The Eagle Gate

Tag: APC

  • The disingenuous claim by the Buhari Media Organization

    The disingenuous claim by the Buhari Media Organization

    This is another attempt to deceive the people of Nigeria. It’s foolishness on the part of the Buhari Media Organization (BMO) to even claim anything Holy in it’s criticism of Atiku’s proposal.

    Verbatim, the former Vice President said, “on the restructuring of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector by result oriented and stepwise privatization of some aspects of the ailing sector to engender its vibrancy and enable it to stand solid as Nigeria’s major energy provision source”.

    So clearly, the former Vice President in his wisdom talked about means and ways of revitalizing the sector by privatization of “some aspects of its ailing”part.

    But of course, when these propagandist want to deceive people, they turn every word on its head to rubbish the substance of the whole story. Why not! when you consider a government that promised to reduce the pump price of petroleum but got to power and increased the pump price instead. Perhaps they think the people have forgotten, no we haven’t!

    How could they not misrepresent the former Vice President when this government cannot tell Nigerians for certain how much crude flows out of this country and how much it receives and how much it discloses to Nigerians. This is the most deceitful and malicious government in modern times.

    How does this government begin to talk of anti people policies! This is preposterous! This is a government that in all its ramifications is anti people both in words of deceit and by its action in raising the pump price contrary to its promise to reduce same.

    This government wants the status quo to remain only because it provides to them a source of illicit funds for their campaign.

    You know what! Another shall rise and the whole world would then appreciate the magnitude of the recklessness and decadence of this regime that has no respect to the rule of law.

     

    Neda Imasuen, Esq.

  • IN SUPPORT OF TY DANJUMA; A NATIONAL STATESMAN

    IN SUPPORT OF TY DANJUMA; A NATIONAL STATESMAN

    TY has benefited from Nigeria and he has a duty to keep it one. He said what we all know. The problem with most of his critics is partisan epilepsy which puts them in momentary fit whenever they are confronted with the truth. That is not patriotism. It is patrimolianism. Some of us were very critical of PDP misbehavior even as Members of the House of Representatives. It may have cost us principal officership, but we are alive by the grace of God to continue to speak truth to power. Party membership or affiliation is not a reason to endanger humanity with indecisiveness on security of lives and properties. Some of us have never witnessed what is now going on in this country in our adult lives.

     

    We heard of Tafawa Balewa. We saw Usman Shagari. We worked with Umaru Yaradua. They were northerners and Muslim. They may have had Fulani blood in them but their sense of national duty was exemplary. None of them would have tolerated this menace of some irresponsible heardsmen spreading terror to the ancestral land of others in a jet age. Rather than restrain them with decent and globally tested policies, the Government is overwhelmed with nepotic constraints and thereby preventing the avoidable deaths of thousands of innocent citizens.

     

    More than any government in our republican history, this government has been the slowest to act on matters that require urgent government attention. It cannot continue like this merely because a few privileged people have formed a vanguard of blame-him-not around President Buhari. They are definitely not helping Nigeria but themselves. Let me remind all such persons of the proverb that those who ride on the back of the tiger, end up in its stomach.

     

    Obasanjo wrote his 20 page letter of caution to the President. He was called names by the holier-than thou supporters of the President. Gen. Babaginda issued a press statement on the way forward. He was lampooned by the same band of economic and tribal clappers.

     

    Gen. TY Danjuma, more than these hallelujah brigade, contributed enormous personal resources to the campaign process of President Buhari over the years. He was the chairman of the President’s advisory group when the President assumed office. He mobilized support for the president across the length and breadth of the country. How would a man who made these contributions to the emergence of Buhari as president standby and watch the ship of State sink deeply without qualms? Danjuma is made of sterner stuff. He was a full blooded General in the Army and knows the difference between the Army they belonged to and today’s Army.

     

    Those casting aspersions on the eminent citizen have done nothing to help our country. They do not want anyone to stand up for Nigeria. They like the country as it is. They are fanning the embers of inefficiency, nepotism and insecurity in order to profit from the situation. How many of these champions drive on Nigerian roads form one part of the country to another? How many of them sleep in their houses without surrounding themselves with armed Police guards?

