conversations like mad most especially when the gist aint smooth imagine every minute where are you. talk should be brief and short not all dry and boring

Election must be carried out within our means and limitations. This may be a good opportunity to make a wow that if it is not made in Nigeria, it can fail in Nigeria and can only be rectified in Nigeria. Blaming Jega alone for the false start is totally predictable but those people that thought it was a good idea to import ballots or sheets and approved it every step of the way must share the blame.

There will always be disappointment but it would be foolish to import one. We cannot adjust old wine to grace a new bottle or new wine to prop up an old bottle.

So many stories have floated around this election 2011, one would think we have been had by some unscrupulous rascals. The fear instilled in people like Jega must be so overwhelming; none would venture out of their caves to rescue Nigeria from the vultures. Career politicians that have nothing to contribute but waiting for those that tried, are laughing and robbing one another’s back. The rest of us are just mad wondering what can go right in Nigeria.

This election is just damn too expensive but it is not the worst calamity befalling the Country. Nigerians throw up their hands crying only God can save us. Either for selfish reason or some inferiority complex, some of our finest men and women have failed because we do not think that within Nigeria we can produce our own Jesus, Mohamed, Ghandi or Mandela. Some of us think if we produce Aminu Kano, Awolowo or Mbakwe, we will choke them to death and they will never see the light of the day. Nwosu conducted an acceptable election but was nullified.

The brother that said the only natural disaster in Nigeria is man cannot be far from the truth. It’s difficult to laugh or cry but that brother was wicked. Nigeria is not the only country where disaster strikes but the disasters we bring upon ourselves contribute more to suffering of the masses. There is no need to talk about the election again, it is no use crying I told you so when many people are right about multibillion cowries election with a false start.

Nigerians are never short of ideas to beat a system, the same brain must be used to deliver us. Jega is one of those brains that must not be discouraged but nurtured to come up by brain storming with his colleagues and the advice of the people on how to move forward. Nigeria can turn a genius into a slowpoke. It is all well and good when events work in our favor. Once it turns against you, all those praising and congratulating the appointment of Jega are some of the ones throwing stones at him.

When you tell a kid that a tree cannot make a forest and no matter how clean Jega’s reputation was, it can come crashing down. A lonely mighty tree in the forest can be cut down by our two mega parties but it is the wise and the elders that will tell you what side it is going to fall. After all Jega made his reputation, not as an angel but as an activist professor. So like an adventurous son in the trouble waters, he must have learnt his lessons. So, papas put your hand around him.
Before we crucify Jega and write him completely off, we must ask ourselves what have we been doing wrong since independence that the right bearing eludes us. Others have sworn that we can never have a perfect election in Nigeria or anywhere else. Election is just a symptom of the bigger problems we have in this Country and it will be unfair to blame it all on one man. It is very embarrassing that in 2011 we still have to go out looking for saviors to deliver us from ourselves by contracting ballots outside the Country.

Jega is not a saint, but a Nigerian that must one day give an account to us what he did with Election 2011. We can count how many goodwill endeavors have failed to materialized and if a couple of them did, Nigeria could have been a different place. We are not short of Messiah, we have too many saboteurs. People are getting frustrated that nobody can grab the bull by the horn and lead Nigeria out of chaos.

A Country as big as Nigeria with over 140 million people, cannot create an island free from our entire individual idiosyncrasy to experiment with our own ideas. Just like we print money in stringent security we can print ballot and result sheets; create our own cement from durable mud; duplicate all the foreign goods Nigerians buy abroad; put heads together for national car; planes, ships and many more. If those are too ambitious what about duplication of technologies for: phones, transistors, television and other toys Nigerians love. Where is the enabling leader?

Let us start by releasing all our counterfeit masters into a desert and challenge them to come up with the best stuff they can produce. We have to discard the patent laws at some point or pretend they do not exist like Russia, China, Taiwan, North and South Korea until we land solidly on our feet. Some special committees from each of the universities must test and improve on goods made in Nigeria like Ijebu, Kano, Onitsha and Okrika made.

If anyone thinks we may be encouraging dictatorial tendencies, the answer is that everything we have tried so far has failed. Like France under Mitterrand, we can delay delivery of imported goods at different port locations. We must learn from this as foreigners ridicule us that we were let down by Tsunami. They could not believe that Tsunami left Japan and staggered to Nigeria. They can never understand our problem but the brother is right. Our problem is self inflicted.

The lesson here is that there is no magic anywhere that can cure our problems. It has to be home made. We have wasted too many years thinking our salvation can be bought when we do not even have enough money to take care of ourselves at home. Jega is like most Nigerians a product of the system. Some of us should have risen to the task and let him know that if he could not conduct an election with local materials, we would find someone that could.

http://www.saharareporters.com/article/only-natural-disaster-nigeria-man-not-election

It may not be the same old story in Nasarawa State in respect of the senatorial polls billed to hold on Saturday.

Gone seems to be the era when a political party would maintain its tenacious hold on power through manipulation at the polls. This time, because of balance of forces, votes may count.

In the just-concluded primaries for senatorial aspirants across Nasarawa State, there were a lot of intrigues, especially within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The aspirants jostled to outwit their opponents anyhow.

Those who could not on their own pick the ticket were said to have run to their god-fathers cap-in-hand, to save their political careers from crumbling. While some returned jubilating, others went home biting their fingers.

But those who bit their fingers never went to by defecting sleep. They fought back to another political party that would help propel their ambition of participating in the race. In all the camps, it has been a game of wits.



Nasarawa South

In the Nasarawa South senatorial district, the battle for the ticket of the PDP was fiercely fought. Every aspirant believed that he would win. Yusuf Agabi, a director at a federal ministry was tipped to pick the ticket even as Tanko Wamabi, a good friend of Governor Aliyu Akwe Doma was also tipped for the ticket. But at the end, the incumbent, Senator Suleiman Adokwe got the ticket in a manner that left others panting.

For this development, many accusing fingers have been pointed at the governor for allegedly interfering in the affairs of the party by not allowing a level-playing ground for all the contestants. They believe that the governor stood by Adokwe because of their tribal linkage, thus forcing the remaining contestants out of the race.

While Agabi accepted his fate by stepping down for Adokwe allegedly on the governor’s insistence, Wambai on the other hand would not accepts. He moved to the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) where he hopes to slug it out with Adokwe on Saturday. The Wambai move has no doubt brought sleepless nights to Adokwe and Governor Doma’s camp, thanks to the spread of the CPC like a wild fire in a dry season especially in Keana and Awe axis.

At the moment, Adokwe is said to be facing the toughest fight of his political career against the CPC and will take more than the intervention of the governor to help him retain his seat. And sadly, the governor too is not finding it easy politically in that axis.

Though there are other contestants like Idris Dantata Ahmed of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Dauda Muhammed of the Labour Party, and two others in the race for the Southern senatorial district race, the fight, however, is believed to be between Suleiman Adokwe and Tanko Wambai at the moment.



Nasarawa North

In the Nasarawa North is incumbent Senator Patricia Akwashiki. Her hope to return to the seat with the so-called power of incumbency is no longer guaranteed. She has to square it up with Barrister Solomon Ewuga who has also joined the CPC after crying foul of PDP’s manipulation at the primaries.

She too, like Adokwe in the South, is said to be enjoying the support of the governor and Minister for Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, but it will take a miracle for her to pull it through as the combined forces of both the governor and Maku will still find Ewuga a hard nut crack in their hands.

Long before Ewuga moved to the CPC, Akwashiki had not found things easy in her constituency. She has come under physical attacks by youths from the area in the recent past because of what they described as her lack of performance since she got there.

During the "meet the people" tour of Governor Doma to Wamba, one of her constituencies sometimes ago, she was prevented from entering the Paramount ruler’s palace by the youths and was nearly lynched by angry youths.

And just last month, the same incident played out when she went out with the state governor’s wife on a campaign tour of Wamba. She was held hostage by the youths of the area.

The target of the assault was Akwashiki whom the youths prevented from leaving the palace. It only took the intervention of security forces that mobilised to rescue her from the hands of the angry youths.

Her ascension to the Senatorial throne of the zone in 2007 was through protest vote as she was already on her way out, but because of the Ewuga factor who was then in the ANPP where Akwashiki decamped to, people voted her in against the incumbent Senator John Danboyi who was on the side of Doma.

At a point, Ewuga’s name was said to be missing in the INEC list posted on the website and many were of the view that if it became the true situation, then Akwashiki might heave a sigh of relief, but otherwise, then she might well be on her way out of the National Assembly with Ewuga in the race.

The omission of Ewuga’s name is however said to be because of Dr. Yusuf Musa Nagogo who also is in CPC and laying claim to be the original candidate instead of Ewuga. But analysts believe that Nagogo may not prove a hard nut for Akwashiki in the general elections even if he secures the ticket eventually.

Though there are other candidates including Barrister John Mathew of the ANPP, Isa Usman Ambaka of the LP and Haruna Adamu Sankwa of the APS, the focus at the moment is between Ewuga, Akwashiki and Nagogo.



Nasarawa West

In Nasarawa West Senatorial District, there is another big fight as the immediate past governor of the state, Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu will be up against General Ahmed Abdullahi Abokie who, it was learnt, brought him to the lime light.

Adamu had a tough fight against the incumbent, Senator Abubakar Sodangi at the primaries, but managed to beat him with a slim margin and was confident of winning until the entrance of Abokie into the race.

Abokie, a former military administrator of Kwara State, one-time Director of Military Intelligence and GOC of the Nigerian Army is said to be giving Adamu sleepless nights in the zone.

Things have become even more complicated for the former governor because of the inroad of the CPC in the zone. The entire area is said to be firmly in the hands of the CPC which influence has kept the PDP on edge.

Though Adamu sees the CPC as a new political party that may not make much impact in the state, the testimonies left on the trail of its campaigns would likely puncture that claim.

The tussle between the CPC and PDP in the state will be tough. However, analysts believe that the CPC is counting on an election devoid of manipulations. How it end will be decided on Saturday.

http://thenationonlineng.net/web3/politics/32973.html

Nigeria has produced 11 chairmen of electoral commission at the centre. Many of them were electoral vampires, judging by their records of performance as chief umpires. Although they are men of note who reached the zenith of their careers before assuming the reins at the national headquarters.

The umpires are the pioneer electoral officer, E.E.Esua, 196; Michael Ani, Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO), 1978; Ovie Whiskey, 1983; Eme Awa, National Electoral Commission (NEC), 1988; Humphrey Nwosu, 1989; Okon Uya, 1993; Dagogo Jack, 1984; Ephraim Akpata, 1999; Abel Guobadia, 2000; Maurice Iwu, 2005 and Attahiru Jega, 2010.

Two of them: Whiskey and Akpata are jurists. Another three: Esua, Ani and Jack were top civil servants. Awa, Uya, Guobadia, Iwu and Jega made their marks in the academic.


E. E. Esua:

For decades, Esua, the quintessential unionist in the education sector, made his mark as an astute administrator. He was reputed for hard work, commitment and discipline. In the teachers circle, he is still adored as a role model. He was the indefatigable Secretary-General of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and right hand man of the early education statesmen, including Rev. Israel Oludotun Ransom-Kuti, Dr Alvan Ikoku and Archdeacon J.O.Lucas.

However, historians have described him as a man of limited electoral experience. The challenge of the office overwhelmed him. It appeared that the experience he garnered as the NUT scribe proved insufficient for him to navigate the difficult electoral ship of state.

The 1964 federal election which Esua conducted was a disaster. in the fierce battle for power were regionally inclined party coordinated by regional leaders; some of who fuelled embers of religion and ethnicity. In the days of hot regional politics, the electoral agency operated within the armpit of the power that be. This raised serious questions about its neutrality and independence.

Ultimately,barely four years after the departure of the colonial masters, serious doubts were expressed about the capacity of the early leaders to manage effectively the post-independence challenge of change of government through the ballot box.

The major parties in the race were Action Group(AG), led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who was serving a 10-year jail-term, Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), led by the Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, and National Council of Nigerian citizens (NCNC), led by Dr. Michael Okpara.

It was clear that none of the three parties could single-handedly command majority in the Parliament. NPC was formerly in alliance with the NCNC, but it found a new partner in Ladoke Akintola’s Nigeria National Democratic Party (NNDP), which was bent on uprooting AG from Western Region, its stronghold. The United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA), comprising AG, NCNC and other smaller parties vowed to resist the onslaught at the federal parliamentary elections. Although the alliance was more popular, NNDP carried the day and Akintola entered the State House through the back door.

People waited till 1965 regional elections to vent their anger on Akintola Government. Challenging him to a duel was Dauda Adegbenro, an Egba politician, who was AG leader. Under the parliamentary system, he wanted to displace Akintola as Premier and the odds favoured his party. When the poll was rigged in favour of NNDP, hell was let loose.

The region was in turmoil. Smokes billowed in cities and towns; from Mushin to Ado-Ekiti, from Ibadan to Okitipupa, from Ilesa to Akokoland. When a post-mortem was conducted on the dead dispensation, it was discovered that rigging was the precursor to trouble.

In the areas where UPGA was popular, there was shortage of materials. Police was used to harass and hound opposition into detention. Many credible opposition figures had to flee their homes. Election results were falsified and bitterness was engendered. Akintola gained notoriety as the symbol of perfidy and the masses moved against him. In the days of Esua, there was no electoral sanity and the covetous military men capitalised on the uproar to enthrone their illegal government.


Michael Ani:

In the First Republic, the Westminster model had collapsed and Michael Ani, who emerged as the Chairman of Federal Electoral Commission in 1978, had a brief to conduct elections under the presidential system. The octopus electoral agency succeeded in confronting the voters with its rigging magic. It was not a tribute to his illustrious career as a highly respected technocrat.

Before he took the appointment, Ani was a federal Permanent Secretary. His assignment was to act as referee for five formidable political parties on the track, namely the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), led by Chief Adisa Akinloye, Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) led by Awo, Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) led by Zik, Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) led by Aminu Kano and Great Nigerian Peoples Party (GNPP) led by Waziri Ibrahim.

The presidential candidates were giants of history. Shehu Shagari of NPN was a federal parliamentarian and minister in the First Republic, state and federal commissioner under military regime and member of the Constituent Assembly. He was a colleague of Ibrahim, Minister of Health under Balewa Government.

Aminu Kano, leader of Talakawas, was a member of House of Representatives, he was also a federal commissioner under Gowon Administration, like Shagari and Awo, first Premier of Western Region and later, Leader of Opposition in Federal Parliament. Zik, his counterpart in Eastern Region, had served as ceremonial President of Nigeria.

The state elections were conducted without much stress. But the Head of State, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, had set the tone for the presidential poll when he declared that the best presidential material would not win the race. The 12 two third saga which the outcome of the election generated was judicially resolved. But the controversy lingered till the demise of the Second Republic.

Ani served his term fully, but the controversy dented his hard- earned image as an umpire.


Ovie Whiskey:

An eminent jurist, Whiskey rode to office on the back of an unblemished record as the chief judge of Bendel State. He succeeded Ani, the great technocrat. But he later built on the rot left behind by his predecessor. NPN leaders had indicated their desires to win the 1983 elections by landslide and the onus was on FEDECO to make it happen. Soon, State Electoral Commissioners started to dance to the tune of the ruling party at the centre. On poll day, voters in Ondo, Oyo, Anambra, Bornu and Kaduna States were jolted from their delusions about free and fair elections. The electoral commission was heavily bribed by the ruling party. In concert with the police, results were falsified and winners became losers.

In Ondo State, Akin Omoboriowo of NPN was suddenly declared winner of the governorship election, instead of Adekunle Ajasin, who won the election. In Oyo State, Bola Ige was dealt a terrible blow by FEDECO, which pronounced Omololu Olunloyo the victor. Reminiscent of the explosion in the Old West, people took to the streets in violent protest, which claimed the lives of UPN defectors to NPN, including Olaiya Fagbamigbe, a staunch Awoist and frontline publisher, Tunde Agunbiade, member of House of Assembly and Agbayewa of Akure, educationist and a leader of NPN. In flames was the FEDECO Office in Akure and houses of NPN stalwart. Ajasin was later restored to his office by the Supreme Court.

By 1983, many Nigerians had lost confidence in FEDECO and Whiskey. But there were indications that he would have completed his tenure, if the military did not sack the civilian regime. The reputation of many electoral officers was dented and it has affected that social image in the public.


Eme Awa:

Awa was a seasoned political scientist who knew his onions. But he was asked to preside over the electoral commission during the administration of Military President Ibrahim babangida, a great dribbler. When he was appointed, many scholars in the land hailed the choice of the University of Nigeria (UNN) Professor of Political Science. He was perceived as a man of integrity and a refined gentleman. He lived to expectation.

The lot to conduct the zero-party elections for local governments fell on him, the grassroots polls were largely free and fair. What was tested at the election was the worth of independent candidacy. But it was the beginning of dubious political experimentation and manipulation by Babangida., who played on the intelligence of Nigerians. Awa was already an old man and he wanted to make history when he held fort as electoral chief. He tried to frustrate IBB’s attempt to toy with the process by refusing to cooperate with the President when his suggestions were at variance with the process.

His removal was sudden. Many felt that he was shoved aside because he insisted on the path of honour. Outside office, the former electoral commission chairman kept sealed lips. He said if he opened his mouth, Nigeria would be on fire. He passed on at 71 without releasing his memoir detailing his tenure as electoral helmsman.


Humphrey Nwosu:

He was the academic disciple of Prof. Awa, who was brilliant like his teacher. He became the chairman of the electoral body at a more challenging period. The Maradona had started showing signs of reluctance to leave Aso Rock. He became a terror to the old political warhorse, banning and unbanning them at will, hounding them into detention and inciting old brigade against the new breed he had created in his own image. Nwosu was not unaware of this lip service to the handover programme.

