Justice
Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja has adjourned further
proceedings in all suits relating to the challenge of the Presidential
candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Mohammadu Buhari’s
alleged certificate irregularities to April 22 and 23.
There are
four of such cases before the judge.
He said
it was impossible for the court to conclude the case before the elections and
that there was no need for the court to be in haste to determine the case,
because it could always do so after the elections.
He further
said his decision to adjourn to April was because of the approaching Easter
Vacation of the court.
Justice
Ademola said this shortly after delivering a ruling in the suit by Chukwuweike
Okafor and another against Buhari and two others (one of the four cases).
The
judge, in the ruling, dismissed the applications by a Lagos-based lawyer,
Ebun-olu Adegboruwa and Chukwuma Ochu to be made parties in the case. The judge
said they are not necessary parties in the case.
While
rounding off the ruling, Justice Ademola suo motu (without any prompting by
parties) adjourned further proceedings to April 22 and 23.
Details
later …
by
NASA wants to visit celestial bodies we've never been to before, so it has
started testing a precise landing system that will first be used for future trips to Mars.
The engineers at Jet Propulsion Laboratory used a rocket called Autonomous
Descent and Ascent Powered-flight Testbed (ADAPT) to perform two test flights
back in December. ADAPT, by the way, was created as a reusable test rocket that
launches and lands vertically. In both instances, it had to reach an altitude
of 1,066 feet before it started its descent and the two-part landing system
kicked in.The first part, called the Terrain Relative Navigation technology, has a sensor named the Lander Vision System (LVS). It can maneuver a spacecraft to a precise location even without GPS by taking pictures of the terrain while descending. The system can then compare those photos to images it's saved onboard to determine where it is and touch down as close to the planned landing site as possible. This works in conjunction with the second part of the landing system, which is an algorithm called G-FOLD. That one does onboard calculations to determine which trajectories "obtain the maximum performance from every kilogram of propellant." And yes, the system can do all these by itself, with no human input.
This landing system is necessary if NASA plans to visit new
planets, moons,
asteroids
or comets. See, for a spacecraft to be able to land on unfamiliar territory
without touching down on rocky or dangerous terrain, it has to be able to find
a good location on its own. The agency is hoping that this technology's the
solution to that issue, though two successful tests probably aren't enough for
NASA to start using it on actual missions just yet.
A reflection on African ‘apathy’ and #Blacklivesmatter By Rita Nketiah on March 10, 2015
Black people simply have not learned enough about each
other’s struggles. Most of what we know of each other has been filtered through
mainstream white media images that have never depicted us with any real agency
or nuance. While Black History Month has come to a close, we must continue to take
time to reflect, learn, share and teach each other and the larger society about
who we are and who we have been.
So, another Black kid has been shot dead by racist police in
America. And as Black communities struggle to find answers there is another
pertinent conversation that is taking place around the apathy of Black African
communities living in the United States; about our slow (read: non-existent)
response to the relentless killings.Over the past few months, I have read a few think pieces condemning African indifference. What many of these writers fairly point to is the well-known apathy amongst (mostly older generations of) Africans towards the historical and contemporary oppression of African-Americans. Many of us first and second-generation immigrants can recall at least one conversation with a family member who was quick to dismiss the struggle of African-Americans against racism. It’s true, too many of our elders (and some young Africans) see themselves as being the “good kind of Black”, the ones who are not hung up on some historical baggage. The respectability politics that many Africans carry with them across borders is a sad reality that we need to begin unpacking at our dinner tables.
I want to say from the onset that I enter the conversation as an African immigrant kid who is fully aware of the volatile times we live in as Black people. I know that many of us are hurting right now, and that some may feel this is not the right time for this conversation. To be sure, I have sat on this piece for months. And countless times I have said to myself, “Maybe I should wait for the ‘right time.’” But that ‘the right time’ may never come when state violence towards Black people shows no signs of letting up.
