The founder of Liberation City, Pastor Chris Okafor, has warned Kaduna State Governor, Nasiru el-Rufai to withdraw a bill before the state House of Assembly aimed at licensing religious bodies or be ready to face the wrath of God
In a video that is trending on his wall, the preacher gave governor el-Rufai seven days to reverse the bill at the state House of Assembly to license religious bodies or would be visited by God.
He described the governor as Herod, who cannot withstand the wrath of God.
The bill proposes that any person found guilty of preaching without a valid licence and other offences under the law “shall be liable to two years in prison or pay a fine of N200, 000.”
Under the new edict, the government seeks to create an inter-faith Ministerial Committee to be appointed by the governor which will exercise control over Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
The bill ensures that the ministerial committee shall issue licenses to religious bodies without which the body cannot preach. It also stipulates that no external preacher can preach in Kaduna without a permit.
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has expressed satisfaction with moderate improvement in Nigeria’s external reserves, which it said, stood at US$45.2 billion as at March 21, 2019. This amounts to 6.73 per cent increase from US$42.35 billion at end-February 2019.
The Monetary Committee, at its meeting yesterday, Monday, March 25 in the nation’s federal capital, Abuja, also expressed happiness with moderate increase in oil prices across the globe.
Read the full text of the communiqué that emanated from the meeting:
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) met on the 25thand 26th March, 2019; againstthe backdrop of developments in the global and domestic economic environments in the first quarter of 2019. Eleven members of the Committee were present.
Global Economic Developments
The Committee notedwith concern the weakening performance of global output growth at the end of 2018 and observed that developments in the first quarter of 2019were characterised by legacy headwinds from the second half of 2018. These include: the continued trade war between the US and China, policy uncertainty amongst advanced economy central banks;persisting uncertainties surrounding BREXIT negotiations; vulnerabilities in major financial markets and rising public debt in some Emerging Market and Developing Economies (EMDEs). Consequently, global output growth for 2019 was downgraded by the IMF from 3.7 per cent to 3.5 per cent.
Price developments across major advanced economies, continued to moderate in the review period alongside signals of weakening output growth. In the light of this development, the US Fed, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank retreated from their earlier stance of monetary policy normalisation in favour of a monetary policy accommodation. This led to volatilities in the financial markets of the advanced economies as the balancing of portfolios moved capital from the equities to the bonds market.
The MPC noted the moderate appreciation of the US dollar against the currencies of most advanced and emerging market economies. It further noted the trend of declining long term yields in the US, and the likelihood that capital flows may be redirected to EMDEs in the medium term.
Domestic Output Developments
Output data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicate that real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 2.38 per cent in Q4 2018 from 1.81 and 2.11 per cent in the previous quarter and corresponding period of 2017. The major impetus for growth came from the non-oil sector, which grew by 2.7 per cent in Q4 2018, while the oil sector contracted by 1.62 per cent.
The Committee welcomed the continued positive sentimentsin the Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Indices (PMIs) for the 24th and 23rd consecutive months in March 2019. The manufacturing PMI roseby 57.4 index points compared with 57.1 in the previous month. Similarly, the non-manufacturing PMI increased by 58.5 index points compared with 58.4 in February 2019. The increase in both measures of PMI was driven by increases in production, employment, raw material inventories and new orders. This improved outlook was attributable to the continued stability in the foreign exchange market, various interventions by the Bank in the real sector and the effective implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) by the Federal Government. Furthermore, on the current measure of national output, the MPC noted the need to rebase the GDP, an exercise which was last carried out in 2010.
Developments in Money and Prices
The Committee noted that broad money supply (M2) contracted by 1.98 per cent in February 2019, below its level at end-December 2018.Net Foreign Assets (NFA) contracted by 7.47 per cent in February 2019 relative to its level at end-December 2018. In contrast, M3 grew by 4.31 per cent in February 2019 compared with its level at end-December 2018. Net Domestic Credit also grew by 10.68 per cent in February 2019. The growth in NDC was accounted for by the increase in credit to Government which grew by 17.20 per cent in February 2019 over its level at end-December 2018. Credit to the private sector also rose by 6.41per centcompared with its growthbenchmark of 9.41 per cent. Given the positive trajectory, the Committee urged the Management of the CBN, to sustain the various initiatives of the Bank, particularly the partnership betweenthe Bankers Committee and the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) aimed at establishing a national microfinance bank to cater for the MSMEs of the economy.