But, he endowed the office with visibility and vigour. He enlivened the atmosphere with his hilarious defense of the elongated, multiple experimentation by the military leader. The first blunder he committed was the fusing of political associations formed by politicians of various shades and colours into two seeminly ideological parties-social Democratic Party (SDP)and National Republican Convention (NRC), which aptly captured the expression of a little to the right and a little to the left.

The two platforms lacked democratic credential. Scholars who hailed their existence, nevertheless, opined that two party system was ideal because the picture of previous alliances in previous dispensations recommended the model. But others contended that the two parties were imposed and their manifesto were fashioned out by the military.

However, the newbreed lacked the experience needed for political scrutiny. They embraced the two parties without grudges, either to scorn at the old brigade or convey the impression of readiness to be co-travelers with the military regime to doom. By the time the ban imposed on the old breed was lifted, the scramble for the political space intensified between the two blocs.

Old politicians and human rights activists did not repose confidence in Nwosu, who was perceived as a stooge in the hand of IBB. The electoral agency, which was often tele-guided by the military President, shifted the election time-table more than twice. A difficult and lengthy electoral procedure, Option A4 was introduced for the selection of candidates. But the politicians, who were determined in their mission to halt the military regime, passed the acid test.

Contrary to expectation, Nwosu was working assiduously to write his name in the letters of gold. Against all odds, he conducted the freest, fairest and credible presidential elections in the country. Throughout the country, the exercise was peaceful. Up to now, the 1993 presidential elections won by the SDP candidate, the late chief Moshood Abiola, is a model election and a reference point. It was annulled by IBB without justification. It was his greatest foul play.

To Nigerians, the cancellation of the election results amounted to deprivation, unwarranted banishment of solid politico-human rights and flagrant seizure of a nation’s collective passport to make a genuine flight to the horizon of democracy and progress. The cruel act signaled renewed hostility to the boring military regime and discredited the image of the former President.

The results were on air when the midwife, IBB halted further announcement. Nwosu, it was said, was summoned to the office of a top military officer and physically assaulted. He did not return to his office as NEC chair. For 14 years, he kept mum. But when he eventually opened up, the book he wrote told a glaring lie against his tenure and his person.


Okon Uya:

Nwosu was replaced by the eminent professor of History, Uya. He had a curious mandate to conduct another election within three months. Uya, it was said, had written a policy paper for IBB on the Egyptian model of political succession. In the Arab country, the military had emerged as a durable and formidable power bloc. After a long stay in power, military commanders who welded political authority transmuted into civilian leaders by conducting elections with pre-determined results.

But the annulment had robbed IBB of honour and integrity. At the height of his military glory, he had become a shadow of his former dreadful self because he failed to quit when the ovation was loudest. In shame, he embraced the only plausible option. IBB ‘stepped aside’ without resolving the controversy he created and the pains he unleashed. As he handed over to an interim contraception headed by the boardroom politician, Chief Ernest Shonekan, the tenure of Uya also came to an end. He was the only umpire who did not conduct any election.


Dagogo-Jack:

A former Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Dagogo-Jack was appointed by the Military Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, who sacked the inept Shonekan Interim Government. His agency was named National Electoral Commission (NECON). Five parties were formed and Abacha hijacked them. The late Chief Ige described them aptly as five fingers of a leprous hand. The parties endorsed the Head of State for the civilian presidency. But Dagogo-Jack’s ability could not be put to test as Abacha died mysteriously before the presidential elections.


Ephraim Akpata:

A highly celebrated jurist, Akpata was appointed by Abdulsalami Abubakar Administration in 1998. It was a hurried transition process. The military refused to directly interfere in the programme. Three parties-Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Nigeria Peoples Party (APP) and Alliance for Democracy (AD), which was formed after the date for party formation had expired-were involved in the exercise.

The election revealed a lot about the plurality of Nigeria. The three parties won in their respective strongholds. Complaints were minimal The petition by the APP/AD flagbearer, Chief Olu Falae, was perceived as a weak complaint. Monumental abuses were not heaped on Akpata, a former Supreme Court judge. He died in active service.


Abel Guobadia:

Up came Dr. Guobadia, a former Physics teacher at the University of Ibadan and one-time commissioner in Bendel State. He was said to have been tipped for the post by the influential politician, Chief Tony Anenih. Under Guobadia, many Nigerians voted in vain. The poll was massively rigged across the country. Poll confident Southwest was routed by PDP, with the aid of INEC and security agents. The victims did not react. But after the polls, Guobadia’s service came to a close. Reflecting at a lecture in Lagos which he chaired, the former INEC boss said the commission was under-funded when he presided, adding that many innovations were also frustrated.


Maurice Iwu:

So far, Prof. Iwu is the most controversial electoral chief Nigeria ever had. The Chemistry professor took over from Guobadia. There was a public outcry when

he was nominated, which former President Obasanjo ignored. At that stage, many observers contented that he was promoted to the position to conduct election for PDP alone.

http://thenationonlineng.net/web3/politics/33218.html

Is politics a game, a mere game? Is it a battle? Or is it total war? Great political scientists have tended to suggest that it is more than a mere game. At the least, it could be described as a deadly game in many countries where there are rules and those rules are obeyed in the interest of the society. But, in Nigeria, it is war. The main combatants- political parties, candidates and the states are out not only to outwit or neutralise their opponents, they tend to maim, kill and destroy. The general elections are starting again today. In 94 zones, there will be contention for Senate seats; and in 312 federal constituencies, battles will be joined. The candidates are, by now, well known; the political parties not unknown. Today, however, those at war are the godfathers who sponsored the candidates. They dictate the pace and decide weapons to be employed. Who are these godfathers? Group Political Editor BOLADE OMONIJO presents the godfathers and unveils their strategies.

If he is not contesting, former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu could be described as the ultimate godfather. He has all it takes to assume that role. He has been the commander of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 'Army' in the state. Then, he moved against the party, contended for territory and won the bitter war with the Progressive Peoples Alliance in 2007. A miscalculation last year saw his fish moving out of water, but he quickly retraced his steps. Now, he is back in the PPA.

Kalu is not just a godfather in today's polls, he is a godfather-candidate. He is contesting in Abia North. Who is his opponent? A former political protégé and godson, Senator Uche Chukwumerije is flying the PDP flag. They had worked together at checkmating the PDP in the state. It appeared that the bond was inseparable. But, today, Kalu has come full circle. He is not only a senatorial candidate, other PPA candidates in the South and Central districts have had to rely on him for succour.

But for Kalu, PPA would not be regarded as an active participant in the general elections in Abia State. He knows the written and unwritten laws, he understands the people, he could be cold and deadly in his calculations. He is a wealthy businessman and, as a former governor of the state, he has a channel of reaching out to his people. He is a man to watch. Closely.

Chukwumerije’s new godfather is the man who replaced Kalu at the state Government House. His name, too, is Orji, Theodore Orji. He does not strike anyone as suave and charismatic. He is one of those that one could easily brush aside and dismiss as guileless. However, in Abia State today, anyone who dismisses this Orji does so at his peril. What he lacks on the political field, he makes up for by his firm grip on the levers of power. One would have expected that the chameleonic way he moved from PDP to PPA to All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and then back to the PDP would haunt him in this election. Maybe. But, he has manage to repair the damage by his devastating use of state power. Orji Kalu and Theodore Orji are the generals at way, the ultimate godfathers in this war for the control of Abia soul in today’s polls and the subsequent ones in this year’s general elections.

ADAMAWA: Nyako, Marwa, Haruna test run their race

This is a state that has produced more godfathers than most others. They understand the game and know what to do to move things in favour of their wards. But, many are in retreat and retirement. They do not really count in today’s war. They hover in the air but are unable to stand on firm ground. The retired commanders of the territory include Prof. Jubril Aminu, a former Ambassador to the United States of America, two-term member of the senate where he is an influential chairman of the Foreign Affairs committee and sponsor of ministers from the state. He has lost control.

In the political terrain of Adamawa State, the words of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar were laws. He made governors and senators. He had much patronage to dispense, at the federal and state levels. Today, he is out of government. He is out of power. He is out of favour. He is out of the calculation. Despite his return to the PDP last year in a bid to regain his relevance and possibly advance to storm Aso Rock, he lost at the January primary and has been unable to regain his balance in national politics.

Rather than regain his composure and relevance, after that bitter experience where the political general was treated like a junior officer, the man who has bounced into reckoning is Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. His Minna house has turned into a political Mecca and palace. He holds court regularly. The president has been unable to ignore the gap-toothed general; neither has the PDP whose BoT chairman, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, has been sent to negotiate the terms of engagement.

Both Aminu and Abubakar are out. It is doubtful if they could still step into the ring. Or better still, be assured of a prominent place at the ringside from where to control events.

Today, the new kingmakers, another name for political godfathers, are the state governor, Murtala Nyako, a former military chief and successful farmer. He still has a lot to learn on the political turf, but cannot be dismissed. He has taken over the party in the state and shown that only those who reckon with him can win the PDP ticket. The question that today’s elections will answer is what is the PDP ticket distributed by Nyako worth?

In the opposition parties, there are Mohammed Buba Marwa of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and Boni Haruna of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Marwa is the lord of the CPC. Until he joined the party in February, the party was a fringe player in the Adamawa political life. His appearance in the party’s colours as the governorship flag bearer has breathed life into it. He controls affairs, taught his wards the lessons they must learn in confronting the giants and funds the party.

In the ACN, the man in charge is former Governor Boni Haruna. After the exit of Atiku Abubakar, Haruna moved to knit the party together and assume control of the flock. Today, like Kalu of Abia State, Haruna is a godfather candidate. He guides the other ACN candidates and flies the flag in Adamawa North from where both he and Marwa hail.


AKWA IBOM: Udoedehe, Akpabio in tug of war

Uyo, the capital of the state, has been unsettling, unnerving and unsettled since the 2011 elections approached and the ACN made a bold move. First, its net caught a big fish in John Akpanudoedehe, a former Uyo local government chairman, senator and minister. Then, the party’s victory in Ekiti and Osun states won it attention in states outside its natural habitat. It emboldened Udoedehe to work hard and focus on the light after the tunnel. His chances brightened somewhat when Ime Umanah, a veteran of many gubernatorial fights accepted to partner Udoedehe in the battle. Since then, the political scene has not been the same.

Governor Godswill Akpabio loves to dictate the pace. The manner by which he dethroned his predecessor, Chief Victor Attah turned Akpabio into a hero of sorts. He, indeed, saw himself as a giant killer, one who could move the state in whatever direction. This is one state where the war is perhaps hottest. Akpabio is throwing everything into maintaining his hold on the territory and, Udoedehe who was the Campaign Manager for the group in 2007, has sworn that he would stop at nothing in repeating the feat of 2007. He is Ibibio and has the advantage of numbers, while Umanah is Annang. Akpabio is also Annang.

The travails of Udoedehe appear to have sold him to many of his kinsmen as the underdog who is deserving of their sympathy. To some of the Ibibio, the ACN governorship candidate is a hero who deserves full support. The arrest for treason, trial and humiliation in court might prove ultimately a miscalculation on the part of the governor who had earlier given indication that he would hinge his campaign on the good work that he has done in the past four years.

In today’s election, the candidates are hardly the issue. It is about Udoedehe and Akpabio. The godfathers. Who carries the day? In the Annang territory or Ikot Ekpene senatorial zone, there is little doubt that the governor will have the upper hand despite the fact that there are two Ibibio local government areas in the zone. In Eket where the Ibibio and Oron mingle, the race is less predictable. And in the purely Ibibio enclave that the Uyo senatorial zone is, the election would point the way to other elections.

There is no doubt that the governor has lost some ground. But the percentages of turn out, the influence of his field commanders and the much that money can do for him will play the major role in deciding how things turn out. It is also the first opportunity of gauging the independence and impartiality of the electoral umpire. If the election is free and fair, it may provide the Akwa Ibom people an opportunity of encouraging Udoedehe to go to battle with his heads up, and shoulders erect.


BAYELSA: Does Alaibe stand a chance against Jonathan, Sylva?


This is the land of the president. As Nigerian politics goes, the man who should be deciding who wears the crown in Bayelsa should be President Goodluck Jonathan. But, he is helmed in by a frosty relationship with Governor Timipre Sylva. However, in this enterprise, both men are partners. It is too late, they discovered, to go their separate ways. So, in the PDP, they are joint godfathers. The president has his office and control of some machinery of state to contribute, while the man in charge, who produced all the PDP candidates, is the governor.

At a point, there was rumour that Chief Timi Alaibe had been seconded to the Labour Party by Jonathan to do battle against the governor. However, the president ‘s categorical statement debunking the insinuation at the launch of the presidential campaign in Yenagoa was enough to stop advancement by LP on this score.

This has however not deterred the swift movement by Labour and Alaibe. The former Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) man who later served as Special Adviser to the President on the affairs of the region has continued to take his gospel to all the nooks and crannies of the state. It appears that, when it comes to dispensing cash, Alaibe could not be easily beaten by the satte governor. He also has some advantage of having served for long at the NDDC where he was able to dispense patronage.

Today, it is Alaibe versus Jonathan plus Sylva. Can he run up this hill without fainting? As the governorship flag bearer of his party, the National Assembly elections will point the way forward. The outlook appears brighter for the PDP and its men.


BORNO: Buhari makes wave offshore

There is one man whose name has become synonymous with the politics of this far northern state in the Eastern flank. He is Ali Modu Sheriff. At the inception of the Fourth Republic, he was elected a senator. Then, after four years of serving as a kingmaker, he opted to be crowned the king. The move was resisted by his protégé who had been elected governor and desired a second term. Egos clashed. The governor, Alhaji Malla Kachalla, left the ruling All Nigeria Peoples party (ANPP) for the little known Alliance for Democracy. Predictably, Sheriff triumphed at the poll in 2003. Now, eight years in the saddle, Sheriff is barred by the constitution from contesting for governorship. He is heading for the Senate. Can anyone stop him? Hardly.

That is the minor part of the task. He is also the rallying point for all National Assembly candidates in the state. In this role, as the godfather, he has the task of keeping the ANPP alive in Borno State. His main opponent, strangely enough, is not from the state. He is General Muhammadu Buhari , the moving spirit behind the CPC. If there were doubts about the popularity of the General in the state, the cloud lifted when the CPC campaign team visited Maiduguri, the state capital last month. The cars in the convoy were swarmed by supporters and enthusiasts. Sheriff himself must have been surprised and probably alarmed by the passion that his people showed in receiving Buhari.

Although there is also the PDP in the race in each of the three senatorial districts, it appears it would be fourth time no dice for the party that has consistently held sway at the federal level but found Modu Sheriff’s hold to strong to break. In this election, who blinks in Borno, Sheriff or Buhari? It is a new dimension to politics and politicking. It promises to be interesting.


EDO: Oshiomhole, Anenih renew rivalry

This was the state of the godfathers. In the PDP, there were three- Esama Gabriel Igbinedion who "donated" his son as the first governor in this dispensation, "General" Tony Anenih who is so cold and calculating that he goes by the appellation Leader on the national political scene and Chief Samuel Ogbemudia. Politically, the star of Ogbemudia no longer shines so brightly in the state. Igbinedion is no longer a factor in the PDP since his son ceased to be governor.

The man left as backbone of the PDP is Anenih who is sometimes also known as "Mr. Fix It." The lot of picking up the rubbles and rebuilding the collapsed wall of the federal ruling party in Edo State has fallen on Anenih. He leads the battle charge against the ACN government led by the suave and charismatic Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

The governor has vowed not to bow to Anenih, nor is he willing to worship at the altar of the man who as chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) negotiated away the victory of the party in the 1993 presidential election. He has maintained that he and the other leaders did so in the interest of the country. Anenih has the support of the federal government and president whose campaign he is handling. He knows the terrain and is very versed in party administration and electoral calculations. He cannot be ignored as he leads the PDP senatorial and House candidates to the electoral battle field today.

Neither can Oshiomhole be waved aside. When he hopped on the scene, many dismissed him as a rabble-rouser who would make of the enterprise. But, he has proved in two years that he has all the ingredients needed to build a strong political empire. The people of the state craved good governance; he has supplied. The ACN wanted a strong leader; he has proved himself in this respect. He has campaigned for the party.

The National Assembly battles are his to win as the PDP is still fragmented in the state. But, the manner that the primaries were handled in the state may haunt the party. A number of Oshiomhole’s close aides and officials of the party have ditched him to team up with his arch enemy, the PDP. What would this translate into? How would the Oshiomhole factor help Senator Uzamere in the strategically important South zone? The North may be easier for Oshiomhole, but he also has to watch out in the central.


JIGAWA: Turaki tries Lamido for size


The rivalry in the state is between the state governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, one of the most experienced state chief executives, and his predecessor, Alhaji Saminu Turaki, now a senator. When Turaki was elected governor in 1999 on the ticket of ANPP, Lamido was appointed a minister by President Olusegun Obasanjo. All attempts by Lamido to upstage Turaki in 2003 failed. It took a defection of the senator to the PDP in 2007 to hand the state to the PDP.

Now the political wedding conducted in 2007 has been dissolved and Turaki has quit the PDP fold. He is now the senatorial flag bearer of the ACN for the Northwest district. He is thus a godfather-candidate. He is the points man for his new party in the state. Until he introduced the ACN to Jigawa, the party had no effective presence. As the presidential rally flagged off in Dutse on February 21 showed, the Turaki name is a magic wand in the state’s political firmament.

But, are his name, political structure and capital enough to secure victory against an equally suave Lamido? Lamido is undoubtedly a progressive. He was tutored by the late Mallam Aminu Kano and this has been an enduring foundation for his political edifice. The two men are locked in the battle for supremacy. Who wins?

In Lamido’s favour is effective control of state machinery. He also has a tested structure in the PDP. Can Turaki upturn these advantages in favour of his wards today? Pundits say the ACN structure is not strong enough to win more than Turaki’s zone for him. He may have to wait for four years to upturn the cart in other zones. How he performs in these elections may determine what happens in the others.