In a recent interview with NPR, Chimamanda Adichie says that some of her main character’s prejudices towards African-Americans in her latest novel, Americanah, mirrored some of her own when she moved to the US. She goes on to argue that there is a certain privilege that Africans have in America which tends to disassociate them from the Black American experience. This really needs to be teased apart. Certainly, as people who came after the immigration reform of the 1960s, we are not seen with the same disdain and aberration that white America views the descendants of formerly enslaved African people. We also benefit from many of the hard-won affirmative action policies aimed at redressing slavery. However, as immigrants from Africa, we can’t escape the structural violence of white America. We also face our own set of challenges that is the reality of being foreigners.
We are immigrants and at times, we’re not considered Black enough or the wrong kind of Black. Some of us may even be lucky enough to be considered immigrant model minorities, but for most of us, we are perceived as dirty immigrants who have come to take the good jobs, all while living in a shoebox. We are called “African booty-scratchers” and told to “go back from whence we came” if living conditions in North America become unbearable.
In the context of state violence we are all Black. But outside of that, can we say with intellectual and emotional honesty that we identify with each other all the time and in all ways? Can we honestly say that Africans don’t face any kind of xenophobia in America or Canada (from other Black people)? Flash back to late last year when two Senegalese brothers (aged 11 and 13) were bullied in the Bronx (a highly racialized borough in New York) during the Ebola outbreak. Certainly, in this moment, shared Blackness did not actually prevent African kids from being marginalized and targeted – by other racialised children. The examples of this type of bullying and marginalization across the Black communities are too many to name here. But ultimately, this is a conversation about how we see each other in the face of white supremacy and history.
In my own journey to racial consciousness, much of the literature, social movements and resistance that has informed my growth have been gleaned from the African-American experiences. Figures such as Malcolm X, Maya Angelou, Angela Davis and bell hooks have all been instrumental in shaping how I have come to understand and appreciate racial struggle. Unfortunately, this admiration for Black American struggle is not always reciprocated. Americans rarely have an understanding of anti-Black racial injustice that happens outside of their borders. Nor are they always honest about the ways in which they romanticise African identity.
The “we are all Black in the face of white supremacy” argument cannot become the red herring through which we can no longer talk about cultural difference or specificity or American exceptionalism. Hear me clearly: while we may be all Black in the face of white supremacy that is not all we are. Part of white supremacy’s power is that it gets to squish us. I am not African-American, nor African-Canadian. I respect that those identities come out of very particular histories, of which I sit on the periphery of. There must be a space within the #Blacklivesmatter campaign to talk about this, as well.
Black people simply have not learned enough about each other’s struggles. Most of what we know of each other has been filtered through mainstream white media images that have never depicted us with any real agency or nuance. So, while Tunde observes African-Americans as gun-toting, rock-slanging vagabonds, Tyrone is inundated with World Vision narratives of a poor and destitute, undifferentiated mass of darkness we call Africa. We need to deepen our understanding of each other. While Black History Month has come to a close, we must continue to take time to reflect, learn, share and teach each other and the larger society about who we are and who we have been. This is how we build strong radical movements.
All
Progressives Congress, APC presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari is to
report First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan to the International Criminal Court,
ICC for allegedly mobilising a hate campaign against him.
Buhari in
the petition to the criminal court claimed that Mrs. Jonathan, whose husband is
the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP asked
supporters of her husband to “stone” anyone who chants the APC’s change mantra.
he call by Mrs. Jonathan was reportedly made at a rally in Calabar, Cross
River State during a PDP political rally last week.The APC Presidential Campaign Council, APCPCO in a statement issued Sunday said the letter of complaint against the First Lady, which was signed by the Director General of APCPCO, Rt. Hon Rotimi Amaechi, will be formerly dispatched to the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Inspector General of the Nigeria Police (IG) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), among relevant authorities on Monday.
A statement by the campaign organization quoted Amaechi as saying that “Change, as the entire country must know by now, is the slogan of the APC – the rallying cry of a political party that wishes to bring hope of greater and better things to come for Nigeria and Nigerians. By her statement, Mrs. Jonathan was clearly calling on PDP supporters in Calabar to attack supporters and campaigners of the APC in the state.”