The Committee noted the continued moderation in inflation asheadline inflation (year-on-year)declined further to11.31 percentin February 2019from 11.37 and 11.44 per cent in January 2019 and December 2018, respectively.The decreasein headline inflation was driven mainly by food inflation, which declinedto 13.47 per cent in February 2019from 13.51 per cent in January 2019, while coreinflationdeclinedmarginally to 9.80 per centfrom 9.91 per cent in the previous month.On amonth-on-month basis,headline, food and core inflation declined to 0.73, 0.82 and 0.65 per cent in February 2019,respectively, from 0.74, 0.83 and 0.81per centinJanuary 2019. The Committee noted the upside risks to inflation to include; high cost of energy, infrastructure constraints,insecurity in some parts of the country; and anticipated increase in liquidity from the late implementation of the 2018 budget, and noted thatmostof these factors were outside the ambit of monetary policy. The MPC,therefore, urged the Federal Government to sustain its current effort instimulating output growth by executing the policies approved in the ERGP.
The net liquidity position reflected the impact of OMO auctions, foreign exchange interventions, statutory allocations to states and local governments, and maturing CBN Bills. Consequently,the average Inter-bank call rate increasedto 16.45 per cent in February 2019 from 15.00 per cent in January2019. The Open Buy Back (OBB) rate, however, declined marginally to 18.79 per cent in February 2019 from19.71 per cent inJanuary2019.The interbank call rates, however, closed at 8.0 per cent onMarch 8, 2019, while the OBB closed at 14.39 on March 22, 2019.
The Committee noted that inspite of the recent upsurge in capital inflow into the economy, the All-Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalization (MC) continued to decline, reflecting global sentiments in portfolio rebalancing from equities tofixed income securities. This generally reflected theperceived risk at the long end of the yield curve.
The Committee noted with satisfaction, the continued stability in the foreign exchange market atthe Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) window of the market. In particular, italso observed the moderate improvement in oil prices and stable accretion to external reserves, which stood at US$45.2 billion as at March 21, 2019, a 6.73 per cent increase from US$42.35 billion at end-February 2019.
President Muhammadu Buhari has made it clear that those who have been responsible for the incessant building collapses across the country due largely to professional negligence will be made to face the full wrath of the law of the land.
The President, who spoke when he received the leadership of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS), led by Obafemi Onashile, regretted the recent tragic incident in Lagos and many others across the country, where young innocent lives were lost due to incompetence and greed.
“Simply put, no corners must be cut. I want to assure you that those responsible for such incidents of professional negligence will feel the full wrath of the law,’’ he said.
The President welcomed recommendations and suggestions from the Institute on how to enhance the construction industry, directing that they make a formal submission to the Minister of Power, Works and Housing as soon as possible.
He gave assurance that his administration will remain focused and committed to creating an inclusive and diversified economy, even as he thanked Nigerians for clearly expressing their desire to move the nation forward.
“Let me start by thanking you for your kind prayers,’’ the President told members of the Institute, who came to congratulate him on his re-election and pledge their solidarity with his administration.
“Nigerians have clearly spoken of their desire for the country to move forward. On our part, we remain committed to the Change Agenda. By the grace of God, and with your continued prayers and support, the dark days of impunity are gone for good.”
President Buhari highlighted some of his administration’s achievements in stimulating the economy in the past three years, saying that growing the nation’s economy means ‘‘national growth must impact the silent majority.’’
“This is why in the past three years; we focused on key job-creating sectors such as agriculture and infrastructure development.
“You will all recall that our agriculture and infrastructure programmes contributed to our exit from recession. This is a clear example of how, if we push ‘inclusive’ job-creating policies, growth will follow.
“We will remain committed to these and other programmes to ensure the success of our nation is felt by the majority of Nigerians.”
Earlier, the President of NIQS, Onashile appealed to the Federal Government to create a Directorate of Quantity Surveying and Projects Costs Management to address the issue of unclear delineation of professional functions amongst construction professions within the Government.
Onashile also made a case for Quantity Surveyors to be mandated and allowed to undertake cost management of projects of all forms on behalf of Government, among others.