Another godfather is Gen. Buhari’s CPC. From outside, he is a strong influence in Jigawa.


KADUNA, KANO, KATSINA and KEBBI: Buhari is the issue


In the four Northwest states, one name that has threatened all previous political calculations and dreams is Muhammadu Buhari. He is not just the presidential flag bearer of the CPC, he is seen as the Commander-in-Chief of its "Armed Forces". Nothing is allowed to stand in its way. Buhari is the man of the moment who, within one year, has planted the party and nurtured it round the country, but especially in this all-important zone.

In Kaduna, the CPC has built itself up as the main challenger to the dominant PDP. Although it will be tough challenging such candidates as Alhaji Ahmed Makarfi and Mrs. Nenadi Usman, the Buhari trademark remains unmistakable.

In Kano, it is a three-horse race. The ruling party is the ANPP and has incumbent governor and presidential candidate, Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau as the moving spirit. The PDP’s governorship candidate, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso who had ruled the state between 1999 and 2003 is back in reckoning. He is being supported by former HOR Speaker Ghali Na’Abba, influential HOR member Farouk Lawan and Third Republic governor, Senator Kabiru Gaya who is also a senatorial candidate.

The war has been joined, not by the candidates, but Buhari for CPC, Shekarau for ANPP and Kwankwaso of the PDP. Also involved is the incumbent Deputy Governor Tijjani Gwarzo who is the governorship candidate of the ACN. He has the support of Alhaji Lawan Gwadabe in attempting what appears to be a very difficult task within the time available after he defected just in January.

In Katsina that produced the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, the main combatants are Daura-born Gen. Buhari and state Governor Ibrahim Shema. To support Buhari are governorship candidate Damarke Lado, a serving senator; his running mate, Col. Abdulaziz Yar’Adua (rtd) of the illustrious Yar’Adua political clan; former HOR Speaker Aminu Masari and Dr. Sayyadi Ruma who was late President Yar’Adua’s man Friday, among others.

To support Governor Shema who is fighting for his political life is Senator Kanti Bello who used to be a staunch Buhari supporter while both men operated in the ANPP horizon. Shema is fighting for his political life after the demise of Yar’adua who was his political mentor and owner of the platform on which he was elected. He has an assignment to deliver the state to the PDP as the coordinator of the Jonathan/Sambo campaign in the region.

Can Buhari pull his weight now that Yar’Adua is no longer available for the PDP? Now that Prof. Attahiru Jega is INEC chairman, would the elections be free and fair and therefore show the standing of the godfathers and parties? This is obviously the last chance for General Buhari, how would he fare at the home front? Posers. We await answers within 48 hours as Jega has promised.

Kebbi is another state where General Buhari is making hay while his political sun is still shining. Like a hurricane, Buhari is threatening to blow anything that stands in his way away. He is being strongly assisted in the assignment on the Kebbi front by a godfather-candidate, former Governor Adamu Aliero is a senatorial candidate and has donated his entire political structure that installed Governor Dakingari in 2007. Now that he has withdrawn the platform, can Dakingari prove himself as the new kingmaker for the PDP? Has he come of age?

Kabiru Turaki, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, is the ACN governorship candidate and is making waves. He however has more hurdles to scale in turning the party into a victorious platform in Kebbi State.


LAGOS: Tinubu is undisputed king

Brand Tinubu rules the waves here. He has campaigned vigorously for all the candidates, especially the governorship candidate, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN. The de facto leader of the ACN who was Fashola’s predecessor has proved over the years that he is in control of the state’s political firmament. Today, as his wife, Oluremi, incumbent Senator Ganiyu Solomon and Mr. Gbenga Sharafa file out for the senatorial contest, it is expected to turn out well for the party’s candidates.

The godfather behind the PDP challenge is Chief Olabode George, a former naval officer, military governor who later became deputy national chairman of the party. Recently released from jail for infraction of the law while serving as chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority, George has since seized control of the party structure in Lagos. Observers have however wondered what has become of the party in the state as it is devoid of the vibrancy it had when the late Funsho Willaims and the High Commissioner to Ghana, Alhaji Musiliu Obanikoro were candidates in 2003 and 2007. The senatorial candidates are hardly known. In PDP’s place, the party posing some challenge is the Labour Party, especially in the central zone where its efforts could be noted. Lagos remains safe for ACN.


KWARA: Sarakis at war

In political circles and parlance, Kwara was known as the land of Oloye, later of the Sarakis. The appellation followed the feat supposedly recorded by Dr. Olusola Saraki in 1979, 1983, 1991, 1999, 2003 and 2007. Dr. Saraki is believed to have established himself as the number one kingmaker in the country by installing his men in the Kwara Government House over the years. This credential is however being disputed by the opposition who claim that the "feats" were recorded cleverly.

The incumbent governor is Dr. Bukola Saraki, a scion of the kingmaker. Father and son have parted ways ahead of today’s poll and next Saturday’s. The governor is the PDP candidate for the central zone, while ACPN has Hajia Rukayat Alaro Isa and the ACN, Dr. Ibrahim Oloriegbe. The general elections in Kwara will prove who is the kingmaker. Has Dr. Bukola succeeded in retiring his father and taking over the role? Will the elections see Bukola emerge a senator and the new king of Kwara politics? Or will Bukola’s sister, Gbemisola emerge the new governor and the father’s position confirmed? The elections will point the way to the future of the North central state.


OGUN : Daniel, Obasanjo fight to the finish

In Ogun State, there are three political parties in contention: the ACN, Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN) and PDP. The godfathers are Senator Ibikunle Amosun and Chief Olusegun Osoba of the ACN; ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo of the PDP and Governor Gbenga Daniel of the PPN.

All the godfathers are fighting for their political lives. Obasanjo’s daughter is the PDP senatorial candidate for Ogun central but she will have her hands full as it is also Amosun’s base. Daniel had the duty of pushing his ward, Gboyega Isiaka to the PPN at the last minute after the faction had been outfoxed by the Obasanjo faction. Both men have points to prove.

Amosun was also of the PDP family, but he vacated the ship in 2007 when he could not stand the combined strength of Obasanjo and Daniel whose interests then converged. He moved to the ANPP, fought the election on the platform of a party that was virtually non-existent and performed brilliantly even though he was denied the prize. The support he has from Chief Osoba, a former governor and the ACN could help in determining what happens at the polls today.


OYO: Fireworks from Ladoja, Akala, Lam

In Oyo State, the battle is between Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala for the PDP and former Governor Lamidi Adesina of the ACN. Akala has the support of Chief Richard Akinjide who is electorally a featherweight, but understands the language of power politics. The government machinery available to him avails much.

Lam Adesina has the support of a charismatic candidate, Senator Abiola Ajimobi who proved his mettle in 2007 when, on being denied the ticket of AC, defected to the ANPP and made the mark. One of the Justices who heard his petition agreed that he won the election. Others gave it to PDP’s Akala. However, the fact that he defeated AC at the poll showed his worth. He is teaming up with Adesina to back the party’s candidates in the three zones and federal constituencies.

The impact of ex-Governor Rashidi Ladoja cannot be discountenanced. Even then, his Accord came too late to create much ripples.


PLATEAU: Dame Tallen takes on Da Jang: Who’ll blink first?

The field is wide open. Plateau is a state in the throes of crises. One man who, over the years, has established himself as Leader in the state is Chief Solomon Lar. He has been involved since the 1950s, was in the House of Representatives in the First Republic. In 1979, he was elected the only Nigerian Peoples Party’s governor in the North and carried the string of victories to the Third Republic when he dictated the pace for the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the state.

As the first national chairman of the PDP in the Fourth Republic, he could be said to be the founding father of the party in the state. However, while he remains relevant, he is no longer the numero uno of politics in the state.

Jonah Jang is the governor. He is candidate of the PDP and the recent crisis that hit the party and forced some members out of the party has established him as the most powerful politician in the PDP. Those who remain in the party owe their loyalty directly to Jang and will do anything for him. He is the sponsor and godfather of all the senatorial and HOR candidates in today’s election. If the party wins, Jang can claim victory. It will point the way to next Saturday and beyond. If the PDP records victory in all the election, t will mark the emergence of King jang.

However, Labour is proving a strong challenge. Paradoxically, the heart of LP is Dame Paulline Tallen, the deputy governor. She has attracted the cream of leaders of PDP into the LP and is sending fear into the spine of the governor, his machinery and party. She has as major senatorial candidates, former Governor Joshua Dariye and Senator John Shagaya. It promises to be thrilling as 15 of the 26 members of the House of Assembly defected with her from the PDP.

They are not contesting today. But, all eyes are on Jang and Tallen who are in the control room directing affairs.

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As Nigerians go to the polls today, there were indications last night that the United States, the United Kingdom and most foreign embassies have opened desks to monitor the general election.

Also, most of the embassies have deployed observers for the election as part of over 400 domestic and international observer groups.

But the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday said that it was working with security agencies to track deployment of ballot papers and other materials.

The commission said it was ready for the polls and that there was no cause for alarm.

A top diplomat, who spoke in confidence, said:　 "From the US to all of us, we are deeply interested in the general election because you have not got it right since 1993 when you last had the freest poll in the history of your country.

"If Nigeria could lead the vanguard of protecting the sanctity of the ballot in Cote D’Ivoire, we want to see how far you can be a model for others.

"We have opened desks for situation report from different observer groups to guide our opinion on the poll. We believe that if Nigeria gets it right, it will inspire other African countries.

"Most of the embassies have also deployed observers to get first hand information on the poll. We want to measure the electoral process in line with what your President has promised the international community."

The Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Johnnie Carson, had on Wednesday in Washington DC said: "Our government will not turn a blind eye to a repeat of the political violence and wholesale electoral theft that took place in 2007.

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As the general elections are fast approaching interesting events are unfolding that should catch the attention of not just a student of political history but also a concerned and enlightened electorate. Obviously, the dynamics of political intrigues have taken a new dimension since the insistence of the President to exercise what is seen as his constitutional right against his party’s political arrangement and agreement of power sharing that is aimed at creating stability and accommodation in the politics of our current dispensation and the diversity of our nation.

The issue of zoning has extensively been debated and the consequences of betraying the arrangement and agreement within the ruling PDP can only be imagined. One of the obvious effects it has generated is a ripple effect of do-or-die politics that has been reintroduced across the States of the federation, much thanks to the garrison commander-in-chief and lord of do-or-die politics; former President Obasanjo, who is seen as the grandmaster of what some might call the complete failure of our current democratic dispensation to yield the desired dividends of democracy despite the staggering amount of incurrent petro-dollars. One of such States that is experiencing intense politicking and political desperation is Katsina State; a State that is politically known to be stable and to a large extent moderate. In Katsina State; Gov. Shema being a coordinator of the Goodluck/Sambo campaign in the region has a particularly difficult and challenging task at hand. One of the selling an unpopular product/candidate in the base and hometown of another candidate that has popularity in the region that is sweeping like a hurricane, with a momentum even Obama will be jealous of. While this might seem enough to give one the political challenge of his/her life, the situation is further compounded by the rise and shine of another political enigma and wonder kid in the person of Sen.Yakubu Lado Danmarke who is poised to take over power from Gov. Shema through the popular support of the masses particularly the energetic youths that are seen across the States shouting for change and a breath of fresh air. Change as delicate as it is and as inevitable as it stand is the banner with which the CPC in Katsina State and nationwide is waving. When one looks at the major contenders for the race to the Government House of Katsina State it is easy to conclude that the battle has been drawn between the PDP led by Gov. Ibrahim Shema and the CPC led by the energetic Sen. Lado Danmarke; in essence it is a struggle between the forces of power retention and that of progressive change.

Recent political happenings in the State like the intimidation and the arrest of the CPC’s governorship candidate in the person of Sen. Lado has proven that the PDP in the State under the leadership of Gov. Shema is hell-bent on retaining power by any means necessary and is determined to tell the opposition that there is no vacancy in the G.R.A Government House currently occupied by Gov. Shema. However, political pundits will observe that this has been the biggest miscalculation yet on the part of Gov. Shema, and like all rulers who try to resist progressive change, it has further strengthened the resolve of the masses particularly the youths who strive for change and an opportunity to make humble contribution in governance.

According to Sen. Yakubu Lado as published in Daily Trust Monday edition of march 7, 2011 when asked about his predicaments in the hands of the Nigerian police who were ordered by the governor to arrest him in a commando style for allegedly being seen ordering the stoning of the almighty Governor’s convoy, he said: “it appears to me that the presidency is behind this because the IG seem not to have control over the situation”. He went further to say that “the presidency has always looked for a way to get back at me over my opposition to the declaration of Goodluck Jonathan as Acting President, they are doing this to kill my spirit, intimidate us from emancipating the people of Katsina State from the bondage they are in under governor Shema, ’’. Indeed anyone familiar with the style of the PDP government at all levels will agree that the intimidation of the opposition particularly those in the CPC which is currently taking place in Katsina State is a well thought out and played out script of the ruling PDP to perpetuate its misrule on the Nigerian masses and prevent progressives under the banner of the Gen. Buhari-led CPC from emancipating Nigerians at the State level in Katsina State. Unfortunately this plan and strategy is gladly being implemented under the command of Gov. Shema to destroy the chances of Gen. Buhari who is seen by many within and outside the country as the most likely to win the Presidential election in a free and fair election.

Now that is appears obvious that the PDP is determined to hold on to power despite the cries of the people for progressive change, and its desperation to scuttle the legitimate ambitions of Gen. Buhari and Sen. Lado Danmarke in Katsina State, the questions many are asking is to what extent is the PDP willing to go to achieve this nefarious agenda? What are the fates of other progressive and dynamic candidates under the CPC in Katsina State and other States who have fallen victims of the vendetta war that the PDP is wagging against the CPC? These concerns can be summarised by what one political analyst and observer, Kabir Saulawa puts it; “, the real victims of the prosecution of Sen. Danmarke in Katsina State are people like Ahmed Sani Stores, the Katsina Central senatorial candidate who is a revolutionary in terms of dynamic ideas and vision. He (Ahmed Sani Stores) is arguably the most qualified person to have ever contested that seat considering his international exposure, uprightness and passion for change, Katsinawa cannot afford to lose this opportunity for effective representation, we can no longer allow our political rights to be short changed’’.

The backlash that accompanied the outcome of the PDP Presidential primaries when most people felt that the northern governors had failed in preserving the zoning agreement of the PDP which would have given the region a fair opportunity of producing a presidential candidate after 8years of southern rule and the role of the Coordinator of the Goodluck/Sambo campaign which Gov. Shema has taken despite the feelings of betrayal that most Katsina State indigenes had over President Jonathans betrayal of Late President Yar’adua when the former unsuccessfully attempted to take over power from his boss, while he was on his sick bed, are some of the reasons why the Governor’s popularity in Katsina State is at its lowest point despite the modest contributions he has made in consolidating the achievements of Late Gov. Yar’adua in Office. Thus, as the Election Day is fast approaching, it will be interesting to see how Gov. Ibrahim Shema will be able to convince the electorate to support and vote for him for a second term in office now that the masses have resolved to come out to vote, escort and protect their votes. These are indeed interesting times in our political society.

Abdulhafiz Musa Abdullahi is a youth activist and political observer who was the Vice President of the INTI International University Student Government, Malaysia.

whyhafiz@yahoo.com , +2348131804143
http://www.pointblanknews.com/Articles/artopn3697.html

The other day I wrote about Nigeria being a repairable country if only we as a people are ready to be lead by men and women who can sacrifice their all for our dream, we will get there by far faster than we can think. Those in this mould can only be tested Nigerians in their various endevours, people who in some ways have ventured to put their lives on the line for the survival of this country. Why so? The example we have has confirmed that since those we have in authority did not lift a pin to be where they are now, they fell good to think that we must consider them first before the nation. If our leader in the senate think that they are sacrificial (and l have not seen any sacrifice I any of them), what would cause them to increase their allocation despite the out cry world wide only last year when the Central Bank Governor challenged them to prove that they are not the consumers of the nations one third income. The worse they have done has been to threaten the ready man with termination of appointment.

By the end of next month only few days from now, some few variables now will be as sure as certain. One the general election would have been held and concluded – l pray God. Winners would have emerged among all the parties and losers would be counting their losses as well as tinkering the next option usually the courts as the last alternative and why not? After all, some governors and legislators today won their election from the court rooms. Some of those who would prefer the court option are those who would have been cheated outright. Finally, it will be a field day for the lawyers a defining moment for them to take their turn in the “Chop I chop” syndrome which is synonymous with Nigerian politics. For them, it will be another call to duty and validly so too.

Since political campaigns kicked off nationwide, we have seen the big players and the pretenders as well as those who are not there at all. Or didn’t we register more than 50 political parties in Nigeria? How many of them have candidates from the presidency down the line in all the states of the federation? Before now, politicians had handled the issues of election with kid globing. Most political Parties never had corporate offices even in Abuja how much less state and local government head quarters. Yet they collected the subventions due all parties, were never audited nor were their national officers and offices ever known. What has happened to the parties? Were they an organization of people put together only to milk the Federal Government? We can only confirm from the loud silence of the other parties that they never had all it takes to be called a party in the first place. While agreeing that not all the parties can produce presidential candidates, can we also be forced to agree that they parties never had any political base? From where did they spring up? By their fruits we have known them, and that also goes for all the existing parties, their candidates and representatives through whom we can mirror the performance of both the parties, leaders and representatives given the last 12 years of their presence.