The APCPCO’s statement likened some of Mrs. Jonathan’s inciting comments and conduct during this political campaign season, to those of Mrs Simone Gbagbo, wife of the former president of Cote D’Ivoire, Laurent Gbagbo, prior to that country’s 2010 election.
The party recalled that the ICC indicted Mrs. Gbagbo for her part in planning to perpetrate brutal attacks including murder, rape, and sexual violence, on her husband’s political opponents in the wake of the 2010 election.
APCPCO said that Mrs. Jonathan does not occupy any formal office in the Nigerian government, adding that the position of First Lady is not recognized by the Nigerian constitution.
It further said that Gbagbo’s case showed the ICC’s awareness of how someone beyond formal governmental and military hierarchies can be identified as responsible for serious international crimes.
The APCPCO pointed out that “Jonathan’s incontrovertible hate speech not only contravenes the laws of the land, but also goes completely against the Abuja Peace Accord jointly signed by the two presidential candidates, General Muhammadu Buhari and President Goodluck Jonathan as a gesture aimed at forestalling violence before, during and after the 2015 elections.
“PDP supporters in the state who may not know better could easily yield themselves to the First Lady’s admonition and embark on a process of wanton stoning and other attacks against APC members”, it quoted Ameachi as saying.
The APCPCO also called on the Nigeria Police to put in place emergency measures to protect the life and property of APC members in Calabar and the entire Cross River State.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has directed banks to close all revenue accounts belonging to Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, of the Federal Government, as mandated under the revenue electronic collection (e-collection) scheme.
This directive was contained in a circular issued to all banks, Thursday, and signed by the Director, Banking and Payments Department of the CBN, Dipo Fatokun.
Titled “Commencement of Federal Government’s independent revenue e-collection scheme under the Treasury Single Account (TSA) Initiative, the circular stated: “Further to our letter dated January 28, 2015, on the commencement of the Federal Government’s Independent Revenue e-Collection scheme, this is to remind all banks that the Federal Government’s Independent e-Collection scheme has commenced.
“The Federal Government’s Independent Revenue E-collection Initiative will automate revenue collections of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) directly into the Federal Government’s Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) account at the CBN through the Remita e-collection platform and other electronic payment channels.
“As previously communicated, your bank branches are required to have been set up and sensitised, and your Internet banking platform configured for use by revenue payers, to make transfers to the Federal Government’s e-collection account in your bank, which will be swept by you to the CRF, as previously agreed with the CBN, OAGF and DMBs.
“The office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) has issued a treasury circular to all MDAs to close existing revenue accounts in DMBs not later than February 28, 2015 and transfer available funds to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.”
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There are
so many individuals in the labour market who are not employable and are not
even aware of it.
The Elite
program is aimed at finding premium (Elite) candidates for top
organisations and improving the employability of those who need help.
This is a
6-week program that consists of 4 weeks of Online testing/assessments
and 2 weeks of interactive interview sessions.
In this
program, not only will you be tested for immediate placement in top
organisations, you will also learn a lot of important things that will propel
you in your career.
The
application process is still on-going and will end on the 17th of March,
2015. As soon as you are selected for the program, you will be notified via
Email and SMS.
PLEASE
NOTE THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY TO BE SELECTED
ONE WEEK ULTIMATUM TO NGOZI OVER ALLEGED $20 BILLION
The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts on Wednesday
issued a one week ultimatum to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating
Minister of the economy Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to submit the forensic audit report
of the alleged missing $20 billion oil funds on behalf of the Federal
Government. The committee also blamed Okonjo- Iweala for the “faulty manner in
which the forensic audit was commissioned to Price water House Coopers.”
Chairman of the Committee, Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (Lagos APC) disclosed this
to reporters yesterday while making a final demand for the audit report. He
said that the report “must include the Initial Draft Report, the Executive
Summary and Management/Internal Control Letters.” According to Olamilekan, the
“condensed version” of the report was released to the public through a press
conference addressed by the Auditor-General of the Federation with the
highlight that Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should remit a
minimum of $1.48 billion to the Federation Account.
