Can APC Learn From ANC’s Loss In South Africa?

 By Dan Onwukwe

Often missing from debates on why a governing party after years or decades in power suddenly failed to win majority seats in parliament or lost outrightly. History of politics offers an array of arguments why this happens in many democracies. It’s about not learning the lessons in power, the hard way.

*Tinubu and Ramaphosa 

Learning the lessons the hard way begins when that gripping listlessness sets in, when political power begins to slip away from a governing party. The endgame begins the very moment the party leadership feels over-confident, and those who surround the President feel their man has got enough power, and don’t need anybody anymore.

2023 Polls: Is Nigeria Beyond Redemption?

 By Clement Uzoanya

Whatever has a beginning is said to have an end. But it seems that the deplorable Nigerian situation keeps reinventing itself, thus robbing citizens of the dividends of democracy. Is this God’s will for Nigeria and Nigerians or have Nigerians failed repeatedly to actualise God’s plan for a country that is rich in virtually every ramification? 

Many Nigerians looked forward to the 2023 General Elections for many reasons, among which were: the large number of youth population involved and interested; the fact that the elections were not the traditional two-horse race; the repeated assurances from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); the signing of the 2022 Electoral Act which contained the deployment of technology; and the increasingly depressing state of the economy. So, the build-up to the elections was one filled with a nostalgia of anxiety, apprehension, hope that the time had come for us to get things right. But did we? 

As Buhari Comes To Judgement…

By Sonnie Ekwowusi

President Muhammadu Buhari has come to judgment. After exercising presidential power, judgment follows. Pricked by pangs of conscience on the last Sallah Day, Buhari realised that he committed many injustices against numerous Nigerians during his eight-year reign. 

*Buhari 

Consequently, he apologised to Nigerians and begged for their pardon. “God gave me an incredible opportunity to serve the country. We are all human, and if I have hurt some people along the line of my service to the country, I ask that they pardon me… All those whom I have hurt, I ask that they pardon me,” said a seemingly remorseful Buhari.

Nigeria: INEC And The Presidential Election Flaws

 By Sonnie Ekwowusi

The February 25, 2023 presidential election is a counterfeit of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. Whereas June 12 is the freest and fairest election in Nigeria, the February 25, election is the most rigged and most robbed presidential election in Nigeria. February 25, was a brazen and barbaric display of impunity by INEC, which ought to be an unbiased umpire in an electoral contest.

*Buhari

The commission and its chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, flagrantly flouted INEC rules, which they made to guide the February 25, election? The BVAS and IReV were successfully deployed by INEC to upload the National Assembly election results, but not for the presidential election result, which was manually collated, thus enabling the INEC staffers to rig the election. Three days before last Saturday’s presidential election, Prof. Yakubu was reassuring all that INEC would deploy BVAS in electronically uploading the results of the election. Why, then, did Yakubu change his mind to transmit the results manually?

Why Nigerians Won’t Trust INEC

By Dan Onwukwe

When President Muhammadu Buhari, on October 21, 2015, appointed Prof. Mahmood Yakubu as Chairman of the Independent   National Electoral Commission (INEC), to succeed the then acting chairman Amina Zakari, the general consensus was that the President made a right choice. The appointment came few months after Prof. Attahiru Jega’s somewhat successful tenure had ended with the 2015 general elections.

No doubt, the position of chairman of INEC is a big and sensitive job that attracts preeminent national and international attention. Such an appointment also tests the president’s commitment to credible, free, fair and transparent polls. Therefore, the chair of INEC is not for the faint-hearted. It requires a man or woman with an eye always on the ball, someone with uncommon courage, somebody with sincerity of purpose. That person must not be pushed around or be dictated to by external influences. In other words, he must have independent of mind. It goes beyond competence.

It’s all about trust. Trust is a priceless virtue. Trust entails being impartial, fair to all, someone who cannot buckle under pressure. Someone who is reliable always. That person must not abandon his duties to pursue narrow interest, in disregard to, and unconnected to the mandate of his engagement.

From the beginning, public perception of the electoral body is terrible, to say the least. It is equivalent to trying to mend a broken egg. It is like battling the demons that hold democracy and credible elections down. Therefore, the questions that many have asked in regard to Prof. Yakubu’s appointment are: Does this man fit the bill of the virtues listed above? Does he have the independent of mind, that leadership ability to be his own man, undictated to, no matter the pressures? Can we count on him on crucial moments?

Leadership must complement conviction to make things work. That has always been the problem of INEC and the man that heads it. On the surface of it, and if academic qualifications are yardsticks to measure competence, no doubt, Prof. Yakubu is in fine fettle. Take a look at his resume`. He made a first class, and to his record, he is up to date, according to Wikipedia, the only Nigerian from the North to make a first class degree certificate in history. To cap it all, in 1999, he graduated from University of Oxford with doctorate in Philosophy, specialising in Nigerian history. In addition, he was a three-time recipient  of the Overseas Research Scholarship and also won the commonwealth scholarship from the Association of Commonwealth Universities.