₦airaland Forum

[quote author=Akanbi_edu link=topic=649879.msg8164008#msg8164008 date=1303221546]He has the influence sir.

We are not talking about people like you, who are in the minority, we are talking about the real grassroot. The easiest way to lose election to your opponent in an election is not to mobilize. I know this because I am part and parcel of the process.

If I am supposed to win a ward for ACN, I have to be funded for such. I need to run round, talk to people (some will ask for money), BRIBE bribable people, take risks and so many things in the process. All these need some cash to execute.

If the leader does not send me cash, except I am the one contesting or a relative, I simply sit in my house. Period.

You can see why PDP got the votes, they did mobilize because they have a BIG stake.

Those people that vote on principles are actually few, that's why the CPC votes are not many. Others vote on ethnic consideration( igbos in this case). the rest of Yoruba pips simply feel unconcerned.[/quote]No sir, he does NOT have the kind of influence you are suggesting.

Where is the money to sell the message? SW money? against Federal "Oyel" money?

What will be the motivation behind spending all your your limited cash on Ribadu's presidential contest in the SouthWest? against a Limitless PDP Federal Treasury backed candidate. PDP can print money for this election if they wish, no one will stop them, that is how unfair the system is.

Tinubu is a smart Politician but he's not as powerful as you are suggesting. Don't assume you are more on-ground than people you meet on the internet.

Like I said earlier, Tinubu has tried, he has influence, he has power,  BUT there are limits. He is not as powerful as the media is suggesting.

Buhari will always be a difficult candidate to sell in the South West, it will require a lot of convincing to get most of my family to vote for him for an example. like i said earlier, some of us tried hard.

You will need to sustain the positive messages massively in a free and fair election to even get Buhari the votes needed.

In an unfair and unfree election(if I can use those terms) You will need to sustain the CASH FLOW and THE MESSAGE. Can Tinubu beat PDP in that? Really?

These two factors will have to be considered in the mobilization process, Money and Sentiments(Tribal, Religious, Ethnic, Language)

PDP won the money war and controlled the sentiment battle, I will elaborate more in my reply to Lagosboy below:

Lagosboy:
It is the same influence that was used to win the legislative election, the same influence that moved a greater percentage of voters out for the legislative election, that made them stand in queue to protect their votes. This is also not for every candidate it is for the topmost position in the country, the most important candidiate, the candidate you spent billions supporting all around the country, the candidate you spent a major part of this election promoting.

My brother, it is different. Read my reply to Akanbi, The Presidential Election DID NOT inspire a lot of PASSION in the SW compared to the Legislative. All Politics is local. Look at the candidates again -->> Buhari, Jonathan, Ribadu.

You will need to do a lot to get people in the SW hinterland/grassroot excited about these people as president, and the generally low SW voter turnout showed that very clearly.

My bro, Politics is very local, that is another reason  why I want this system decentralized.

It will be hard to have a politician lording it over people when Federal Oil Money and Police power moves away from the Center.

EX: Let Oyinlola contest in Osogbo in a free/fair election with Aregbesola, let them canvass for funds and support across Osun based on their own personalities and clout and you will see the difference.

Federal Money matters, sentiments matter and in this presidential election, there were only so much Tinubu could do to save Ribadu, even in the SW!

Toaskarity:
are you guys trying to quote that once BUHARI wins then it will be a free and fair election?

Not really. Maybe we are just wondering about the logic behind people's support for those who had consistently failed or refused to give one.

OAM4J:
On BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13126971

You'll also find the audio on the link.

baksonlee:
Why are you so entranced with Buhari? Did he tell them to start the violence? The same thing happened in 1993 when the elction was annuled, they took to the

streets in the South west burning things, and Abiola never condemned it.  Buhari described it as  sad, unwarranted and criminal if that is not enough for you, then go jump inside PACIFIC OCEAN.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13126971

OAMJ4, Thank you for posting that, Baksonlee, you too.

I saw Seun's comment ealier and I was going to post the link as a reply, but I couldn't get on to post for a while, apart from Buhari's rejection of violence yesterday, that news has been up for a while on BBC.