He said this is what prompted the demand for complete report. “Given the weighty allegation of possible loss of $20 billion to the Federation Account arising from alleged non-remittance by NNPC through the ministry of finance, it is curious that the forensic audit was commissioned and appointment of auditors was made by the minister of finance, an indictable official, if allegation is proven, without the involvement or at least input of the Auditor-General, whose office is eminently and exclusively empowered for the duty by the 1999 Constitution,” Olamilekan said. He added that, “the report has been unduly delayed and its submission also side-stepped the Auditor-General. It is a professional best practice that such reports first come in draft, discussed, fine-tuned before the release of the final report, usually accompanied by the more detailed Management Letter.”
He said this is what prompted the demand for complete report. “Given the weighty allegation of possible loss of $20 billion to the Federation Account arising from alleged non-remittance by NNPC through the ministry of finance, it is curious that the forensic audit was commissioned and appointment of auditors was made by the minister of finance, an indictable official, if allegation is proven, without the involvement or at least input of the Auditor-General, whose office is eminently and exclusively empowered for the duty by the 1999 Constitution,” Olamilekan said. He added that, “the report has been unduly delayed and its submission also side-stepped the Auditor-General. It is a professional best practice that such reports first come in draft, discussed, fine-tuned before the release of the final report, usually accompanied by the more detailed Management Letter.”
Senators yesterday berated Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala over the dismal implementation of the 2014 capital budget.
The senators, who met at various committees with ministers, heads of Federal Government departments and agencies in Abuja, were unhappy that last year’s budget was poorly implemented.
They were shocked when ministers and some heads of agencies told them that they got between 40 to 45 per cent of their capital votes last year.
The senators insisted that the alleged withholding of appropriated funds meant to execute critical capital projects had gravely retarded the economy’s growth.
Earlier yesterday, the Senate met behind closed doors for about two hours. It resolved to ensure that this year’s budget is passed before the March 28 – the presidential election day.
A source who pleaded not to be named, said the meeting decided to reduce the oil benchmark for the 2015 budget to $52. The Executive had after series of reviews, pegged the benchmark at $65.
According to the source, the reduction of the oil benchmark by the lawmakers is due to the dwindling oil prices.
Some of the lawmakers who lamented the poor implementation of the 2014 capital budget spoke when the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Mohammed Sada, and others appeared before the Senate Committee on Power and Steel to defend their 2015 budget.
Senator Victor Lar, responding to a presentation made by Sada, said: “A situation where we consider a budget, have it approved, then somebody sits in an office and refuses to make releases is too bad.
“Ministers and heads of various agencies who had awarded contracts could not pay but somebody would sit in the comfort of her office and declare a surplus. Is that an economy that is growing?
“This is simple planlessness; this is frustrating and it cannot go on like this. The presentation by the Minister of Steel, for instance, is an opportunity to raise the revenue profile of the ministry from a non-oil sector which would have enhanced economic growth; it was frustrated.
“A serious nation would have encouraged this ministry to ensure that everything required was provided but this is the same ministry that had been subjected to the same envelope system, to the same non-releases, among others.
“We need to change the way we do things because if we have a problem and you keep on using an approach that has not yielded the desired results, common sense demands that you change the approach.
“We keep doing the same thing wrongly and we expect to get the desired results. It will not work. It is now becoming part of our tradition to get budgets approved as a parliament and someone refuses to provide funds for its implementation.”
Senator Chris Ngige posited that the economy would collapse completely if the trend of non-release of funds for projects continues unchallenged.
“We as legislators should be interested in putting in place structures that will enable the country to realise additional sources of revenue apart from the oil sector,” he said.
Another member of the committee, Senator Ibrahim Gobir, spoke of an urgent need for the country to harmonise all resources through the development of other natural resources.
Gobir said: “Our internal debt now is too high, which is over N1trillion. The foreign debt is also very high. Poverty is very high and, to worsen the situation, the Naira has been devalued by 30 per cent. All these are happening because we cannot sustain production.
