Opinion: My Fears For A Buhari Presidency, By Nnamdi Anekwe-Chive

In 2011, I took to the social media to express my grave reservation about voting then acting president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Owing to our fault lines, I looked at the security and stability of Nigeria, in canvassing for Nigerians to vote General Buhari, in order to continue with the northern term, and to spare the country the oncoming national security instability, that would manifest from the threats emanating from the north.

Nigerians often ignore the dangerous precedents of the past, and fail to recognize that all murmurings and clamour for change or political power is not rooted in such desire. It is usually a quest to wrest power from another group. Power is not concentrated in the hands of the Nigerian people because the constitution is not owned by them, rather competing regional elites and interests hide under various banner to access power, and when it's achieved, amass wealth to the detriment of the people.

I will like to paraphrase Karl Marx here, the history of all hitherto existing power struggle in Nigeria is that of geo-political power struggle or that of predatory geo-political elite's power struggle. Some northern elites went on record to threaten to make Nigeria ungovernable if Jonathan wins in 2011. Whether Boko Haram were used to achieve that threat is not clear, but what is clear is that the southern elites remain convinced that the northern elites used Boko Haram to undermine the Jonathan's government and overshadowed whatever he has managed to achieve. Even late General Azazi, former NSA, attributed the heightened Boko Haram insurgency to the fall out of PDP's fractious power struggle, and the fact many of the northern members never wanted Jonathan to run.

Going by the threats coming from the Niger Delta in the event of a Jonathan loss at the poll, we can understand where we might be heading with a Buhari presidency.The intelligence estimates suggest Nigeria will end up with two insurgencies (Reinvigorated Niger Delta insurgency and Boko Haram insurgency) in the event of a Buhari presidency.

A friend of mine, an APC stalwart, posited that it's not tenable to concede that the state is powerless to contain two wars, both ongoing and potential, and averred that the preference to vote Jonathan to avoid a war is at best defeatist. However, a Ph.d candidate of political science at the University of Lagos, contended that the question is not whether a state can contain wars but whether a weak state like Nigeria can contain two different wars at the same time, and again, whether it can do so successfully bearing in mind that the past military regimes and governments could not contain the militancy in the Niger Delta for more than two decades until the amnesty, and the Boko Haram's insurgency is a decade old.

Therefore, my support for President Jonathan is on principle, in the interest of national security. But could we have avoided this North/South tension that has brought us to 2011 scenario if the APC had zoned the presidential ticket to the South? Or maybe the PDP should have asked a sitting President to forego a 2nd term and choose a northern presidential candidate?

Indeed, the Nigerian people may be truly dissatisfied with the current ruling party and desired a change, but at what cost? The Nigerian state is a mere pretention, and does not have the capacity to wage two wars and assuage the feelings of the marginalized poor who are often used as cannon fodder. More so, the geo-political elites have not empowered the state to become stronger, they have appropriated the authority of the state and used same to subjugate the Nigerian people to their whims and caprices.

In any case, President Jonathan has done creditably well in infrastructure development, aviation, roads and transport, power sector reforms, agriculture and petroleum sector reforms, except for the government's needed drive to tackle corruption and also an initial flawed military strategy in tackling the Boko Haram insurgency. A second term would address flaws in the fight against corruption and also with the recent massive military acquisitions, and ongoing tactical offensive against Boko Haram terrorists, the government is on a renewed path.

President Obama was caught on the microphone telling president Medvedev in early 2012 at a summit in Munich that he would need flexibility to negotiate missile defense in Europe and other strategic issues in his 2nd term, thereby underscoring the free hand a president needs to tackle some specific challenges in government. Also, President Obasanjo's 1st term was a colossal failure, but got to achieve some milestone in his 2nd term albeit on corruption and macroeconomics, record on infrastructure was near zero.

My conviction to vote President Jonathan is borne out of two unhappy choices and the consequences that comes with those choices, and is also premised on security and national interest, with hope for reforms in the constitution that would allow for fiscal federalism and geo-political power rotation. That way we can we can stop going to war each time election approaches.

