Politics
2019 Polls: The Pains, Expectations
In about 157 days from today, Nigerians will embark on their sixth quest since 1999 to select, through voting, their dream President. That is, if the scheduled February 16, 2019 date for the Presidential election will hold as planned.
Expectedly, that President would be one who would truly appreciate the multifarious challenges of the nation and make humanistic efforts, as many are wont to say, to resolve them. A President, who, for once, would ipso facto tackle identified challenges of the nation without giving excuses for inability to do so.
As the countdown to the 2019 Presidential election, many concerned Nigerians have had reasons to review the last three years and developments so far in Nigeria’s political realm vis-à-vis expectations of the would-be President from the 2019 polls.
No doubt, opinions are divergent: while the Pro-Buharis would do or say anything to justify their stand, the anti-Buhari group will do same in the opposite direction. This is not new, mostly because it has become so fashionable in Nigerian polity that one never sees anything good in the other, even when the truth can be very clear to discern.
As has become customary in Nigerian politics, emphasis will be more on what the anti-Buharis say ahead of the 2019 polls, only because it is considered normal for the average Nigerian politician to judge government more by what the opposition say.
It seems more in this context that The Guardian said: “Every alarm raised about suspected violence in the conduct of an election should be taken seriously not only by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Police, but also by political parties and the totality of Nigerians. This is because Nigeria is very much embroiled in violence for its own survival, that any additional spate of violence is disastrous and inimical to the stability of the country”.
And since experience has shown that the “alarms raised” usually become the basis for judgment of incumbent governments, this analysis will broaden the horizon beyond election violence to policies.
Abimbola Adelakun captured the crux of this analysis in The Punch in his piece titled, “A Nigerian future without Buhari is possible”. He noted in the piece that as Nigerians, “we already know what ails us. What no one seems to know yet is how to upend this lousy government and pave the way for a more productive and forward-looking governance”.
To buttress his stance, Adelakun identified two categories of people in Nigeria: those clamouring for a second term for Buhari and chose to do it blindly, and those who are yet to make up their mind, but are keenly watching events as they unfold daily to be able to make up their mind on where to pitch their tent.
“One is the Buharists, a cult of devout followers of the President whose desire for a perpetual Buhari leadership has little to do with the quality of his governance. I will argue that no Buharist, none whatsoever, boasts of either the President’s intelligence or his deployment of it to confront serious national issues.
“Instead, they exaggerate every mundane insight he has into simple issues and praise his supposed moral integrity because there is almost nothing else that continues to recommend him for the Presidency.
“It does not bother them that Buhari does not articulate any vision for the Nigerian state, neither has he demonstrated that he is driven by a sense of urgency to push his country beyond its state of poverty and disrepair.
“When he returned from another medical tour in the UK recently and was interviewed, it was frustrating that he was still stuck on the same old song about corruption and jailing of offender.
“There is another category of people who are not yet resolute about voting for either Buhari, his opponents, or abstaining entirely. This constituency has significant numbers that can sway the nation’s fate come 2019. In the days ahead, they are the ones to be convinced that given Buhari’s antecedents and temperament in handling crucial national issues, he is not the man for Nigeria’s future”, he said.
Adelakun argued that “Buhari also clings to corruption as a solo agenda because he has to pander to those whose sole demand on his Presidency has been for him to jail those who denuded the nation’s wealth. Some of those followers, based on the issues that preoccupy their politics, are either blind to the gnawing reality of growing poverty or they have so much swallowed the All Progressives Congress (APC) propaganda that they live in an alternate reality”.
The crux of Adelakun’s argument is that the Buhari-led APC had “fight against corruption” as its gambit in 2015, and over three years later, it is still struggling to convince Nigerians that the fight against corruption is still on, with only increase in hunger and sundry hardship to show for it.
Meanwhile, the opposition at all levels is also plotting to beat the incumbent to the same game: the system is once again agog with alignments and re-alignments, and the only genuine picture being painted is that of perceived deprivation of personal interests, or protection of same by the key actors. In the midst of all these, little thought seem to be given to what governance should actually be about.
Aare Afe Babalola captured the scenario in Vanguard of July 25, 2015, when he said, “…however, as is again usual with them, they seem to have forgotten to write into their equation of political alignment and realignments the very thing that should be uppermost in the minds of any political leader truly desirous of serving his people; the unity and interest of the nation and the people they seek to serve”.
As February 16 approaches, therefore, the expectations of Nigerians would be for aspirants for the coveted Presidency, and any other political position for that matter to be able to not only identify key questions on how to revamp Nigeria’s economy, but also proffer workable solutions.