The Institute congratulated the President on his re-election, and expressed its support and ‘‘total confidence in his administration and leadership direction which have brought hope, progress and stability to Nigeria.’’
A highpoint of the visit was the conferment of the Fellowship Grade of the NIQS-the highest cadre of membership- on President Buhari. The President was also honoured with the ‘‘Life Champion of Anti-Corruption Crusade in Nigeria’’ Award.
Bauchi State governor-elect, Bala Mohammed, has confessed that the path his government will tread towards the rapid development of the state will be long and rough, but that it is the task he will accomplish.
Bala Mohammed, who won the election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last Saturday’s supplementary election, defeating the incumbent Governor, Mohammed Abubakar of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said in his acceptance speech after INEC eventually declared him winner: “I shall be honest with you about the challenges we would face because I know the road will be long and rough.”
He said that his government’s priority will be more on human capital development even as he promised to carry out his duties as governor with “dignity and honour.
“Contrary to popular belief, our greatest strength is not our lands or our businesses but our own human capital. I shall consider it not only my duty, but it will be my ardent desire to labour for the empowerment of our teeming youths. It also goes without saying that saving the lives of our women and children remains close to my heart.
“We are indeed at a historic cross road. From 29thMay 2019 and beyond, we shall be even more tested to the utmost. But I am persuaded that we have come to this task better equipped than many; and I promise you that we shall not fail you for want of determination and ideas.
“I pledge to execute the duties of the high office of the Governor of Bauchi State with dignity and honour for the benefit of all our people. As your Governor, I propose to work to earn your respect; I will engage men and women that are best qualified to run an efficient and transparent government, and I shall hold them responsible and accountable to my administration.”
The governor-elect said that he will engage the out-going administration on how to move the state forward, adding “in the coming days and weeks, we shall be engaged with officials of the outgoing government with what would hopefully be a hitch-free transitional exercise. Once we have a clearer picture of the enormity of the task of rebuilding our State.”
Electoral commission officers count votes at Shagari Health Unit polling station in Yola | Credit: AP
The 2019 general election in Nigeria has been described by international and local observers, stakeholders, direct participants and the electorate themselves as a “disappointment”, “ a bad day for democracy”, “a step back from whatever Nigeria may have achieved since the return to civilian rule,”, “a shameful exercise”, “below par”, “an affront on international standards and best practice”… indeed, there is a near-universal consensus that the 2019 elections have failed the test of integrity. However, no one should expect that democracy will produce perfect results: it is in the nature of democracy itself to spring its own surprises and contradictions, be it in the United States which is yet to recover from the issues arising from the 2016 Presidential election, or in the United Kingdom where democracy has created a Brexit crisis and the people are seeking to correct the problem with more democracy, or in Thailand where a military junta and the monarchy seem to have conspired to extend military rule through the vehicle of democracy. But even in these examples, nothing compares to what Nigeria has just gone through or is still going through in the name of democracy.
Since 1999, there has been a concerted effort, and clamour,for the need to strengthen the electoral process, to ensure that the people’s vote counts, and to reduce the menace of electoral malpractice and irregularities. In 2007, the newly elected President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua publicly acknowledged the need to address the crisis to move the country forward. This led to the establishment of the Uwais Committee on Electoral Reform which made far-reaching recommendations on how the electoral process could be improved. The Uwais Report suffered a Nigerian fate. It was swept under the carpet. In the 2011 and 2015 general elections, with Professor Attahiru Jega as the Chair of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Nigeria managed to reduce the scope of electoral abuses. One clear sign would be the relative gradual reduction in the number of election petitions. By 2015, Nigeria’s electoral chiefs were being sought after by other West African countries to help train their election officials, to help manage electoral processes across the sub-region and to offer useful advice. In 2015, the unusual happened when a sitting President and a ruling party lost power at the centre and every one hailed the development as the triumph of democracy.
What was overlooked was the fact that Nigeria’s democracy often described hitherto as “fledgling”, “nascent”, “putative,” in spite of the appearances of progress, had not yet grown in any real sense. It remained a “nascent” democracy. The relevant institutions for delivering credible outcomes were still problematic. We were carried away by the good sense and intentions of temporary leaders, we were carried away by short term achievements of good men, we failed to realize that it is better to keep power in the hands of good institutions and to protect the integrity of the state itself. With the transfer of power to a new set of leaders, the illusion vanished, the situation unravelled. New managers took over the same institutions for electoral processing, and whereas they make the right noises about “free, fair and credible” elections, they have proven to be more desperate for power, strictly Macchiavellian, and ready to use the instruments of state to achieve their objectives, fair or foul. The residue is this: the state cannot be entrusted to the whims and caprices of individuals. The Nigerian state must either evolve or continue to be recursive. Greedy and unfeeling political leaders cannot be trusted.
