Tag: Politics

Nigeria: 61 Political Parties Reject INEC 2019 Draft Election Guidelines
Nigeria

Nigeria: 61 Political Parties Reject INEC 2019 Draft Election Guidelines

About 61 political parties have clashed with INEC over its proposed election guidelines. The parties under the auspices of the  Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) rejected the proposed guidelines and presented their demands. The demands as released by the council reads as follows: Political parties clash with INEC over 8 obnoxious clauses inserted into the election guidelines that will ruin the 2019 elections. ...Political parties demand retention of 2011 and 2015 separate accreditation time and separate voting time to help forstall rigging with the presence of voters at the polling unit instead of INEC 2019 simultaneous accreditation and voting. ....Political parties demands announcement of accreditation figures by 12noon on election day and recorded in a signed form and given ...
Opinion: Clouds of War Gathering Over Nigeria by Alhaji Bashir Tofa
News, Nigeria

Opinion: Clouds of War Gathering Over Nigeria by Alhaji Bashir Tofa

The clouds of war are gathering with blood sucking gods that follow the perching of vultures. Vultures from Europe, vultures from England, vultures from Asia, yes, vultures from America that deal on arms. With eyes constantly fixed on any trouble spot in the world. They’re are hopefully praying to extend their business from Tripoli to Abuja. This is because, Nigeria is fast ascending to the very path that Freetown took. The path that ruined Congo and Libya. The expressway to Rwanda, that is the path Nigeria is fast speeding into. Yet, this path is not a new path to us. It’s a familar terrain that we have taken before. In 1966, long before even the Rwandan path was paved. We wasted over 3 million people as hundreds of innocent souls were slaughtered before even the war started. Long befo...
Nigeria: Buhari Has Done Well for South-East and South-South Geopolitical Zones – Gov. Obiano
News, Nigeria

Nigeria: Buhari Has Done Well for South-East and South-South Geopolitical Zones – Gov. Obiano

The Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the progress of work on the construction of the second Niger Bridge. He said the President had done well for the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones. Obiano stated this during an inspection visit of the project in Onitsha, Anambra State. He expressed satisfaction with the standard and pace of work on the project. The governor said he was confident that the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari would deliver on the job as scheduled. He noted that the bridge, when completed, would not only boost the economic activities of the South-East and South-South but that of the country at large. Obiano said, “I have no choice but to praise President Muhammadu Buhari for his...
2019 Election: Commotion, Walk Out and Fight Engulf INEC Chairman Meeting with 91 Political Party Chairmen
News, Nigeria

2019 Election: Commotion, Walk Out and Fight Engulf INEC Chairman Meeting with 91 Political Party Chairmen

Party chairmen accuse INEC of doctoring/tampering with guideline for 2019 election on accreditation procedures. Party chairmen demands list of Collected PVC before election Party Chairmen wants Amina to step Down as head of collation unit . Party Chairmen want IGP sacked. The ongoing meeting of the leadership of INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) led by Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and National Chairmen of 91 Political Parties snowballed into crisis over the issue of production of the Guideline without the consultation and notification of the chairmen of Political Parties who saw the guideline smuggled into the meeting with obnoxious clauses and strange inclusions that will lead to massive rigging of the 2019 election. Trouble started when Ikeng...
Opinion: It’s Amaechi’s Voice but It was Doctored by Olawale Olaleye
News, Nigeria

Opinion: It’s Amaechi’s Voice but It was Doctored by Olawale Olaleye

What you have been listening to is the doctored version of his encounter with the blackmailers, who had been on his case in over five months, asking for money and threatening to release the tape close to the election period. Since my brother and friend, the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi started trending with a supposedly leaked audio, where he was heard crucifying his principal, President Muhammadu Buhari, friends and colleagues had sent me different versions, seeking to know if it was his voice. I'm confirming that now. It's his voice. Oh, they also wanted to know if he actually said those things about the president. Again, he did, clearly not in the context of what has been flying around. What you have been listening to is the doctored version of his encounter w...
Opinion: The Elevation of Incompetence – By Shaka Momodu
News, Nigeria