Paramount among the questions would, of course, be how to provide a workable solution to the hydra-headed corruption syndrome which has eaten deep into the nations psyche at all levels of governance. Part of it should be that merit is given its place in the polity, against the current stance of who occupies what space depending on the dictates of a relative selfish few whose decisions are often influenced by a quest to prove power.
While this is on, deliberate effort also needs to be made to debunk the seeming inherent notion that stands out Nigeria as a corrupt nation. This is because there is no country in the world that is not corrupt.
The difference is that while developed countries focus more on practical ways of deinstitutionalising the corruption phenomenon, countries like Nigeria use it as a political gimmick, the way the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) used it to ascend the presidency in 2015, but with nothing concrete to offer.
Adelakun addressed this when he said: “When you compare the corruption in Nigeria to what goes on in the USA, our Nigerian leaders, for their entire thievery, look like mere pickpockets. In fact, larger economies give rooms for wider chances of crimes and abuse of power.
“What their systems have done differently has been to build systems and reproduce social processes that encourage continuous self-improvement to ameliorate occurrence of corruption. They did not paralyse initiatives by taking corruption as their peculiar cultural habit”.
This is the ultimate expectation of Nigerians when the next president takes charge of the highest position in the country, come May 29, 2019.
Soibi Max-Alalibo
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has begun deploying non-sensitive materials to the zones as it prepares for the 2027 general election.
Acting Chairman of the commission, Prof. Rhoda Gumus, disclosed this in Abuja, yesterday at a bench-marking meeting with a delegation of Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
“Right now, all non-sensitive materials are almost ready. In fact, today as we speak here, the non-sensitive materials have been lifted to some zones now,” Gumus said.
She said the commission had completed nine of its scheduled activities and was preparing for the next phase.
“We are preparing for the election next year and we have activities lined up. So far, we have been able to complete nine activities and we are still preparing for the next level of activities,” she said.
Gumus said the commission’s leadership had just concluded a tour of the country’s six zones to assess their level of preparedness.
“The purpose was to go round the zones to see how prepared we are, assess what the zones have put in place, their challenges and what to do. We concluded last week and we can see from our tour that we are really going towards the election proper,” she said.
On Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), the acting chairman said production had been completed and distribution to the states was well advanced.
“As of today, we can say that PVCs have been produced and the first, second batches, most of the states have received them. Their PVC collection is ongoing. All those who are supposed to be the voters are supposed to receive their PVCs, and if they don’t have them, it is also another challenge,” Gumus said.
She added that capacity building was under way for staff at the headquarters and in the states, and that the procurement and deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS devices were also ongoing.
On diaspora voting, Gumus said the commission could not proceed for now because the law did not provide for it.
“Here, because we go by the law, in our electoral law, it is not included there, so we cannot go on for the diaspora voting for now until we amend the electoral law,” she said.
The acting chairman said the commission had arranged for its directors to hold an interactive session with the Kenyan team and present papers on the work of their departments.
Leading the delegation, the Kenyan High Commissioner to Nigeria, Isaac Parashina, said the IEBC team was in Nigeria to benchmark ahead of Kenya’s general election in August 2027.
He said the team was studying how Nigeria handled its diaspora population and special voting groups, as Kenya sought to widen voting rights for citizens living abroad.
“Currently we have about 12 of them who voted in the last general election, but there is intention to expand to around, I think, 26,” Parashina said, referring to the countries where Kenyans abroad vote.
He said the expansion was a constitutional requirement backed by Kenyan court rulings, and would be enforced progressively.
Parashina said Nigeria’s election, which he noted would come in two rounds, would be closely watched across Africa.
“Everyone is looking at what Nigeria will do because it is the biggest democracy in Africa. The success of Nigeria remains a great success to Kenya and indeed to the continent,” he added.
The High Commissioner thanked INEC for receiving the team despite a tight schedule and wished the commission success.
Governor Douye Diri has set a target of at least one million votes for President Bola Tinubu in Bayelsa State in the 2027 presidential election, while charging the newly inaugurated All Progressives Congress (APC) State Campaign Council to prioritise reconciliation, party unity and collective electoral mobilisation.
Governor Diri gave the charge at the inauguration of the 20-member campaign council at the APC secretariat in Yenagoa, where he warned that internal divisions could undermine the party’s efforts to secure victory for President Tinubu and other candidates at the federal and state levels.
Governor Diri urged party members who were not appointed to the council to support its activities by taking the APC’s message to communities, wards and polling units across the state.
He specifically charged the campaign team to mobilise at least one million votes for President Tinubu, arguing that Bayelsa’s voting strength had increased and should be reflected in the 2027 election results.
“I give you a target that in Bayelsa, we must not bring less than one million votes for Mr President. You are going to campaign, and you have a lot to talk about the President. He has done so much for our people,” the governor said.