In 2019, Nigeria took many steps backwards. Every electoral malaise that we have identified over the years was on full display in larger and surprising proportions. The images may not be entirely new, but the scope and character were shocking. Those who have been handed victory may be holding thanksgiving services and prayer sessions, but they obviously know in their hearts, if they have any conscience, that is, that they have not done well at all. We are now in the era of “Inconclusive elections”, but it is, the electoral umpire the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) itself that suffers from this newly discovered disease that is called “inconclusive”, it is the country itself that is “inconclusive” to the extent that it is yet to evolve beyond its original fault lines. The cracks have opened wider, the reign of impunity has been enlarged, the people do not want the worst to happen, so they seem to have opted for the default mode of cowardly acquiescence. “What can we do? I can’t come and kill myself for Nigeria. I beg, let them do whatever they want, is it not just another four years? This is the back-face of voter apathy in Nigeria. The front-face is the brazen manner in which the electorate bartered votes for cash on election day.
In many polling units, voters sold their future at the rate of N2, 500 per year and hence for the next four years, they collected N10, 000. The Nigerian professional political elite has perfected the art of exploiting the people’s poverty for political ends. Where this may not work, the goal was still achieved through violence – in 2019, thuggery was openly declared to be a profession like law, engineering, or medicine, and the state simply looked the other way. More lives were lost in the 2019 Nigerian general election than the casualty rate in the aftermath of the Cyclone Idai that caused massive devastation in the Southern African countries of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. Nigerians found themselves in a situation worse than a state of nature, and they just seem to be moving on. Something is wrong with Nigeria. We need to worry about its future.
Beginning with INEC and its leadership. How is the INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu feeling right now? Those who know him say he is a well-educated man. They describe him as a gentleman. But he has just presided over one of the roughest elections in contemporary Nigerian history. He has taken INEC to the lower depths. He makes Attahiru Jega before him, look like a star. The irony of it all is that Mahmood Yakubu is in addition to being INEC Chairman, the Chairman also of the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC). In that capacity, he has in the last two years, been more or less, the chief electoral officer across West Africa, providing technical support and advice, and getting Nigeria to play a leading role in ensuring sub-regional stability. Wherever he went, the ECOWAS team celebrated him. But here we are: the same Professor Yakubu Mahmood has not been able to provide the same quality of leadership in his own country. I don’t know what the judgment of history would be, but I can see very clearly that only a minority will be satisfied with the performance of INEC under Yakubu Mahmood’s watch. He once boasted that he has conducted over 180 elections since his assumption of office but Nigerians will remember him more for the number of inconclusive elections that he and his team presided over. INEC under his watch, has disappointed Nigerians.
The police failed Nigeria. The military also failed Nigeria. The 2019 general election in Nigeria is won and lost at the expense of the people’s blood. It is indeed comparable to a Boko Haram operation. Nigeria is paying the price for not paying enough attention to the Uwais panel report of 2008. Nigeria is paying the price for refusing to implement the 2014 National Conference Report. Nigeria is paying heavily for refusing to amend the Electoral Act 2010. The spiritually-minded may well add that “Karma is at work.”
Will Nigeria or the government learn any lessons from what has happened so far in these elections? I don’t think so. Have we learnt any lessons yet? No, we haven’t. I think Nigeria and its people will just move on. They will forget very soon and 2023 will not be any different. Amnesia is this country’s principal ailment. The failure of the people is the original source of the failure of the country itself. This is what gives the architects of impunity and violence so much audacity.
II:
The Forgotten and Lonely Change-Agents
Somehow, Nigerians seem to have forgotten some of the valiant men and women who sought to take over the governance of Nigeria at the highest level and who campaigned vigorously for change and progress. The 2019 general election is probably the most intense in Nigerian history, with the largest number of voters – 84 million registered voters we are told, the largest number of political parties – 91, and the largest number of Presidential candidates – 71. It was a general election that broke the statistics on all scores including the number of recorded killings, number of persons injured, the number of inconclusive elections, vote buying, militarization, inconsistency, manipulations and violations.
