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...

The much awaited February 23, 2019 presidential and National Assembly elections have held with incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari most likely to retain his seat going by the already collated results as of the time of writing this piece. I was a Nigeria Women Trust Fund accredited domestic observer in the elections and have been doing media rounds commenting on the elections. I have mixed feelings about the polls but first, what are those things that went well during the polls? Nigerians were enthusiastic about the elections and turned out in large numbers to cast their ballot. In many polling units, they were even there before the opening of polls at 8am. There was priority voting for the Persons with Disabilities, the elderly people, pregnant women, and nursing mothers. In order to guarantee an inclusive electoral process, there was braille ballot for the visually impaired who can use it, and, there were also magnifying glasses for persons with albinism. Internally Displaced Per...

There is no bigger trending news in the country other than the provocative postponement of last Saturday’s national elections till the coming Saturday.   The Independent National Electoral Commission has raised our hopes to high heavens only to dash it at the very last minute. Outrage, vituperations and tongue-lashing rented the air since last Saturday. People are justifiably angry over the disappointing false start to a long awaited exercise. This newspaper was very apt when it said in yesterday’s editorial that “The cost to the economy and the implications to our political development and global reputation are enormous. One estimate puts the loss to Gross Domestic Product at N7.73 trillion for Saturday alone, which will be repeated every Election Day when the country is locked down. An economist, Bismark Rewane, calculates a further “opportunity cost” loss of $4 billion to $5 billion for businesses.   Companies, individuals and groups have been put in disarray, just as s...

The die is cast! It’s now 72 hours to the D-Day! The long-awaited 2019 general election is here with us. On my own part, while the political parties and candidates have been mounting the soap boxes at campaign rallies trying their best to woo voters, I have been busy building the capacity of election stakeholders including the media, civil society groups and security agencies. I have also been behind microphones on many radio and television stations educating, sensitising and mobilising for peaceful and successful polls. There are many things unique in the forthcoming elections. The elections will go down in Nigerian history as the costliest. A whopping N242bn has been earmarked for the polls by the Federal Government, N189bn of that sum goes to the Independent National Electoral Commission while the remaining N53bn is shared out to the various security agencies ranging from the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Nigeria Police, the Department of State Services, the Niger...