Fear Of Electoral Violence In 2027

 By Tonnie Iredia

Since December 12, 1959 when the first national pre-independence elections were held in Nigeria till today, we have had no election without citizens losing sleep and remaining exceedingly anxious over electoral violence. Even the June 12, 1993 Presidential election internationally recognised as the nation’s best had its own tension.

Indeed, the 1993 election was the first to be annulled in the nation’s history. Nigerian elections have always been subjected to a plethora of electoral malpractices featuring political intimidation, vote buying and collusion of the electoral body with interest groups to rig our polls. These anomalies have greatly discouraged citizen participation in elections leading to sequential decline in voter turn-out.

ELECTIONS: Nigeria Is Still Pursuing Shadows

 By Tonnie Iredia

In less than 4 months from now, Nigeria will hold its 2027 general elections; yet, not many would believe the assurances by the electoral body that the process will be free and fair. 

No one can blame the doubting Thomases because the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is notorious for not keeping its word. Just before the last general elections in 2023, INEC told the nation that it would premise its operations on modern technology: indicating specifically that there would be both manual and electronic collation of votes etc. 

Fake Titles Are Not Nigeria’s Problem

 By Chiwuike Uba

A group of Nigerian academics has launched a petition against the misuse of “Dr.” and “Professor” titles. Their outrage is directed at quacks, diploma mills, and honorary degree holders who prefix their names with academic distinctions they did not earn. They call it a national disgrace.

But titles are costumes, not character. As the saying goes, the robe does not make the monk. Societies are built by conscience, not by prefixes. When the conscience collapses, credentials become nothing more than decoration. That is why this entire debate feels like a misplaced priority. Nigeria’s real disgrace is not fake titles; it is what the so-called legitimate holders of those titles have done with them.

GPAAN Decries Vote-Buying That Marred The Recent By-Elections

 The Guild of Public Affairs Analysts of Nigeria (GPAAN ), the nation's foremost organization for public affairs analysts and political commentators has raised alarm over the recurring ugly decimal of both vote-selling – by some gullible electorate and buying by the corrupt politicians – which have become endemic in our political clime. 

The disturbing dimension to the electoral process marred the conduct of the recent by-elections across 12 affected states in the country.