The change agents expressed their intention to help save Nigeria but they were denied and ignored because they didn’t have the instruments of state and the forces of coercion under their control,
I am worried that many of these gladiators, those change agents who thought they could get involved in the game – that is what it is, to be honest- and make a difference have all been forgotten and abandoned. To tell the truth, they have all been consigned to a lonely place in the corridors of power and history. The Presidential race was reduced to a two-man, two-party race. A 76 –year old Muhammadu Buhari vs. a 72-year old Atiku Abubakar, PDP vs, APC, in a country that is predominantly dominated by youths, with as many as 91 registered political parties. Nigeria’s 2019 Presidential election was a battle of the septuagenarians. And you still wonder where were the youths? They were busy collecting N10, 000 per vote, brandishing machetes, killing people in Rivers, Plateau. Bauchi and Kano. They supported the old men. They sold their souls for cash. Some of them got killed. Many of them have survived and they hope to be compensated for their criminality.
Nigeria must spare a thought for those now forgotten and lonely young men and women who lost out because they did not have the instruments of state under their control. They failed because they could not match the masters of impunity money for money. These change agents, many of them went round Nigeria, but they had no money to give the electorate on election day. Only people who have access to good money and licensed bullion vans win elections jn Nigeria. Now we know that. Many of them were articulate and charismatic. But nobody wins a Presidential election in Nigeria by being articulate. They had big ideas about the future of Nigeria. Nigeria 2019 was not about ideas. It was about brawn, cash and impunity.
As we take stock of the tragedy and the disappointment that has befallen us, it is important that the triumphant crowd, staging hollow victory parties, remembers the true change agents who tried but failed. It is important we pay tribute to those gladiators whose messages of hope and redemption remain nevertheless all-time relevant. Please step forward Emmanuel Etim (38) of the Change Nigeria Party (CNP), Omoyele Sowore (47) of the African Action Alliance (AAC), Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim (49) of the People’s Trust (PT), Kingsley Moghalu (55) of the Young Progressives Party (YPP, Ali Soyode (55) of the Yes Electorates Solidarity (YES), Olufunmilayo Adesanya-Davies (56) of the Mass Joint Action Alliance (MAJA), Adeshina Fagbenro-Byron (59) of the Kowa Party, Obadiah Mailafia (61) of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Fela Durotoye (47) of the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), Tope Fasua (47) of the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), Eunice Atuejide (40) of the National Interest Party (NIP)…. Obiageli Ezekwesili (55) of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), former World Bank staff and former Minister of the Federal Republic was also part of that crowd until she saw the handwriting on the wall, and announced her withdrawal from the race but of course, she was nicely remained by INEC that expression of interest in Nigerian politics is at some point, a trap from which no one can escape.
But all of these key Presidential aspirants/candidates and similar persons at the state and local levels, like Banky W in Lagos, didn’t get any chance to make the significant impact they wanted to make. They were shut out by moneybags, Godfathers, thugs, the threat of violence, and the triumph of impunity. Many of their parties may soon be de-registered in accordance with with the law.
These were men and women who probably suspected that they would not win because of the transactional and pre-bendal nature of Nigerian politics, still they went to the field and spoke their mind. Their message, collectively is clear: they want a different Nigeria, a new Nigeria, a better Nigeria, a Nigeria that serves the interest of the people, not the interest of a cabal. I salute their courage. The future of Nigeria belongs to those persons who take the risk to challenge the status quo. This is our only source of future strength. As we can see – too many activists and radicals in civil society have voted for sheer pragmatism and hope has become the most expensive item in Nigeria today.
Passengers of the British Airways were shocked today, Monday, when they realized that their plane had landed in both the wrong city and the wrong country.
The British Airways flight from London City Airport was supposed to head to Duesseldorf, Germany, but ended up in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.
The airline said today, Monday that the problem started when an incorrect flight plan was filed by WDL Aviation, which operated the flight on behalf of British Airways.
Officials said that the pilot followed the flight plan for Edinburgh, and that air traffic control officials also were following the same flight plan and saw nothing amiss.
