Public Affairs Analyst

It’s 72 hours to the Election Day and what seems like an unending journey to polls will finally take place on March 28 and April 11, 2015. When the Independent National Electoral Commission chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, announced a six-week polls shift on February 7, it seemed like eternity but here we are. There is a saying that only a date that is not fixed does not come. In the intervening period, we have seen the Nigerian armed forces breaking the backbone of the insurgent group, Boko Haram, recovering lost territories from the Islamic sect and boasting that never again will the terrorist group be allowed to lay claim to any part of Nigeria. Though the military seem to have gained the upper hand in dealing with the insurgents, the question on the lips of many analysts are, why do we have to wait for this long to deal fatal blow on Boko Haram considering that the sect had practically been operating with impunity since 2009? The six-week shift has also afforded INEC an opportunit...

“All of us here have passed through the electoral process furnace before now…and I suspect we would mostly agree that never before have we been subjected to this level of sheer venom, crudity of vulgar abuse of language in such prodigal quantities as in this current political exercise. The very gift of communication, considered the distinguishing mark of cultured humanity even in polemical situations, has been debased, affecting even thought processes, I often suspect.” –Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, at a book launch recently. On Monday, March 16, 2015, I was a guest on a radio programme anchored by a popular presenter, Inya Ode, on Nigeria Info 95.1 FM Abuja. For an hour and a half, we discussed the ugly phenomenon of hate speech in the context of the ongoing electoral campaign. The programme which was live also had audience phoning in and sending messages via social media – Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp. I was pleasantly educated by the in-depth knowledge of Nigerians abo...

The judgment of Justice Ahmed Mohammed of Abuja Federal High Court last Wednesday to the effect that Young Democratic Party, a hitherto political association, be accorded due rights and privileges of a political party came to many as a surprise. The learned judge had posited that the YDP was deemed registered when the Independent National Electoral Commission failed to inform its promoters of its decision not to register it as a political party within 30 days of receiving its application, as required under Section 78 (4) of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended. INEC was said to have received the association’s application on April 1, 2014 but only notified the applicant of its decision not to register it on September 15, 2014. I am saddened by this news. I believe the electoral commission should have known better rather than delay the communication of the defect of the application of the political association to its founders within the 30 days stipulated by law. ADVERTISEMENT A...

All seems set for the conduct of the 2015 polls on February 14 and 28 before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega announced a six weeks postponement on Saturday, February 7, 2015. INEC chairman cited the fact that the military had written to him through the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (Retd.) that they will not be able to provide adequate security for the elections should the elections go on as earlier scheduled. The military wanted more time to rout the insurgency in North-East Nigeria which has 14 local governments under its control. It would be recalled that the National Security Adviser had earlier advised INEC to shift the polls to enable about 30 million Nigerians who are yet to collect their Permanent Voters Card to do so. He said this on January 22 while speaking at Chatam House in London. It’s been some three weeks into the postponement. Was Jega right to postpone the polls? Was INEC actually ready for the Fe...

It’s some 24 days to the rescheduled presidential and National Assembly elections and among the most trending issues are the planned removal of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, the controversies over the distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards and the use of Smartcard Readers by INEC for accreditation purpose. Another trending issue is the proposed Interim National Government in the event that elections are not held as scheduled on or before April 28, 2015 in consonance with Sections 76 (2), 116(2), 132(2), 178(2) of the Constitution. Starting with the call for Jega’s sack, this information which started as a rumour weeks back gained prominence when the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly, led by a one-time information minister, Chief Edwin Clark, made the demand at a press briefing in Abuja on February 5, 2015. The SNPA accused Jega of conniving with northern leaders to rig Jonathan out of the election. News report has it that the ...

This was my response to posers from Sunday Newswatch correspondent Kehinde Adegoke. The interview was published on page 11 and 12 of the newspaper in its edition of March 1, 2015 under the title’ NPC needs financial autonomy.’ No credible population census has ever been conducted in Nigeria I agree with the position of Eze Festus Odimegwu that Nigeria has been lacking in accurate census since inception. We have had about 15 censuses to date and all of them have been steeped in controversies. This is because National Census has been a political and economic instrument. Political in the sense that it gives voting advantage to a more populous community. It also forms the basis of creation of state and local government council. It is also the basis for delimitation of electoral constituencies particularly State House of Assembly and Federal House of Representatives constituencies. Economic wise, it is the census figure that is used for national planning and resource allocation. T...