    The truth is that we are now more unsafe than we have ever been in Nigeria in Peace time. I give kudos to the Northern Elders who recently called a spade a spade by telling the nation that they would not vote anyone from their region who has not lived up to expectations. They know that all is not well with our country and are themselves worried about the state of affairs. We cannot say that the professional clappers love President Buhari more than Prof Ango Abdulahi, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed and their group of northern elders. The same group joined others to mobilize the country to vote against President Jonathan and usher in President Buhari in 2015.

     

    The simple message to Mr. President by all those who have cautioned him is that he is performing far below the expectations of most of our country men and women. Let the President listen to them and ignore the Buhari-does-no-wrong group. They would be the first to jump ship if the President doesn’t make it back to Aso Rock in 2019. I wish the President all the best.

     

    God bless Nigeria.

     

    Dr. Ehiogie West-Idahosa.

  • Right of reply Chief Mike Ayegbeni Oghiadomhe, CFR is still a full time member of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

    Right of reply Chief Mike Ayegbeni Oghiadomhe, CFR is still a full time member of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

    My attention has been drawn to a publication in the social media and to correct the misleading report by mischief makers of my exit from PDP to SDP.

    For the record, l was never part of any group where a decision was made of dumping PDP for SDP.

    To my great party PDP and millions of our members, no one has my mandate to determine or associate my name to any political party without my written consent.

    Whoever must have affiliated my name to any political party other than PDP does not have my mandate and this should be disregarded as handiwork of mischief makers.

    My membership and loyalty is to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) alone which is my party of choice since its formation.

    Signed
    Chief Mike Ayegbeni Oghiadomhe, CFR

  • THAT UNBRIDLED REJECTION OF NECESSARY AUTONOMY BY EDO STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY IS DANGEROUS TO DEMOCRACY

    THAT UNBRIDLED REJECTION OF NECESSARY AUTONOMY BY EDO STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY IS DANGEROUS TO DEMOCRACY

    Edo State House of Assembly’s recent rejection of financial autonomy marks a new low ground in the on going legislative imperialism of State Assemblies in Nigeria. Executive expansion of dominance and exploitation of the weaker legislature has eroded the sense of placement inherent in the practice of separation of powers characteristic of modern democracy. The unequal exchange of perks of office has led to a final surrender of the power of the purse which is the strength and preserve of the legislature worldwide, by Edo State House of Assembly.

     

    In return, the lawmakers get aids in kind or cash, a few foreign trips and guarantee of second term Party tickets. But what would this mean against the loss of the innate right of the legislature to check the Executive from misusing public funds appropriated for public good? The answer is discernible.

     

    Who will deal with the debt burden of Edo State which has reached astronomical levels? The State’s scarce resources from internally generated revenue borne by the poor man and woman on the streets and federal allocations would end up servicing the huge debt without a wimp from the law makers whose autonomy has been voluntarily mortgaged at the risk of jeopardizing the balance of power in the State.

     

    Plunder of State resources, tax abuses, poverty, wide spread unemployment, disease, maladministration and a host of anomalies would become the cynosure of this new wave of legislative imperialism. The Assembly must save itself this embarrassment by reviewing their decision. A motion ought to be tabled to review that decision and vote on the side of sustainable democracy for the sake of the generations of Edo people alive and those yet unborn. Anything short of this, would entitle the present members of that House to an unenviable space in the political museum of infamy.

     

    The legendary Jimmy Cliff once sang about a hard to travel and a long way to go. I hope Edo State is not yet
    there.

     

    Dr. West-Idahosa (Nigerian lawyer and policy analyst)

  • NIGERIA’S RECENT POOR CORRUPTION RATING BY TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL VINDICATES THE CLAIM OF MANY THAT THERE IS GROWING CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA;

    NIGERIA’S RECENT POOR CORRUPTION RATING BY TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL VINDICATES THE CLAIM OF MANY THAT THERE IS GROWING CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA;

    Confirmation from the Sultan of Sokoto who is a very conservative religious/ traditional ruler that there is still high level of corruption in Nigeria and the recent poor ranking of Nigeria on the world’s corruption perception index by Transparency International, vindicate those who have persistently argued that corruption in Nigeria merely went underground and became more audacious.