Prof Wole Soyinka talked about  two problematic candidates, and asked how they intend to repay those who are dolling out billions to the campaigns?  What is given in a Buhari presidency is hinged on his personal integrity but what is not a given are the characters and personalities that surround the 72 year old General, those with questionable sources of funds who bankroll his campaign, those he would hand over the economic affairs to manage, those that allegedly collect 10% of earned revenues of Lagos state government, those with EFCC cases hanging on their necks, those with N21Billion fraud case at the Special Fraud Unit, those that tell us CHANGE is coming, even when fraud is masquerading as CHANGE.

The next phase of Niger Delta insurgency may be hinged on unassailable demand for fiscal federalism, and I doubt if a Buhari presidency can accede to such request knowing that most of the constituent units that make up the Nigerian federation will never agree to such, and that would leave him with two debilitating wars that the defective Nigerian state may not be able to counter successfully, and we may end up with another arrested presidency for four years.

_______________________________________________Nnamdi Anekwe-Chive is a National security Analyst. He can be reached on Twitter @nnamdianekwe

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.

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Elections: INEC Confirms Purchase Of 20,000 Backup Card Readers And 35,000 Backup batteries

INEC on Saturday confirmed the purchase of 20,000 backup card readers and 35,000 backup batteries as contingency plans to tackle possible challenges during the accreditation and election exercise scheduled to hold on March 28 and April 11.

In an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH, Mr. Kayode Idowu, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, however, said with the procurement of backup devices, among other precautionary measures, it would limit the challenges that may arise during the election exercise.

He said, "We have learnt specifically from Ghana's experience that with regard to the design of the card readers, there could be battery problems. As a result, some of those card readers could not function and thus, elections had to be rescheduled to the following week because the (political parties) and the commission agreed that there would be no voting without accreditation. In Nigeria, we have also taken all that into account.

"The first of the three plans is that for each card reader, we have backup batteries. In Ghana, it was batteries that failed. The design of the card reader is such that the battery, when in continuous use, would last 12 hours. But accreditation is for five hours. So, if the battery is fully charged, there is no way you can exhaust the battery capacity. Despite that, we have spare batteries; more than 35,000 batteries have been procured so that if, for whatever reason, there may be a challenge with the battery, one can replace it.

"We also have spare card readers, in case the problem is the entire device. That aside, we have done integrity tests, several of which were carried out in Texas, us, showing that they don't fail easily and that they are of the highest quality. In spite of that, we have bought nearly 20,000 spares, in addition to 152,000 active card readers, so that if for any reason the card reader malfunctions and can no longer continue, the spares would be deployed at the wards for the exercise."

Idowu explained that, "rather than reverting to manual, the political parties agreed on this. The reason is obvious: if we say we should revert to manual, human factor will come in, because there are so many people who don't want these card readers to be used."

Idowu further noted that the card readers are pre-configured in such a way as to avoid every possible manipulations and detect irregularities.

He said, "Each card reader is pre-configured to a polling unit. In other words, before polling officials get to the polling units on election day, technical staff of INEC would have configured the card reader to that polling unit for them to use. The card reader is also programmed such that if one were to use it between 8 am and 1 pm, for instance, and attempt to use it again at 8 pm, it will not work. That's part of the configuration.

"The second thing is that when voter cards are read and people are accredited, it instantly sends the data on accreditation to a central server ahead of the counting of the ballot papers. Therefore, before ballot papers are cast, the commission at the back end already has the information of how many people were accredited.

"Previously, immediately after accreditation, officials were to enter the accreditation figures before voting starts. But in reality, there would be a delay in sending the accreditation figures and, when ballot papers are cast, funny deals would be made resulting in false accreditation figures. That is no longer possible because the card reader sends the information to a central server," Idowu noted.

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Source: Newsbeat Portal, The Punch
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The Planned Engagement Of Corps Members By INEC For Elections still stands - NYSC

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has reiterated their support for INEC towards ensuring a successful 2015 by insisting that the planned engagement of Youth Corpers by INEC still stands.

This statement of assurance follows a recent news broadcast by The African Independent Television (AIT) that there was a disagreement between the scheme and the Independent National Electoral Commission over the use of departing Corps members for the conduct of March 28 and April 11 polls.

