₦airaland Forum

Anikulhapo:
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Kennywills7:
Gej is wiser than all those calling him clueless

itetemi:
OMINIOUS clouds gathering above the country thickened on Saturday night when the Independent National Electoral Commission, bowing to executive and security blackmail, postponed by six weeks the general election earlier scheduled to begin on February 14. To the dismay of Nigerians and the consternation of the international community, the military and the entire security community joined in the conspiratorial schemes of the Presidency and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party to frustrate the electoral process and push Nigeria once more to the brink.

But Nigerians should learn from our inglorious past and take a resolute decision to resist a fresh descent into contrived crises by a decadent cabal.

A collective gasp of disappointment greeted the announcement by a flustered Attahiru Jega, Chairman of INEC, shifting the presidential and National Assembly elections to March 28 and the state governorship and legislative polls to April 11. They had earlier been scheduled for February 14 and 28 respectively.

Jega’s anguish can only be imagined. While he had consistently said that the commission was ready for the polls, the security agencies, led by the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, and the service chiefs, forced his hand by writing to INEC to declare emphatically that troops and other security personnel would not be provided if the elections went on as planned. According to them, all military assets would be concentrated, for the next six weeks, on tackling the insurgency in the North-East zone. Though couched under security concerns, the military’s action was, in fact, nothing but mischief.

Everyone saw it coming since the conspirators lacked the subtlety to disguise their intentions. It was the ineffective NSA that first gave official voice to whispers of the sinister moves against the elections when, at a forum organised in London by Chatam House, he suggested the shifting of the polls. Then followed forceful calls for postponement from the PDP, rented crowds of protesters and some “briefcase” political parties. President Goodluck Jonathan revealed his soiled hands when Doyin Okupe, his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, declared that it was “impossible” for security chiefs to guarantee security. Acting out the nefarious script, Edwin Clark, Femi Okurounmu, Chukwuemeka Ezeife and Alex Ekwueme, elders, acting in the name of the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly, bizarrely urged the arrest of Jega.

Worried, American President, Barack Obama, dispatched his Secretary of State, John Kerry, to Jonathan to lend his weight to calls by the opposition and other Nigerians that the polling dates should stay. Hiding behind a finger, Jonathan only made a woolly statement to the American diplomat that the May 29 swearing-in date “is sacrosanct.” Nigerians, who have endlessly been treated to political chicanery in the past, from the subversion of the constitution in the defunct Western Region in the First Republic to the brazen rigging of the 1983 elections and the manoeuvring that culminated in the June 12, 1993 electoral debacle and the brutal Sani Abacha dictatorship that followed, are bracing for another round of crises. They are not deceived.

Insurgency has been raging in the North-East for five years. Under the watch of Sambo and the current service chiefs, our military have become the laughing stock of Africa. They have been taking beating after beating from Boko Haram terrorists in the three affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe. But Iraq, even at the height of its raging civil war, held several elections. Afghanistan, when Taliban insurgents controlled some of its territory, held elections back-to-back.

Syria, embroiled in a brutish civil war, successfully held a presidential poll in 2014. With the Crimean peninsula forcibly annexed by Russia and rebels controlling Donetsk and other regions, Ukraine still held, first, a presidential and, months later, parliamentary elections. Using the excuse of fighting insurgency in parts of three states to deny the 36 states of the federation and a federal territory elections as scheduled is fraudulent. In those countries cited, extraordinary security and massive deployment of troops were enough to guarantee credible polling.

In any case, Sambo and the Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, had earlier emphatically assured the nation of adequate security arrangements for the elections. Besides, when he first called for a postponement, Sambo not only re-echoed this assurance, he restricted himself to the need for more time to distribute the 68.83 million permanent voter cards. The security joker he and the service chiefs pulled is widely recognised as a mischievous afterthought. By February 5, said Jega, 45,839,808 PVCs had been collected – about 66.58 per cent of the total – while INEC had extended the collection window to February 13 and many states had declared holidays to enable voters to collect theirs. The Council of State – an advisory body – had also met and recommended sticking to the February 14 date.

Jonathan and the security chiefs are toying with Nigeria’s destiny. We regard the military interference as a deliberate plot hatched with the connivance of the Presidency and the PDP to frustrate the elections. There is a very dangerous convergence between the military and the partisan interests of Jonathan. The actions of the military are provocative and Badeh, the Chief of Army Staff, Kenneth Minimah and others are unwisely enmeshing the security forces in politics. The Army had already allowed itself to be dragged into the certificate affair where it did not mind being used to embarrass one of its own, a former commander-in-chief to boot, Muhammadu Buhari, as it bent to the partisan whims of the ruling party.