Sometimes you have to just wonder about this Seun guy, He's like a trickster

Revsola:
@ POSTER
The biggest mistake PDP made was to manipulate results in some nothern states all in the name of looking for 25%.
I live in Kaduna and there's no way; I repeat no way PDP got one million votes here. People hate Vice president Namadi with a passion, that was the reason PDP couldn't win in front of his family house at Zaria. The guy is useless and I just pray GEJ is not going to give him the same leverage given Atiku by OBJ.
I still pity any unemployed Nigerian youth that thumb printed PDP, I think some people are born to suffer and right now there's nothing like pity for a fellow Nigerian.

I sincerely agree with u.Buhari may not have gotten the highest number of votes:but that 10million votes gap is too ridiculous.PDPPPPP una toooooooo baaaaaad.This is a simple case of RIDICULOUS RIGGING.

To be candid,some level of rigging is "allowed" in Nigeria:
1.Giving out money around the polling booth to intending voters, PDP
2.Mobilising everyone(including the underaged) in your household to register and therefore vote, ACN,CPC
3.Intentionally initiating violence in your opponents strong areas so as to scare everyone away, ACN

Let me share with u some(not all) PDP ridiculous rigging methods
1.Stealing ballot boxes from polling units and exchanging them for already stuffed ballot boxes.
2.Smuggling already stuffed ballot boxes into collation centers,pretending to be INEC official (exercising Power)while the authentic INEC official are silenced by money or by force
3.Changing final figures at collation centers since most collation officers are PDP appointees(with no regard [/b]to whatever figures the party agents are parading)
4.Signing disputed final figures on behalf of the various party agents since u cant prove any where that its not your signature, even if u want to prove that, it will take 3yrs in the law court

[b]TO HAVE A FREE AND FAIR ELECTION IN NIGERIA,WE MUST EMBRACE E-VOTING, AND ALLOW (LIMITED) UNBIASED UN EXPERTS/AGENCIES PARTICIPATION

Quoted for emphasis.

Lagosboy:
Do you agree with my point that is is only with "mobilisation" elections are won in the SW ?

Yes mobilization is extremely vital anywhere. But lets not assume Tinubu has the influence to mobilize the people for every candidate or cause across SW.

Lagosboy:
We know he owes Buhari nothing but he owes his Candidate Nuhu Ribadu everything, how can we explain ACN non mobilisation for Nuhu Ribadu 48 hrs to an election.

Brother, this is the crux of our discussion and I acknowledge thouands of voters genuinly voted for Jonathan. 30% of registered voters voted  in Lagos which is not normal in Lagos for a presidential election.

I think the answer is pretty obvious: there is only so much Tinubu he can do.

Yoruba progressives and a lot of educated youth support Ribadu, the rest of the SW went with GEJ and the sentiments around his candidacy. Tinubu can only do so much.

Believe it or not, I'm personally aware of Yoruba Villages in the hinterland where people do not know Ribadus name, they've never heard of Fola Adeola but they know PDP, they have a love/hate relationship with the Buhari image. They like the "broom" and Osun state proved that, but they are not excited about the presidential election so they stayed home. I believe the numbers showed that

Like so many SW Buhari supporters said already, I could not convince most of my own folks to vote CPC, and I tried.

~Sarcasm~ I wonder how Tinubu got to our Mothers, Fathers, siblings and friends allover the SW within 90 hours, maybe he had a microchip buried into Yoruba heads. ~sarcasm~

Let us face the reality, PDP won the propaganda and sentiment war in the South, numbers may be fuzzy but CPC lost the battle to shape opinions. I myself came from -he's a tribalist, a fundamentalist, a killer, a hardliner- to support his candidacy.

Millions of South westerners could not shake that off like some of us did. Blame lack of information, blame ignorance, blame the media, blame bigotry, blame lack of cash, Blame Buhari, Blame supporters like me for not working hard enough, blame this unfair effed-up Nigerian system.