A statement issued by the NYSC management at the weekend, according to Daily Independent, described the report as not only false, but misleading, stressing that both NYSC and INEC are committed to the successful conduct of the 2015 general elections in line with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on their collaboration.

According to the statement, the NYSC management maintained that the planned engagement of Corps members by INEC for the elections still stands.

"However, the 2014 Batch 'A' Corps members were officially discharged from service on Thursday, February, 19, 2015 in line with the provision of the NYSC Act, which stipulates that the service lasts for one year", it stated.

It however clarified that members of the 2014 Batch 'A', who have passed out, but wish to participate in the election, can do so on their own volition, but will not appear as corps members in uniform.

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SOURCE: Newsbeat Portal, Daily Independent
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Ban Ki-Moon Urges FG And INEC To Adhere To New Election Dates

The Secretary-General to the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, on Saturday urged the Federal Government and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that the new dates for elections in Nigeria are maintained, in accordance with the provisions of the nation's constitution.

He also maintained that the UN is closely monitoring developments in the country and offers its full support to Nigeria towards the new dates for the elections.

According to a statement issued by UN Spokesperson, Stephane DuJarric, in New York made available to Sunday Independent on Saturday, Ki-moon welcomed the commitments by the candidates to the Presidency to respect the new calendar.

The statement released in Lagos by the National Information Officer, United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), in Lagos, Oluseyi Soremekun, stated that the UN boss commended the progress made by INEC in the preparation for the elections, including the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

He urged all relevant national institutions to continue to work with INEC to ensure all voters can exercise their constitutional right to participate in the elections freely and without intimidation.

Ban ki-moon, however, expresses strong concern over reports of election-related violence.

He urged all political leaders to adhere to their commitments under the Abuja Accord, to refrain from inflammatory statements and to immediately condemn any statements from their supporters that amount to an incitement to violence or subversion of the electoral process.

He reiterated that the United Nations will be closely following developments and is offering its full support to Nigeria at this important moment.

He maintained that his High-Level Representative to Nigeria, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, will remain actively engaged with the Nigerian authorities over the coming weeks.


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Daily Independent
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Golden Thumps Zambia 3-1; Secures 2015 U-17 FIFA World Cup Ticket

FIFA U-17 World Cup reigning champions, the Golden Eaglets yesterday secured a semi final berth at the ongoing African U-17 championship and a ticket to the 2015 U-17 FIFA World Cup billed for Chile later in the year.

The Eaglets achieved the feat after a 3-1 thumping of the Junior Chipolopolo of Zambia in their final group match of the tournament in Niger.

The victory will see Nigeria in Chile to defend the title she won at the 2013 world championship at the United Arab Emirates.

Victor Osimhen gave Nigeria the lead in the 35th minute, before Kelechi Nwakali doubled the lead the just before the break.

After the break Osimhen added a second, before Patson Daka pulled one back for Zambia
Nigeria finished top of Group A with 7 points, three clear of second placed Guinea that suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat at the hands of hosts, Niger yesterday.

Despite the defeat, Guinea qualified for the semi final and a ticket to the World Cup as well.

Today, South Africa will take on Cameroon while Ivory Coast will face Mali for the remaining semi final berths.

Four teams will represent Africa at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile.


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Vanguard
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Prophet Jeremiah Of Mercy TV Donates N2million to fire victims in Warri

The General Overseer of Christ Mercy Land Deliverance Ministry, Prophet Jeremiah Omoto Fufeyin, at the weekend donated N2million to the victims of the Warri Navy Mammy Market that was gutted by fire last week.

Addressing the traders during an on-the-spot assessment of the damage and to commiserate with the victims, Fufeyin condoled with all those who lost property to the fire and encouraged them not to lose hope but to remain steadfast in God.

The prophet said: "At a time like this, it is easy for the devil to tempt someone with all sort of temptation but keeping hope in God is the surest way to overcoming whatever pain associated with this kind of lost".

Fufeyin claimed in retrospect that some of his earlier pronouncements, televised through the Mercy TV, that people should be careful to avoid fire accident like this and thanked God for sparing the lives of the traders.