“The only way we can move the nation forward economically is to make sure that we diversify our economy to make extra revenue. We budget about N50billion for capital projects and only N20billion would be released at the end of the day because there is no cash backing.
“Something is really wrong somewhere, we cannot continue like this. We have to call a spade a spade.”
At the committee on Lands and Housing, senators were surprised when the Minister Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi, said her ministry was owing contractors N39billion.
The ministry could not embark on new projects last year because of the heavy debt burden.
Senators Bukar Ibrahim and Aisha Alhassan wondered how the ministry would tackle the housing challenges confronting the country when there was no provision for it to build a single house due to non release of funds.
Committee on Establishment and Public Service Chairman Aloysius Etuk, described as shameful, the manner budgetary allocations were released to MDAs.
Etok said: “The rate of budgetary releases is shameful and unacceptable. For us to sit down to plan annual budget and at the end of the day, only 41 per cent performance is implemented is like cutting short the expectations of the people.”
The Committee, which took on the Head of Service of the Federation, Federal Housing Staff Loan Board, Public Service Institute of Nigeria, Administrative Staff College of Nigeria and Public Civil Service Reform Bureau, also expressed concern over zero capital budget that characterized the 2015 fiscal appropriation.
Etok urged the agencies to design means of generating revenue outside government.
He said: “Time has come for MDAs to begin to seek alternative source of revenue for sustenance. Government is more concerned with paying salaries.
“It may have to cut overhead further to ensure that salaries are paid.”
Etok noted that the on-going defence was crucial to the 7th Senate as it marked the final assignment for most of the senators, especially those who are not returning.
“As such, it should be taken seriously,” he noted.
Head of Service of the Federation Danladi Kifasi told the Senate Committee that N11.5billion was budgeted for the Head of Service of the Federation in 2014.
Of this, he said, N5.1billion was for Personnel Cost, N1.9billion for Overhead Cost and N4.1billion for Capital Cost.
The lawmakers at the closed door meeting also resolved to ensure that any official who deliberately refuses to release funds to execute projects is sanctioned.
According to the source, most of the senators who spoke at the session were angry with Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala, for deliberately stunting the economy’s growth.
The source said: “All of us are not happy that most of the MDAs could not execute any reasonable capital project this year because the little money released to them by the Finance Minister was not enough to pay the contractors who had executed projects for them in the past.”
Other senators, who spoke to various reporters present after the meeting, said lawmakers were concerned over allocation of N387billion for capital projects in the 2015 budget.
This, they said, is unprecedented even as the recurrent component is allocated over 90 per cent of the N4.3 trillion budget.
The lawmakers, it was gathered, insisted that they will not approve such a lopsided budget.
Consequently, the committees were directed to liaise with the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to cut down on recurrent votes to make more funds available for capital projects.
Soldiers
kill 30 armed rustlers in Niger State
Nigerian Soldiers deployed to some communities in Lapai LGA of Niger State have killed more than 30 rustlers. This was disclosed by the Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Israel Ebije, on Monday in Minna. 11 of the rustlers were reported killed last week when the soldiers where first deployed to the area due to consistent attacks on villagers by the gunmen. Ebije said the gunmen were confirmed armed rustlers and that the security has successfully flushed them from the communities. “The security agencies have done a very good job and we want to thank them for restoring peace to the area. We appreciate the efforts of our security agencies in this regard.” Over 45 armed bandits were reported to have attacked Aza and Kintako communities before the deployment of soldiers to contain the menace.
Nigerian Soldiers deployed to some communities in Lapai LGA of Niger State have killed more than 30 rustlers. This was disclosed by the Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Israel Ebije, on Monday in Minna. 11 of the rustlers were reported killed last week when the soldiers where first deployed to the area due to consistent attacks on villagers by the gunmen. Ebije said the gunmen were confirmed armed rustlers and that the security has successfully flushed them from the communities. “The security agencies have done a very good job and we want to thank them for restoring peace to the area. We appreciate the efforts of our security agencies in this regard.” Over 45 armed bandits were reported to have attacked Aza and Kintako communities before the deployment of soldiers to contain the menace.