BUT do not blame Tinubu. As much as I don't like his style, he owes Buhari nothing and Tinubu is not as powerful as we make him out to be.

Erm OK, if you insist, I will try to scan my people's head for that Tinubu microchip  

Gbawe:
Great post. I think you hint somewhere that you are interested in politics . Well, I think you have the reasoning, pragmatism and temperament to be effective in Nigerian politics . The reality is different to what many of us think . Nigerian politics is still heavily about compromise and the concise understanding of how to play to win in a very dirty system and with/against dirty players . This is why there is a dearth of guys like Soyinka, Falana et al in core politics. At the end of the day , Politicians will still have to work with others and the system , in place already, to succeed . Some don't understand the fine balancing act folks like Fashola have to achieve to even enable them to deliver as they do currently .

Thanks. I grew up with politics around me. We will definitely meet in the field one day if you go into politics in the SW. I'm more interested in shaping opinions and pushing good hardworking candidates out there for now. I may never contest as a candidate, not sure yet.

But my people need us and Nigeria needs structural reforms. I always tell folks that we are all victims of a disjointed system, how you navigate it is very important as long as you have a reasonable limit on how far you can go. I wish you success bro if you run. God knows we need fresh ideas out there.

@Lagosboy, what informs your opinion that Mamora is the best ACN senator?

Once again I have to agree with Gbawe's point on the diverse politicking method that can throw up a primary winner.I really do hate to defend Tinubu, but the guy has earned his stripes and ACN is a better organized party because of his efforts.

I also have issues with the Ekiti central primaries, but I'm not surprised by the conflict. I mean, you have Femi Ojudu, Opeyemi Bamidele and Dele Alake running against an Incumbent Bode Ola, all in the same party and at least two are close associates of Tinubu and former Lagos commissioners under Him. That was a very strong candidate pool. I agree, transparent primaries would have been better in their case. It's unfortunate they are all from the same district. I also see it the failure of a system that restricts people to tiny senatorial districts when they can use their experience else where in the state.

I have criticized Tinubu here several times and I'm still wary of his massive influence but it will be funny to assume he wields as much control as people ascribe to him.

I can bet people like Prof. Sola Adeyeye of Osun State did not bow at Bourdillon. Tinubu is not Awolowo and while I cannot vouch for anyone 100%, I'm sure he's aware of that fact. Even as influential As Awolowo was, and some accuse him of being very heady too, still he had to give up after Bola Ige surprisingly contested Oyo Primaries against his choice the legendary E. Alayande and won. Good leadership matters, transparency is great too. But Tinubu's style gave us Fashola. Politics is not a one way street.

I see a bright future for ACN if they continue to throw up good administrators and hardworking politicians. One is Abike Dabiri, I was indifferent about her at first now I'm slightly impressed. I'm glad we now have Sola Adeyeye back and as a Senator too.

Nigeria needs good opposition, especially in that shark infested House of Assembly. Like I said on page 1, I will be dissappointed if Buhari does not seize the moment to sponsor and give CPC and his people the good representation they deserve. Just like the Talakawas of Aminu Kano, there is massive support for Buhari and he needs to use that to groom progressive politicians like El-Rufai and co.

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=648868.msg8158709#msg8158709 date=1303162252]Everything here now: https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?hl=en&key=t9noetUMsSmQOtcoi8LF7Xw&authkey=CKfYx4YG&hl=en#gid=0[/quote]Good. I checked it.

What can I say, you can't mine diamond out of shyyte. We will change the system when we are ready.

Ekt_bear, You are making good points about foresight. . .need to challenge. . .and the responsibility of the winners themselves to question discrepancies.

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=648868.msg8158264#msg8158264 date=1303156987]For those unwilling to slog through an entire 6 page thread, just read this post:

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-648868.64.html#msg8151346

Look at the spreadsheet in Google docs, and read some of the posts that follow.[/quote]The election is a farce eku_bear, it has been a farce since 1999, maybe 1983. Some people are happy now because their man and region won. Hopefully we will be alive to see a reversal of fortunes when the same system disfavors them again in a few years.