He promised to do more for the people in conjunction with the Mercy TV partners and urged the people to use the money judiciously.


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Source: Vanguard
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Campaign Funding: APC To Raise N50Billion

Faced with difficulty of campaign funding, the All Progressives Congress, APC, is set to raise N50billion.

The party plans to raise N10billion from the general public through direct contribution, while N40billion will come from donations and contributions from the party's elected members including state governors.

According to VANGUARD, "at a meeting in Abuja of the APC hierarchy including some party EXCO members, some state chairmen, gubernatorial candidates and the presidential candidate, General Muhammed Buhari, it was decided, according to the source, that the party, with the window of opportunity provided by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, should raise N10b from the general public."

"The APC ... is targeting another N10 billion from donations, while another N30 billion is to be raised from within the party made up of donations from state governors on the platform of the party, members in the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly to make up a targeted N50 billion at the end of the day.

"The APC intends to use the method of distributing between five and ten thousand padlocked boxes (suitcases) across the wards and LGAs nation-wide.

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Breaking: Nigerian Troops in Baga, Fleeing Terrorists Drowned In Lake Chad

A large number of terrorists have drowned in the Lake Chad as they fled the heavy bombardment by Nigerian Air force heralding the advance of Nigerian troops on mission to flush them out of Baga.

In a statement made available to the press, the Director Defence of Information, Major General Chris Olukolade said that not even the strategy of mining over 1500 spots with land mines on the routes leading to the town could save the terrorists from the aggressive move of advancing troops.

"All the land mines were skillfully cleared one after the other. Eventually, the resistance of the terrorists collapsed and the land forces finally stormed the town in the early hours of Friday", he noted.

Olukolade added that "many of the terrorists died while an unknown but substantial number of them fled with various degrees of injury, in the series of encounter along the routes of advance of the as troops headed for Baga."

Apart from the 5 anti air craft guns and the rifles captured from the terrorists, over 34 motorcycles and 5 vehicles including trucks being used for operations by the terrorists were destroyed in the course of the fighting as troops headed for Baga, he added.

According to Olukolade, "a comprehensive cordon and search phase of military operation has now commenced to enable troops mop up arms and ammunition and also apprehend any terrorist who might be hiding in the vicinity."

"The exercise will also determine details of the casualties  inflicted or incurred in the  course of the operations to clear Baga and environ of terrorists."

"Similar exercise is being carried out in  over  12 locations namely Gajigana, Ngaze, Ngenzai, Marte Junction, Mile 90, Yoyo, Kekeno, Kukawa, Cross Kauwa, Kangarwa, Amirari and other localities where troops have flushed out the terrorists in the operations preceding the entry to Baga."

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Source: Newsbeat Portal, Abuja
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Brazen looting of Lagos treasury: 1999 – 2015, By Seni Tinubu

In retrospect, it might be difficult to come to terms with the fact that whenever someone in Lagos begins to wonder where their 4th mainland bridge went or what was the fate of the pipe-borne water project or even where the schools and hospitals had vanished to, there is a silence that contains it all.

The largest landlord in Lagos has done as he has pleased and the rest of the state just has to deal with it. To start with, Number 4, Oyikan Abayomi (formerly Queens) Drive, Ikoyi, A 5- bedroom detached house on one acre of land which was originally the Lagos State Governor's Guest House since 1973, now belongs to a former Governor of the state, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The certificate of occupancy of the property, valued at N450 million, was signed and released to him by his successor, Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), in 2007 shortly after he assumed office.

Tinubu's residence at 26 Bourdillion Road, Ikoyi was initially falsely PRESENTED as Oando Plc Guest House. Later, he purportedly bought it from Oando and used public funds to rebuild and renovate it. The Lagos State Government bought the property and paid an undisclosed sum to him and thereafter gave the property back to him under the bogus pension bill he signed into law shortly before he left office in 2007. The property is worth over N600 million.

The annex of the Lagos State Guest House in Asokoro, Abuja was bought by the State Government in 2006 for N450 million, purportedly to protect the main house from security breach. Shortly after Tinubu left office, the property was transferred to him under the pension plan he signed into law before leaving office.