ELECTIONS 2015: Can visit to
South-West Save GEJ?
The All Progressives Congress, APC, in the South-West has said that President Goodluck Jonathan’s visit to monarchs in the zone can’t save him from defeat because the visit lacked strategic assessment that is capable of redeeming the President’s image. This is contained in a statement by the Director of Media and Publicity, APC South-West, Ayo Afolabi, on Monday. It said that one of the wrong moves made by Jonathan was the imposition of some people who lacked the moral and charismatic features of leadership as governors, ministers and party leaders in Yoruba land. The APC also alleged that the people of Ekiti had been suffering from lack of governance because the governor, Ayodele Fayose, had become a campaign manager for the Jonathan using the funds of the state. The statement said, “The latest move by President Goodluck Jonathan to court the South-West monarchs ahead of 2015 general elections has no redemptive electoral value in the South-West because it is devoid of strategic assessment. “The strategic question the President and his campaign managers should have tried to answer before engaging on the rash moves is, how many of such desperate and impromptu meetings were needed before Yoruba people voted for him in 2011? “How much did President Jonathan spend to get Yoruba votes in 2011 and why should he think money will save him now? All other regions extracted several promises from President Jonathan in the race to 2011 elections except the South-West, which voted based on their firm convictions and commitment to justice and good governance. “No Yoruba person will be proud of those President Jonathan has imposed as leaders representing Yoruba people in different capacities, whether as governor, minister or party leaders. From all intent and purposes, governance has stopped in Ekiti State as the governor has been functioning more as a campaign manager with the resources of Ekiti people than as a governor. Ekiti people deserve better than they currently get.” The statement further said that despite Jonathan’s meeting with Yoruba monarchs at the weekend, voters in the region would be guided by their belief and conscience. “The South-West APC is confident that Yoruba monarchs and voters are conscious of the implications of a Greek Gift and as the bastion of democratic justice and good governance, they will vote true to their cultural identity that loathes tyranny, corruption and nepotism. “In fact, activities in the Presidency in the last few weeks have confirmed that Jonathan did not realise the need for governance until it is evident that Nigerians have already embraced the opportunity of change offered by the APC. In the last five years, the Jonathan administration has shown unbearable contempt for the region and its people and their values, especially in the attempt to adulterate their leadership values,” the statement concluded.
“Before,
the President had South-south 100 percent, but now there is problem for PDP in
Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta states. It wasn’t like that
before. By this time, PDP ought to be dancing, but they are not. Everywhere, it
appears there is trouble. There is problem within PDP in Enugu, Ebonyi, and
Abia states. So, it is no longer the same. The electoral map appears to have
changed.” There is a lot of truth in what we can call Amaechi’s treatise. Yes,
the political map of the country has changed, and it makes next month’s
presidential race very unpredictable. The only thing certain about the election
is the uncertainty of who will win. Since PDP got to power in 1999, before any
other election, you always knew they would win, by hook or crook. The strength
of the opposition was never enough to torpedo the party, which made it begin to
boast that it would rule us for a minimum of 60 years. And the PDP appeared to
mean it. Till the APC burst on the scene in 2013, and powerfully too! Hear
Amaechi further expand his postulation last week, saying the equation that put
Jonathan in power in 2011 was no longer in place. He submitted: “The only
equation I can’t account for is that of God. If God puts him back in power,
glory be to Him, but if you take away the equation of God, the rest has
changed.”
Food for thought! If you take away the equation of God, the rest has changed. Very profound! So, it means we have two equations to consider: the equation of man, as represented by the current political map, and then the equation of God.
To become President in Nigeria,
you need to build a coalition that is bigger than that of your opponents.
Fortuitously, God has structured this uneasy amalgamation called Nigeria in a
way that no single part of the country can win the presidency on its own steam.