WDL aviation said that it was trying to determine the cause of the “obviously unfortunate mix-up.”
The flight was refueled and set off again, this time directly to Duesseldorf.
The Director of Strategic Communications for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo has asked the Inspector General of Police to investigate the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its Presidential candidate in the February 23 Presidential election, Atiku Abubakar over alleged self-confessed hacking of the server of the electoral body; the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In a petition to the police boss and the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Keyamo drew attention to claim by the PDP and Atiku that they won the election by getting 1.6 million more votes than President Muhammadu Buhari.
He called on the police and the DSS to invite, interrogate and investigate the PDP leaders over their admittance of illegal access to the INEC server, saying that the figures being quoted by the PDP were the fake voting figures posted on the server before the postponement of the presidential election on 16 February.
“The only conclusion one can draw from the above is that the PDP had prepared those results which were to be smuggled into the INEC Server. However, the sudden postponement of the election scuttled that evil plan, but it was too late to restrain the release of the fake results”, the letter read.
The full text of the letter by Keyamo, dated March 25, 2019, is reproduced here:
The Inspector-General of Police,
Police Force Headquarters,
Louis Edet House,
Abuja.
2. The Director-General,
Department of State Services,
Aso Drive,
Abuja.
Dear sirs,
PETITION TO INVITE, INTERROGATE AND INVESTIGATE THE PDP LEADERSHIP OVER ITS ADMITTANCE OF ILLEGAL ACCESS TO INEC’S SERVER BACKGROUND
1. It would be recalled that an Electoral (Amendment) Bill containing the provision for electronic transmission of results to INEC’s central computer system (otherwise called “server”) was sent to President Muhammadu Buhari by the National Assembly for assent late in the year 2018.
2. Despite the shortness of time before the Presidential/National Assembly Elections, and the lack of time to first simulate the process to ensure its effectiveness in a country like ours with problems of effective networks in many rural areas and constant failure of technological devices, together with its violation of the time frame of such laws as provided for in regional and continental Protocols in terms of the length of time required for the passage of such laws before any major election, the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party was hell-bent that the President should sign the Bill into law.
That was the first indication that the main opposition was up to something sinister regarding the electronic transmission of the results.
3. Upon the last-minute postponement of the February 16, 2019 Presidential/National Assembly Elections, the nation was shocked to see already prepared presidential elections results floating around in the cyber space just less than 24 hours after the postponed election was originally billed to hold! The fake results had details of the scores of the candidates of the major parties.
Of course, the fake results gave victory to the candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, even when elections did not hold. Breaking: N2.5b fraud: DSS finally releases Aisha Buhari’s ADC to police
4. The only conclusion one can draw from the above is that the PDP had prepared those results which were to be smuggled into the INEC Server. However, the sudden postponement of the election scuttled that evil plan, but it was too late to restrain the release of the fake results.
PDP And APC RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
5. The proper elections were held on February 23, 2019 and President Muhammadu Buhari declared the winner. Despite the approval of the elections as credible by nearly all local and international observers (except some few known PDP acolytes masquerading as local observers), the PDP cried foul and made a shocking claim: it claimed that from purported results it obtained from INEC’s server, it has so-called proof that its candidate won the election by about 1.6 million votes!
6. Shockingly and coincidentally, this margin was about the same margin by which it also purportedly “won” by the fake results released just hours after the postponement of the February 16, 2019 Presidential/National Assembly Elections.
7. As if this expensive joke was not enough, the PDP and its Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, have gone ahead to file an Election Petition against the clear victory of President Muhammadu Buhari and have repeated the same outlandish claim of having access to INEC’s server which shows that they have some purported results at their disposal giving “victory” to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
8. Sirs, we wish you to note that INEC’s server is the back end of electronic records of INEC. This is not INEC’s website but its server! Although, the purported results have been conclusively shown by public engagements to be false and even ridiculous, especially as the total number of accredited voters is exactly equivalent to the purported votes of the APC and PDP candidates, this criminal claim of the PDP has revealed a few things:
(a). It is now clear that some criminally-minded PDP operatives have access to the INEC server to be able to smuggle in fake results into that server.
(b) The only means by which they could have access to the INEC server is by the criminal hacking of the server or through the criminal conspiracy of some INEC officials.
