Public Affairs Analyst

There is no gainsaying the fact that corruption is very endemic in Nigeria. Otherwise, the menace will never have featured in electoral campaigns in this part of the world. If there is no corruption, there would be no need to establish anti-corruption agencies, such as the Police, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal, and the Bureau of Public Procurement, among others. One sector in Nigeria that is reeking of corrupt practices is land and housing. Try purchase plot of land from individuals in Nigeria’s urban centres and you’ll be lucky not to be duped by greedy landowners and their agents who, in many instances, sell same plot of land to many prospective buyers. This ugly phenomenon, which is most pronounced in Lagos State, has spread to many other towns and cities across the country.   Buying land from private developers is not without its own headaches as the many a...

There are several things that make the 2019 general election unique. This sixth general election in this Fourth Republic is the first to be conducted by the Prof. Mahmood Yakubu led Independent National Electoral Commission. Although since coming into office in November 2015, the Yakubu led team had conducted 196 off season governorship and other by-elections. The announcement of the date for this year’s general election was made two years ago, precisely on March 9, 2017. This election was the most planned for. It started with the INEC Strategic Plan 2017 – 2021; thereafter, there were Election Management System, Election Project Plan and Elections Operations Support Centre. The 2019 general election is the costliest in Nigeria’s history of elections. Officially, federal government bankrolled the elections with a whooping N242bn. N189bn of that sum went to the INEC while the remaining N53bn was shared by the security agencies for the purpose of election security.   This is outs...

Finally, the Independent National Electoral Commission concluded the 2019 general elections last Saturday, March 9, 2019   with the governorship elections held   in 29 states, state assembly polls in 991 constituencies, six Federal Capital Territory Area Council chairmanship positions and   as well as 62 Councilors seats. Though the elections were not without flaws, they were however successful, credible, largely peaceful and reflected the wish of a majority of the voters and contestants. Indeed, the elections were held in substantial compliance with the electoral laws. On the flip side, the elections recorded significant incidents of violence across some states, actions which necessitated cancellations of some of the results. According to the INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, while addressing the Inter Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security last Thursday, March 7, 2019, “The commission is concerned that many of our materials, including ballot boxes, vo...

President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election on February 23 did not come to me as a surprise. It actually should not amaze any keen observer of political development in Nigeria. The President had a lot going for him. His integrity, power of incumbency and above everything he had built up a lot of social capital ahead of the poll. I am not saying this as an afterthought, those media houses who interviewed me ahead of the election knew I said this long before now. What did people think President Buhari was doing when he corrected the errors of 25 years by moving Nigeria’s Democracy Day from May 29 to June 12 and conferred the highest national honour, Grand Commander of the Federal Republic,   on Chief MKO Abiola, the winner of June 12, 1993 presidential election?    Not only that, he also conferred the second highest   national honour, Grand Commander of the Order of Nigeria, on the renowned human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi and Abiola’s running mate, Babagan...