Our constitution has further reinforced it, prescribing not only majority of
popular votes, but also a national spread, before anybody can become President
in a democracy. In 2011, Jonathan built a bigger coalition, which resulted in
about 22 million votes (don’t mind the electoral shenanigans in some parts of
the country). He garnered the votes from Southwest, South-south, Southeast,
North-central, and only needed 25 per cent in certain states of Northwest and
Northeast. Muhammadu Buhari, running on the platform of the then newly formed
Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), got about 12 million votes. What emerged
after the 2011 election was described by a northern state governor in a
conversation I had with him as “this ugly map of Nigeria.” Truly, the country
was neatly divided into two, with the larger portion downward, and the smaller
in the upper part. Jonathan lost in all far northern states, and except for
Osun State, he won in all the southern states. Nigeria was neatly polarized,
and the south was effectively pitched against what is usually called the core
or far North. But now, the electoral map is radically different. It has been
dramatically re-drawn in the last four years. What do we currently have? I have
always maintained that Nigeria needed a rainbow coalition of political parties,
and a coalition of the people, if it was ever going to dislodge the PDP from
its stranglehold on power. Despite the strides the new CPC was taking in 2011,
I said it needed an alliance with the then Action Congress of Nigeria, if it wanted
victory. It did not happen. But when APC emerged out of Action Congress of
Nigeria, CPC, All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), and a splinter of All
Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), I knew the goose of PDP was gradually being
cooked. Now, in general elections by the corner, anything can happen.
How did the PDP and Jonathan blow it? How did they make a mess of eating an egg? Insecurity in the land, with bombs going off daily like firecrackers! Abduction of the Chibok girls, and government’s treatment of the matter with initial levity! Spiralling corruption, and allegations of graft, with nothing done to the alleged culprits! Mass unemployment, with over 40 million youths, most of them university graduates, not having anything to do! Weak leadership, with the President perceived as having flabby biceps! Serious rift within PDP, with five governors decamping in one day, and now Olusegun Obasanjo, a former two-term president quitting the party and getting his membership card torn in public! Promises not kept. I will do only one term. Now the President struggles tooth and nail for another term! I will fix electricity! The only thing fixed is darkness. I will do this, I will do that! They all remained in the realm of promises and intentions.
Then came APC like a thundering typhoon, with Muhammadu Buhari as presidential candidate, after a very transparent primary election. The same could not be said of the PDP, where all dissent was stifled, and Jonathan was rammed down the throats of the party members. While democracy was burgeoning in APC, it was declining badly in PDP. Nigerians saw it, and took judicial notice. And how does the political map look today? Northwest and Northeast are in the bag for APC. The party may share North-central with PDP, and most likely win a chunk of Southwest. Even Ekiti and Ondo states that are governed by PDP will see the APC recording large number of votes for its presidential candidate, if the rallies held in those states are anything to go by. And the South-south, which Jonathan had wholesale in 2011, is splintered. PDP cannot guarantee victory in Edo, Rivers and Akwa Ibom states, as the challenges there are very strong. In Southeast, Jonathan will win good votes, except maybe in Imo. With this scenario, how then can the PDP win? Dicey. The political map is redrawn, and Amaechi is completely right. Things are not looking good for President Jonathan, except the miraculous happens. Then to the second variable: “The only equation I can’t account for is that of God. If God puts him (Jonathan) back in power, glory to Him, but if you take away the equation of God, the rest has changed,” says Amaechi.
Former American Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, says: “Despite the strength of the opposition, Jonathan remains the likely – but not certain – winner.” Yes, the only thing certain
How did the PDP and Jonathan blow it? How did they make a mess of eating an egg? Insecurity in the land, with bombs going off daily like firecrackers! Abduction of the Chibok girls, and government’s treatment of the matter with initial levity! Spiralling corruption, and allegations of graft, with nothing done to the alleged culprits! Mass unemployment, with over 40 million youths, most of them university graduates, not having anything to do! Weak leadership, with the President perceived as having flabby biceps! Serious rift within PDP, with five governors decamping in one day, and now Olusegun Obasanjo, a former two-term president quitting the party and getting his membership card torn in public! Promises not kept. I will do only one term. Now the President struggles tooth and nail for another term! I will fix electricity! The only thing fixed is darkness. I will do this, I will do that! They all remained in the realm of promises and intentions.