Now to your Spreadsheet: I still have little to no issues with the SE, SS, numbers although they are funny numbers, but I will just say it will be near impossible for Buhari to get more than 10% in those states, PDP won the Tribal and Religious sentiment war in the South + The cash war.

I can bet most of those local polling booths in those areas had no CPC agent, if they did, they were non-committed, easily induced ones who will sign off anything just to go back home.

On the Northern Numbers: they look like nonsense and the violence of  today has casted further doubt on those improbable numbers.  Now, states with large Christian majorities in the NC and NE might be close, I doubt they were that close.

I doubt GEJ would have won any of them without central support and large bribes for his PDP agents and local governors.

See bro, This is a flawed system. The man at the center controls the police and he influences the appointment of INEC officials, from Jega to the local RECs and returning officers. Jega can only do so much.

I have a lot of blame for the opposition too, because they should have attacked the fundamentals since the election of four years ago and refuse to contest until they get changes. It is their responsibility to sensitise their supporters and educate them on that. I know other charlatans might take advantage of the space and form dubious political parties to run against PDP, but they shoud have tried.

Anyway now that CPC will probably win the rest of the core Northern Governorship Election due to the Popular uprising on their behalf, maybe they will act like ACN now. I''ll wait to see what happens.

If you allow the system to stay it will swallow you. And it swallowed the opposition. . .


These are some of the reasons for those numbers:

A president that can appoint and fire the police.

He can propose the INEC chairman and bribe his PDP senators to pick him(they have overwhelming majority)

He can bribe RECs easily because he has access to Federal funds, and is above judicial scrutiny.

He controls the Public Media(NTA, Radio Nigeria)

His State agents and PDP Governor control state media and there is nothing you can do about it-imagine California Governor blocking Republican adverts on TV?   <<-- happens in Naija easily

He can spend himself unconscious and make promises of $200M to Nollywood stars, with no recourse to legislative oversight because there is no opposition to PDP in the legislature.

He has the SSS and can flout court orders or re-arrest opponents just freed on bail. (Akwa Ibom?)

C'mon! The opposition stands no chance, until the people rise up, we should all probably just join PDP. I hope people now appreciate Tinubu and his ACN struggles a bit.

Until we restructure this country and remove the massive power in the center, we will keep repeating this nonsense. More people will keep dying needlessly.

Have you updated the Sheet to include the final INEC results?

^ I agree.

Seun:
Yeah, Goodluck won and the margin was no joke. That's the power of money & tribe, I guess.

I hope people understand what you are saying because it is absolutely 100% correct.

There are two factors in Nigerian politics: Money + {Tribalism|Ethnic bigotry|Religion|Regionalism} <-- different sides of the same cube IMO.

Control more of both and you win. If you have the federal Oil money but lose the tribal/religion battle, you may still lose or at least get a war on your hands, you need to have a majority of both.

GEJ got the federal money part down and competed well on the Ethnic/religion sentiment side(SE+SS+SW+Christian)

We are a sectionalized country of different flavors and ideas. We will never get a fair playing field until we restructure this country and devolve power to the local regions, including local control of resources, politics(No more Federal power for most parastatals, water, roads, electricity) and security(state police) + more.

You cannot force unity. Ensuring justice, equity and self determination is better for Nigeria.

Ystranger:
^^^

Dem get two heads

Hahah, So dem liver cut to tell the truth before

Make Dem go siddon!

GenBuhari:
@Kilode?!
I challenge anyone to explain to me why online polls cannot represent the views of Nigerians
Can a computer be bribed?

GenBuhari, calm down you are not alone in questioning this farce of an election, did you check my reply and the link in it?

You are making the right argument in a wrong way. I have disagreed with colleagues, relatives and friends over belief the popular belief that this election was free and fair but not with online polls.