    The civil service and many public institutions are experiencing the highest level of nepotism and wanton embezzlement. Some public servants preside over the award of contracts to themselves through their surrogates and have deeply limited the openness that is expected from such processes. A number of public servants are taking refuge in an unelected powerful cabal to inflict damage on the integrity of this government. The pain of it all is that the elected government still has so much confidence in a warped bureaucracy.

    A great number of political appointees have not helped matters at all. Leading the pack is the serving Attorney General. What a pity that President Buhari can stick with this man of the many competent and forthright lawyers available to pick from in this country. The AG must read the mood of the nation with respect to fighting corruption. The public wants this fight to be sustained on the basis of substantial justice. They way don’t want a fight based on technicalities. They want to see that those let off the hook are truly innocent and the guilty ones are behind bars. This desire is based on the renewed public awareness that the real people who have afflicted them with poverty are those who stole their common wealth, but move around the country as free men flaunting their ill gotten wealth.

    How can a government that takes the likes of Amaechi seriously be taken seriously by the rest of humanity. Who were those in PDP that caused that Party credibility problems? Were they from Jupiter? Most of those men and women are right in bed with this regime. It is not surprising that they are gradually afflicting the government with their moral leprosy.

    Buhari’s supporters are intolerant of criticism and hail the old man as infallible, but his inability to be promptly decisive on corruption matters surrounding his lieutenants may rob him of his place in history. For a man who rode to power on the fight against corruption, to have the country remain in the worst ranking on corruption in recent times by an International Organization with global neutrality is ironical of his journey to Aso rock.

    The government cannot run away from this rating or dismiss same as wailing by haters as they normally do. They must take it seriously. Each time they get a boost on improving the economy from figures by less endowed agencies, they celebrate it via formal and social media. They must accept this rating and work to improve it. They cannot approbate and reprobate about international rating agencies by picking and choosing which one to accept. Such discretion would be poor and laughable.

    This is a warning shot to the government. They must heed the call and do the needful. Time is running out.

    Dr. West-Idahosa.
    ( A Nigerian based lawyer and policy analyst)

  • BUHARI’S GOVERNMENT IS SUBSIDIZING FUEL? CAN THIS BE TRUE?

    BUHARI’S GOVERNMENT IS SUBSIDIZING FUEL? CAN THIS BE TRUE?

    Words coming out from the relevant Senate Committee looking into the recent scarcity of fuel nation wide maintain that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources claims that fuel (PMS) is being subsidized at 145 naira per liter. This is quite strange from a government that fought fuel subsidy as an opposition party.

    At the time Nigerians were enjoying the price of 87 naira per liter of PMS, due to government subsidy, this government (then in opposition) came up with the theory that subsidy was an outlet for stealing public funds by political and petrol industry operators. They claimed to have withdrawn it and put the price at 145 naira per liter, with the impression given that the price adjustment would be the final bye-bye to fuel scarcity. They painted the picture that the new price would enable importers to freely import products and promote competition in the industry. They celebrated this feat widely in advance. Many embraced the forlorn hope.

    Two and a half years down the line, the story has changed. Now, petrol is landing at 171 naira and that 145 naira per liter is no longer sustainable. The government has even added that NNPC has been subsidizing the cost of a liter of PMS with 26 naira due to the increase in the cost of forex. What a policy somersault.

    Let me ask the government the following questions;

    1. What made subsidy questionable under the previous regime that makes it correct under Buhari? Is this not the definition of hypocrisy?

    2. Whose duty is it to stabilize the exchange rate and work to bring it to acceptable limits?

    3. Why does the government think that the cost of fuel must become reserved for the rich only? At 145 naira, many cannot fill their petrol tanks. They buy in small quantities.