Then came APC like a thundering typhoon, with Muhammadu Buhari as presidential candidate, after a very transparent primary election. The same could not be said of the PDP, where all dissent was stifled, and Jonathan was rammed down the throats of the party members. While democracy was burgeoning in APC, it was declining badly in PDP. Nigerians saw it, and took judicial notice. And how does the political map look today? Northwest and Northeast are in the bag for APC. The party may share North-central with PDP, and most likely win a chunk of Southwest. Even Ekiti and Ondo states that are governed by PDP will see the APC recording large number of votes for its presidential candidate, if the rallies held in those states are anything to go by. And the South-south, which Jonathan had wholesale in 2011, is splintered. PDP cannot guarantee victory in Edo, Rivers and Akwa Ibom states, as the challenges there are very strong. In Southeast, Jonathan will win good votes, except maybe in Imo. With this scenario, how then can the PDP win? Dicey. The political map is redrawn, and Amaechi is completely right. Things are not looking good for President Jonathan, except the miraculous happens. Then to the second variable: “The only equation I can’t account for is that of God. If God puts him (Jonathan) back in power, glory to Him, but if you take away the equation of God, the rest has changed,” says Amaechi.
Former American Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, says: “Despite the strength of the opposition, Jonathan remains the likely – but not certain – winner.” Yes, the only thing certain
is the uncertainty of who wins the election.
The wave of politically motivated violence sweeping through the country made a touchdown in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, as suspected assassins invaded the Asari Eso Layout Calabar, home of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, candidate for Cross River South senatorial district, Chief Gershom Bassey, at the weekend.
According to an eye witness, the gunmen, whose number could not be ascertained, got to Bassey’s residence late in the evening and attempted to force their way through the entrance gate of the expansive compound.
The eye witness account said that in the course of trying to force their way in, the gunmen released gunshots at the police and other security personnel stationed at the gate, injuring a policeman and personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corp, NSCDC.
Continuing, the
eyewitness said the gunmen could not enter as the security men on duty engaged
them in fierce gun battle. The eyewitness said the assailant decided to retreat
when it dawned on them that their mission had failed.
Sources confided that
the PDP senatorial candidate was not at home when the gunmen came calling, but
confirmed that there was an attack on his residence and that two security
officers were injured by the attackers.
The Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO of the Cross River Police command, Mr. Hogan Bassey, confirmed the attack, adding that the police was already carrying out investigations so as to track the gunmen and arrest them.
The Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO of the Cross River Police command, Mr. Hogan Bassey, confirmed the attack, adding that the police was already carrying out investigations so as to track the gunmen and arrest them.
The Chief Observer of the European Union Election
Observation Mission (EU EOM), Mr Santiago Fisas, on Tuesday noted that the EU
will monitor elections in Nigeria despite the six-week delay.
Mr Fisas also acknowledged the different views about INEC’s postponement of
the general elections to 28 March and 11 April, following statements by
respective security chiefs who unanimously reiterated that safe elections could
not be guaranteed at this time.“We are seriously concerned at this delay and the reason given. Security is critical but must not be political. People have to be able to vote, elections have to be held so that government is accountable. We look to the security agencies to give full support to INEC and all the people of Nigeria in the holding of polls on 28 March and 11 April” said Fisas.
Mr Fisas further commended the “peaceful reaction so far to the postponement and will continue observing the electoral process. We encourage all political parties, candidates, supporters and other stakeholders to consider the extra time as an opportunity to further prepare for the election days. More voters can collect their Permanent Voters Cards, candidates can elaborate on their proposed policies”.
He further noted that “for citizens to have confidence in the electoral process, the polls should not be further delayed. People need to know this and to see what is being done by the different authorities to make this happen. We will be here in different parts of the country observing the next crucial weeks in the run up to the election and beyond.”