One grave implication of the military’s blackmail is that the sole authority invested in INEC by law to conduct elections at a time of its own choosing has been hijacked by the security forces and, by implication, the Presidency, to whom the service chiefs report. All it now takes for the military and the police to annul an election date is to refuse to provide security as they are legally bound to do.

Jonathan’s desperation is leading him to a dangerous zone that neither he nor those egging him on can predict the outcome.

Under him, impunity has become monstrous. We cannot ignore the conspiracy theories flying around if only because the blackmail against INEC has proved unerringly accurate, even to the last detail of the military denying INEC security cover. We strongly advise those plotting to subvert or manipulate the 1999 Constitution in order to rig elections, derail them or arrange tenure elongation as being alleged, to desist forthwith in the interest of this country.

Similar plots and subversion of the popular will by the trio of Ahmadu Bello, Tafawa Balewa and Ladoke Akintola (1965/66) in the old Western Region; Ibrahim Babangida (1993), using the infamous Association for Better Nigeria and the courts; and Sani Abacha (1993-1998), using five pseudo parties dismissed by the late Bola Ige as “five leprous fingers” ultimately failed, but plunged the country into prolonged crises, atrophying development and consuming hundreds of Nigerians in blood-soaked turmoil. Jonathan should, for once, demonstrate an awareness of history, avoid ignominy by pulling back from this dangerous track, and allow the electoral process to go on unhindered.

Can the military fix the Boko Haram insurgency in six weeks? What if they still refuse to provide security after this period? In a country where elections are warfare, police and military assistance is crucial, more so in the North-East where terrorists are reported to have captured 130 villages and towns.

Also worrisome is the implication of having elections close to the constitutional swearing-in date of May 29. The ingenuity of INEC and the parliament in fixing elections early to allow enough time for any hitches and litigation is now threatened. It returns us to the days when an election rigger could be sworn in and, thereafter, deployed state resources to defend the stolen mandate. Allegations of military partisanship in the recent Ekiti and Osun states governorship elections raise fresh fears of the abuse and misuse of the instruments of coercion.

Nigerians should not be deceived; we are in the grip of a ruthless, power-hungry and infinitely corrupt cabal that appears ready to do anything to have its way. The June 12 struggle may be a child’s play compared to the unfolding sinister manoeuvres. Jonathan is so enamoured of power that he fails to see the danger of excessive exposure to politics by a military that usurped power for 28 of the 55 years of Nigerian independence.

But in this modern world, the people are not helpless. The lessons from Tunisia, Egypt, Ukraine and Thailand are that citizens can peacefully assert their sovereignty and insist on having a say in how they are governed. We are paying a very high price for our complacency and impunity has run riot.

All stakeholders should raise their voices against the insidious military encroachment on INEC’s remit with the active connivance of the authorities that cannot weigh the consequences of their desperate ambitions. Civil society groups – those that have not been bought over – should wake up from their slumber, while every Nigerian should demand accountability, free and fair elections and a professional, non-partisan military.











http://www.punchng.com/editorials/poll-shift-averting-the-looming-darkness/

SeverusSnape:
My brother, Don't mind the mofos, Do they want the election to hold without adequate security?, do they want millions of voters(especially in the south) to be disenfranchised
They call Jonathan Clueless, Now they know who's in charge, Amaechi knows better. Jonathan is a silent achiever, The man doesn't talk much and makes noise like the likes of Amaechi and the rest. Thank you sir

SeverusSnape:
It could only be punch or Sahara desert.
There is no looming darkness, We are securing the country for a more credible election.
We are moving forward
Shame to the propagandists!
We don't need negative change, we need positive transformation.

Edusouls:
u people are blind to see the truth,i supported and voted for jonathan,but my brother that dosent make me blind to see that jonathan is playing this nation to the brink of disaster, and i pray to God that if war breaks out in this nation, u blind supporters that cant see the truth will be the casualties..amen

HARDDON:
Ameachi knows better now: the MAN is not in the Tongue, the MAN is in the BALLS.

The worse act of cluelessness is not knowing which battle to fight n which to let...

