Public Affairs Analyst

  The Edo State governorship election held last Saturday, September 19, 2020 has been won and lost. Governor Godwin Obaseki of the Peoples Democratic Party won his reelection bid by polling 307,955 votes to defeat his arch-rival, Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the All Progressives Congress, who had 223,619 votes; a difference of 84,336 votes. Obaseki also won outright in 13 of the 18 local government areas and thus scored more than 25 per cent of votes cast in two-thirds of the local governments in the state. Fourteen candidates contested in the election but predictably it turned out to be a two-horse race between the incumbent governor and his main challenger, Ize-Iyamu. Obaseki will be sworn in for a second term on November 12, 2020. I have been doing media analysis of the poll before, during and after the election. On one of the radio stations, I was asked to do a comparative analysis of the governorship election in 2016 and that of 2020. My take on that are as follows: In 2016, 19 candi...

In July 2019, we announced the imposition of visa restrictions on Nigerians, who undermined the February and March 2019 elections. Today, the Secretary of State is imposing additional visa restrictions on individuals for their actions surrounding the November 2019 Kogi and Bayelsa State elections and in the run-up to the September and October 2020 Edo and Ondo states’ elections. These individuals have so far operated with impunity at the expense of the Nigerian people and have undermined democratic principles.” –   Spokesperson for the US Department of State, Morgan Ortagus, on Monday, September 14, 2020 It’s countdown to the September 19, 2020 governorship election in Edo State. The journey on the tortuous road to Osadebey House, which is the seat of power in Edo State, began on February 6, 2020 when the Independent National Electoral Commission announced the date for the election and subsequently released the timetable and schedule of activities. Some of the activities that...

  “Because of the problems of the privatisation exercise, the government has had to keep supporting the largely privatised electricity industry. So far, to keep the industry going, we have spent close to N1.7tn especially by way of supplementing tariff shortfalls. We simply do not have the resources at this time to continue in this way. And it will be grossly irresponsible to borrow to subsidise generation and distribution which are both privatised.” – President Muhammadu Buhari at his second-term First Year Ministerial Performance Review Retreat in Abuja on Monday, September 7, 2020 Since the increments in the price of Premium Motor Spirit and electricity were announced in quick succession last week by relevant authorities, many Nigerians have kicked against the move as being very insensitive, ill-timed and punitive from a government which promised ‘change’ and ‘Next Level’. In fact, a group in Osogbo, Osun State, mobilised and held a peaceful protest asking the Federal Govern...

  The last four months of the year – September, October, November and December – are usually called the ‘ember months. Not a few people have the superstitious belief that the aforementioned months are dangerous, evil and notorious. It is believed that a lot of bad things happen during this period. There are those who are of the view that it is the harvest season for the “forces of darkness”. Thus, a lot of prayer sessions are organised by religious groups to ward off the potential evil. Ironically, there is no scientific proof of this. In actual fact, atrocities associated with these months are man-made and avoidable. . Quite a lot of things may have led to the belief that ‘ember months are to be dreaded. It is a season that marks the end of the rainy season and the beginning of the dry season. During this period, there is a lot of fog or mist which dims visibility. Thus, there are a lot of vehicular accidents during this season not because of any spiritual reason though, but lar...