In 1999 when the election trumpet was blown, I reviewed the presidential candidates and without fear of favour, lined up with the Obasanjo’s PDP and I had expectations and justifiably so. First, I looked at Obasanjo’s pedigrees, as a past senior military officer and head of state and thought that he would stabilize the polity which at the time was in dare need of repair. Besides, the gap between the military and the politicians then was very wide after more than 30 years of military leadership and with Obasanjo being able to tackle the Babangida’s régime with boldness ala leadership with human face. Second, I thought that with political stability, we would have purposeful leadership which would pursue definite directions, developmental yet measurable goals, which would finally lead us not really to the destination, but a definite road map. Again, I thought that having been so privileged to get out of the lions den without even a scratch, he could be the man who will be as selfless as should be. We are 12 years, on and compared with our colleagues in comity of nations, we have moved at best 20 years backwards! At what cost? Which of these variables are correct? That we have inept leaders or followers; that we have been beaten to pulp such that we have become so complacent that we cannot even see the specks falling into our eyes? The volume of articles written by so many in their attempt to proffer solutions to the Nigerian problems/question, if put together would fill and over flow the National Assembly buildings. Yet I am doubtful if 1% of the suggestions ever reached or was ever read by the desired publics. It is a shame. Obasanjo as president in and out of office once said that he does not read Nigerian Newspapers. So where does his inspiration for good governance come from? The same man is known to be unstable in his love for his wives and children. What are his values? Though his wealth in any currency can better be imagined, but were will he put everything he has been busy gathering ever since even at his age?

As I write, now, news has it that the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has increased their budget from N111.23billion to N233billion a colossal 111 percent. The question to ask is what manner of representatives do we have in Nigeria? The same crops of people were confirmed to earn more than the President of the United States of America just months back. Now with impunity, they raised the bars as if to mean who can challenge us? Nigerians are we there? Are we still free to choose our next representatives? Or are these the crop of men and women we deem fit to hold forth for us? A people get the type of leadership they desire or deserve. The question is before all of us and what we make of it shall be determined by how we resist the status quo next month in a free and fare election. But how ready are we? How sensitized are we? What are the informed doing to help salvage the situation? This is the million dollar question.

In the past, elections have been said to be very expensive. Why not so, because usually a long list is passed from bottom up and with all forms of bogus add on? But Nigeria is in a different planet? In Naira and kobo terms, how much did it cost Barrack Obama, Nelson Mandela, Bambo Mbeiki, Attah Mill and other leader’s world wide to conduct their elections? Compared with Nigeria also, which of these elections were ever successful or a failure and why? How much did Adams Oshomole, Drs Fayemi and Aregbesola expend on their elections compared with that of their counterpart? In Lagos state, how much did the Fashola use compared with that of the PDP candidate?

It is near election in Nigeria and to date INEC itself has not flooded the streets with posters. How can the candidates be imprinted in the heart and minds of the electorate? With Power Holding Company dishing our electricity the way it has, how many are being reached with the TV and Radio adverts? What is the percentage of our newspaper readership in Nigeria? Finally what percentage of the country’s 67 million registered voters are really ready to go and vote based on their awareness? In nearby Ghana, nearly every one know their candidates upfront and usually advance reason in healthy debates even in drinking joints why the opponents must be swayed. Can we safely preach Ribadu in joints in Bayelsa State?

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God is not a politician. But concerned about the leadership of Nigeria, he has prayed his heart out in the belief that God would give us our desired leaders. Today his prayers form part of the Ring tones of all the Net work providers. Christians all over have joined the crusade for right leadership, but can we achieve it with the hawks ever ready for a spoil?

It was late Lucky Dube who sang in the Choice I Made. He wanted to get married and without consultations picked a girl for her beauty. When he informed his mother, she asked about the character but Lucky replied that she was so beautiful. The Priest asked if she was as beautiful inside as she was outside, mum was the word. Months after, Lucky was to put another call to his mother to the effect that he wanted a divorce! He announced that the choice he made didn’t work out as he thought it would.

Lucky Dube is no more; if the experience was real it’s a thing of the past now. But we are a willing people being lead by unwilling fellows. Can we keep mump as if nothing is happening any longer? This is the big question and our answers will be revealed in the choice we make next month with our votes.

NIGERIANS BE WISE. VOTE WISE!

MIKE O. AKPATI.

The other day I wrote about Nigeria being a repairable country if only we as a people are ready to be lead by men and women who can sacrifice their all for our dream, we will get there by far faster than we can think. Those in this mould can only be tested Nigerians in their various endevours, people who in some ways have ventured to put their lives on the line for the survival of this country. Why so? The example we have has confirmed that since those we have in authority did not lift a pin to be where they are now, they fell good to think that we must consider them first before the nation. If our leader in the senate think that they are sacrificial (and l have not seen any sacrifice I any of them), what would cause them to increase their allocation despite the out cry world wide only last year when the Central Bank Governor challenged them to prove that they are not the consumers of the nations one third income. The worse they have done has been to threaten the ready man with termination of appointment.

By the end of next month only few days from now, some few variables now will be as sure as certain. One the general election would have been held and concluded – l pray God. Winners would have emerged among all the parties and losers would be counting their losses as well as tinkering the next option usually the courts as the last alternative and why not? After all, some governors and legislators today won their election from the court rooms. Some of those who would prefer the court option are those who would have been cheated outright. Finally, it will be a field day for the lawyers a defining moment for them to take their turn in the “Chop I chop” syndrome which is synonymous with Nigerian politics. For them, it will be another call to duty and validly so too.

Since political campaigns kicked off nationwide, we have seen the big players and the pretenders as well as those who are not there at all. Or didn’t we register more than 50 political parties in Nigeria? How many of them have candidates from the presidency down the line in all the states of the federation? Before now, politicians had handled the issues of election with kid globing. Most political Parties never had corporate offices even in Abuja how much less state and local government head quarters. Yet they collected the subventions due all parties, were never audited nor were their national officers and offices ever known. What has happened to the parties? Were they an organization of people put together only to milk the Federal Government? We can only confirm from the loud silence of the other parties that they never had all it takes to be called a party in the first place. While agreeing that not all the parties can produce presidential candidates, can we also be forced to agree that they parties never had any political base? From where did they spring up? By their fruits we have known them, and that also goes for all the existing parties, their candidates and representatives through whom we can mirror the performance of both the parties, leaders and representatives given the last 12 years of their presence.

In 1999 when the election trumpet was blown, I reviewed the presidential candidates and without fear of favour, lined up with the Obasanjo’s PDP and I had expectations and justifiably so. First, I looked at Obasanjo’s pedigrees, as a past senior military officer and head of state and thought that he would stabilize the polity which at the time was in dare need of repair. Besides, the gap between the military and the politicians then was very wide after more than 30 years of military leadership and with Obasanjo being able to tackle the Babangida’s régime with boldness ala leadership with human face. Second, I thought that with political stability, we would have purposeful leadership which would pursue definite directions, developmental yet measurable goals, which would finally lead us not really to the destination, but a definite road map. Again, I thought that having been so privileged to get out of the lions den without even a scratch, he could be the man who will be as selfless as should be. We are 12 years, on and compared with our colleagues in comity of nations, we have moved at best 20 years backwards! At what cost? Which of these variables are correct? That we have inept leaders or followers; that we have been beaten to pulp such that we have become so complacent that we cannot even see the specks falling into our eyes? The volume of articles written by so many in their attempt to proffer solutions to the Nigerian problems/question, if put together would fill and over flow the National Assembly buildings. Yet I am doubtful if 1% of the suggestions ever reached or was ever read by the desired publics. It is a shame. Obasanjo as president in and out of office once said that he does not read Nigerian Newspapers. So where does his inspiration for good governance come from? The same man is known to be unstable in his love for his wives and children. What are his values? Though his wealth in any currency can better be imagined, but were will he put everything he has been busy gathering ever since even at his age?

As I write, now, news has it that the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has increased their budget from N111.23billion to N233billion a colossal 111 percent. The question to ask is what manner of representatives do we have in Nigeria? The same crops of people were confirmed to earn more than the President of the United States of America just months back. Now with impunity, they raised the bars as if to mean who can challenge us? Nigerians are we there? Are we still free to choose our next representatives? Or are these the crop of men and women we deem fit to hold forth for us? A people get the type of leadership they desire or deserve. The question is before all of us and what we make of it shall be determined by how we resist the status quo next month in a free and fare election. But how ready are we? How sensitized are we? What are the informed doing to help salvage the situation? This is the million dollar question.

In the past, elections have been said to be very expensive. Why not so, because usually a long list is passed from bottom up and with all forms of bogus add on? But Nigeria is in a different planet? In Naira and kobo terms, how much did it cost Barrack Obama, Nelson Mandela, Bambo Mbeiki, Attah Mill and other leader’s world wide to conduct their elections? Compared with Nigeria also, which of these elections were ever successful or a failure and why? How much did Adams Oshomole, Drs Fayemi and Aregbesola expend on their elections compared with that of their counterpart? In Lagos state, how much did the Fashola use compared with that of the PDP candidate?

It is near election in Nigeria and to date INEC itself has not flooded the streets with posters. How can the candidates be imprinted in the heart and minds of the electorate? With Power Holding Company dishing our electricity the way it has, how many are being reached with the TV and Radio adverts? What is the percentage of our newspaper readership in Nigeria? Finally what percentage of the country’s 67 million registered voters are really ready to go and vote based on their awareness? In nearby Ghana, nearly every one know their candidates upfront and usually advance reason in healthy debates even in drinking joints why the opponents must be swayed. Can we safely preach Ribadu in joints in Bayelsa State?

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God is not a politician. But concerned about the leadership of Nigeria, he has prayed his heart out in the belief that God would give us our desired leaders. Today his prayers form part of the Ring tones of all the Net work providers. Christians all over have joined the crusade for right leadership, but can we achieve it with the hawks ever ready for a spoil?

It was late Lucky Dube who sang in the Choice I Made. He wanted to get married and without consultations picked a girl for her beauty. When he informed his mother, she asked about the character but Lucky replied that she was so beautiful. The Priest asked if she was as beautiful inside as she was outside, mum was the word. Months after, Lucky was to put another call to his mother to the effect that he wanted a divorce! He announced that the choice he made didn’t work out as he thought it would.

Lucky Dube is no more; if the experience was real it’s a thing of the past now. But we are a willing people being lead by unwilling fellows. Can we keep mump as if nothing is happening any longer? This is the big question and our answers will be revealed in the choice we make next month with our votes.

NIGERIANS BE WISE. VOTE WISE!

MIKE O. AKPATI.

So the elections are finally here and the prophets of doom predicted we were heading nowhere! Ha! Ha! We are having the last laugh after all. Talking about laughs, I had quite a few the other day while watching the over-hyped presidential debate on NN24 ably moderated by NEXT’ Managing Editor Kadaria Ahmed. Suffering myself through the debate, I wasn’t at all surprised by the outcome as I had expected General Muhammadu Buhari to have nothing concrete to say about the Nigerian political economy and indeed he made no lasting impression. I expected Nuhu Ribadu to mismanage his way through the exercise as he lacks the requisite experience of governance to enable him accentuate his policies and plans thoughtfully and thoroughly. Of course I expected Governor Shekarau as an experienced classroom teacher to make his point succinctly and remarkably. I wasn’t looking out for articulateness however because I knew all along that of all the major presidential candidates, Ibrahim Shekarau was definitely the best spoken, most well composed of them all. His only better is probably Reverend Chris Okotie but alas an invitation was not even extended to him to yet participate in the debate as an audience member.

I for one have never cared for political debates because I had since realized that the best man or the most articulated woman might not necessarily be the best spoken nor the best gesticulator nor the guy with the best sound bite. In any political debate I look out for ideas, plans and strategies. I look out for the nuances. I do not look at the hyperbole or skill used in expressing these ideas and strategies. That is why Governor Fashola easily got my vote at the Channels TV governorship debate. While in my opinion he was the most articulate of all the debaters, he was also the man of ideas and knowledge who had the figures and facts of Lagos at his beck and call. He definitely struck me as the man Lagos needs. No doubt he will win because he deserves to win.

I am glad Jonathan threw the invitation to participate in NN24/NEXT presidential debate into the tainted dustbin in the villa where it rightly belongs. NEXT has never hidden its rabid dislike of Jonathan, at every opportunity the paper never fails to disparage him and portray him in the most sullied way possible. The paper even claimed in its front page recently that Jonathan as Governor of Bayelsa state, came to Edo state and voted four times. How sickening! Now that Jonathan has agreed to participate in a more respectable debate organized by a coalition of media houses I expect a more interesting contest than the hopelessly suffocating one held by NN24 and NEXT.

I expect Jonathan to do well in that debate. No I do not expect him to come across as the best spoken, nor do I expect him to come across as the wittiest nor as the one with the sharpest sound bite, but Jonathan will in his own way tell Nigerians why with the massive investments in the power sector over the last five years, the time to reap the rewards of these investments is at hand. He will tell Nigerians why and indeed how he has been able to hydrate the Nigerian economy with the basic fuel products which successive governments had found thorny and intricate to do. I still expect Ibrahim Shekarau to win the points for communication and composure and I still expect Buhari to foul up as usual because he has nothing to offer this country. Talking about Buhari, the questions I always ask the awe-struck political zealots that swear by his name are simple, what does the man have to offer? What does he say he has to offer? Till today I have never received a simple sensible answer.

His worshippers say he is honest and I say really? Honesty means being fair to all and Buhari has not been fair to all. Some of my friends say I am too critical of Buhari, they say give him a chance but I always reply that he had his chances twice and he blew them. As Head of State Buhari was widely regarded as weak and ineffectual. It is widely known in knowledgeable circles that Buhari has never and is incapable of being his own man. Because he is incapable of professing ideas, Buhari always defers to those around him who come up with the ideas and who in effect become the ruling power with Buhari serving as the dormant figure head. Those who brought Buhari to power in 1983 immediately regretted their action after he abdicated authority and power to his second in command Major-General Tunde Idiagbon and others including his aide de camp Major Jokolo. It has been well documented by credible eye witnesses to power that after decisions were agreed upon at the Supreme Military Council, a concentric circle of conspirators around Buhari would easily convince him to go against these universally agreed decisions and unilaterally adopt contrary conclusions. It was no wonder that it took less than two years for those who brought him to power to kick him out and the rest his history.

Buhari’ other score point in the eyes of his devotees is his management of the PTF. In my view this more than any other activity and action would stand against Buhari in the April 9 elections. During Buhari’ ‘rulership’ of the petroleum Trust Fund, a fund meant to develop the whole of Nigeria, a fund whose sole source of funding was from the Niger-Delta, Buhari made sure that very little work was done in the South-East and South-South regions while the bulk of the work of the organization including road construction, hospital rehabilitation, drug procurement and provision were concentrated in the North-West where Buhari comes from and the North-East. Even the North-Central apart from areas heavily populated by certain ethnic groups got little of the PTF cake. In Jos, Gangare road were Buhari had friends and relatives was given a well tarred road by the PTF while Bukuru roads which were bigger and more motored were left unattended to because they are in the area not dominated by Buhari’ people. Buhari’ PTF head office was nearly almost peopled by a particular sub-ethnic group, visiting the PTF in those days was akin to walking around the state secretariat of one of the north-west states. It was no surprise that these people who worked with Buhari as Special Assistants, aides and consultants became multi-millionaires overnight, set up newspapers where “truth is a burden” and in appreciation of the General looking the other way while they looted the PTF, the newspapers today declare war on anyone and anything that dares to disagree with their patron saint. It is for nothing that they are called the Buhari Old Boys Association. One of them, the chief consultant to Buhari, another Fulani from Yola who decided who got what, when and where at the PTF died from a heart attack the same day General Abdulsalami Abubakar announced the scrapping of the organisation. I am so glad that Buhari will always run but will never win.

Once in my life time, I had seriously considered voting for Mallam Nuhu Ribadu. I liked him then and I still do but after teaming up with the Bola Tinubu of the Toronto fame, a man he once dismissed as heavily corrupt and labeled an international criminal, he will certainly not get my vote. To my disbelief Ribadu has only shown himself o be that typical Nigerian politician willing and able to accommodate crooks and criminals in order to achieve his selfish ambition. If Ribadu forgets so easily, his friend and defender the irrepressible rights activitist and good governance crusader Chief Gani Fawehinmi went through thick and thin to have Tinubu prosecuted for brazenly lying about his academic records after he claimed he had received a degree from the University of Toronto. Tinubu got away from being jailed for this felony because of his immuned status as a governor but not after having Gani Fawehinmi attacked, stoned and his car destroyed at one of the court hearings. Certainly Gani the man who Ribadu claims to look up to will no doubt be as shocked as I am to see this unequal relationship between light and darkness. Obviously the only person that has profited immensely from this unequal yoke is Bola Ahmed Tinubu who has had his unhygienic credentials glistened and glittered by his secure bonding with Ribadu. I wish Ribadu had listened to the saner voices of his friends and admirers but alas when you dine with the devil you pay with your mother.

Certainly April 9 is unquestionably Jonathan’. He has campaigned well and hard and walked through thick and thin. He has garnered and maintained goodwill amongst Nigerians and he has a campaign team peopled by battle hardened and experienced campaigners like the suave Dr Dalhatu Sarki Tafida, devil may care and irrepressible Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and the highly skilled and competent Chief Tony Anenih a man whose political obituary has been written many times but like the phoenix always rises from his ashes. Like him or loathe him, the Edo Chief has made Presidents after Presidents from Chief MKO Abiola to Olusegun Obasanjo to Yar’adua and is on the verge of making the Jonathan dream a reality for Nigerians. I like Anenih, I like him a lot. I have never met him but he strikes me as the reticent go-getter and high-flier who works hard to get what he wants, a razor-sharp contrast to the earsplitting, loquacious and boisterous Tinubu. No wonder Presidents and politicians always seek him out to strategise and manage their projects.

I am glad Jonathan is set to win presidential polls. He is not the most capable person in the country but of all those that have thrown their hats in the ring he is the best of them all. Like the revered Oba Rilwan Akiolu said, Jonathan’ star is shining and nothing save GOD ALMIGHTY can stop him. He has done well so far and this election will mark his initiation into political eldership as he will become that politician that came of age through a hard fought campaign. Good luck to Buhari as he continues to remain an ethnic champion incapable of winning elections outside his North-West. Good luck to Ribadu as he is about to realize the atrociousness of the blunder he has committed. As for me and my household, it is Jonathan we know. Good luck to Nigerians.