You can use the following:
The number of registered voters compared to the number of voters

PDP access to federal money

PDP access to federal police and army

FG appointing and paying INEC commissioners

The funnily large turnout rates in some states

Intimidation of opposition candidates

Extra judicial detention of opposition candidates

Confusing and Conflicting announcements from the Nigerian Police and INEC

The Lack of fair and equal access to public media(NTA ,Radio Nigeria ETC)

Even I condemned the declared public holiday because it meant fewer eyes will see those who are using official means and facilities to perpetrate rigging.

These and more are points that you can use GenBuhari. . .

But Online polls? Nairaland Polls? Hell nah! not Tenable.

Lagosboy:
It seems most of us have ambitions

ACN ? ? ? I would not bet on it

Could you shoot me an email please on lagosboynl@gmail.com

hmm

walelondon:
He should have remained in Save Nigeria group, With that he would have saved himself this folly. He is a critic, and critics are never good leaders. The Bible I know, says, '' do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers'', Can u pls tell me what Bakare just did. In the final analysis, when the protest are being judged, Bakare and Buhari must be held responsible for inflammatory statements.

I'm sorry but the bolded is a fable, absolute BS! it is Naija beer palour talk at it's worst and an often repeated old-wives tale. It has no value where serious politics is being discussed.

Critics can and do become leaders.

What is a critic anyway? Is Tinubu not a critic? Bola Ige? Awolowo, Oshiomhole?

Have you heard of the great Lech Walesa of Poland
see --> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lech_Wa%C5%82%C4%99sa#Presidency

OR

Ever read about Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil? even Obama na "critic" at one point.
see--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luiz_In%C3%A1cio_Lula_da_Silva#Union_career

You cannot get more "critic" than those great men, human right activists and labor leaders, they became leaders and good ones too.

My brother, Please perish that thought of "critics don't make good leaders" I've only heard people say it Nigeria. nowhere else!

It is rubbish subjective nonsense. It is a perfect example of the type of silly popular Naija political discourse and false talk that's robbing us of good leaders.

GenBuhari:
To say that there is internet propaganda for Buhari is ridiculous.
GEJ had an army of agents on the internet trying to spread lies against Buhari yet the polls showed massive leads for Buhari.

Any way you look at it the Internet polls are a far truer reflections of how Nigerians voted, than these rigged elections results

@tollu
I am very much informed and I have an irrefutable argument for my stance
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-585935.0.html

Several reliable online polls have shown Buhari has a massive lead  more than double the votes for GEJ.

To say that Nigerians do not have access to Internet is a weak counter-argument - so who voted online then ? Canadians?

Sad thing is that some BB supporters seem to have bought into the media propagands that the electiosn were credible and have forgotten what the online polls are saying.

Also Nigerians seem to have forgotten that the media have been well bribed  to deceive Nigerians and say htat  the rigged elections were credible

Note: I do not see this election as free and Fair. I've been calling it a farce since the April 9th election. I still stand by that. But your use of online polls as evidence is, I'm sorry, statistically unacceptable.

My bro, I have tried to explain as much as I can. I will rather use other people's words now:

"Sampling bias: Sampling bias is systematic error due to a non-random sample of a population, causing some members of the population to be less likely to be included than others, resulting in a biased sample, defined as a statistical sample of a population (or non-human factors) in which all participants are not equally balanced or objectively represented.

It is mostly classified as a subtype of selection bias, sometimes specifically termed sample selection bias,  but some classify it as a separate type of bias."

Read this also: http://4h.uwex.edu/evaluation/documents/Whatissamplingbias.pdf

Mariory:
Too f**king late. They are no longer fooling anyone. Those that were undecided before now have first hand evidence of what Buhari and his people are about.

My brother You are being unfair to Buhari. He's been down this road before and did not incite violence, The people of the North have never been down this road in a long time.

See the difference?


We all need to look a bit deeper and cast our eyes beyond these names, Nigeria needs to be restructured. This is a good opportunity to propose that.

I hope we will not go back to bribing these stvpid leaders with billions till when another section feels cheated again cos they lost access to Federal Oyel money.

This is not about Buhari, this is about the Injustice of the Nigerian system.

