Politics
Re-Enacting June 12
Last Wednesday, pro-democracy and civil society groups in different parts of the country recalled with disgust one of the darkest chapters in the political evolution of the Nigerian state- the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
That election was adjudged the freest and fairest in the history of the country and was widely believed to have been won by the presidential candidate of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), Late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawole Abiola.
Trouble started when a group known as Association for Better Nigeria (ABN) under the leadership of Senator Arthur Nzeribe approached a Federal High Court in Abuja seeking for an injunction to restrain the National Electoral Commission (NEC) from conducting the election on the premise that 25 million Nigerians wanted the military president, Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babaginda to continue to rule the country in the next four years.
While most Nigerians dismissed Nzeribe and his co-travellers as political jesters and rabble-rousers, the presiding judge, Justice Bassey Ikpeme was of the view that the matter was justiceable and the litigants must be given fair hearing. After all said and done she delivered a rulling that the election should not hold, thus throwing the nation into fits of delirium.
However, respite came when NEC re-assured Nigerians that the election would hold as scheduled. NEC’s announcement also disabused the minds of those who alluded the happenings to a ploy by the military junta to hold on to power.
To demonstrate their discontent for the prolonged military rule in the country, Nigerians for the first time in the history of the country jettisoned their tribal cleavages religious beliefs and political affiliations and voted for the candidates of their choice.
The following day results from 30 states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory were in the public domain. Chief M.K.O Abiola had a clean sweep of the poll, waiting for NEC to formally declare him the winner of the most credible election in the country.
Surprisingly, there was a miserable development as ABN in furtherance of its diabolical plot against the Nigerian state and its people secured injunction from a Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice Dahiru Saleh ordering NEC to stop further announcement of the results. NEC therefore, was compelled by the federal military government to comply with the court order. Few days later, Gen. Babaginda hit the nail into the coffin by announcing the annulment of the election for spurious reasons.
Angered by the truncation of the democratic process in the country, pro-democracy and civil society groups as well as the Nigerian press decided to wage a bloodless war against anti-democratic forces which the military junta and its hirelings symbolised.
As a renowned military officer and coupist, Gen. Babaginda knew when to beat a retreat to save himself from imminent danger. For a man who had ruled one of the “richest” black nations in the world for eight years, he knew it was time to step aside in the comfort of his personal abode to enable him count his blessings. So, he stepped aside.
But Chief Abiola was not one to be cowed by the military junta to forgo the mandate that was freely given to him by Nigerians to liberate them from the state of hopelessness and helplessness as encapsulated in his campaign slogan “Hope 93.” He fought and paid the supreme price for democracy to be institutionalised in Nigeria.
Regrettably, twenty years after the annulment of June 12 election, Nigeria is returning to the path of insanity and ignominy that led to the painful death of many citizens of self-styled giant of Africa, because of selfish, unpatriotic and mindless actions of our past leaders.
What is happening in the Nigeria Governors Forum is a harbinger of what the world should expect from the so-called leaders in 2015. Since May 24, when the governors conducted election to choose their leaders, the NGF has been polarized, because the preferred candidate of the presidency and the leadership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was defeated by a popular candidate who secured majority of the votes. Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State was re-elected, having polled 19 votes against Jonah Jang’s 16 in an election that was acknowledged by many Nigerians who watched the video recording both in social and national media as free and fair.
This was against the backdrop of alleged irregularity by anti-Amaechi governors. The plank of their argument was that Governor Jang was endorsed by 19 governors poior to the election and wondered why his endorsement should not take precedence over electoral process in a democratic setting.
Election is part and pareel of a democratic culture. A situation where some of the political leaders declare a winner in an electoral contest before the election proper bespeak of evil days ahead.
A situation where the actual winner in an electoral contest and his supporters are persecuted by the powers-that-be for exercising their constitutional rights is not healthy for the nation’s democracy.
A situation where flimsy reasons were given to decredit a transparent electoral process that returned Governor Amaechi to power as chairman of NGF reminds one of the spurious reasons adduced by the military junta in the annulment of the June 12 election. Nigeria cannot walk that path again. Our votes must count.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has insisted on the conclusion of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise yesterday (Sunday) despite calls by some opposition political parties and civil society organisations for an extension over concerns that millions of citizens could be excluded from the 2027 general elections.
In a notice issued on its X (formerly Twitter) handle on Saturday, the commission reminded the public that the exercise would end on Sunday, July 26, with designated registration centres open from 9am to 3pm.
“Your future won’t wait. Neither should you. The Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise ends Sunday, 26 July 2026,” the Commission stated.
INEC also reminded prospective voters that they could complete the registration process online through its dedicated CVR portal or visit designated INEC offices and registration centres nationwide for physical assistance.
The new Electoral Act stipulates that INEC is required to stop voter registration, updating and revision of the voters’ register 90 days before an election to allow for data clean-up, the printing of Permanent Voter Cards and other logistical preparations.
The law also requires the Commission to display the voters’ register for claims and objections within the stipulated period to enable eligible Nigerians to challenge omissions and errors and help ensure the credibility of the final register for the polls.