Nosa James-Igbinadolor can be reached at nosa.igbinadolor@gmail.com

http://www.pointblanknews.com/Articles/artopn3717.html

There are three likely outcomes from the forthcoming April 9 th Elections in Nigeria and it does not deviate from my last year analysis titled “What the 2011 elections portend for Nigeria”. All the outcomes indicate a first ballot victory for President Goodluck Jonathan. We may not go deeply here to unravel why it is so but suffix it to say that it will not be a surprise outcome for watchers of the Nigerian political system.

The first scenario is a peaceful conduct of the elections with adequate security, all the ballot materials arrive on time and all political are satisfied with arrangements made under transparent conditions with election observers pleased. Here the likely outcome will be a landslide victory for the President in 24 States with neck to neck performance in the remaining 6 states while the entire opposition will carry the last 6 states. The President is likely to post 25 percent votes in all the States.

The second scenario is where there is trouble in States arising from delayed materials delivery, violent clash of opponents, missing ballot boxes after voting, underage or hired voters in party strongholds, disenfranchisement of voters, fear of harm etc. In this case, the President will await the release of the last results to confirm his first ballot victory in the polls. All other will not fare any better because some states and local government area results will be delayed with the President maintaining a wide lead over the others but not yet sure of first ballot victory.

The final scenario comes about where the opposition boycotts some of or all the elections claiming bias from the security providers, or lack of transparency in collation of results and many of them have recorded evidence of irregularities which the international observers attest to. In that case there were fear of harm from voters and the turn out is low because of fuel scarcity, no movement imposition, banking failure, striking workers, terrorist threats, etc; then the President will win a landslide victory sweeping 29 States. If the election result is cancelled as not free and fair, and there is clamor for a rerun of the polls, the President returns to power for another span and will preside over the next preparations.

In the unlikely case that another political Party claims to have won the election and it is backed by the Independent Electoral Commission [INEC] then an independent arbitration is constituted to do a recount and they will accept some states and call for cancellation of other States with a more transparent arrangement put in place for the elections in six months or less. The President remains in Office with majority of the States in the bag until the arbitration confirms that actually the President had won the election with a larger figure than declared earlier and he would be congratulated by the opposition. At that time the President is magnanimous to announce a government of national unity in which the lieutenants of top opposition parties will accept appointment prior to decamping to PDP The above is the scenario that has been accepted by all the parties when they decided to join the process with eyes wide open realizing that it is likely to be the way it is. No one needs shed a tear for any one because every one was forewarned. This game is authored by the PDP and you don’t expect ton play it better than this party under the same circumstances. When this writer was shouting himself hoarse last year, calling for a fundamental change in rules, I was regarded as not articulate enough and while I protested against constitutional bottlenecks as well as shallow electoral law, some of those who joined me to call for a Nigerian revolution sidelined me in their rush for positions. Refer to my articles “Nigeria needs a revolution”, “The constitutional basis for the rule of law in Nigeria” and “What the Nigerian Revolution is not about” I argued against the dangers of half hearted reform in Nigeria. To prove my conviction I stayed away from the process always but always providing guidance to ensure that we would at least have another chance to learn our lessons. I called for a peaceful revolution whereby the National assembly and the political class would come together to change all the obnoxious laws as well as the constitution in one fell swoop. While we agreed across board that a revolution was needed we disagreed over whether it should be peaceful or violent? Some believed that revolution comes with progressive elements in power and they yearned to take over through any means, the other school of thought wanted to pretend to join them so that as they get in there they would change things. I argued that it was better we did not hand the ruling party a blank cheque by endorsing their style, that it was better we forced their hands now we had the power to make concessions in terms of constitutional changes aimed at totally restructuring the polity before going into an election. I was promptly accused even though indirectly of wrong ideas. I remember vividly that Sahara Reporter literally barred my further contribution to their site, the same site where as columnist I called for a Nigerian Revolution. My offence was that I swarm against the tide seemingly. The tide ironically was the Jonathan empowerment which the site championed. I had urged for caution because I was there before but perhaps I was seen as trying to shine and many small would be greats did not see that happening in their site. Today this site [unfortunately] has changed its swan song almost going on 180 degrees within one year to becoming the biggest antagonist of the Jonathan Presidency. It goes to prove who was right at the outset and indicates how unsustainable these seemingly “bright” ideas are for Nigeria.

Today I am still saying the same thing despite the attack I received from all sides concerned. I am still saying that we should have used the rare opportunity of that time to write a brands new constitution unaffected by selfish desires or mediocrity.That we must revisit the constitiutional reform in President Jonathan’s coming dispensation as the basis for any sustainable progress. I am still in support of a peaceful revolution not the Arab revolution which remains very uncertain of success despite the modicum of sacrifice expended. These Countries may either become Military dynasties or Islamic nations. If they toe the middle line they may not be better than they were before that is if they don’t go through painful long drawn civil wars.We never wanted that for Nigeria.

*Mr Nworisara is a former Presidential Aspirant

http://www.pointblanknews.com/Articles/artopn3708.html

“This is an example of a country that has fallen down; it has collapsed. This house has fallen” – Prof Chinua Achebe

A very offensive and utterly depressing scenario thrown up by the raging storm in North Africa is the unedifying sight of several Nigerian rulers thumbing their noses at the “sit-tight” dictators in that region being consumed by their people’s overflowing frustration and fury, while flaunting their “democratic” credentials to underline their cock-sureness that such popular uprising will never happen here to threaten their own hold on power.

Watching these mostly deficient rulers calling with self-righteous air on leaders of these countries still hanging on to power despite mounting opposition against their regimes to respect their people’s wishes for change and stand down can be very exasperating indeed.

Now, what can these Nigerians rulers show in character and leadership to embolden them to talk down on the embattled North African leaders most of whom have generously given their people quality life and enviable infrastructure that hapless, perennially shortchanged Nigerian citizens can only continue to day-dream about until a messiah emerges someday in these parts to clear the Augean stable? Indeed, it is quite in order to call for democratic rule in those countries, but Nigerian rulers (and former rulers) should hasten to disqualify themselves from joining the chorus.

The mere fact that Nigeria is stuck in a very iniquitous relay race that imposes on us (yes, they are mostly imposed through massive electoral fraud, not elected) every four years a gaggle of mostly treasury looters with another set far worse than their predecessors, or even recycling some clearly expired drugs that have done nothing in their entire public life to add any value to the lives of the citizenry should in no way embolden our rulers to suddenly forget that were there a reliable justice system in Nigeria, many of them should be rotting in jail for willfully turning a generously endowed country into Dante’s Inferno!

Just imagine the amount of public funds reportedly (and un-reportedly) being stolen and squandered daily under various guises with utmost impunity by too many public officers and their accomplices, and the great transformation that would happen to public infrastructure and the lives of the citizenry if this organized banditry can at least be reduced by fifty percent!

Indeed, were the various anti-corruption and security agencies in Nigeria to do their work with conscience and diligence, Nigerian prisons would today be brimming with ex-public officers who had helped themselves from the public till. Recent studies have shown that due to this boundless plundering of the public treasury, about 99% of the country’s resources are in the hands of just 1% of the population, and more than 85 per cent of Nigerians live below poverty level. How can any sane person explain this in a country earning plenty of money from oil exports?

Now, where is even the democracy we claim to have in Nigeria? Is it this severely discredited electoral system that has gradually degenerated from the culture of grossly manipulated elections to almost no elections at all, as we saw in the 2007, for instance? How many “elected” officials have the courts sent packing since then? How many have rigged themselves back into power by perpetrating far worse electoral fraud during the rerun elections ordered by the courts? How many Nigerians can happily and proudly affirm that majority of the characters ruling them today are in office by reason of the votes cast for them on Election Day? Please, Nigeria should never dare to mention among decent people that it is practicing democracy!

We have, most unfortunately, been labouring under a more subtle (and therefore more insidious and enduring) “sit-tightism” whereby we have been ruled by the same looters for several decades. What changes every “election” year are their faces and names, but the same characters remain – several sides of the same evil box! This is much more frustrating because they have succeeded in giving it a “democratic” hue! Imagine Nigeria’s worst Headache, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), assaulting our ears with the oppressive declaration that (whether we like it or not), it would continue to rig itself back into power for the next 200 years. What do you call that?

From Tunisia to Egypt and now Libya, a deep yearning for mass-participation in the process of making and enthroning leaders has indeed successfully dismantled once formidable regimes and brought some others under considerable threat.

It is Libya’s turn in the sun. Given the determination of the Allied Forces led by France, Britain and the United States to implement the “No-Fly-Zone” imposed on Libya a few days ago by the United Nations (UN), it is becoming increasingly clear that the Libyan strongman, Col Muammar Gaddafi (who prefers the title, “Brother Leader”), would eventually suffer the fate of his erstwhile colleagues like Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Ben Ali of Tunisia. The UN Resolution also stipulates the adoption of other measures to save the people from dying from the growing offensive by pro-Gaddafi forces and the genocide that would have most certainly followed had Benghazi, the opposition’s bastion, fallen to pro-Gaddafi forces. Allied forces had already carried out bombings aimed at crippling Gaddafi’s ability to flout the “No-Fly-Zone” resolution by the UN. Indeed, much of global attention drawn to somewhere else by the very devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan recently and immediately knocked Libya off the front pages across the world, has now returned to the North African country.

Indeed, Libya needs democracy. The people must have a say in the determination of who rules them. Gaddafi needs to quit power to make room fresh ideas in Libya and allow freedom to hold and express opinions that run counter to official thinking which have been gradually stifled in the country since opposition to his continued stay IN office began to emerge.

But as I ponder the enviable state of development in Libya under Gaddafi’s “dictatorship” and compare it with the boundless decay in our “democratic” Nigeria, and then observe the insufferably hypocritical reactions of our grossly deficient rulers to the Libyan crises, I am forced to wonder if what Nigeria direly needs now is not a Gaddafi who despite his authoritarian leadership style can effectively deploy the vast resources of Nigeria to enhance the quality of life of our people as he has successfully done in Libya?

Yes, for 42 years, he has ruled his country. He has no stomach for divergent views. Yet, the infrastructural development Libya has experienced despite suffering many years of economic blockade makes one wonder which is really to be preferred: A dictatorship that has been able to raise the quality of life or a so-called democracy whose only dividend is the replacement of mostly treasury looters with another band of treasury looters every four years – a ‘feat’ Professor Atahiru Jega, the current Chair of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), may yet again achieve for Nigeria at the cost of over 50 Billion Naira! Indeed, Nigeria remains a very bad advertisement for democracy!

As I write now, 1.2 Dinar (Libyan currency) exchanges for 1 US Dollar. Yet, one dollar is the equivalent 156 Naira! If Libya were to be Nigeria, 1.2 Dinar should be 1Naira.20 Kobo! Can you imagine that?

At N156 per one Dollar, you can now calculate how much Naira is required to buy just one Libyan Dinar!

In Libya, uninterrupted power supply is taken for granted; but in Nigeria, the people are still groping in darkness despite the mind-breaking revelation that the Olusegun Obasanjo regime had squandered $16 billion pretending to fix the power sector. The last time I checked (and that was this morning), no one has been arraigned in any court for that alleged monumental act of profligacy and economic sabotage.

The other day, a friend and I arrived at the Nigerian-Benin border about 9.00 PM. The Nigerian Immigration Offices (like the country that owns it) was enveloped by pitch darkness and the officer who stamped our passports had to do it with the aid of a very weak torchlight. But just a stone-throw from there, the Benin Republic Immigration offices glowed brilliantly with full power supply. Given that Nigeria has the resources to buy up the entire Benin, what then can anyone make out of this sickening situation? Nigeria appears to be the only country in Africa that is still stuck in the long-forgotten and excruciating past of very poor energy supply, where people in an urban city like Lagos can live for several weeks and months without a flicker of light in the bulbs adorning their living rooms.

The cost of doing business in Nigeria, due to intractable energy crises, has forced several industries to close shop here and relocate to our well-managed neigbours where they would not have to spend millions of naira to operate their power generating sets in order to remain in business. Consequently, many Nigerians have in the process lost their jobs to the citizens of those countries where the companies have relocated. Yet, products of those companies are shipped back to Nigeria where a huge market exists and sold to us as exorbitant prices.

In Libya, there is clean water rushing from every tap; but Nigeria is generously adorned with perennially dry taps. Any day any liquid manages to gush out from those taps, only the irredeemably insane would dare to taste it. Any sane person that tries it would deserve to be arrested and charged for attempting suicide.

The roads in Libya are as good as any you can find anywhere in the world; Libya’s airline is world-class while Nigeria Airways is dead and buried; Libyan hospitals and schools can compare with the best anywhere in terms of the quality of services and infrastructure. But to obtain quality education, Nigerians are compelled to send their children to Ghana, Togo and even Benin Republic. There are even speculations now that very soon, Nigerians may start going to places like Liberia and Sierra Leone to get quality education.

In 1993, I met an America Professor of Economics who proudly announced to me that while he studied for his Masters Degree at the University College, Ibadan, (UCI) in 1958, he stayed at Kuti Hall. I wonder if he can advise any American child today to get near that same Kuti Hall he spoke so glowingly about, or encourage the child of his worst enemy to attend a Nigerian University. But while visiting Ghana the other day, I noticed that at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Americans, Britishers, Chinese and people from diverse nations of the world are proudly enrolled there as students.

One wonders how much Nigerians are spending looking for quality medical attention outside Nigeria, even in countries Nigeria can, under responsible leaders, fairly prosper better than, given the huge earnings that pour into the country from oil exports. Right now, the traffic to Indian hospitals is quite overwhelming.

Several Nigerian rulers may have sneered at Hosni Mubarak when he was being forced out power the other day, but for the quality hospitals he either built or maintained during his “sit-tights” years, many of them or their relatives would have since been buried and forgotten. Countless children of Nigerian public officers are enrolled in Egyptians schools, built or maintained by the same ousted “sit-tight” Egyptian leader, because they have lost confidence in Nigerian public schools and colleges devalued by years of wayward and bankrupt leadership.

There are hardly any reports of religion-inspired violent and mindless killings in Libya despite the country having a Christian minority population. In fact, so sick and fed-up with Nigeria’s crying inability to manage its differences, Gaddafi had to once ask this country to dismember itself along ethno-religious lines, eliciting angry but insufferably hypocritical reactions from our largely failed leaders who instead of burying their faces in shame called him names. Senate President, David Mark, called him a madman! He may probably be, but most Nigerians at that time wondered publicly who was mad between the two men.

I am not aware that refineries in Libya have since packed up and that Libya is importing fuel from mostly refineries built with mostly stolen funds by their nationals in other countries. The vehicles one sees on the streets of Libya are not like the moving coffins that slug it out on the deathtraps we call roads here.

Even with Libya being a desert place, food was still cheap, and life more promising there , so much so, that, before the present crises, Nigerians utterly frustrated beyond measure by worsening conditions in their country and eager to escape from the hell our leaders have turned this place into were trouping to Libya in droves, and remaining there despite clear signs of being less-than welcome. Today, Nigerians are being subjected to unimaginable indignities in several countries where they have escaped to and become economic exiles, and sometimes humiliated and deported from all sorts of places including even a place like Sudan!

Yes, I like democracy, no doubt. But if it only exists as a mere slogan to enrich a few and circulate only miseries among the larger population (as is the case in Nigeria), I won’t mind for now Gaddafi’s “dictatorship” which has improved the quality of life in Libya.

The common man on the streets of Nigeria bearing the excruciating pain of directionless leadership and mindless looting of the common wealth is only interested in who would provide his basic needs and give him hope to continue living again.

He would prefer a non-democratic Saudi Arabia where every ante-natal and post-natal medical care, including surgery and several other forms of medical treatment are free; where doctors don’t suddenly go on strike due to very poor working conditions, leaving patients to die; where quality healthcare is so pronounced to the extent of attracting the patronage of Nigeria’s late ruler, Umar Yar’Adua; where quality schools exist for the common man to send his children at affordable or even no costs at all.

To him debates on such issues as how long a particular person had ruled him or the system being operated are more of elite preoccupations, and may most of the time be borne out of less-than patriotic motives to acquire power, and so he feels less concerned. Leadership after all is defined by quality, selfless service and not its opposite. Where this is lacking, nothing else matters!

Indeed, democracy is good and desirable, especially, where it adds value to life. But those who have turned it into a religion seem to easily forget that Adolf Hitler was not a product of imposed leadership, but had emerged from one of the freest elections the world has ever witnessed.

So, if Libyans are tired of Gaddafi, and eventually succeed in pushing him out, he should hurry down to Nigeria where years of morally bankrupt and failed leadership seem to have enhanced his attraction.

http://www.pointblanknews.com/Articles/artopn3718.html

Beaf:
Don't mind the fools. People like the thread starter need to be traced and questioned (like a number of others here).

@Beaf dont mind these NL spreading rumours just hope sha it aint true cos we know say for naija there is always an element of truth in any rumour

Beaf:
Don't mind the fools. People like the thread starter need to be traced and questioned (like a number of others here).

@Beaf dont mind these NL spreading rumours just hope sha it aint true cos we know say for naija there is always an element of truth in any rumour

@ Gbawe and Defender1 thank you for your response. peeps just come online and start spewing trash .Fashola asked the other time that since 1999 why is it that it is only in PDP states that there is bomb blast. PDP governors are like Gadaffi they will go any length to stay in power abi na yam and beans to buy bomb? i tire for naija God have mercy and protect the poster's brother amen
Emir of bayelsa Sultan of Yenoga, imam of Aba,Ustaz of Abia,mallam of imo,Alhaji of Ebonyi anything that goes wrong now is CPC make bad belle people go rest jor

BARELY 24 hours to the National Assembly election in Borno State, 16 local government executives and supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday officially defected from the party to the ruling All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), over alleged “injustices and lack of internal democracy.’