This is our "Archduke Franz Ferdinand" moment, we can take advantage of it or let it deteriorate into anarchy.

I hope we have leaders with the balls to face the real issues, else we will get calmed then resume again in a few years when another section feel muscled by our all powerful central government.

GenBuhari:
@Kilode
Why not use online polls ?

They cannot be rigged if they are geniune as Nairaland's poll are.

The reason is simple, just like I tried to explain to you before the election, On the average, People who vote online are most definitely more well to do, more educated and more exposed than the average Nigerian.

I just called family in Lagos and they did not know there was any riot in the North. why? No light for 3 day now!!

Online polls attract those of us who have access, some of us are in big Naija cities, most are abroad. Their support will probably go to Buhari and more progressive candidates because they are informed and not necessarily colored or influenced by the ethnic angle, It is simply not representative or scientific enough to conclude based on such limited poll of voters.

Also statistically, when survey participants make a conscious effort to participate in a survey, you have to factor in the bias that led to that decision.

Lagosboy:
It is very undortunate that Nigeria has been reduced to that. We have no men of integrrity

In politics, it's all about Interest. Integrity is highly subjective IMO.

Does Obama lack or have integrity when he has flipfloped on many campaign promises by negotiating with Republicans?

Do the Republicans have or lack integrity with the concessions they are being forced to give in to because they do not have full control of the US senate?

talkless of a system like Nigeria where our politics is based on almost NO ideological grounds. Integrity becomes a word that might only be useful in religious camps where people have definite principles almost set in stone.

I'm proud of Bakare and his political fight.

I wish we have more "Men of God" with balls of steel like him. When he was championing the Save Nigeria Group and doing rallies to save y'all from "Turai and the Cabal" no one complained. Now he is bad?

We need to get some perspective people.

9ijaMan:
It's almost a year to date since I've been campaigning on behalf of Buhari on NL. I am indeed very glad that there are still some Nigerians out there who look beyond every vice that divides us (ethnicity and religious bigotry, calumny and cultural myopia) and who are ready and willing to work towards a common goal of making the entity called Nigeria work. We all spent out time, money and meager resources and we were able to achieve big things collectively. It is indeed a pleasure for me to have been privileged to work with these honorable and patriotic Nigerians who have selflessly shown to the world that we have more in common as a people than what tends to tear us apart.

I should clearly state here that we may have lost a fight and not the battle, as the struggle continues. I will indeed appreciate it if we keep this little thing we all started here growing well beyond NL. There are indeed several lessons we have learnt since our coming together to fight a common course and I believe we can evolve into something bigger and more special. The elections may have been rigged to deny the good citizens of our great nation the true leadership we deserve, but the ruling party cannot rig our collective will.

For those who want us to keep working together, we can start by forming an email group which I will suggest to be named "Buhari/Bakare 2011" to keep alive our first fight together against corruption and ineptitude in governance. I will also suggest we co-opt our other brothers and sisters who also fought gallantly for the course of Ribadu/Adeola as we have a lot of things in common but just a slightly different approach at proffering solutions to the ailment out nations suffers.

Many thanks thanks to you all as it has indeed been a delightful experience. I still remain 9ijaman and will continue to fight for the less privileged in my country in my own little way.

Well done to you too 9ijaman, I approve the bolded.

naijababe:
And to think all this time, I thought you were a straight choirboy

I'm not guilty, I remain holy.

Beaf:
Lol!
Learn to fear the quiet ones!

Ha! no blow my cover o

Lagosboy:
The unfortunate thing is that it is only people of this category that voted for him as well and the votes could not lead him anywhere. I would never say he is finished in politically but he has surely come out worse off compared to 8 months ago when i was praising and supporting Ribadu. A successful man is one who is able to bounce back after falling, he needs to bounce back and i dont see the springboard in ACN or in associating with Tinubu.

On Ribadu's political prospects: I totally agree with Gbawe and others, I see no loss, if he can continue to manage his political career, I see bright prospects for him. Right now Ribadu may not be too loved in the North but he is clearly not hated. Obviously, you cannot say the same about Northern politicians who supported GEJ.