    4. Does the present hardship of our countrymen and women give joy to the Buhari government?

    5. What has happened to the promise of rehabilitation of existing refineries to reduce importation of petrol products?

    6. What has happened to the promise of building more refineries if the government was elected vide APC?

    7. Where is the congruence between words and action as promised?

    It is now clear that the public has been hoodwinked into believing that that this government had the capacity to turn water into fuel and make it abundant at an affordable price. The public now knows it was a mirage. Time will tell whether the public has learnt any lesson from this or whether they would be susceptible to another round of delusive opium. In all of this, this government owes the previous regime some apology for demonizing it over a policy that they now openly operate.

    Dr. West-Idahosa

  • CAN OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TRY JUDICIAL OFFICERS FOR ANY FORM OF MISCONDUCT?

    CAN OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TRY JUDICIAL OFFICERS FOR ANY FORM OF MISCONDUCT?

    Section 153 of the 1999 constitution provides for the establishment of the National Judicial council (NJC). The functions of NJC are set out in paragraphs b & d of Item 21 of the Third Schedule to the Constitution and includes the exercise of disciplinary control over judicial officers. This is the umbrella upon which the NJC frequently subjects judicial officers to disciplinary processes which may lead to reprimand, suspension, freeze of promotion or dismissal in some cases. However, section 158 of the same constitution does not allow the NJC’s activities to be subject to the control or direction of any other authority or person.

     

    NJC’s 2014 Judicial Discipline Regulations describes misconduct as one prejudicial to effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts or any conduct described as misconduct in the Constitution and Code of Conduct of judicial officers.

     

    Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution provides for the Code of Conduct of public officers. Paragraphs 6 & 8 prohibits public officers from receiving gifts for something done or undone in the discharge of his duties and no one is entitled to bribe them to discharge their duties. Public officers covered by the said Code of Conduct includes all judicial officers as contained in part 2 of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution. The Code of Conduct Tribunal is set up to punish those in breach of any of the provisions of such code.

     

    Apparently, flowing from its disciplinary powers, NJC is positioned to deal with a breach of the Code of Conduct by judicial officers arising from their job. One of such is bribery in any form. Since the Constitution vests the power to discipline judicial officers on both the NJC or Code of Conduct Tribunal, either of them can exercise this power over serving judges, although it appears more convenient for NJC to do so on account if its greater preparedness for such activities.

     

    Allegations bothering on bribery of judicial officers flow from the discharge of their duties. They are not ordinary crimes. They bother on breaches of the code of conduct and oath of office contained in the constitution. They have to be dealt with in accordance with the method prescribed by the constitution.

     

    It does not mean that a judicial officer duly dealt with according to law and dismissed cannot be prosecuted by appropriate authorities for the crime of bribery under our criminal justice system. Judicial misconduct is sue generis and being in a class of its own, cannot be treated like any other crime. This is not peculiar to Nigeria. Some countries even have the The Court of the Judiciary where such matters are dealt with. The state of Tennessee in the US has such a court for dealing with judicial misconduct. In Canada, the the court of the judiciary investigates allegations of misconduct and recommends to parliarment, which has the ultimate power of removal as discipline.

     

    There is no doubt that the dominance of judges in NJC may lead to a perception that judges are getting off. This can have an adverse effect on public opinion confidence. Notwithstanding this,
    many judges have been nailed by NJC. The most important thing is for victims of judicial misconduct to have the courage to send petitions to the appropriate body and be guaranteed that they would not be victimized directly or otherwise by the judicial system.

    This is a personal opinion.

     

    Dr. Ehiogie West-Idahosa.

  • 2019 IN PERSPECTIVE; THE BUHARI REGIME AND CERTAIN CHARACTERISTICS

    2019 IN PERSPECTIVE; THE BUHARI REGIME AND CERTAIN CHARACTERISTICS

    Let me start by stating that political parties in Nigeria have no perceptible ideological divide. I expressed my views on this in a previous piece on platform mobility. The political parties exist in fulfillment of constitutional requirement as the only organ that can sponsor candidates for elections in Nigeria. They are barely able to control their elected officers and depend on government and a few moguls to fund their activities. As a consequence, political successes are predicated on the capacity and character of individual actors in Nigeria.