At a crowded media briefing, leader of the defectors, Sugu Mai Mele said: “We here that appear before the press have no option than to leave the party for the ruling ANPP, because the PDP, after 12 years of being in the opposition, still lacks the capacity to take the party to the promised land.”

“The PDP today is a shadow of the fully united, purposeful, focused and battle-ready party we had during the 2007 elections.”

Mele blamed the leadership for all the electoral woes of the party, stating that the so-called elders, mostly resident in Abuja, are out of touch with the party’s rank and file and as a result, the party never had the chance of forming a government in Borno State since 1999.

“Part of their (party elders’) strategy is to ensure that a PDP governor never emerges in Borno so that they could seek relevant offices like those of ministers, advisers and board chairmen in Abuja.

“Several months after the kangaroo primaries, the party is still reeling from the consequence such that it led to deep-seated disaffection and mistrust among party members who continued to leave the party en-mass and having multiple candidates for the same constituencies as it has been the case with PDP senatorial candidature for Borno Central which is hitherto unresolved,” he added.

But reacting to the defections, the former scribe of the PDP and a top official of the Goni Campaign Organization, Alhaji Ibrahim Shettima, said the party is not in any way bothered by the exit of the group even as it had long awaited their exit alongside their leader, Kashim Imam whom he said “had been the sole problem of the party since 2003.”

Shettima added: “We have long known their antics and we know how he (Kashim) had contributed in fanning the embers of discord in the state all the while.”

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=44187:-16-borno-pdp-chieftains-defect-to-anpp-&catid=1:national&Itemid=559

The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Bayelsa Sate Command, has seized 99,000 litres of adulterated petroleum products, consisting mainly of diesel and kerosene from suspected vandals in the state.


Our correspondent gathered that the agency, which made the seizure in March, impounded three tankers used for the illegal business and arrested seven suspected vandals.


The agency’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Denny-Manuel Iwuchukwu, told our correspondent in Yenagoa that the suspects were arrested in three separate operations by the agency’s anti-vandalism team.


He said they were arrested at Otu Ogiri in Ogbia Local Government Area of the state.


He gave the names of some of the suspects as Nafiu Heya, Haruna Ibrahim, Yakubu Mohammed, Basiru Sanni and Kazan Suleiman.


He said one of the tankers had a Lagos registration number of XY 373 EKY, while the other one was marked Borno XA 571 DKW.


He said that the third tanker was marked Abuja XC 379 KUJ and added that each of the tankers was loaded with 33,000 of the products.


An investigation by our correspondent showed that the agency had been having a tough battle with pipeline vandals in the state.


It was gathered that pipeline was the main target of vandals and that in most cases the miscreants went beyond draining petroleum products to carting away the pipes.


Our correspondent, who visited the head office of the agency, discovered that various shapes of seized gallons of adulterated products littered its premises.


Also, various types of vehicles allegedly used for the illegal transactions were seized and parked in the agency’s premises.


But Iwuchukwu said the agency was engaged in the fight to fulfil its statutory mandate and prevent adulterated products from getting into the market.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201104081402159

Two pilots of the Nigerian Air Force and the crew members of a military plane escaped death at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Friday.


The plane, a G222 aircraft, was coming from its base in Ilorin in readiness for the distribution of materials for today’s National Assembly election when it crash-landed at Abuja Airport.


It was gathered that it took the timely intervention of the men of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the Fire Fighting Department at the airport to prevent the plane from being gutted by fire


It was gathered that the aircraft was among those pulled out from Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, to Abuja for the distribution of election materials.


Apart from the G222, the air force also used C130 and other types of aircraft in its fleet to facilitate the distribution of materials for the poll.


The Air Force Director of Information, Commodore Yusuf Anas, who confirmed the incident on the telephone to our correspondent on Friday, said the aircraft did not crash-land but had a burst tyre when it landed.


He said that no life was lost as the two pilots and other crew members on board did not sustain any injury.


Anas added that the combined effort of the fire fighters and FAAN officials made it possible for the aircraft to be recovered without much damage.



http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20110409275637

Oh God not again

Authorities of the Foursquare Gospel Church, Abeokuta Street, Idimu, Lagos have denied that Marvelous Eghareva, a teenager who was alleged to have died after severe beating by a neighbour, Friday Obende, was a member of the church.


SATURDAY PUNCH had in its March 12, 2011 issue reported the claim by a neighbour that Eghareva was assaulted by Obende within the church premises.


The neighbour had said, “We learnt Eghareva had gone to the church that night in company with her younger brother.


“Although I don’t know what must have started the altercation, I learnt she was beaten into a state of coma by Obende; it happened in the church and not when she was on her way home.”


A statement made available to SATURDAY PUNCH and signed by Rev. J. Ogedengbe, however, said, “Neither the late (Marvelous) Eghareva nor her family were members of the church before her untimely death.


“The late Eghareva was not beaten to a state of coma in Foursquare Gospel Church or in the premises of the church.”


Ogedengbe claimed that the publication was an attempt to rubbish the good image of the church.


He said, “There is only one Foursquare Gospel Church in Abeokuta Street and it occupies the ground floor of a three-storey building at No. 13 Abeokuta Street, Idimu. The church did not hold evening service that March 2, 2011, that the ugly incident took place.”


However, police documents made available to SATURDAY PUNCH showed that Eghareva fell into a state of coma after a severe beating by Obende on March 2. She was said to have died while being rushed to the hospital.


The Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, Mr. Samuel Jinadu, confirmed the incident.


“From the information available to me, Eghareva was assaulted within the premises of the Foursquare Gospel Church,” he said.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201104081474929

Ahead of April governorship poll in Kwara State, YEKINI JIMOH examines the drama playing out between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the newly formed Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN).

The political situation in Kwara State indicates that the various political parties will have to work extra hard to survive in the April general elections, especially with the emergence of a new political party in the state, the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), led by veteran politician, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki. The party came into being courtesy of a splinter group from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The ACPN is currently garnering more supporters mainly from the PDP in the state, where the personality behind a party platform rather than the party seems to count. Many political stakeholders in the state believe that the name “Abubakar Olusola Saraki” is a party on its own. According to them, the man had been dominating the political space in the state since its creation.

But in spite of this, the questions remain: who becomes the next elected governor of Kwara State now that the candidates of the different political parties are already known and will Dr. Olusola Saraki still be able to determine who wins the forthcoming election despite leading a relatively unknown party?

Reports indicate that the candidature of the ACPN governorship standard-bearer, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, despite the endorsement by her father, Dr Olusola Saraki, faces challenges in opposition from the emirate, which comprises the entire Kwara Central.

The stand of the emirate, which is populated by Muslims, it was gathered, is that it is against Islamic injunction that a woman holds such a top position as a state governor.

However, the stand has been countered by some groups which maintained that there was nothing wrong in a woman being a president of a country or governor of a state. They even went as far as naming Islamic countries over which women had ruled, including Pakistan.

Notwithstanding the controversy, Senator Saraki seems to have remained undisturbed as she has gone ahead with her campaign to become the next governor of the state.

Spokesperson of ACPN, Alhaji Abdullahi Oganija, commented that Senator Saraki’s governorship aspiration enjoyed the support of Kwarans, pointing out that Dr. Olusola Saraki “has given a direction to follow and we cannot deviate from that path.”

The current state of health of the PDP in the state, however, remains an issue. Analysts are of the view that the PDP might lose out in general elections as a consequence of the emergence of ACPN.

Besides, steps taken so far by the PDP in the state to address questions of marginalisation are said to be having ripple effects. Part of the steps is the zoning of the governorship out of Kwara Central for the next eight years, with Kwara South, from where Alhaji AbdulFatah Ahmed has emerged as the party’s standard-bearer in the April election, taking the first shot. Another step is a term of four years stipulated for each of the three senatorial districts, as a political practice.

For instance, a group, Ilorin Emirate Patriots (IEP), has berated Governor Bukola Saraki and PDP over the zoning of governorship slot of the party to South Senatorial District of the state, while an aggrieved aspirant, Alhaji Yekini Alabi, has also contested the outcome of the party’s primaries.

Alhaji Alabi scored nine votes in the primaries, where the former Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Ahmed, emerged winner polling 695 votes.


Dr. Olusola Saraki
In a statement made available to Saturday Tribune, Alhaji Alabi stated that, “I don’t accept the result of the primary elections as the procedure for the election was not in accordance with the PDP guidelines and the Electoral Act. I, therefore, appeal the verdict of the election which returned Alhaji Fatah Ahmed as the winner of the PDP governorship ticket to the relevant authorities of PDP.”

According to him, he had made his position clear to the electoral panel before the commencement of the primary election.

Also, factional leader of the party in the state, Chief Samuel Adedayo, confirmed that his group held a parallel primaries, where Mr. Bashiru Omolaja Bolarinwa emerged as governorship candidate. Adedayo told journalists that the national secretariat of the party, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agents were intimated about the group’s plan before the state congress was held.

“We conducted all the congresses to elect delegates and forwarded their results to Abuja. None was rejected. I think the primary election conducted by my party colleagues fell short of transparency,” he said.

Also reacting, the IEP, in a statement by its chairman, Sule Raufu and secretary, Tunde Issa, described the PDP’s zoning arrangement as “a complete aberration of the principle of equity, justice and fair play needed to entrench the doctrine of democracy in the country.”

The group argued that the impression created by the party that Kwara Central Senatorial District had spent 12 years in government to the detriment of other districts was “uncouthly, inciting, misleading and malicious.” This is even as it argued that while the Central Senatorial District had so far produced two governors, three people from Kwara South Senatorial District namely, David Bamigboye, Salaudeen Latinwo (both as military governors) and Cornelius Adebayo had ruled the state with Kwara North District also producing a governor in the person of Mohammed Lafiagi.

”We feel strongly about the stand of Governor Saraki and see his decision to deny Ilorin indigenes the governorship slot of PDP as an affront on the psyche of the entire people of Ilorin Emirate,” the group stated.

So far, the battle for the occupation of the Government House in May is presumed to be between the PDP and ACPN. And Dr. Olusola Saraki may have to prove his political mettle to conquer the PDP as he did in 1999 when he was in All Peoples Party (APP), which later metamorphosed into All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).

But is the PDP willing to be conquered by somewhat rampaging ACPN which, reports say, has been receiving defectors and taking secret pledges of loyalty from existing PDP members and chieftains for possible collaboration ahead of April poll?

http://tribune.com.ng/sat/index.php/politics-analysis/3063-kwara-will-pdp-survive-acpns-onslaughtn.html

The United States of America has said the credibility of Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega alone cannot bring the much desired change to the conduct of elections in the country. In a statement on the US policy towards, Assistant Secretary Bureau of African Affairs, Johnnie Carson said the appointment of Jega alone cannot improve the conduct of elections in a country with long history of flawed polls.

He said “as we have seen this past weekend one man alone cannot overcome significant systemic and logistical challenges, nor can one person or one electoral event transform a political culture in which stolen elections and disregard for basic democratic principles have been the norm for decades. “The logistical challenges and inevitable confusion associated with the administration of elections in a country of Nigeria’s size and population—not to mention its poor infrastructure—also create opportunities for political manipulation. And some politicians have acted in ways to make proper electoral oversight all the more difficult.”

Carson said the US is concerned over the spate of violence in the build up to the polls saying “Although the level of violence associated with the 2011 election might, in some locations, appear diminished from what we witnessed in 2007, any election violence is unacceptable, and it casts a dark shadow over the entire electoral process. Assassinations of candidates, bombings, riots, stoning of motorcades, other forms of political hooliganism, are to be condemned. The spoilers must not be allowed to prevail.”

As Nigerians go to the polls next Saturday to start the process of electing those who will lead them for the next four years, our correspondents from across the country write on the strength and weaknesses of major political parties featuring in the elections.

Next Saturday, Nigerians will go to the polls in the first round of elections to choose the 109 senators and 360 House of Representatives members for the National Assembly. In the following weeks, the electorate will repeat the ritual as they will be electing the president and governors in about 31 states as well as members of state Houses of Assembly in all the 36 states of the federation.

Ahead of the elections, major political parties in the country have been involved in rigorous campaigns to woo voters to their side and for their candidates, using various strategies. In the course of electioneering, the parties have been able to show their areas of strength and weaknesses, factors that would combine to determine their successes at the polls.

Ogun
In Ogun State, there are four major political parties preparing to slug it out in the polls. They are Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party (LP) and the new entrant, the Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN).

The PDP has to work harder, since, given the present situation, it appears uncertain that the party will win convincingly like it did in the 2007 polls. The centre seems not to be holding again.

Some PDP members who are loyalists of the state governor, Chief Gbenga Daniel, have dumped the party for the PPN, on allegations of injustice and stolen mandate which, they said, were meted out to them by the party hierarchy in the recent primaries. The PDP is polarised and its membership grossly depleted.

With former President Olusegun Obasanjo at the forefront of its campaign, the party has the strength to win elections, but it is not certain whether it will win majority votes.

The popularity of ACN, however, is soaring in the state. An opinion poll conducted by an organisation indicated that the ACN had the capacity to win in the South-West states, one of which is Ogun.
The party is not leaving any stone unturned to ensure its victory at the polls coupled with the fact that it will take advantage of the division in the PDP to win the state.

The Labour Party is also a force to reckon with in the political permutation of the state. The party is embarking on an aggressive campaign in all the nooks and crannies of the state.

Chief Olajide Awosedo, the party’s gubernatorial candidate, has also helped its popularity. The party has its presence everywhere in the state and it has not shown any sign of weakness in any form.
The PPN is the newest party in the state and is believed to have the backing of Governor Gbenga Daniel. As new as it is, however, it has footings throughout the state.

Bayelsa
The political landscape of Bayelsa State is taking a new shape with the entry of the Labour Party and ACN, coupled with the defection of notable politicians to their fold. The state, since 1999, has been under the control of the PDP, which had produced the likes of former Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, President Goodluck Jonathan (once as a deputy governor and, then, governor) and Governor

Timipre Sylva.
The question is: Can the PDP repeat the 1999, 2003 and 2007 performances, especially when over 60 per cent of politicians who played notable roles then have defected to other political parties?
Although President Jonathan remains the leader of the PDP, most of his friends and members of the Green Movement — his campaign organisation then in 2003 — have defected to Labour Party, where Timi Alaibe is contesting for the gubernatorial seat. With the development, some people were under the impression that LP was having the backing of the presidency, until President Jonathan cleared the air on the matter during his last visit to the state.

“I am a PDP member and I will not support a candidate that is not in PDP. Bayelsa is a PDP state and if opposition parties get votes in the state, people will not believe me,” the president had said.
Losing the state to the opposition parties will say much about the credibility of the president in his home state and Chief Timipre Sylva, hence, the present administration is doing everything to deliver dividends of democracy to the over 1.7 million people in the state.

Bayelsa is made up of eight local governments with Yenagoa Local Government Area having the highest number of registered voters. Contestants for various elective positions spread across all the local governments, but of great concern is the gubernatorial race. Presidential election is going to be an easy win for Jonathan, but where the pendulum of victory will swing at the end of the conduct of the gubernatorial election remains unknown. Members of the opposition parties, especially Labour Party, believe that the era of incumbency factor is gone, as they submit that people are tired of the present administration and are yearning for change.

In Bayelsa, political analysts are of the opinion that the contest is between PDP and LP, while ACN, according to them, might not pose a serious threat to either of the two political parties.


Muhammadu Buhari
Bauchi
The leading parties in Bauchi State are ACN, ANPP, CPC, PDP, APGA, PRP, KOWA, while others are just making up the number. Most of them do not have candidates for any of the elective offices in the general elections.

The CPC seems to be the leading opposition party in the state, perhaps due to the popularity of it presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, but its greatest undoing are the crises that have continued to trail its primaries. Most of the aspirants who lost out are still crying foul. Many of its candidates in the state are relatively unknown politicians, who only want to ride on the popularity of Buhari to victory.

As for the ACN, which is another opposition party in the state, it has all its candidates drawn from the long list of former PDP members who lost out in the primaries and found solace in the party, a development that made many to categorise the party in the state as that of losers.

The party is said to be backed by Abuja-based politicians led by the Secretary to the Government of Federation (SGF), Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, supported by the likes of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Bala Mohammed Duguri; former Governor Ahmadu Adamu Mu’azu and a host of others who are believed to be bent on seeing the ruling PDP lose out in the elections.

The ANPP has lost its leading opposition status as it now has a negligible number of political bigwigs in the state. In fact, the only strong politician it has in its fold is perhaps its gubernatorial candidate, Senator Nazif Suleiman Gamawa, who made an entry after losing his aspiration in the PDP.

Although the party has intensified its campaigns in the hinterlands, it does not have the wherewithal to match the strength of other high-ranking parties. Political analysts are of the opinion that the party might not win any significant office in the election, considering the fact that it lost its followership to Buhari’s CPC.

The All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), like many others, only have their presence within the Bauchi metropolis where a few of the posters of its barely known candidates are seen.

The party to beat in the state is the PDP, which is doing everything to ensure that it wins all offices in the coming polls. The internal crisis that engulfed it after the primaries remains. Some of the members who felt aggrieved have vowed to take a pound of flesh in return by ensuring that the party loses in the general elections.

Governor Isa Yuguda, who is also the North-East zonal coordinator of the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organisation, is doing everything to ensure that the party does not lose, particularly the seat which he occupies. The party is, therefore, one that is fighting many foes within and outside its fold.

Edo
In Edo State, the April elections may be a two-horse race between the PDP and the ACN.

The governor of the state, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, is of the ACN stock. A cross section of political analysts in the state is of the view that the ACN is synonymous with Oshiomhole, who is seen as the pivot. A school of thought believes that if Oshiomhole is taken away from the ACN, the party becomes insignificant.