PRAYERS
The APC Presidential Campaign Council hereby prays that the Inspector-General of Police and the Director-General of the Department of State Services use your good offices to investigate the hacking of and/or illegal tampering with the INEC server by the PDP. The leadership of the PDP must be invited, interrogated and investigated and those identified as perpetrators must be arrested and prosecuted. Opposition is healthy in a democracy but it is not a license for criminality and illegality. A country governed by laws cannot be blackmailed or cowed into indolence by the perceived underdog status of the opposition so as to condone such a blatant criminal claim by the PDP of having illegal access to INEC’s server. We trust you will act with alacrity.
A pressure and lobby group, Justice Advocacy Group (JAG), has advised the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to give political offices in the 9th Assembly to reflect regional balancing.
In a statement today, Monday by the coordinator, Akintunde Lawal, the group said that Nigeria cannot afford a repeat of the feud that characterized the eighth assembly where the leadership of the National Assembly and the executive could not work together in the interest of the nation.
“Now that APC has won the elections, the critical issues should be how the APC will deliver to the electorates the dividends of democracy.
“So what the party leaders need to do is to allocate key offices to respect geopolitical sensitivity and standing among geopolitical zones,” he said.
Lawal advised that the party should guide against the crisis that characterized the 8th assembly, stressing that the incoming legislature cannot afford any unnecessary feisty political relationship with the executive and to forestall this, the APC leadership must do what is right.
“There must be justice and fairness as enshrined in the constitution of the party and Nigerian constitution”
“As it is now, the North West has the President while the South West has the Vice President and the National Leader of the APC leaving Four Zones bare.
“So it is incumbent on the party to reflect political balancing in considering the leadership of the 9th Assembly.
“All the zones must be considered on the basis of equity as enshrined in the APC constitution.”
He referred to section 14, sub section 1;1c;3 & 4 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as ammended) and article 7; sub (i); (ii); (ix) (xii) of the APC’s Constitution, and warned that the party should comply with the provisions.
He noted that ceding the positions to the appropriate zones “would not amount to sacrificing competence but strengthening the foundation of democracy in the country.
“It is important that every geopolitical zone in the country has a sense of belonging,” stressing further that politics “also recognizes the number of votes and therefore every zone must be recognized on the basis of their contributions to the party”.
In the just concluded Presidential election the North West APC comprising seven states produced 5, 995, 651 representing 72.45% of the votes cast; North East comprising six states produced 3,238,783 votes representing 74.36%; North Central comprising six dates produced 2,465,599 votes representing 54.92%; South West comprising six states produced 2,036,450 votes representing 53.41%; South East comprising five states produced 403, 968 votes representing 19.26% and South South comprising six states produced 1,051,396 votes representing 32.01%.
Lawal said that “if APC goes into the election of principal officers in the National Assembly with a divided house, it will be detrimental not only to the party but the 9th Assembly.
“It must be noted that a divided APC will be very vulnerable and the opposition parties can spring surprises during the elections yet again suggesting that the APC would not have allowed experience to be the best teacher.
“President Buhari and the leadership of the party will do well to consider the implications of a repeat of the scenario of the last four years.”
The national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, has vowed to confine the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to proper minority status in the ninth National Assembly.
He that said the ruling party will ensure that all the leadership positions in the National Assembly, including chairmen of committees, except the ones that are statutorily reserved for opposition, are occupied by APC members.
The APC boss, who spoke on Monday at an interactive session with newly elected members in the House of Representatives at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, said that the APC is aware of the clandestine meetings already being held by the PDP to plot how to infiltrate APC ranks for pecuniary gains.
He made it clear that the APC national leadership is determined to checkmate any such attempt by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to apply the tactics it used in 2015 to pick up plum positions in the National Assembly.
“We will not share power in the House of Representatives and the leadership must ensure that critical committees that drive government are chaired only by APC members. If the Nigerian people wanted PDP to be chairmen of committees they would have voted for them.”
Oshiomhole said that in the 9th National Assembly, APC will not allow disunity amongst its members, adding that “PDP and other minority parties can have their say but working together, APC must have it way in legislative agenda, in the leadership of the National Assembly and the leadership of the committees in the National Assembly”.
The APC national chairman said that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari will require the full support of the legislature to ensure that it delivers on the fight against corruption, insecurity and other key promises made to Nigerians.