The INEC National Commissioner on Information and Voter Education, Mr Mohammed Haruna, told The Tide source that the Commission would not extend the deadline, stressing that the registration exercise had to close to allow the electoral body to begin cleaning the data already collected.
“By midnight on Sunday, voter registration ends. There won’t be any extension. There are so many things that we need to do at the back end. We have to draw a line; otherwise, we won’t be able to produce a clean copy of what has been posted,” he said.
Mr Haruna explained that the commission’s Information Technology team and the Voter Registration Department would begin processing the data immediately after the closure of the registration window.
He said INEC would deploy its Automated Biometric Identification System to detect and remove multiple registrations before the provisional voters’ register is displayed for public scrutiny.
“We have this automatic biometric system that will check whether somebody has registered more than once. They will publish the register for claims and objections. That is, if anybody thinks a name shouldn’t be on the register, or if he has some claims, for instance, that his name has been omitted or some of his details are incorrect,” he said.
According to him, the final number of newly registered voters would only be known after the biometric verification and the claims and objections process.
“So, it’s after all that has been done that we will have a final figure, which we will now add to the existing 93 million or so. That will then become the voters’ register. We are mandated to give every political party a copy ahead of the election,” Mr Haruna added.
Responding to concerns over the number of Nigerians who may be excluded from the 2027 electoral process by the closure, the national commissioner said INEC could only account for eligible citizens who presented themselves for registration.
He added that the commission had recorded registrations through its online platform, physical registration centres and INEC offices across the 774 local government areas.
According to a public announcement signed by Mr Ariyo Rufus, Head of Department, Voter Education, Publicity, Gender and Inclusivity on behalf of Mr Oluwatoyin Babalola, the INEC Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), the said exercise is aimed at assessing its operational readiness and testing the efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) ahead of the governorship poll.
INEC stated that the exercise would simulate Election Day accreditation procedures but clarified that no voting would take place during the exercise.
The commission explained that “the mock accreditation would be conducted in selected polling units spread across the three senatorial districts of Osun State, covering Osun Central, Osun East and Osun West.
“In Osun Central Senatorial District, the selected local government areas are Osogbo, Olorunda, Ifelodun and Boripe, with designated polling units identified for the exercise.
“For Osun East Senatorial District, the exercise will take place in selected polling units across Ilesa West, Ilesa East, Oriade and Obokun local government areas.”
INEC also listed Egbedore, Ede North, Ede South and Ejigbo local government areas as the selected councils for the mock accreditation exercise in Osun West Senatorial District.
The commission urged all registered voters whose polling units were selected to participate in the exercise, stressing that only holders of valid Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would be accredited.
“This exercise is designed to test the functionality and efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) under conditions similar to Election Day. There shall be no voting during the exercise,” the Commission stated.
INEC reaffirmed its appreciation to residents of Osun State for their continued cooperation and support throughout the electoral process.
INEC also assured political parties, the media, civil society organisations and other stakeholders of the Commission’s commitment to conducting a free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive governorship election in Osun State.
Mr Dare made the remark while criticizing Alhaji Abubakar for hiring a United States of America lobbyist with $1.2 million, in preparation for the 2027 elections.
In a statement he personally signed, Mr Dare said the former vice president can’t take Nigeria down the path of self-destruction.
The statement read in part: “Worse still, for a man who presumes to offer leadership to Africa’s most populous nation, his recent resort to grievance offshoring, outsourcing political warfare to Washington and reportedly paying $1.2 million to an American lobbying firm to peddle petitions against a sitting Nigerian President, stands as an affront to Nigeria’s sovereignty and a vote of no confidence in its democratic institutions.
“It is also a stinging slight, an implicit condescension directed at generations of Nigerian journalists, policy analysts, academics, and public intellectuals who have spent decades analysing, critiquing, and carrying the burden of the nation’s democratic evolution.
“The Atiku Abubakar of today cuts a pitiable figure, a grotesque portrait of what a politician becomes when ambition overwhelms judgment and every political faculty becomes programmed for self-destruction.
“No, Atiku cannot take Nigeria down that path with him. He must travel it alone. But first, Nigerians deserve Atiku Abubakar’s report card. Charity, they say, begins at home, not in Washington.
“Nigerians deserve to know whether the Atiku Abubakar who has long presented himself as a democrat is, in reality, a politician of many colours. He has erected for himself a throne built simultaneously on sand and bayonets. It is time to explode the bayonets.”
-
Politics4 days agoBuhari Administration Originated Fake PFIPC, Budget Office Tells Reps
-
Rivers4 days agoNBA Set To Inaugurate New National Executive In PH
-
Politics4 days agoCHRISTIAN FORUM PASSES CONFIDENCE VOTE ON TINUBU, WIKE, OTHERS
-
Business4 days ago$50m Steel Pipe Facility: NCDMB Lauds Brentex, Assures Industry Patronage
-
Politics4 days agoVotes Will Count In 2027, INEC Assures Nigerians
-
Politics4 days agoTinubu Felicitates Umahi @63, Says Works Minister Outstanding
-
Politics4 days agoSpeak For Yourself, Otti Tells Uzodimma Over Tinubu’s Reelection Bid
-
Rivers4 days agoNaval Chief Lauds NYSC Scheme … Vows Stronger Partnership With Rivers