.....n d stadium was still used !

doctokwus:
Beautiful and bold editorial from the punch.
This is no time for every right thinking Nigerian to sit on the fence.GEJ is hell bent on hanging on to power by all means and at whatever cost.
Its time Nigerians make him aware we are all aware of his schemes and won't stand for it.
As it even stands,GEJ cannot win any kind of legitimacy again because having shown his hands and cards early,if per any chance or scheming he is returned as winner in the election,rightly or wrongly, it wud be viewed as having been rigged and thus a blood letting worse than that of 2011.
There are 2 safe options for GEJ and Nigeria now:
-GEJ steps down from contesting the elections and thus restores any dignity he still has.
-The elections are made as transparently free and fair as possible and GEJ accepts the inevitable defeat that awaits him.
Otherwise,having miscalculated badly with this move, any outcome that sees GEJ being returned as the winner would be interpreted as a contrived outcome and thus unavoidable turmoil.

doctokwus:
Beautiful and bold editorial from the punch.
This is no time for every right thinking Nigerian to sit on the fence.GEJ is hell bent on hanging on to power by all means and at whatever cost.
Its time Nigerians make him aware we are all aware of his schemes and won't stand for it.
As it even stands,GEJ cannot win any kind of legitimacy again because having shown his hands and cards early,if per any chance or scheming he is returned as winner in the election,rightly or wrongly, it wud be viewed as having been rigged and thus a blood letting worse than that of 2011.
There are 2 safe options for GEJ and Nigeria now:
-GEJ steps down from contesting the elections and thus restores any dignity he still has.
-The elections are made as transparently free and fair as possible and GEJ accepts the inevitable defeat that awaits him.
Otherwise,having miscalculated badly with this move, any outcome that sees GEJ being returned as the winner would be interpreted as a contrived outcome and thus unavoidable turmoil.

SeverusSnape:
It could only be punch or Sahara desert.
There is no looming darkness, We are securing the country for a more credible election.
We are moving forward
Shame to the propagandists!
We don't need negative change, we need positive transformation.

vedaxcool:
Words of wisdom from Punch, GEJ needs to remember there are forces far greater than his clueless brain can comprehend, this vain attempt at destroying the little peace we have shall fail, like the article said, Nigeria is here today because we, Nigerians, have continued to act as if it is none of our business, kermit the frog the style.

Kennywills7:
Calling ur president a useless man does not make u any better, however when pointing a finger remember d rest are pointing back at u
be careful of wot u say online

donbenie:
Yeah?right,keep on clapping for him,until he leads us all to war..if your blind loyalty to him will prevent you from appreciating the truth in what the editorial is saying,then you deserve the repercussions of wherever this nation is heading to..#nuffsaid

Sajio:
... Is this the first time Inec is postponing election? why are u guys taking this one too serious.. Election will still hold and nothing will change ur mind from voting for whom u want to.. and if Gej wins, heaven will not fall.

nijanigga:
the whole world knows that the dimwit is clueless and he will leave aso rock with a pratfall .

chukwudi44:
The elections would surely hold and GEJ would be returned as winner after that you may decide to commit suicide

Do not threaten us with violence as no one has a monopoly over violence. If southerners are killed in the north, expect reprisals down south.

philips70:
GEJ will not score 30% votes in the elections no matter how much military rigging they plan. Osun situation awaits him. He will stay in court till 2019 and then he will realize one man, be him from the heart of the creeks can never be bigger than Nigeria. OBJ was so powerful and tried it with 3rd tenure and we all know how it ended. Am repeating it once more, when all these happen Asari and Tompolo will avoid Jonathan like a plague.

OpeDwarroir:
Be ready to strike your head against that PHCN pole close to your house when INEC will annouce GEJ as the winner of March 28 polls and the subsequent swearing-in on May 29 by the chief justice

Sajio:
... Is this the first time Inec is postponing election? why are u guys taking this one too serious.. Election will still hold and nothing will change ur mind from voting for whom u want to.. and if Gej wins, heaven will not fall.

SeverusSnape:
It could only be punch or Sahara desert.
There is no looming darkness, We are securing the country for a more credible election.
We are moving forward
Shame to the propagandists!
We don't need negative change, we need positive transformation.

mcfestus:
Block head!

Kennywills7:
Calling ur president a useless man does not make u any better, however when pointing a finger remember d rest are pointing back at u
be careful of wot u say online

Adminisher:
What kind of a man will you call a coward who has Chad invading Nigeria looking for Boko Haram while soldiers are harassing opposition politicians. Even if you want to harass which is bad enough can't the police do this job or SSS?
In the north east, very few soldiers will do this job anyway. Even you can clear those soldiers by driving a vehicle at high speed towards them, they will shoot at you clear away from the place and won't come back tomorrow.
Any way the man is not a useless man but a: VERY USELESS man.