“So all the chairmen of committees, except one that is statutory reserve for opposition , which is Public Account, they can have that. So, we would not do the kind of thing that happened the last time in which some APC members as members of the leading party became distance spectators in the management of committees, when PDP had majority of the strategic committees in the House, that will not happen in the next Assembly.
“We are aware that they believe tbey can use the divide and rule by sponsoring many people within our ranks to contest for some of the positions so that they then become the king maker and in return the person will offer them some chairmanship seats. Honourable members and comrades, I am sure you are not going to do business with them. We will see them as partners in progress but in democracy the rule is, and it is a universal rule, majority must have their way but minority must be allowed to have their say.”
Out of the 223 members of the APC in the incoming House of Representatives, 164 are first timers, while 59 are reelected members. Oshiomhole said that the National Working Committee of the party is going to consult President Buhari as well as other party leaders in an effort to arrive at an appropriate zoning formula.
“We will work out a sensible zoning formular that seels to carry everybody along and give people chances to demonstrate their capacities and their capabilities. We are working on that.
“Somebody told me the opposition party people are already doing something, raising money to bribe people and I said, no, we are anti corruption, we cannot be corrupted. If they bring one billion naira to each member, PDP person will not be Speaker, a PDP person will not be Deputy Speaker, a PDP person will not be Whip, a PDP person will not be Leader and a PDP person will not take any of the Committees that are meant for the ruling party. We are determined to achieve that and be rest assured that the party will stand by you.”
Responding, one of the coordinators of the newly Elected APC House of Representatives Forum and a member from Ondo state, Olubumi Tunde Ojo, assured the leadership of the party of the support of members.
The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, lamented that between 2011 and 2015, a total of sum of over N1.3 trillion was stolen by 32 entities.
Magu, in his keynote address at the opening ceremony of the 2019 First Batch Conversion Training Programme to Procurement Cadre for Federal Parastatal and Agencies, organized by the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, in Lagos today, Monday, said: “one third of this money, using world bank rates and cost, could have comfortably been used to construct well over 500km of roads; build close to 200 schools; educate about 4000 children from primary to tertiary levels at N25million per child; build 20,000 units of two-bedroom houses across the country and do even more.
“The cost of this grand theft, therefore, is that these roads, schools and houses will never be built and these children will never have access to quality education because a few rapacious individuals had cornered for themselves what would have helped secure the lives of the future generations, thereby depriving them of quality education and healthcare, among others.”
The EFCC boss said that he poor state of the procurement process in Nigeria has been one of the major reasons why corruption has continued to thrive in government agencies and parastatals.
He said that the training, organised by the BPP was aimed at giving the participants the tools, knowledge and understanding they would need to carry out their duties in their respective places of primary assignments in an efficient and transparent manner.
“I sincerely hope that at the end of this training, we will see a few cases of financial propriety in our procurement processes in government agencies and parastatal. Indeed, corruption could kill Nigeria, if we do not scale up our proficiency in contract and procurement management process.” Magu said that the establishment of the EFCC in 2003 was because of the determination of the Federal Government to combat fraudulent activities of some Nigerians and foreigners, mismanagement in the economic sector, corruption by public officials and lack of accountability and transparency in government dealings.
He identified some of the fraudulent practices in procurement processes in Nigeria to include: kickbacks, conflict of interests, fraud in the bidding process, bid suppression, collusive bidding, bid rotation and market division. Others according to him are: co-mingling of contracts, change order abuse, cost mischarging, defective pricing, false statement and claim, phantom vendors, product substitution, unnecessary purchases and purchases for personal use or resale.
Magu expressed confidence that Nigeria still has patriotic and credible individuals who would do all within their abilities to uphold the credibility and honesty required for leadership in public offices.
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President Muhammadu Buhari has made it clear that those who have been responsible for the incessant building collapses across the country due largely to professional negligence will be made to face the full wrath of the law of the land.
Bauchi State governor-elect, Bala Mohammed, has confessed that the path his government will tread towards the rapid development of the state will be long and rough, but that it is the task he will accomplish.
Passengers of the British Airways were shocked today, Monday, when they realized that their plane had landed in both the wrong city and the wrong country.
A pressure and lobby group, Justice Advocacy Group (JAG), has advised the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to give political offices in the 9th Assembly to reflect regional balancing.