     

    Let me make certain positions clear before going further:

     

    1.  I have nothing against the age of president Buhari or that of former vice-president Atiku.

     

    I am not sure there is a problem with the age of any legally qualified person as long as such a person is mentally and physically fit enough to hold office.

     

    2.  I do not hold any of them in contempt. I supported President Buhari’s government until recent events in the policy cycle.

     

    President Buhari was a former military head of State and once presided over Nigeria’s oil sector. With the benefit of such background, he had more than enough exposure to rule Nigeria from day one upon his election in 2015. In addition, he had the benefit of running for office three times before he won on the fourth attempt if I am correct. In other words, he had nearly 16 years to prepare to be president. Against this background, much was expected from him in the area of policy making, implementation and monitoring. Many also expected that he would have been comfortably abreast with the economic and socio-political dynamics of our country. From the evidence on ground, he doesn’t appear to have measured up, even half way, with the broad expectations of the Nigerian people who voted massively for him. I will deal with a few areas briefly, due to need to promote brevity for want of time.

     

    SECURITY & WELFARE

     

    Section 14 (1) (b) of the Constitution provides that our country shall be a state founded on democracy and social justice with the security and welfare of the people being the primary purpose of government. Can we say that this obligation is being met under this regime? I do not think so. This regime was voted in as a corrective one, not a story telling one. The public was aware of the problem with Nigeria before mandating this regime to do the needful. This is the basis upon which a logical assessment can be done.

     

    It is conceded that some meaningful work has been done in the war against boko haram but the events of the group lately question the efficacy of the methodology adopted in this fight. With hundreds continuing to die innocently in the hands of this group, this campaign cannot be regarded as durably successful. An approach review is a desideratum.

     

    Whatever the gains of government in the Boko haram efforts, they lost it with Fulani herdsmen. Buhari is the best placed person to deal with this menace. Apart from his office, he is fulani himself. Yet he is unable to summon the courage to call his brethren to order. He cannot even set up a national commission to find lasting solution to this threat to Peace nation wide. How can a group of people move around with so much illegal weapon and kill men and women on the slightest provocation? Why should a group of people kill freely nation wide without remorse or fear of the law? The herdsmen obstinacy is an impetus of the Buhari regime. It was a scanty and localized threat before then. This is a major dent to the image of the regime.

     

    I need not tell anyone about the spirally geometric increase in kidnapping, armed robbery, human trafficking and ritualism nation wide. These crimes have always been around. The dimension that they have assumed smacks of official complicity by law enforcement agents. Coming from a regime like this, it is a let down. Imagine the number of lives that have been lost to perpetrators of this crime unchallenged. These are products if institutional failure that no one else but Buhari should take the blame for it.

     

    Today, many live in fear and suspicion. Life is no longer sacred. It is daily illegally terminated. Just like a discarded piece of toilet paper. Most of the victims are from the masses who are ironically the center of Buhari’s rise to power. There seem to be no end to this crises as it is closely connected to the social order. With more than three million dislocated from the Labour market and more Libyan refugees coming back home, we would need a miracle not to witness a further increase in this direction. With the type of police we still have, we may need serious fasting to avert a complete breakdown of law and order. Nothing has been done about the police. We all know this. When Buhari came, the police pretended for a few weeks and on seeing that he was not as capable as they thought, they are back in full swing. They are three times worse than they were before Buhari. Ask the public about this.

     

    ECONOMY

    YES, we are in a recession. It may be true that previous regimes did not do certain things correctly but there was a promise to do it right by Buhari. Did he get it right? He took 6 months to appoint about average ministers, prohibited the operation of domicilliary accounts and that pushed the dollar underground in a free world order. What did he expect? He got a bloody nose. Of course his poor communication skill pushed oil production down in the Niger-Delta due to increased Militant activities, until regional leaders intervened. While this was on, government lost revenue and recession crept in.

