Public Affairs Analyst

  As an election expert with a root in Nigeria’s civil society, I often get invited to discuss both national and international elections on various media channels. What was however surprising to me was that the raft of invitations I got to discuss the 2020 US elections especially the presidential poll. Conservatively, I must have granted about 20 interviews on this year’s US presidential election with a record high seven interviews granted last Monday, November 9, 2020 to major TV and radio stations. What do the Nigerian media want to know about the US elections? They asked me about the lessons learnt, potential impact of Joe Biden’s presidency on Nigeria, nay Africa, likely economic implications of Biden’s presidency on Africa as well as what his emergence as the 46th US president meant for international relations and politics. No doubt, the victory of Biden and Kamala Harris as president-elect and vice president-elect after the nerve-wracking November 3, 2020 presidential poll ...

  On Tuesday, October 27, 2020, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), officially reappointed Prof. Mahmood Yakubu as the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission. In an official communication to the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, the President said he was making the appointment in consonance with the provisions of Section 154 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). This appointment has been widely commended. However, did the President fulfil all righteousness in making that appointment? NO! Section 154(3) of the Nigerian Constitution says, “In exercising his powers to appoint a person as Chairman or member of the Independent National Electoral Commission, the National Judicial Service Council, the Federal Judicial Service Commission or the National Population Commission, the President shall consult the Council of State”.   To the best of my knowledge, the last Council of State meeting held in accordance...

  Do Nigerians trust their elected and appointed political leaders? Not much. Many Nigerians are very cynical and sceptical about whatever policies, programmes and projects government may initiate. Do you blame the citizens? Please don’t. Government at all levels hasn’t earned the people’s trust and confidence over the decades. This month marks 60 years of the country’s political independence and there isn’t much to show for it in terms of development. The much-touted dividends of democracy have been elusive and as such people are generally disillusioned and disenchanted. THE #EndSARS protests and their unsavoury aftermath are pointers to the trust deficit in government. When the protests began a couple of weeks back, they started off on the social media and escalated to street protests. Though the federal and state governments acted fast to calm frayed nerves by quickly acceding to the five initial requests of the #EndSARS protesters, the youths who participated in that epochal ...

 This interview, published in The Guardian of Nigeria today was granted last Thursday's (October 22) afternoon.  ‘FG Should Begin Restructuring Process Once Dust Settles’ Jide Ojo is the Executive Director of OJA Development Consult and the former Programme Manager with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). In this interview with ONYEDIKA AGBEDO, Ojo, who is also a public affairs analyst, says restructuring the country would bring an end to bad governance and the kind of violence witnessed by Nigerians following the #EndSARS protest. What would you blame for the state of affairs in the country with regard to the #EndSARS protest that turned violent in many states? It is the mishandling of the situation that has led to this our sorry state. We have more than 10 intelligence agencies in Nigeria. If they had done proper security threat assessment, if they had actually done their mapping very well, they should have picked intelligence on what may likely be...

  Rebellion cannot take place without a feeling that somehow, in some ways, you’re justified   – Albert Camus. The last time Nigeria witnessed the kind of volcanic uprising currently going on around the country was in 1993 after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election which Bashorun MKO Abiola won. Pronto was the formation of National Democratic Coalition better known as NADECO. Many of the South-West states were grounded by protests from the pro-democracy groups. At that time, labour unions weighed in. I recalled that there were workers strike with NUPENG, PENGASSAN, NARTO playing pivotal roles as there was no lifting of crude oil and refined petroleum products thereby forcing people to trek long distances. As an undergraduate of the University of Lagos then, I joined in the protest around the Yaba area before all schools were shut and we were dislodged from our hostels on campus. During the June 12 protests, you would think Armageddon had come as all s...

  The long-awaited October 10, 2020 Ondo State governorship election has been held, won and lost. The incumbent governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, better known as Aketi of the All Progressives Congress, polled 292,830 votes to defeat his main rival, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Eyitayo Jegede, who scored 195,791 votes, and Agboola Ajayi of the Zenith Labour Party, who recorded 69,127 votes. Akeredolu won outright in 15 out of the 18 local government councils. He however had the constitutionally required 25 per cent of valid vote cast in the entire 18 local government areas apart from having the highest number of votes. Though there were 17 candidates in the election, it ended up being a two-horse race, as predicted on this column last week. Indeed, the election demystified both Ajayi and his main backer, former governor Olusegun Mimiko. Ajayi could not win his Southern Senatorial District or any local government including his own, Ese Odo. Mimiko in his ...

  The die is cast! The Ondo State governorship election scheduled for October 10, 2020 remains 72 hours away. Who will be the next occupant of Alagbaka Government House in Akure? Will Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu popularly known as Aketi be able to retain his seat or will any of the other 16 contestants be able to dislodge him? Will the Independent National Electoral Commission be able to outperform its Edo State best of September 19, 2020? Will there be better voter turnout in Ondo than the less than 26 per cent voter turnout in Edo? A brief history of the state will suffice here. Ondo State, nicknamed the “Sunshine State”, was created from the defunct Western Region on February 3, 1976. It originally included what is now Ekiti State, which was carved out in 1996. Ondo State occupies a land area of about 15,500km² (6,000sq. ml) with a population of 3,441,924 people according to the 2006 census. The state has 18 Local Government Areas with each of the three senatorial districts...