He listed the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the second phase of the Nembe-Brass Road, interventions in the power sector, federal appointments for Bayelsa indigenes and the establishment of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy among the achievements the campaign should present to voters.
The governor particularly praised President Tinubu for the coastal highway project, arguing that it reflected federal attention to the development needs of coastal communities.
“No president, alive or dead, has remembered the coastal people and coastal states to say let us do this signature project from Lagos to Calabar. The first president to think about it is Bola Tinubu, and those were the demands of the Ijaw people,” he said.
Governor Diri also expressed hope that a second term for President Tinubu would provide an opportunity to advance demands for fiscal federalism, greater resource control and state policing, which he described as longstanding aspirations of the Niger Delta.
He said the President had shown indications of addressing some of the demands of younger Nigerians and argued that re-election would allow the administration to consolidate its reforms.
The governor further cautioned campaigners against personal attacks and abusive exchanges with political opponents, insisting that the APC should focus its campaign on issues, policies and achievements.
The governor’s mobilisation directive comes amid criticism from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has questioned his commitment to President Tinubu’s re-election campaign, alleging that APC campaign billboards erected across Yenagoa promote other party candidates without featuring the President.
The PDP, through its Publicity Secretary, Mr Ikaebimo Mark, said the billboards showed Governor Diri urging voters to support APC candidates for the National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections without identifying President Tinubu as the party’s presidential candidate.
Mr Mark described the omission as an indication that the governor was not fully aligned with the APC’s national leadership.
“When we said that the governor, Senator Douye Diri, is not supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we knew exactly what we were saying. Now Governor Douye Diri has erected APC campaign billboards across Bayelsa State without Tinubu’s picture. He is even afraid to associate himself with the photograph of the presidential candidate of his own party. How can this governor claim to be supporting President Tinubu?” he said.
The PDP, however, maintained that the governor’s public campaign posture raised questions about his commitment to the President’s re-election bid. Its allegation over the billboards now places the issue of the relationship between the state APC leadership and the party’s national campaign among the political questions likely to feature in Bayelsa’s preparations for 2027.
The PDP’s allegation has introduced a fresh political dimension to the APC’s preparations in Bayelsa, even as Governor Diri publicly called on party leaders and members to close ranks and mobilise support for all its candidates.
“Every person picked as a member of this campaign council was carefully scrutinised. I want to tell you that our campaign team is loaded. We parade the best candidates among all the parties in Bayelsa State, and there is no doubt about that,” he said.
He urged members to remain focused and united, warning that political opponents could exploit any divisions within the party.
“Our unity is very important because they would want to feast on our disunity. We will not give them that opportunity. Please, as you carry out this assignment, do not take your eyes off the target,” Hon. Ogoriba said.
SP Edafe explained that during the meeting, the organisers were briefed on the identified security threats and advised against embarking on an open-road procession.
Instead, the police reportedly recommended that the political activities be conducted at a designated venue where adequate security arrangements could be provided.
However, the Command alleged that the organisers disregarded the security advice and proceeded with the road procession.
Meanwhile, the Delta State Government has condemned the political violence that erupted in Asaba, the state capital, on Saturday, confirming that one person was killed while four others sustained serious injuries.
The government described the incident as unfortunate and unacceptable, warning political parties and their supporters against actions capable of threatening public peace, security and democratic participation in the state.
In a statement issued by the Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, the government reiterated its zero tolerance for political violence, intimidation and other forms of political misconduct.
Mr Aniagwu said the government had repeatedly cautioned political parties against engaging in activities capable of disrupting the peace, insisting that the incident could have been avoided if the organisers had followed security advice.
According to him, the police had advised the organisers to cancel the proposed street march and instead conduct their political campaign at a designated venue where adequate security arrangements could be provided.
He expressed concern that the advice was allegedly disregarded, resulting in a confrontation that claimed one life and left four other people seriously injured.
The government subsequently called on the police to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the violence and ensure that anyone found culpable is brought to justice.
Mr Aniagwu further warned that the state government would not tolerate politically motivated attacks against any individual, regardless of political affiliation.
He maintained that Delta State remained safe for residents and visitors, stressing that the government would not allow the actions of individuals or groups to undermine the prevailing peace and security in the state.
The government also urged political parties, their leaders and supporters to conduct their political activities within the confines of the law and demonstrate respect for human life, public order and the rights of other citizens.
The latest development follows an attack on supporters of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) during a political procession in Asaba, which reportedly left several participants injured and campaign vehicles vandalised.
The government’s condemnation comes amid growing concerns over political violence and the safety of opposition supporters as political activities intensify ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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