Opinion: The Elevation of Incompetence – By Shaka Momodu

There is a struggle going on in Nigeria. It is a struggle between two evils – one, less so with a touch of human face and the other, extremely so – aloof, insensitive, unfeeling, deeply hypocritical and incompetent on a level never before seen in our country. My dilemma is not so much with choosing between the two, but about some people’s warm embrace of the latter. Ordinarily, one would think that the less dangerous of the two would be more attractive to many people. But I have been shocked by some people’s blind craving for danger masked in superlative adjectives of integrity, character, honesty, etc. I must confess that I have been struggling to understand the rationale and motive of some of these people for their willful blind support for a man whose legendary lack of competence and...
Gabon: Coup Attempt Foiled, Situation Under Control – Gabonese Government
Gabon, News, Security

Gabon: Coup Attempt Foiled, Situation Under Control – Gabonese Government

A spokesperson for the government of Gabon has said the political situation in the country is "under control", following an attempted coup. Guy-Bertrand Mapangou told the BBC that four of the rebels had been arrested by the authorities. A fifth is on the run. Junior officers claimed they seized power "to restore democracy" in oil-rich Gabon, where the ailing leader's family has ruled for 50 years. Tanks and armed vehicles could be seen in the capital Libreville. The soldiers took control of the national radio station at 04:30 local time (03:30 GMT) to read a short statement announcing a "National Restoration Council". Current leader Ali Bongo succeeded his father Omar Bongo as president in 2009. He narrowly won re-election in 2016 in a poll marred by violence and accusations...
Everyone is Suffering Under Buhari, Nigeria Will Never Change – Rotimi Ameachi in Leaked Audio
News, Nigeria

Everyone is Suffering Under Buhari, Nigeria Will Never Change – Rotimi Ameachi in Leaked Audio

Nigeria’s transport minister, Rotimi Amaechi, has been heard in an audio recording to be expressing shocking pessimistic views about Nigeria and the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, whose re-election bid he leads. Phrank Shaibu, a spokesperson for the Atiku Abubakar campaign made the recording available to the press. Mr Abubakar, billionaire former vice-president, of the Peoples Democratic Party, is the main challenger of Mr Buhari, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, in next month’s presidential election. The recording contains a portrayal of Mr Buhari as a dismal failure who has been unable to meet the expectations of various segments of the society, ending with a dismissal of Nigeria as a never-going-to-change hopeless nation. https://youtu.be/XJbX68...
Nigeria: Amina Zakari is Lying About her Relationship with Buhari by Farooq Kperogi
Corruption, News, Nigeria

Nigeria: Amina Zakari is Lying About her Relationship with Buhari by Farooq Kperogi

Mrs. Amina Zakari just said to the BBC, “I’m not [Buhari’s] niece.” That’s flat-out mendacious. And it puts a huge question mark on her honesty, probity, and trustworthiness. A person who can lie this casually about something as basic and as verifiable as her relationships is disreputable and unworthy of the responsibility she's been entrusted with at INEC. So what is the truth? In a December 27, 2018 article, Mohammed Haruna, former Daily Trust columnist and current INEC commissioner, confirmed that President Muhammadu Buhari’s biological sister was once married to Mrs. Amina Zakari’s father. That makes Amina Buhari’s niece. This is the definition of a niece in the Oxford English Dictionary: “A daughter of one's brother or sister, or of one's brother-in-law or sister-in-law.” Amina...
Opinion: INEC’s Troubling Missteps Amid Aso Rock’s Desperation by Farooq A. Kperogi
News, Nigeria

Opinion: INEC’s Troubling Missteps Amid Aso Rock’s Desperation by Farooq A. Kperogi

There is a noticeable whirl of feverish desperation in the Presidential Villa. No perceptive person can miss that.  From indiscriminately arresting and detaining political opponents and critics, to squelching dissent in the traditional news media through blackmail and threats, to undisguisedly deploying security forces in the service of overt partisan agendas, it’s now starkly transparent that the Buhari regime is not interested in or prepared for a fair electoral contest.  The starker the reality of impending electoral defeat stares the regime in the face, the more extreme the intensity of its desperation becomes. All the institutions that are crucial to a free and transparent election are now compromised. For instance, service chiefs, who are required by law to be apolitical, attended...