As per Tinubu: I will say it again, I may not fancy his hardcore domination of ACN politics but in the Nigerian political Jungle, he played his game well. He is the winner of this election and as long as he continues to build bridges and stand with his constituents I see greater things.

I do not blame Tinubu for the failure of the alliance NOT AT ALL. Both parties deserve equal blame. It is politics afterall, you cannot negotiate away your advantage.


On Buhari: He may never be president, but he's not lost much really these are my thoughts on what he needs to do:

[quote author=Kilode?! link=topic=648895.msg8151379#msg8151379 date=1303088413]Buhari needs to stay in politics, rally his supporters and articulate plus sell his ideology to those he can sell it to. he needs to be the "Leader" of CPC and fight for values and issues he believes in. All these quadrennial contest after staying in the background has to stop. It is simply unacceptable, he needs to stay on, fight for his people.

The CPC needs to continue to work on whatever ideology they want to preach. This election, if nothing else, proves that Nigeria is Country of different flavors and we don't all believe in the same principle and ideas. Which is good, na democracy afterall.

Any decent democracy needs credible issue based opposition, Buhari must build his party, put his popularity to work and campaign to get more governorship and Assembly seats in the North at least. His people need decent representation and if he does not cower in the face of fatigue and electoral defeat he might be able to bring something great out of this election.

The era of overwhelming majority where everyone joins the winning party to share the loot should gradually come to an end if Nigeria wants to grow this democracy.

There are several benefits we can derive from a robust democracy which decent opposition numbers will bring. Buhari needs to tighten his belt and use whatever is left of his political capital well. support and sponsor people to governorship and and Assembly positions and hold them accountable till more of our people can do that easily.


I mean, Hate him or love him, I applaud Bola Tinubu for what he has done with ACN

ACN proposed the Freedom of information bill (currently lagging in the PDP Assembly)
ACN proposed Diaspora voting bill (defeated by PDP senators)
ACN vehemently opposed the plot to kill the electoral bill and insert dangerous amendments that will bring political parties and the electoral process under Federal government control, apparently they failed.

. . .and so many other progressive laws.

Buhari needs to own this moment, roll up his Babanriga and get dirty, we have lives to save. . .
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=648895.msg8151379#msg8151379[/quote]Ribadu is in good shape politically considering where he came from and if these elections and the agitations bring reforms, I see a bright political future for the man.

GenBuhari:
Why are we Nigerians so docile?


Remember t e saying that nobody can do any thing to you unless you let them.

the online polls demonstrate in lack and white / crystal clear, that elections were rigged and that the person Nigerians has not been anounced as President.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-585935.0.html

Business as usual

My brother, please. If you want to make an argument about rigging, don't use online polls.

[quote author=EzeUche_ link=topic=649196.msg8154604#msg8154604 date=1303129444]Divide this country now! North/South A clear line.[/quote]They will not do it, they are all pretenders, they enjoy the central looting and central power and control too much, they don't want to give it up. I'm speaking about our Pro-establishment leaders and elites.

Ezeuche, hear IBB:

However, we should be vigilant and sensitive to issues around us especially on security, I think State Police would solve our security problem.”

See? this Idio/t now wants state police?

What did he do when he had the power to restructure Nigeria? Now he wants a restructured system.

When did his eyes open? because he lost power and control? Bunch of hypocrites

PapaBrowne:
Kilode?, you are one of the most sensible fellows on Nairaland. I ask you, do you sincerely believe these elections were rigged?? If so, how?? I voted in the south south and my polling booth, located in a highbrow area recorded a turnout of 70+% with 510+ voters. The results were: PDP:479, ACN:17, CPC:12. My polling booth corresponded perfectly with the voting patterns across the south south and south east. So please explain to me how the elections were rigged??

