Politics
Let The Electoral Process Be Without Acrimony
In every election year in Nigeria, there is always the suspicion that the ruling party in a particular area be it at the state or federal level would be finalising plans to rig or abort the will of the electorate.
Sometimes, these suspicions might be unfounded but the antics of the ruling party might give credence to this notion. Recently, the controversy over the appointment of Mrs Amina Zakari as the Chairperson, Advisory Committee and the presidential election collation centre is being criticised by the opposition parties and other stakeholders in the Nigerian project.
According to sources, Mrs Zakari is supposed to have completed her tenure as an INEC commissioner since August of 2018. Apart from that, she is said to be a niece to the incumbent president, Muhammadu Buhari.
The fear is that as a blood relation to the president, she might use that connection to subvert the vote counting exercise. Another area of grouse by the opposition parties has to do with the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, who is supposed to have retired from the service since January 3.
The Inspector-General has served the mandatory 35 years and his continual stay in office, according to them is illegal as the constitution bars him from being retained or reappointed as he is no longer a serving officer.
According to them, the president should do the needful by appointing a new IGP otherwise, retaining him means that Mr Idris will not be answerable for his actions but will only do the biddings of his master.
Although these claims cannot be dismissed outright the action of the president vis-a-vis the ruling party in disobeying court orders and breaching the constitution leave much to be desired.
The concern raised by the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) is not just a propaganda tool or false alarm but should be seen as a patriotic act as the country should tell its leaders that we are under a democratic rule and not dictatorship in any guise.
If a serving officer has reached the mandatory retirement age or has served for the stipulated 35 years, he or she should honourably vacate such office. But where the services of such persons are still needed, then the necessary due process should be followed to avoid the situation where eye brows would be raised.
However, the recent pronouncements by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), that it is now set to conduct a free, fair and credible election by presenting copies of the voters register to the political parties is highly appreciated. This is because with the register, political parties now can monitor and scrutinise the number of eligible voters, monitor the voting process and also ensure that the number of votes cast during next month’s elections reflect with what is in the register.
Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmmod Yakubu, has said that a total of 84 million Nigerians registered to vote, that the register was up to date and that as part of the measure put in place, smart card readers would be used for the exercise. He also said the use of the separate incident form had been abolished and called on the political parties to submit a list of their agents to INEC, not later than 14 days to the election.
The implication of these pronoucements is that the political parties will no longer give excuses that the electoral body is not prepared for the elections. From observations so far, INEC has shown that it has put in place all necessary facilities for now and what remains is the conduct of the election proper.
For the political parties, the issue of having centres should be seen as a serious task. This is because from past experience, some party agents did not even show up at the polling centres and how are we sure that this time would be different with the number of parties hovering over 70 and with 97, 119,973 polling units that will be manned.
Hopefully for the candidates some of the smaller parties which would not be able to afford the services of volunteers may have to rely on agents of the major political parties especially in the rural areas. And if that is not possible, they should strive to have agents at least in the 8,809 collation centres at the ward level.
With the large number of poltical parties, the logistics will be enormous and following the confidence expressed by INEC for the task ahead, all the political parties should go into the field and start canvassing for the people’s mandate. This time around, no excuses would be accepted as what we want are zero tolerance to rigging, vote buying, violence and indolence. Serious candidates especially those vying for the state houses of assembly seats should not tie their future to that of the governorship candidate. Now is the time to tell Nigerians why they should be voted for. Since this exercise comes every four years, adequate preparations should be made by the political parties to support their candidates in next month’s elections.
The police hierarchy on its part has assured that it would not be partisan likewise that of the armed forces. But with the current tensed security situation, the fear is still there that the ruling party could probably use the situation to its advantage especially at the presidential election.
Today, the world is watching the political trend in Nigeria, the situation is still tense but not as that of 2015 where there were fears that the election would end up causing civil unrest in the country. The two major actors are all from one geogaphical region, same religion and culture, so the presidential election now has nothing to do with differences of faith.
This time around, it is less complicated and the main issues are “development and quality service delivery”.
The election should be tension-free as we are not at war. From 1999 to 2018, the security agencies including the armed forces were allowed to play roles which constitutionally they were not permitted. Nigeria should do away with the curfew tradion on election days. 2019 elections should be an improvement on that of 2015 ditto the security situations.
Why is it that Nigeria is the only, country in Africa where on election days. everywhere is blocked, the streets empty with gun-totting policemen and members of the armed forces patrolling the major highways?
Let us learn to do things differently. In neighbouring West African countries, the situation is quite not the same. Let our politicians strive to improve on the electoral process especially by allowing the free movement of people on election days. Elections can even be conducted in a way that movement can not be restricted, afterall it is not everybody that will vote on election day.
Also modalities could be put in place to make it less stressful whereby a potential voter can just walk in and cast his or her ballot.
Tonye Ikiroma-owiye
Chairman-elect of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Hon. Target Segibo has alleged that the prevalent security challenges in some communities of the local government area could be traceable to parental failure on one hand, and frivolous lifestyle of children and wards involved in crime and criminality in the area on the other hand.
Segibo, who was a pioneer member of the State House of Assembly between 1999-2003, stated this in Yenagoa, the state capital recently while fielding questions from newsmen shortly after receiving his Certificate of Return from the Bayelsa State Independent Electoral Commission (BYSIEC).