     

    It is correct that oil prices dropped and there was additional loss of revenue, but the choice of his cabinet did not help matters. A regime, whose leader so much chastised his predecessor in office ended up retaining many arrow heads of that regime and from the same political party that President Buhari discredited. It was clear evidence of a huge deficit in talent hunting and a demonstration of the act of double speaking.

     

    The perception held by many international rating agencies of the economic policies of President Buhari, is one of policy epilepsy and therefore hardly would recommend our economy to foreign investors. From a promise of creating three million jobs or so, this government has caused the loss of about the same figure of jobs due to lack of more creative ways of growing the economy. For example, limiting most categories of official cars to INNOSON cars alone would have created a boom in the auto industry and encouraged more people to invest there. Instead, billions of Naira are wasted on land cruisers, Lexus and prado jeeps, etc, for all sorts of public officers even during a recession. I will leave this alone for now.

     

    INDISCIPLINE

     

    It is not difficult to understand why there is so much policy failure by this regime. Just figure out the following:

     

    1.  SSS stops Buhari’s nominnee for EFCC chair in the senate and nothing happens.

     

    2.  Minister of Petroleum fights NNPC’s GMD in public over insubordination and non compliance with due process.

     

    3.  HOS accuses HON. AG of complicity in reinstatement of Maina. The same AG meets Maina in Dubai at a time when he was on the wanted list of criminals.

     

    4.  IGP maintains that he has the right to engage in romance with female police officers.

     

    5.  Opulent living style by many government officers during a recession that has led to the death of many and dislocation of many more.

    I would reserve my comments on the anti-corruption campaign, if indeed there is one for another write up. In my part two of this series, I will deal with Atiku and his ATIKULATION.

     

    Dr. West-Idahosa

  • IS PLATFORM MOBILITY THE REASON FOR POOR GOVERNANCE?

    IS PLATFORM MOBILITY THE REASON FOR POOR GOVERNANCE?

    By Dr. West-Idahosa

     

    Nigeria’s independence was not the product of any tough or ideological struggle. It came as a result of Britain’s political decision to let a number of countries off the hook following the popular crave for independence at that time. Nigeria happened to be one of them. There were no strong ideologies like the type that existed in some former colonies that got their political emancipation through ” blood and iron”.

    The early set of political elites probably founded their political parties on some sort of development theories. NPC was anchored on a catch-up- the south development prototype. Action Group was predicated on populist welfarism and NCNC on nationalism. Even then, the advent of decamping gained prominence in the then western region, when Action Group is believed to have instigated indigenes of the region to leave other parties for ethnic reasons. Nationalists like Azikiwe who had won elections in the west were left in bewilderment.

    Subsequent generations of politicians diminished in character and preparedness for real governance. The decline of the political environment led to the militarization of governance with the Babaginda era signposting the final fall of official morality. The post Babangida era politicians came in with an inherent settlement culture that commercialized the electorate at a time when everyone was expectant of a share of the national cake. The public became less interested in the quality of governance as long as their votes were procured.

    The political parties became zonked in patrimonialism and side effects like godfatherism, impunity, imposition, purchase of party tickets etc became characteristic of the partisan political system. Those who were lucky to occupy the positions of power and influence schemed to exclude rivals from the centre of control. Dominant elites squeezed life out of challenging elites.

    The survival struggles promoted platform mobility which enabled politicians to search for platforms of convenience. It must be remembered that the 4th Republic which has been the longest, started with the likes of Bola Ige preparing the manifesto of PDP, APP and AD in the same spirit but different semantics. There was no real difference. Ige and his co-travelers left PDP on the excuse that there were unwanted elements in their midst. They formed APP. They again left for the same reason and formed AD.

    The seed of platform mobility which they sowed germinated into a home grown acceptable political behavior. Innumerable number of politicians have benefited from this over the years. It can no longer be regarded as an aberration or can it be credited for the failure of any elected public officer in office. This practice existed before 1999 and has remained thereafter. There are very few real political operatives in our country who may not have changed their platforms. The likely reason for that may be that they are members of the clique that manipulate the party’s control apparatus. Once they lose it, they too may be on the move.