The governor is said to be endowed with political will, influence and the capability to ensure that the ACN puts up a superlative performance in the April elections. Perhaps the verve with which he and the ACN are presently campaigning shows his understanding that nothing should be left to chance.

Prior to 2008, politics in Edo State was an all-PDP affair. That changed with Oshiomhole’s emergence as governor on the platform of the ACN. In 2009, that balance of power shifted dramatically.

Over time, the PDP started losing its majority control in the House of Assembly to court decisions and rerun elections which came on the heels of challenge to victories the party had earlier secured, while the ACN, which posed the challenge, began to catch up. The catching up appeared to be concluded with the PDP losing the edge after the supposed forceful removal of Zakawanu Garuba of the PDP as Speaker of the Assembly and the subsequent boycott of sittings by the remaining PDP lawmakers.

But the state chairman of the PDP, Chief Dan Orbih and the leadership of the party have been able to propel the PDP to provide what some analysts have described as constructive opposition. The opposition provided by Orbih’s leadership of the PDP has helped the party in regaining the confidence of the people to a level above what it was as of the 2007 elections.

However, some analysts believe that no matter what the PDP is faced with, the party has a way of bouncing back to reckoning when it matters most.

It would have been suffice to say that the ANPP has lost the modicum of significance or influence in Edo State. Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the first civilian governor of the state, is the vice presidential candidate of the party in the April polls. Even with the presence and present status of Odigie-Oyegun, the ANPP has practically lost its structure in Edo State and it is without an identifiable leadership. The party might just be a mere participant in the forthcoming elections as it has nothing tangible on ground.

The core members of the ANPP in the state are now the foundation members of the CPC. They dumped the ANPP with General Buhari. The former chairman of ANPP in the state, Mr. Godwin Erhahon, is now the state chairman of the CPC. But that is how far the story goes. The party has not found its feet in the state and appears nowhere near putting up any serious showing in the polls.

Niger
On paper, there are 22 registered political parties in Niger State, but in practical terms, four of them are visible. The four are the PDP, ACN, CPC and the ANPP.

Only the PDP, ACN and the ANPP contested the 2007 general elections with each of the parties making appreciable impacts at the polls. The PDP won the gubernatorial election.

Since the 2007 elections, a lot of political realignment had taken place primarily as a result of infighting for the leadership of the parties and the formation of the CPC, which has General Muhammadu Buhari as its leader. It is a party, which incursion into the state was quick and wide. The CPC is strong in the Niger North Senatorial District made up signficantly of the Hausa-speaking community of the state. The party also has strong showing in Niger South and a little support in Niger East. It will not be surprising if the party wins some seats in the state House of Assembly and National Assembly in the elections.

As for the ACN, it is an assemblage of aggrieved former members of the PDP and a fusion of members of the then Action Congress (AC) and Democratic Peoples Party (DPP). It is a party to watch in the state going by the political figures that are behind it, including Captain Isah Mokwa, Alhaji Abubabar Magaji and Comrade Mohammed Adams Erena, who were political heavyweights in the administration of former Governor Abdulkadir Kure. Since the formation of the ACN, the party has shown good strength in Zone A. The choice of Honourable Abubakar Bawa Bwari, former chief whip of the House of Representatives, as its gubernatorial candidate has also added to its strength. However, the refusal of former Governor Kure to team up with the group has become a minus for the party.

Infighting has eroded the popularity of ANPP which made appreciable showing in the state in 2007 when it won four seats in the National Assembly and 11 in the state House of Assembly. At the moment, the party is in the court over who is its gubernatorial standard-bearer. Despite this, the ANPP is seen in the state as a mass movement with its root in the Gwari-speaking local government areas of the state.

Despite the feud within the party, it might still be in a position to pick a few seats in the state House of Assembly from the Niger East Senatorial District, because of the determination of Mr. David Umoru, who is claiming the gubernatorial ticket of the party.

The strength of the PDP in the state spreads across the three senatorial districts of the state.

It will be surprising if Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu, who is the gubernatorial candidate of the party, does not win the poll, going by wide acceptability he enjoys among the indigenes and non-indigenes alike. It is also expected that the party will be able to get two or three senatorial seats and majority of the seats in the House of Representatives.


Nuhu Ribadu
Zamfara
In Zamfara State, out of the 17 parties that registered in the state, four of them stand out. They are PDP, ANPP, ACN and CPC.

The PDP produces the incumbent governor and it might be difficult for the opposition to outwit it in the April polls. The weakness of the party remains the internal crisis bedevilling it and its inability to stop the division within its ranks.

The ANPP would have been in power since 1999, but for Governor Alhaji Aliyu Mahmud Shinkafi who defected to PDP. The party’s strength lies in the rural areas where it has a huge following. The party is seen using religion or Sharia to attract more supporters. However, the party might be facing a challenge as it is no longer in government and most of the top shots have defected to PDP alongside the governor.

The ACN is headed by a veteran politician in the person of Alhaji Maibuhu Gummi. He is a grassroots mobiliser and this attests to the fact that ACN is gradually becoming popular. However, the party is bedevilled with crisis. The last-minute replacement of Alhaji Sarki Surajo by a cabal is tearing the party apart.

In the case of CPC, it has a lot of followership because of General Muhammadu Buhari. However, the party has to do a lot in terms of putting up structures in all nooks and crannies of the state. It is definitely a party for the future. Its gubernatorial candidate, Alhaji Muktar Lugga, appears to be warming up for the future.

Plateau
The most visible among the political parties are PDP, Labour Party CPC, ACN and ANPP.

The PDP is a force to reckon with as far as the April poll is concerned and has been a darling of the people of the state since 1999. Though some of the stalwarts recently defected to the Labour Party due to differences, many of them still have their hearts with the party. The victory for the party might not be total in all elections, except the presidential election because of the recent crisis in the party.

However, it is believed that Governor Jonah Jang, who is its gubernatorial candidate, is more positioned than his opponents in the election. Apart from the incumbency factor, the governor’s achievements also constitute good reasons. Elections into state House of Assembly, House Representatives and Senate might be dicey.

Closely following the PDP in the state is Labour Party with the deputy governor, Mrs. Pauline Tallen, as its standard-bearer for the gubernatorial race. The Labour Party was non-existent in Plateau State before some aggrieved PDP members defected to it. The gubernatorial race looks like a straight contest between the incumbent and his deputy.

The CPC has no strong political base in the Plateau State. The party will find it difficult winning any election, though it is relatively popular in Hausa/Fulani dominated areas. There is the possibility of the party getting one or two House of Assembly seats, an average Plateau State citizen perceives the CPC as a party with Islamic agenda.

The ACN was once a leading opposition party in the state following the defection of the former Governor Joshua Dariye and his cronies to the party. But with the return of majority of them along with their mentor to the PDP, the ACN has become a shadow of itself. Its gubernatorial candidate, Mr. Chirs Giwa, is, however, making efforts to give the party a life.

The ANPP has no formidable structure in the state since General Buhari jettisoned it for the CPC. Its gubernatorial candidate, Mr. Damishi Sango, has been trying to find a structure for it and the party will have to work hard to make appreciable impact in the coming elections.

Lagos
In Lagos State, 17 political parties will be participating in the April elections. The feeling is that not all the parties are serious about participating in the exercise. Their are ACN, PDP, Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP), ANPP, LP and African Liberation Party (ALP) as contenders.

The ACN, political analysts contend, has a good chance of claiming over 70 per cent victory at the polls, while other political parties will scramble for the remaining. ACN will rely essentially on the structure it has on ground and the performance of Governor Babatunde Fashola since 2007. The ACN is also to enjoy the support of Labour Party, whose gubernatorial candidate recently traded his slot with Fashola on account of a perceived working alliance between the ACN and Labour Party for the April poll.

The PDP is expected to have an edge over other opposition parties as it remains the second largest political party in the state. However, lack of cohesion among members of the party seems to be its major setback.

Kano
The four prominent parties in Kano State are ANPP, PDP, CPC and ACN.

Being the ruling party in the state for eight years, the ANPP is assumed to have an edge over the other three parties. The reason is the incumbent governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, who is also its presidential candidate, has executed many projects, a development which has wormed the party into the hearts of the masses.

However, the PDP, which lost control to the ANPP about eight years ago, seems to have bounced back into reckoning, given the way it is now attracting supporters. The popularity of former Governor Musa Kwankwaso, who is the party’s gubernatorial candidate, has continued to grow. The party has a chance to win substantial votes in the coming polls.

The ACN has the state deputy governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Gwarzo, as its gubernatorial candidate. Gwarzo was a local government chairman and ALGON chairman before becoming the deputy governor. It was on this premise that he gained political popularity in the state. Political analysts believe he could spring surprise in the April poll.

The camp of CPC is now in crisis, following the declaration of Alhaji Muhammed Sani Abacha as the gubernatorial candidate of the party by a court. Some members of the party are not happy with his candidature. According to them, General Jafar Isa was their preference. The current wrangling can mar the chances of the party at the coming polls.

Jigawa
In Jigawa State, the political parties that have serious gubernatorial candidates include PDP, ACN, ANPP and CPC.

There are reports that political parties and their candidates are currently involved in aggressive campaigns, even in the night. Some of them are also said to be engaged in wooing voters with cars, motorcycles, cash and other gifts.

The state police command has warned against night campaign, describing it as dangerous.

Benue
The jostle for the soul of Benue State thickens with each passing day. The battle is a fight between the PDP and ACN. The renewed vigour of ACN is reportedly giving the PDP sleepless nights in the state. The entry of former Governor George Akume to ACN has also enhanced its chances and acceptability. The ACN, as the main opposition party, is making inroads to PDP strongholds. The PDP enjoys a large following. Majority of the leaders from the three senatorial districts have allegiance to the party. Those who left the party, led by Senator Akume, are the ones that have swelled the ACN, a development which has put the PDP on its toes. The PDP is depending on the achievements of its candidate and the governor of the state, Gabriel Suswam, for a return to power amid claim by main opposition party that the government has not met the expectations of the people.

Ondo
In Ondo State, only the presence of three political parties can be felt across the 18 local government areas, namely the Labour Party, the PDP and the ACN.

The LP is the ruling party in the state and this will go a long way to work in its interest. The performance of Governor Olusegun Mimiko in the last two years is another factor that can be in favour of the LP. The party has a followership that cuts across all the local government areas with its structure intact. However, its major strength lies in the fact that there is no crisis in the party.

However, the weakness of the party is in the poor showing of government in some areas of the state, particularly the southern senatorial district. Also, the effect of the primaries which led to the defection of some aspirants to other parties may turn out to be an albatross for the party.

The major strength of the PDP in the state is that despite losing power two years ago, it has structures across the local government areas of the state. Some of the candidates of the party enjoy acceptability among the people.

However, the division in the party is yet to be completely resolved as some of the chieftains of the party still do not agree with themselves.

The ACN in Ondo State is just putting its feet on ground and getting itself together. But the major strength of the party lies in events of the recent past where the party just won Ekiti and Osun states. Also, it benefited from the crisis over the conduct of the primary of the LP as some of the aggrieved members of LP defected to the party. They include Dr. Olu Agunloye, Mr Femi Adekanbi, Dr. Mike Akintade, among others.

But in terms of weakness, the party may not be able to put up a good fight against the LP and the PDP because it has just got itself together in the state.

Anambra
In Anambra State, the battle for 2011 has moved from political parties to individual candidate’s profile and track record. Notwithstanding, the major parties on ground are the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but one cannot completely rule out surprises from ACN and the Accord Party (AP) whose candidates are mainly aggrieved PDP and APGA, who defected following the controversial party primaries.

The major edge APGA is currently enjoying is the profile of its candidates. In Anambra Central Senatorial District, Prof Dora Akunyili, former NAFDAC boss and immediate past minister of communications, is tipped to win despite the stiff opposition mounted by ACN candidate, Dr Chris Ngige.

In Anambra North Senatorial zone, former Senator Joy Emordi, who is flying the APGA banner, is already reaping from the crisis that bedevilled the PDP, which has over three different candidates running for the same office.

However, the Accord Party with the likes of incumbent Senator Annie Okonkwo, Honourable CID Maduabum representing Nnewi North and South Federal Constituency cannot be said to be lacking in efforts to make its presence felt in the April general election.

Another factor that will further make APGA the party to beat is the growing awareness of having an ethnic party that will form a ready platform for Igbo presidency in 2015. This situation has forced some of the electorate to view other political parties as alien that do not cater for the overall interest of Ndigbo.


Ibrahim Shekarau
Borno State
Since the Boko Haram crisis in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, in July 2009, the ANPP under the leadership of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff has continued to suffer setbacks.

Although Sheriff has tried to ensure the protection of lives and properties of its citizens by ensuring that adequate security is put in place, the PDP is cashing on the situation and flagging its flag higher by the day, more especially with the return of former Governor Mohammed Goni as the party’s gubernatorial candidate for the April polls. The PDP for the first time seemed to have come to term with reality and are basing its strength on the unity of its member.

Also, the Buhari’s CPC seems to be having a field day with greater hope of winning some of the political seats.

According to analysts, the strength of the ANPP in Borno State in the 2011 general elections will be a reflection of the amount of money the party is spending and also its romance with the PDP at the national level.

Yobe
Political watchers have claimed that the battle for the Yobe Government House is going to be between the ANPP and PDP owing to the fact that other political parties in the state have nothing in place to contend with the two.

Kwara
In Kwara State, there is political rivalry between veteran politician, Dr Abubakar Olusola Saraki and his son, Dr. Bukola Saraki, the governor of the state.

It could be said that the PDP is the only formidable party in the state. The zoning arrangement that was adopted by the governor is one of the reasons the party is having an upper hand. Also, the party is banking on power of incumbency to win the April polls.

However, the major problem that is facing the PDP is that the governor’s father who brought the party to power has deserted it and moved most of his loyalists to his newly formed Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN). His daughter, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, is the party’s gubernatorial candidate. People are of the opinion that older Saraki’s exit from PDP will affect the party’s chances in the coming polls.

The ACN, led by Alhaji Muhammed Dele Belgore (SAN), is also making wave in the state. The party is seen to be banking on the political crisis in the Saraki dynasty to ride to power. Its supporters are of the belief that protest votes resulting from the crisis rocking Saraki dynasty might give the party victory in the April elections.

Democratic Peoples Party (DPP), which came second in the 2007 poll, has Mr. Gbenga Olawepo as its gubernatorial candidate. The party has continued to campaign throughout the state, but it might not find it easy this time around with the strong presence of ACN and ACPN.

The CPC is also set to surprise the people of the state in the April elections. It has Alhaji Abdulraheem Abdulrasaq as its gubernatorial candidate. But it is rocked by crisis currently as one of the gubernatorial aspirants, Air Commodore Ayuba Buhari (retd), continues to maintain that he remains the party’s standard-bearer.

Kogi
In Kogi State, there are 23 political parties, out of which two are popular, the PDP and ANPP. Parties like the CPC and ACN are also making some impact in the state.

The state has benefitted in the last eight years with developmental projects scattered all around it by both the state and federal governments led by the PDP. However, the internal crisis that greeted the party after the primary elections, particularly, the gubernatorial primary, might be its albatross in the forthcoming polls, as chieftains of the party now sit on the fence. Many of the aggrieved aspirants in the last primary election have defected to ANPP, CPC and ACN, where they hope to actualise their dreams.

The ANPP, which is led by former Governor Abubakar Audu, has offered a platform for some PDP’s defeated aspirants. In essence, the party is set to feast on the internal crisis in the PDP to unseat it in the April polls.

The ACN was the darling of the people of the central senatorial district in 2007, but it has been reduced to a shadow of its old self as a result of internal crisis that attended its last governorship primary.

The CPC has no significant impact in the state but recently enjoyed the influx of aggrieved aspirants from PDP, among others. While the party may make little impact in the National Assembly election due to personalities involved, the crisis trailing its last gubernatorial primaries is far beyond what the party’s presidential candidate, General Buhari, can resolve. It is the only party in the state that parades three governorship candidates.

Enugu
In Enugu State, three political parties, namely PDP, Peoples for Democratic Change (PDC) and Labour Party are at the forefront of campaigns to occupy elective positions in April.

The strength of PDP lies in the incumbency factor. The recent rift between Governor Sullivan Chime and erstwhile PDP national chairman, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, is a minus for the party as many people from Nwodo zone could hit back at the governor at the polls. Recent events in the state have shown that the PDP might not be able to repeat the feat of 2007 where it won all available elective positions, including the gubernatorial seat.

In the case of PDC, the presence of former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani has boosted its profile as the party is now a household name in the state. The party’s weak point is that its gubernatorial candidate, Dr. Dan Shere, is coming from the same Nsukka cultural zone with the LP candidate, Chief Okey Ezea, and there are fears that they could split the Enugu North Senatorial zone votes at the polls.

The L P could spring surprise at the polls because of its aggressive campaign, but its weakness is that its gubernatorial candidate, Chief Ezea, is seen is some quarters as not being patient enough.

Imo
In Imo State, there are three political parties that have equal opportunities to occupy the Government House, Owerri, popularly known as Douglas House. The political parties are PDP, ACN and APGA.
The PDP is growing strong in the state to retain power. It has the incumbent governor, Chief Ikedi Ohakim, seeking a fresh mandate.

The APGA is making waves in the state. Its standard-bearer for the gubernatorial race is Chief Rochas Okorocha. He hails from Orlu zone where the immediate past governor, Chief Achike Udenwa, also hails from. But it appears the people of Imo are against his ambition.

The ACN is another party which has a strong contender for the gubernatorial seat in person of Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, who contested the 2007 election on the platform of the PDP.

Ebonyi
In Ebonyi State, three leading political parties are flexing muscles to outwit one another in the forthcoming polls. They are PDP, ANPP and APGA.