My bro, so that I don't go repeating myself over and over again. This was my comment about the contested election result before I went to bed yesterday:

[quote author=Kilode?! link=topic=648868.msg8152035#msg8152035 date=1303103552]BTW, I'm not part of the discussion about SE, SS votes, like I said earlier, they are not too shocking. I can't be bothered really. SW recorded between 85-90% for Bashorun MKO Abiola in 1993. Nigeria is a country were data cannot be trusted, a part of our legacy of misrule and systemic failure. That places all of you number analysts in a difficult situation.
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=648868.msg8152035#msg8152035[/quote][quote author=Kilode?! link=topic=648868.msg8151792#msg8151792 date=1303097159]BTW, these results are not too shocking, maybe 90% is strange and over 60% turnout is statistically difficult, but looking at the sentiments against Buhari in those parts, it really doesn't matter. I don't think his approval rating would have attracted more than 10% of the votes in those SS and SE states.[/quote]No I don't find the votes cast in the South surprising, they might be statistically funny but not impossible considering the sentiments against Buhari and for Jonathan.

Now my real gripe, which I've written about several times on these forum is with the "Nigerian Structure" itself.That was why i said, "it feels like 1983 all over again". . .

When South Westerners felt cheated out of their votes by Obasanjo(central power) Akinjide and Shagari, they responded the same way. If we go further back, some will argue that the Biafra struggle was for similar reasons.

WE NEED TO RESTRUCTURE THIS COUNTRY!

Today, the South-South people got their son in power and I feel happy for them because frankly they deserve it, but Nigeria cannot continue to survive his Stvpid system that was imposed on us.

We need to devolve and reduce the power of the Central federal government. All politics are local, but in Nigeria our politicians run to the center when they want to ra.p/e their people. So when the people become frustrated, we get this kind of reactions. We are all to blame for it.

Papabrowne, this is the sad legacy of Pro-center, pro-status quo, military-politicians like OBJ and co.

I have to say that the Northerners too were supporters of this fraud because their leaders have benefitted the most from this nonsense Nigerian arrangement and they kept supporting it. Now they see how it feels.

I detest violence and I condemn these attacks. I hope those who believe Nigerians deserves better than this lopsided system will seize the moment though and work to restructure this country.

Feels like 1983 all over again. . .

Don't know how terribly they rigged this election, but there is a limit to how much you can push people. I feel sad for the innocent ones caught up in this nonsense. This is really unfortunate and sad.

aletheia:
^No problem. Some of us hope such an alignment will be realized. But it will be good if we all acquaint ourselves with the history of some other parts of the country too. Just as the SW were resisting the NPC in the 60s, so were parts of the MB in the same period. The narrative that it was only the SW is not quite true in the light of history.

Ok bro. I'm glad we now understand each other. Yes I remember Tarka and the UMBC and also the Other Northern minorities like Waziri and his GNPP. We really messed up in this country and yes I blame Military rule and greed. But we all need to face realities and try one more time to weaken the center.

You can Imagine the kind of possibilities thrown up by this election, a dis united North just like GNPP and UMBC plus a separate But ready-to-right-wrongs South. I will not forgive Jonathan if he starts trying to bring everyone Back to chop at the center through silly pacification. But I think he will.

Nice discussing with ya, got to go rest.

aletheia:
^
I see. So why is the number of votes Buhari got in the SE/SS now an issue? And BTW read my post carefully. . .I no where made the assertion that the SW were pro-North. I only said, it seemed they were beginning to forget.

I jumped in to prevent you from believing the points you raised about where the SW people stand. A lot of folks form wrong perceptions based on these things.

BTW, I'm not part of the discussion about SE, SS votes, like I said earlier, they are not too shocking. I can't be bothered really. SW recorded between 85-90% for Bashorun MKO Abiola in 1993. Nigeria is a country were data cannot be trusted, a part of our legacy of misrule and systemic failure. That places all of you number analysts in a difficult situation.


As to the bolded, Alethiea, Bro, They did not forget anything.  Don't be confused by the "smart" strategies of the New SouthWest Progressive and the ACN, they forgot nothing.

Jonathan will be smart to align with them and get this country restructured, supporters such as Beaf believe he would, but with the pro-establishment hawks around him, I'm not sure he can.