The 250-hectares of land valued at about N35 billion and strategically located at the Ajah junction on Lekki Road was initially meant for a General Hospital for the people of Eti-Osa Local Government but was acquired by Tinubu and handed over to Trojan Estate Limited – a company owned by Deji and Wale Tinubu – to develop as Royal Garden Housing Estate at the expense of the taxpayers of Lagos.

The 1,000 hectares of land valued at about N75 billion located at Lakowe, near Abijo at Ibeju-Lekki Local Government Area and given to Lekki Concession Company, which is partly owned by Tinubu and Fashola, is being developed as golf course and housing estate by Assets and Resource Management Limited as ADIVA project.

The prime land of 157 hectares with 2.5km of Atlantic beachfront, valued at about N10 billion was "taken" by Tinubu from the communities of Siriwon, Igbekodo, Apakin, etc in Ibeju-Lekki Local Government Area and given to Ibukun Fakeye-his crony to build a golf course and luxury villa with little or no compensation to villagers. In addition, Tinubu paid $20 million (N3 billion) out of public treasury to Ibukun Fakeye to commence the project in late 2006. Fashola has since released additional funding for this project, which is not owned by the state government.

The 14 hectares Parkview Ikoyi Estate foreshore land reclaimed by the Lagos State Government is now owned by Tinubu. While in office, he allocated to himself the former Strabag Yard beside the Lagos State secretariat at Alausa, Ikeja. The property has now been developed into a SHOPPING mall as big as the Palms in Lekki. This is public property brazenly stolen and now owned by Tinubu, aided by Fashola.

The choice property at Lekki-Epe Road on which he built and owns the multi-billion Naira Oriental HOTEL AND the extension of multi-storey car park beside it is also a story of the misrule of Lagos State. Also, the multi-level recreation centre by Mobil Oniru Estate on Lekki-Epe road jointly owned with ARM and Tunji Olowolafe. All these assets valued at over N25 billion were obtained without paying a kobo to the Lagos State Government.

Tinubu raised a loan of N4.7 billion on Eko Akete project for which nothing was achieved before he turned around to sell the property to his Chagouri friends of Chagouri & Chagouri and Hitech Construction Limited at a ridiculously low price at the expense of taxpayers of Lagos. Tinubu applied to personally purchase the Federal Secretariat building while in office. When he couldn't get to buy it, he directed Fashola to stop the eventual owner of the complex from developing it. The complex is PRESENTLY wasting away courtesy of the Lagos State Government.

It took several months of horse trading and underhand payments before Fashola could allow the new owners of 1004 flats to develop the complex. Several other buyers of Federal Government properties and developers of properties in Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Government Reservation Area in Ikeja were forced to succumb to the outrageous demand of Tinubu, Fashola and other officials of the state government.

The Critical Care Unit of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital in IKeja, built and equipped with state funds, is now owned personally by Tinubu. He has put ONE Dr. Sikiru Tinubu (a supposed cousin of his) to run the outfit. It is run as a private unit and the proceeds are pocketed by the duo. The unit charges its users exorbitantly and most Lagosians can hardly afford to pay its high charges. Much of the revenue is derived from fees paid by the State Government for patients referred there by its General Hospitals.

Several prominent Nigerians in the judiciary, police, the Independent National Electoral Commission and other sensitive agencies have obtained prime land from Governor Tinubu and incumbent Governor Fashola over the years without paying a kobo. Many of them had turned around to sell the land to third parties at substantial profit. Many top officials in police, INEC and the judiciary who participated in the 2003 and 2007 elections and tribunals in states where Tinubu has interest were compromised with parcels of free prime Lagos land and cash.

If the Lagos State Land's Bureau could publish the names and identities of beneficiaries of land allotees from 2000 to date, the scandal that will result is better imagined. Gbenga Ashafa, now a senator and ONE Mrs. Awofisayo were the conduits through which these acts were being perpetrated. Both were also the personally involved in various dubious land transactions on their own.

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Author: Seni Tinubu wrote from Lagos State, Nigeria.