There is the failure of the opposition to form a formidable coalition to wrest power from the PDP. However, the PDP is battling internal crisis, a development which has threatened its unity and cohesion. Its primaries have resulted in the exodus of many aggrieved members to opposition parties.

As for ANPP, its strength lies in the emergence of Dr Ogbonnaya Onu as its national chairman. This has served as a morale booster to many party faithful and candidates seeking various offices in the election.

APGA came into reckoning when former Minister of Culture and Tourism, Ambassador Franklin Ogbuewu, joined it and subsequently emerged as its gubernatorial candidate. The major strength of the party is in its massive grassroots mobilisation and the campaign adopted by the leadership under Comrade Jerry Obasi.

Abia
The coast is not clear in Abia State due to undercurrent moves by political gladiators in the state. However, the two leading political parties in the state are the PDP and Peoples Progressives Party (PPA). Peter Akomas, who is PPA gubernatorial candidate, is seen as the spirit behind the party. The exit of Governor Theodore Orji is seen as a minus to the party as he would have used his power of incumbency to strengthen it in the forthcoming polls.

In the PDP where Governor Orji holds sway, it is believed in many quarters that the power of incumbency is the party’s greatest asset.

Akwa Ibom
A few of the political parties have real presence and have fielded candidates for elective positions in Akwa Ibom State. They are PDP, ACN, ANPP and CPC.

The PDP is the ruling party in the state. However, the political gains and strength of the party are being threatened by what analysts have described as self-inflicted injuries. The growth noticeable in the ranks of opposition political parties is made possible by PDP members that defected.

Ahead of the elections, most of the PDP members that felt let down by the party leaders during the party’s last primary elections are set to play a spoiler’s role in the April polls.

The ACN cannot be written off. It is attracting crowds at campaigns. Its gubernatorial candidate, Senator John Akpan Udoedehe, is a former junior minister in the Federal Capital Territory and the campaign manager for Governor Godswill Akpabio in 2007 election. The party is counting on his experience in electioneering as well as the message of alleged high level of insecurity in the state which they have been hammering on with a promise to bring about positive change. Political pundits believe the party will be able to get a few seats in the state assembly and possibly the National Assembly.

The CPC is seen as weak in the state, but its gubernatorial standard-bearer, Mr. Larry Esin, is a well known figure, having emerged the second runner-up in the 2006 PDP gubernatorial primaries that had about 50 aspirants.

The ANP is also seen as lacking the strength to pull off an upset in the coming polls.

Oyo
In Oyo State, the PDP has the incumbency factor to its advantage and the party has been in power for the past eight years. In spite of the incumbency factor, the state governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala, has embarked on vigorous campaigns in every nook and cranny of the state. He has determined not to leave anything to chances, given the resolve of opposition against his government to unseat him.

The opposition against the party appears to be coming from Ibadanland, but the governor is quick to dismiss such impression that Ibadan people are not for his second term ambition. According to him, the opposition that he is having is from politicians who are bent on unseating him, declaring that they cannot succeed no matter how hard they tried.

The Accord Party (AP) is newly formed, following the exit of former Governor Rasidi Adewolu Ladoja from PDP. Ladoja is the gubernatorial candidate of the party for the April polls and his popularity and influence has rubbed on the party. The party has recorded teeming crowd at every rally it has addressed across the state.

The ACN has been waxing strong and has Senator Abiola Ajimobi as its gubernatorial candidate. It will be recalled that Ajimobi came second in the 2007 gubernatorial poll in the state and has been warming up again to win the seat this time around, given the rampaging status which the ACN has put on lately in the South West where it has formed governments in Ekiti and Osun states. The party’s weakness, however, is the crisis rocking it currently, a development that has seen aggrieved members disputing the victory of Ajimobi at the party’s last primary election.

The CPC is an emerging party in the state and readily made its presence felt, perhaps due to influence of its gubernatorial candidate, Mr. Adebayo Shittu and the popularity of his presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari. Analysts predict that the party could make some showing during the election, especially in Saki where Shittu hails from.

From Yinka Olukoya, Soji Ajibola, Ishola Michael, Uchechukwu Olisah, Dipo Laleye, Muhammed Sabiu, Isaac Shobayo, Adewale Ajayi, Kola Oyelere, Adamu Amadu, John Akpodovhan, Yinka Oladoyinbo, Okodili Ndidi, James Bwala, Yekini Jimoh, Johnson Babajide, Jude Ossai, Joe Nwachukwu, Clement Oko-Nnachi, Gill Nsa-Abasi and Bola Badmus.


http://tribune.com.ng/sat/index.php/politics-analysis/3644-as-elections-commence-the-contenders-the-pretenders.html

THE police in Kaduna State have confirmed the arrest of three persons in connection with the bomb explosion that occurred at the outskirts of the state capital on Thursday night.

This was as one of the survivors, who said his name was Mohammed, said that the bomb originated from Afghanistan.

Speaking to newsmen on Friday at the St. Gerald Hospital, Kaduna, where he was receiving treatment, Mohammed said he was told by his friend, Yahaya, who died during the explosion, that they used to get bombs from Afghanistan and that it was Osama bin Laden that used to send the consignment to them.

When asked where they intended to detonate the bomb, he said, “I don’t know. What happened was that when we met at Mahuta, he (Yahaya) received a call and suddenly, two people appeared in a black Mercedes Benz 190 model.

“One of the occupants was an Arab and the other, a Nigerian, gave him the parcel, which he confirmed to me to be a bomb. The bomb accidentally exploded just as I was about asking him what he intended to do with it.”

He explained that he and the deceased, who was a bricklayer, had been friends for the past one year and shortly before the explosion, Yahaya, who returned from Kano that night, invited him to the scene of the explosion.

“He just called me when he came in from Kano and asked me to meet him at the site where the accident happened,” he said.

Narrating how the police waded into the incident, Commissioner of Police in Kaduna State, Haruna John, said, “at about 5.00pm yesterday (Thursday), the attention of our Divisional Police Officer in Kurmi Mashi was drawn to the fact that two men bearing sacks were unconscious after the sack they were carrying exploded.

“Our men rushed there and the two men, this one on hospital bed and one Lawal, who is not dead, were picked up and taken to several hospitals and eventually admitted here on the understanding that the police will pay the bills.

“We sent our bomb disposal unit led by an Assistant Superintendent of Police to the scene where they discovered a second sack which they detonated immediately. They, along with the CID and the SSS, conducted a search in the area and discovered a house belonging to this man here (the injured bomber) that was locked.

“In that house, they discovered two more sacks that were loaded with materials for making bombs ready for detonation. Each bag was loaded with more than 30 strands of dynamites, the types used by construction workers to break rocks and I can tell you that those things can bring down any building.”









http://tribune.com.ng/sat/index.php/news/3824-we-got-the-bomb-from-osama-bin-laden-kaduna-bomb-suspect.html

Amid assurances of a hitch- free National Assembly polls today by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigerian voters will once again file out to determine the fate of members of the National Assembly who had won the tickets of their respective political parties.

The attention of electorate in the country would be focussed on the principal officials of the National Assembly, most especially the Senate President, Senator David Mark and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Dimeji Bankole, both of who have been angling to retain their seats in the next legislative session, all things being equal.

Mark and Bankole had relocated from Abuja to Oturkpo in Benue State and Abeokuta in Ogun State respectively since the past two weeks for the purpose of monitoring the process and ensuring their victories at the polls.

The INEC chairman, Professor Atahiru Jega, had on Thursday assured Nigerians that INEC had shaken off the trauma of the National Assembly elections it postponed last Saturday as he made emphatic remarks that the problems of logistics which necessitated the postponement had been overcome.

Jega, however, reiterated his call on underage to stay off polling units across the federation, just as he called on parents, family elders, community leaders, traditional rulers and clerics to ensure that underage do not file out for voting owing to the dire consequences.

He said INEC had instructed all security agencies to be on the look out for minors who in the past were allowed the chances of voting with a view to apprehending them whereever they were found.

INEC said it had expunged names of voters who registered twice from the voter register, a reason it said some voters would present voters card at the polling units without finding their names on the register.

It advised such category of voters to also stay off polling units to avoid being arrested, just as it explained that whoever engaged in double registration, but have voters cards and their names omitted in the register, would be allowed to vote provided their names appear on the manual register.

The apex electoral body had deployed its top staff to different states of the federation where each of them would supervise the elections, just as the commission said all the electoral materials had reached their different destinations as of the close of work on Friday.

Meanwhile, Jega has warned against late arrival of materials to voting centres in the country, stating that such would be counter productive to the intent of INEC to conduct a credible election, as he also warned its officials never to get late to their areas of assignment.

He said on the average, imbibing positive attitude into the exercise has far greater tendency of bringing credibility and integrity into the electoral system in the country, the commission having been tested and found to have overcome all its challenges.

He reiterated INEC’s standpoint on following the terms of constitution on the issue of open secret ballot system as he affirmed that voters should be vigilant in the process of voting to prevent snatching of ballot boxes.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has again traced narcotics concealed inside the sole of a passenger’s shoes.

The development came even as seven suspected drug traffickers were found to be in possession of 8.262 kilogrammes of illicit drugs.

One of the suspected drug traffickers that supplies phone accessories, Onuora Emeka, hid one kilogramme of methamphetamine in his shoes.

Onuora, who was about to board an Emirate Flight on his way to Malaysia when he was arrested, came to sojourn in Lagos in 2000 and resides at Iyana Oba, Ojo Area of Lagos.

The seven drug suspects, who are all males, were nabbed at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos while attempting to export the drugs out of the country.

A breakdown of the drugs seized from them revealed that cocaine is the largest with 5.98kg, methamphetamine was next with 2.177kg and cannabis, 105 grammes.

NDLEA Airport Commander, Alhaji Hamza Umar, who supervised the recent crackdown, described the arrests and seizures as timely.

“The arrests also saved four of the drug suspects from possible execution upon their arrest in Malaysia and Hong Kong,“ he added.

Two of the suspects, Emeka, 33, and Dike Stanley Nnamezie, 31, were going to Malaysia while two others, Iruna Ibe Ben, 31, and Nzekwe Elochukwu, 33, were on their way to Hong Kong where drug offences attract capital punishment.

The commander gave the names of the other drug suspects arrested as Agwuluonu Okechukwu Benneth, 40, found in possession of 1.765kg of cocaine on his way to Hannover, Germany; Nnamani Fidelis, 39, caught with 1.400kg of cocaine; and Nwafor Livinus Edikeme, 37, nabbed with 1.550kg of cocaine.

Both Nnamani and Nwafor were on their way to London when they were apprehended at the Lagos airport.

Also speaking on the latest arrests, the NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive, Ahmadu Giade, called on the judiciary to apply the law sternly on drug suspects so as to serve as a deterrent to them and others who may be contemplating drug trafficking.

http://tribune.com.ng/sat/index.php/news/3833-drugs-concealed-in-mans-shoes-as-ndlea-arrests-7.html

President Goodluck Jonathan has called on the electorate and election officials not to be deterred by yesterday’s explosion that rocked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Suleja, saying only that would put the perpetrators to shame. Jonathan, in a statement yesterday by his spokesman, Ima Niboro, said he has ordered the nation’s security agencies to take steps to beef up security at all INEC premises across the country.

It said, President Jonathan totally condemns the mindless bomb attack which claimed the lives of several Nigerians including members of the National Youth Service Corps engaged in preparatory work for the conduct of free, fair and credible elections in the country. “The President’s deepest sympathies go the families of these patriotic youth and he wishes to assure them that the Federal Government will do everything possible to bring their murderers to justice.”

Jonathan urged all INEC officials engaged in the conduct of the general elections not to be discouraged or daunted by the attack on their colleagues in Suleja, but to go about their duties with the assurance that the Federal Government will take immediate action to strengthen security measures already put in place to ensure their safety in all parts of the country.

http://nigeriamasterweb.com/paperfrmes.html

;Ds story story story once upon a time time time dora come dey pdpd come dey her husband come dey den wen apga come she come follow them that is the end of my story what is the moral jump ship when it aint favourable mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmsssssssssscccccheeeeeeeeeewwwwwwww nonsense make she go rest hustler

FROM Birnin-Kebbi to Jega in Kebbi State, the battle song on  everyone’s lip is ‘Sai Buhari.’ Even little children playing in the sands would, in moments of hysteria shout the slogan. It is phenomenal. Right from the first day (Friday, April 1) when the reporter hit the town of Birnin-Kebbi  through Niger State, the sign that this ancient part of Othman Ibn Fodio’s Sultanate is  the domain of the  opposition is palpable.
The posters of President Goodluck Jonathan and his vice Namadi Sambo are rare. On Saturday, before the accreditation of voters began in Birnin-Kebbi, the capital of Kebbi State, irate youths took to the streets and tore down the few posters around his campaign office located in Badariya area of the capital, just by the Independent Iational Electoral Commission, INEC office.
Right through the labyrinths of Koko, Besse, Jega, Kalgo, Bunza and Birnin-Kebbi towns, the PDP is stripped. “The PDP has nothing to offer to our people. Our Governor (Saidu Dakingari), who is PDP is known for uncompleted projects,” Rep Muhammed Umar Jega, said on Saturday.
The anthropology of the Northern people is interesting. In Kebbi, as in every part of the North, most children bear the name of the hamlet or town they hail from. My guide through the warm state, Mr.Murtala Ubale, says the practice began with the advent of Arabic Education in the North. “Because of similarities in names, every student had to register with their father’s name, plus the name of his town,” he said
The monotony in naming culture is however, hardly the problem for the average ‘Kebawa’ (People of Kebbi). The problem appears to be squarely PDP.
As the reporter walked the streets on Saturday to observe the voters’ accreditation exercise, a gawky youth on sighting the press tag swinging on my neck, ran across the narrow road, mounted a ledge opposite the Emir of Gwandu, Alhaji Abdullahi Fodio Palace, and shouted: ‘Anjerida Sai Buhari’(Journalist, vote for Buhari).
Across the narrow paths, women, beautifully clad in hijabs made long and windy queues for accreditation. The queues for men were far apart, but the lines were to melt away in a few hours, the moment the men with their radios clung to their ears heard the news that there would be a poll shift.
We drove to the Gingi area in Jega Local Government at about 11:09 am, and electoral officers were nowhere to be seen. Same for Basaura, Langido and Masallaci Zaria, all in Jega. “This place is a stronghold of CPC, that is why they deprived them of materials,” a local radio man told the reporter.
We were at the INEC office at Jega, at about 12:00am to enquire from the electoral officer why materials for voters’ accreditation were absent in more than five polling units.
The lanky and calm EO, gave a wry smile, tilted his head unfazed to the left side and said we lied.
“As far I am concerned, materials for accreditation were sent to those areas you mentioned”, he insisted.
Efforts by a heavily bearded man who sounded like an agent of a candidate to pull the frail EO along to the areas he claimed he sent materials, proved abortive. The EO insisted he would go at his own time.
We left at about 1:00pm. We were in the Basaura area, and yet no materials. An old man, way above70 stood barefooted on dry reeds and murmured curses at government, he then raised his head, gave us a teary look and walked away.  He was just one of the many registrants who could not vote on Saturday.
But on Sunday, a government supporter, told the reporter that most of the “so-called supporters of CPC are not registered voters,” according to him, “it will amount to illiteracy if the government of Nasamu (Gov. Dakingari) is accused of trying to rig when obviously he has nothing to fear.”
On whether the PDP could deliver the state to President Goodluck Jonathan, he said “Wallahi, that is not what we should be talking about now.”


www.vanguardngr.com/2011/04/where-is-jonathan-in-kebbi/

Despite the stance of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika that the military will not be used to intimidate or harass politicians as well as electorates during the elections, the reverse has been the case in his own community, Ovim in Isuikwuato L.G.A. of Abia state as his younger brother, Okey Ihejirika is alleged to have been on the loose with the batch of soldiers attached to the community for security, attacking, threatening and beating up those who are said to belong to other political parties other than the PDP.

Inside sources in the area confirmed that the younger Ihejirika who runs a Guest House said to be owned by his brother is obsessed with power since the appointment of the COAS , as such he is leading the campaign for the return of the state governor, Theodore Orji and other PDP candidates in the area. The communities around are said to be under siege as the opposition is almost being stifled. The major opposition parties in the area include PPA, LP, APGA,CPC AND ACN.

Reports have it that Okey Ihejirika has been seen campaigning alongside his kith and kin who claim that President Goodluck Jonathan may terminate the appointment of the COAS if another political Party wins in the area. Prior to the failed Saturday elections, Okey was on a campaign train urging the people to cast their vote for the ruling PDP in other to protect his brother’s appointment. He has repeatedly ordered soldiers to beat up anybody who does to the contrary. This was also evidenced on Saturday during the NASS elections where soldiers stationed in his ANCCO Guest House, Ovim were said to have beaten up the agent of the Labour Party who had insisted that the actual number of persons accredited should be recorded. The young man, Nnanna Kanu who also hails from the same community with the Ihejirikas was thoroughly beaten by the soldiers who were told he was working for Noel Okorougo, the Senatorial candidate of the Labour Party for Abia North who also hails from the same Local Government with the COAS. In the next LGA where the PPA seems to be upstaging the PDP, story is the same as soldiers again on the orders of Hon. Nkeiru Onyejeocha and Senator Uche Chukwumerije also beat up agents and supporters of the PPA candidate for the House of Representatives, Chris Odinaka Igwe.

The opposition Parties seem to be posing for war with those who are said to be riding on the back of the COAS. Though it is not yet certain if the relations of the Army Chief are acting on his orders, but there are confirmed reports that his residence has in the past weeks played host for PDP chieftains including the state governor who is alleged to be parting with a reasonable percentage of his security vote in order to secure the military backing. Gov. T.A. Orji is said to be backed by armored military tankers and personnel while on campaign in the state and that is said to have angered the people of the state who have vowed to push him out of office.


http://www.saharareporters.com/report/army-chief’s-younger-brother-terrorizes-community-jonathan