He indicated his continued desire to work for the peace and rapid socio-economic development of the local government, noting that having been actively involved in the politics of the area for decades now, he was more grounded in working on modalities towards ensuring enduring peace and unity in troubled communities of the area.
The Chairman-elect who also lauded the state governor, Senator Douye Diri, the state’s leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the electorate for finding him worthy to be elected Chairman of the local government, called on parents/guardiance not to renege on their primary responsibilities of watching over their children and wards, arguing that as the largest local government area in the state, Southern Ijaw should also be noted for peace and development.
“For over 20 years, I’ve been living peacefully with all my neighbours, both at home in Oporoma, headquarters of Southern Ijaw LGA and here, in Yenagoa.
“I’ve grown up children, but I don’t give them more than what they needed as students to go to school and stay okay as a father because I discovered that most of the security challenges we’re facing today in the Southern Ijaw LGA, and other parts of the state, is traceable to parental failure and children’s wanting to lead a frivolous lifestyle”, he said.
“As parents/guardians we should be able to know the kind of friends our children/wards keep. We must not pamper them. We must tell them that they have to do something legal to earn a living. We must question any source of sudden wealth and affluence on the part of our children and wards.
“But I want to assure our people of Southern Ijaw that as their incoming Chairman, when I’m sworn-in, having been actively participating in the politics and other activities of the area, collectively we’ll work to ensure enduring peace, unity and development of the LGA”, he added.
By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa
The Bayelsa State House of Assembly has screened and confirmed the first batch of Commissioner-nominees for Governor Diri’s second term State Executive Council.
The Tide gathered that the State Chief Executive in a bid to form his cabinet for his second tenure had earlier submitted a list of 14 names to the state legislature for confirmation as commissioners.
However, The Tide reports that only 13 out of the 14 nominees attended the constitutional exercise of the lawmakers.
Though no official reasons have been given, the immediate past Commissioner for Sports, who is also a former member of the state Assembly, Hon. Daniel Igali, was conspicuously absent during the screening exercise.
Inline with the House’s rules and Standing Orders, two other former members of the state Assembly who were also part of the nominees, Dr Gentle Emelah, immediate past Commissioner for Education, and Mrs Ebiwou Koku-Obiyai, were simply asked to take a bow and leave.
Following the exhaustive grilling, however, the immediate past Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, Mr Biriyai Dambo, SAN, his Finance counterpart, Mr Maxwell Ebibai, were confirmed.
Also confirmed were the immediate past Works and Infrastructure Commissioner, Moses Teibowei, Mrs Koku Obiyai, Dr Gentle Emelah, Ayibakipreye Brodericks, George Ekpotuatein Flint and Komuko Akari Kharim.
Furthermore, Mr Perepuighe Biewari, Dr Jones Ebieri, Barr. Peter Afagha, Mrs Bidei Elizabeth and Michael Magbisa received the nod to be appointed commissioners by the state lawmakers.
In his advice to the nominees shortly after their screening, Deputy Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Michael Ogbere, enjoined the Commissioner hopefuls to work as a team with those they will meet on ground, admonishing that they remain loyal to the government at all times.
On his part, Leader of the House, Hon. Monday-Bubou Obolo, said the people of the state expect a lot trom them and that the House will do its best to keep them on their toes through its oversight functions while giving them the needed legislative support where necessary.
By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa
A former lawmaker representing Degema/Bonny Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Farah Dagogo, has described the outcome of the 98th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as another demonstration of the resilience of the party to weather any storm that comes its way.
This is contained in a statement released bythe Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to the estwhile federal legislator, Ibrahim Lawal, at the weekend.
In the build up to the NEC meeting, suggestions and permutations had been rife of the likelihood of the PDP running into another round of crises as the party tries to navigate a path for the North Central Zone to produce a substantive National Chairman to complete the truncated tenure of former Chairman, Dr. Iyiorchia Ayu.
Speaking on the sidelines of the NEC meeting that saw Umar Damagum retain his position as the party’s Acting National Chairman until the next NEC meeting scheduled for August, Dr Dagogo said those who genuinely have the best interest of the party at heart made timely sacrifices to keep the party firm and afloat.
The former member of the National Assembly said but for the political maturity and sagacity employed by the party’s National Leader and former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, alongside other leaders, before and during the NEC meeting, the party would have ‘played into the hands of some individuals, who wanted the party to implode in order to improve their political fortunes’.
He expressed optimism that by the adjourned date of August, Damagum would have seen that “it is in the best interest of the party for him to vacate the position for a more purposeful and result oriented leadership’’.
“ For me, the outcome of the NEC meeting was a win-win situation. Against all odds, the party came out unscathed and will continue to wax stronger.
“Yes, the Acting Chairman retained his position, but it is obvious to him now and others that it would be in the best interest of the party for him to vacate that position for a more purposeful and result oriented leadership by August.
“The so called tension generated in the build up to the NEC Meeting was actually orchestrated by the inordinate desire of some few individuals who wanted to thwart the sterling call by party faithful for a review of its failing leadership and directionless.
“ The Party however did not play into the hands of those individuals, who wanted the party to implode in order to improve their political fortunes. Thanks in good measure to the political maturity and sagacity employed by the Party’s National Leader and Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, alongside other leaders, before and during the NEC Meeting. We are where we are now because of their sacrifices and dedication to the party, “ he added.
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