Opinions expressed above are solely those of the author.
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The End Of Buhari’s Presidential Candidacy, By Femi Aribisala

If Nigeria is a nation of laws and of the rule of law, the presidential candidacy of Muhammadu Buhari should end this week. The reason is well-known to all. Buhari swore an oath on his INEC application that his credentials are with the military. This turned out to be a lie.

The military has come out to deny that it has Buhari's credentials. That means Buhari committed perjury instead of fulfilling INEC requirements. For this reason, he must be disqualified from contesting the presidential election.

The matter has been taken to court and the courts should decide the matter this week. I am not a lawyer, but from my layman's perspective, this is an open and shut case. Buhari lied willfully. As a former military secretary of the Nigerian Army, he knew that the military does not keep any credentials of its service-men. Nevertheless, he lied on oath that his credentials are with the military. He must face the penalty for this perjury. There can be debate about whether, and for how long, he should go to jail. However, there can be no question about his resultant ineligibility to contest: he must be disqualified.

To overlook this infraction is to succumb to Buhari's appraisal that Nigeria is corrupt. If we are going to deal with corruption, we must not fail to deal with the likes of Buhari, who are contemptuous of the laws of the land. Buhari's false affidavit is corruption. The disqualification of Buhari by the courts will be a testament to the determination of the judiciary to show zero tolerance for corruption in the coming new dispensation.

Some of us have watched APC make a song and dance about the possibility of postponing the 2015 elections. The party brought out all its big guns to tell us that the election cannot be postponed. They insisted that if it is postponed all hell would break lose. Well, the election has been postponed and nothing has happened. It has been postponed and the APC can do nothing about it. It was postponed according to the law.

Similarly, the heavens will not fall with the lawful disqualification of Buhari.   Of all those APC could present as its presidential candidate, it chose a man without the appropriate credentials. APC has nobody to blame but itself for this fiasco. It has forfeited its chance of presenting a candidate for the 2015 presidential election. The contest should now be between the remaining 13 presidential candidates. Shikenan!

JEGA MUST GO IMMEDIATELY

The excuse used to force Attahiru Jega to postpone the elections is the inability to provide effective security given the insurgency in the North-East. However, there is little likelihood that the security situation will improve within the next six weeks of the postponement. So, strictly-speaking, security has nothing to do with the postponement. One major reason for the postponement was to prevent INEC from compromising the election.

INEC has long ceased to be a disinterested umpire in this election. The evidence is now overwhelming that INEC is determined to bias the election in favour of Muhammadu Buhari and the APC. This is evident in INEC's determination to go ahead with the election in spite of the fact that out of 68 million registered voters, over 20 million have yet to receive their permanent voter's cards (PVCs).

It is remarkable that, in announcing the postponement, Jega conveniently forgot to mention the nagging issue of the inadequacies of INEC in providing voters with their PVCs. It is also remarkable that Jega briefed the Council of State that INEC was ready to conduct the elections. This was one big lie. You cannot be ready to conduct elections when there is a cacophony of complaints, especially in the South, that people are unable to claim their PVCs. Given the time it took INEC to distribute 40 million PVCs, it could not have realistically expected to be able to distribute the outstanding 20 million in just one week?

INEC rigmarole

What is even more sinister is INEC's willful determination to disenfranchise select geopolitical regions which represent areas of strength for Goodluck Jonathan. Credible Alternative Alliance, an independent political interest organization led by former Kaduna State governor, Balarabe Musa, observed in INEC activities: "a criminal gross disparity of voter spread designed to tilt the election to a pre-determined outcome."

It said: "Voters in the zones that tend to support President Goodluck Jonathan are massively disenfranchised by the application of the so-called PVCs debacle, 40% to 50% of voters in these regions who are lawfully and duly registered to vote will be denied their right to vote by INEC. That is nearly half of the support base of the President, simply nullified by administrative failure prior to the election. By comparison, the zones that tend to support Buhari are handed a massive voter advantage, nearly 80% of his support base will be allowed to cast their votes by INEC."

"In an election, which many say will be won or lost by a slim margin, to now disenfranchise 20 million voters through a questionable and unlawful rule by INEC is not acceptable by any measure. CAA condemns in its entirety this attempt by INEC to undermine our nascent democracy through this criminal enterprise to determine the outcome of this election before the ballot is cast."