    The public is aware of this behavior and seem to have endorsed it over the years by continually voting for politicians without any regard for his platform history. This is clearly a ratification of such practice, which by evolution is now part of the political culture of our country.

    Can this be the reason why some public officers let the electorate down after being elected to office? Certainly not. Public officers fail for for many reasons. Some have no capacity to cope with the large demands from the office they occupy. Others are too neck deep in their plan to enrich themselves and nothing else matters to them than their plot to steal the nation dry. A category of elected officials are slaves to nepotism. They think corruption is all about stealing money and turn government appointments and contracts into a theater of mediocrity. Of course, they end up failing.

    Most elected executives end up larger than the political parties that sponsored them. They fail to consult with the parties or even glance at the manifestos of such parties. They maintain an olympian aloofness from their political parties. What a pity! The parties may have created their own irrelevance in the political system that we operate. When party leaders and delegates are paid to fly their parties’ tickets and sometimes by all manner of people, what really do they expect from such commercial contractual mandate? Can you eat your political cake and have same? I am sure you cannot.

    Platform mobility is not the problem with Nigeria’s political system. It is a mere symptom of other underlining political problems. We must look deeply into the causes of such mobility in order to proffer pragmatic solutions to the real problems with our political system in the hope that we can achieve our dream of an egalitarian society.

  • INEC acted as Judge on PDP Matters

    INEC acted as Judge on PDP Matters

    By Omololu Ojehomon-Ogbeni

    Having read the statement made by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu as published by the Nation Newspaper, titled “Court will decide Edo PDP candidate – INEC chairman”, on August 21, 2016, I became concerned about the explanation he gave to wave off the grave error done by his establishment as it concerned the elections in Edo State based on the list it published on its website.

    One thing I have understood, is that when it suits us we have selective amnesia, we choose when to acknowledge or ignore facts.

    This is the statement that worries me, “We have to submit the name of a candidate by the 11th of this month. But, when we did so, we put in bracket, court order. Again, Ize-Iyamu has dragged INEC to court and was granted an interim injunction by the judge saying that we should maintain status quo. So, apart from the leadership tussle in the state, there is this one about candidacy in Edo State.”

    How possible is this when there was an existing order On July 28, 2016, Federal High Court in Abuja sacked Markarfi as National Chairman and reaffirmed Sheriff as the national Chairman and held that every action the committee had taken since it emerged through a convention the party purportedly held in Port Harcourt on May 21, amounted to nullity. And that having regard to the order of the court, PDP had no lawful authority to hold the convention that led to the emergence of the Markarfi-led Committee.” It went on to say, “The convention was unlawfully held and the caretaker committee was unlawfully and illegally appointed and could not take any legal decision for the PDP in view of the subsisting order of the Lagos Division of this court. Consequently, any action taken by the Markarfi-led Committee, including the purported mandate for legal representation in this matter is hereby declared illegal. Parties have an uncompromising duty to obey court orders until it is set aside. The Lagos Division made order on May 12 and 20, forbidding the PDP from removing the Sheriff-led Caretaker Committee. That order is still subsisting.” And that Ali Modu Sheriff is the National Chairman of the PDP. Any decision NOT taken by the Sheriff-Led Committee is NOT binding on the PDP.

    What Status quo? The one that originated from an illegality, and a court order no one but the INEC was served, where they failed to publish the case number and date, where such order was given and by whom. And why was the other faction of the PDP not joined.

    It is true that the INEC are no police neither do they have police according to Prof. Yakubu, however, it is my belief that he found it necessary to make this statement to cover up for the error done by the INEC and to justify the action by one of their own who may have from all indication been on the take.

    So my concern remains the same that if in fact a final judgement comes will the Independent National Electoral Commission decide to do the wrong thing because of corrupt influences or will Prof. Yakubu do the right thing and maintain his integrity.