This position is corroborated by different observers in the field. INEC needs to explain how more people in the war-torn North-East have collected their PVCs than in the South-West, South-South and South-East. In the APC strongholds of the North-West and the North-East, 80.18% and 81.09% collection rates were recorded respectively. In the North-Central, the figure was 69.89%. However, the figures in the South were significantly lower than these. In the South-East, it was 59.22%. South-South: 66.66%; and South-West 43.15%.

Since INEC under Jega is no longer an independent umpire but is now clearly working for the opposition, Jega should be sent on compulsory leave and a temporary chairman should be nominated to handle the elections. Jega can no longer be trusted.

THE MISCHIEF OF FORMER CBN GOVERNOR, LAMIDO SANUSI

Former Central Bank governor, Lamido Sanusi, caused uproar when he declared that $49.8 billion of Nigeria's oil money was missing, allegedly diverted by the NNPC. For a Central Bank governor, the statement was not only irresponsible, it was downright mischievous. If it were not that Nigeria is an innumerate society where we have little or no understanding of figures, it would have been obvious that, for the size of the Nigerian economy, it was impossible for such a large sum to be missing.

However, the allegation fell into the narrative of the opposition APC party which was determined to portray the Jonathan Administration as the most corrupt in the history of Nigeria. There was a lot of hue and cry in the press about the missing money; after all, the claim was made by the Central Bank governor no less. However, the governor seemed to have plucked the missing figure out of thin air.

Soon, it was not $49.8 billion at all, but $10.8 billion. Then again, it was no longer $10.8 billion but $20 billion. It should have been clear from all this that the CBN governor was just fibbing. But in Nigeria, we are socialised to believe the worst.

School-certificate economics

General Buhari, the APC presidential candidate, has used this fictitious $20 billion dollars to preach his own school-certificate economics on the campaign stump. He said: "$20 Billion at N210 to $1.00 is equal to N4.2 trillion- nearly a year's federal budget."

If so, how can Buhari believe an amount nearly equal to Nigeria's annual federal budget could possibly be missing? No matter how corrupt a nation can be, it is ridiculous to presume that public officers would go ahead and steal the entire annual federal budget? Haba! Buhari then used this malarkey to formulate his own voodoo economics.

He said: "If it is true that this sum cannot be accounted for, this is grossest form of corruption. Just think at N5 million per vehicle, this money would have bought 840,000 patrol vehicles; (this would have improved security in every town and village in the country). At N13.5 million for a high capacity bus this money would have bought 311,000 buses; (this would have revolutionised the transport and production side of the economy)."

It is this kind of rudimentary economics that Buhari has been presenting as an excuse for an economic policy to Nigerians in this election season. Just listen to this vain platitude from our eminent retired general. He says: "The monies we realised from anti-corruption campaign will be adequately used to improve education in the country." Now that is an economic policy that is practically meaningless.

Forensic audit

Because of the nuisance value of men like Buhari, the Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was constrained to ask for a forensic audit of NNPC accounts in order to put the matter to rest. She chose PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC); one of the big four auditors in the world, along with Deloitte, EY and KPMG.

PwC has now provided a conclusive report that shows Sanusi's allegation of a missing $20 billion is one big fabrication. This matter needs to be emphasized now that the report is out. Lamido Sanusi lied. The Central Bank governor deliberately cried wolf when he jolly well knew there was no wolf. He was just determined to malign and discredit the government; and he was playing a script to the benefit of the opposition APC.

This then lends credence to the PDP allegation that Sanusi was an APC mole in the government. Indeed, the PDP claims Sanusi gave the APC 1 billion naira of Central Bank money to open its offices nationwide. It also maintains that a fraudulent N48 billion contract was awarded by Sanusi's CBN to a leader of the APC, while a further N5 billion was paid to another APC member as consultancy fee. So much for APC's anti-corruption hogwash!

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Femi Aribisala is a scholar and international affairs expert. He is currently an iconoclastic church pastor in Lagos. He is also a syndicated essayist for a handful publications in Nigeria.
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Opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author
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