POLITICS
#NigeriaDecides2023: As the Count Begins
By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu
Africa’s largest experiment in electoral democracy is underway as Nigeria counts the votes cast in its presidential and parliamentary elections, which occurred on Saturday, 25 February. It is too soon to say who Nigeria’s next president will be and it may be a few days yet before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announces the results.
The early evidence appears to confirm pre-election suggestions that the race will be a close one between Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP); Peter Obi of the insurgent Labour Party (LP), and Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), with Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples’ Party (NNPP) in a respectable showing.
The election season has been full of incidents, many of which will affect the credibility of whatever the INEC chooses to announce as the results when they do.
Two days before the opening of voting in Africa’s largest elections, the candidates in Nigeria’s presidential election met in Abuja, the Federal Capital, on 23 February, to sign a “peace accord” promising to eschew violence and hate speech in the ballot and to accept the outcome peacefully. The accord is the idea of the National Peace Committee, a leadership initiative led by Abdulsalami Abubakar, the former Army General who transitioned Nigeria to civil rule in May 1999.
This was the second of such accords by the candidates in the campaign season preceding the vote. A similar accord signed in September 2022 did not much preclude a campaign season in which reports of intolerance and violence signposted a fractured political landscape that very much sums up the toxic legacies of nearly eight years of Muhammadu Buhari’s second misadventure in power.
It was not entirely clear how or why the National Peace Committee divined that two peace accords were needed to police one election. The fact that it considered a second accord essential suggests that the first was insufficient or ineffective. If the Committee bothered to report on why the first accord failed or as to what it did to preclude such an outcome, it did not make such a report public.
All the evidence suggests that the parties and their candidates did not much regard the peace accord. A report issued on the eve of commencement of voting on 24 February by the Incident Centre for Election Atrocities (ICEA), a civic coalition that tracks election-related violence in Nigeria, compiled in the two month period beginning in December 2022 claims there were, “at least 89 incidents of politically-motivated killings (including of 30 security personnel) and 18 abductions (including of 1 Police Officer). There were at least 13 attacks on political campaign rallies. Within the period, there were at least 7 arson attacks on INEC facilities and at least 12 brazen attacks on police, military and para-military facilities.” At least one senior politician was beheaded in Imo State in South-East Nigeria; another was incinerated in the week of the ballot.
Voting itself took place in a context of considerable public anxiety. A re-design of the country’s currency implemented shortly before the election, resulted in what the New York Times described as “chaos and suffering”, which threatened to tip the country into mass unrest. Deprived of their loot of cash with which to induce voters or buy election officials to skew the results, state governors mostly belonging to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) claimed to have secured a controversial and unclear temporary order from Nigeria’s Supreme Court to defer implementation of the currency change, adding to the air of uncertainty around the elections. President Muhammadu Buhari, who had communicated a desire to create a level playing field for the vote, gave his support to the Central Bank to see through the implementation of the currency reform, effectively drying up much of the usual flow of money used to corrupt Nigeria’s elections and infinitely escalating the costs for anyone wishing to buy votes.
Voting day witnessed significant incidents of violence across the country. In many parts of Lagos and in parts of Rivers State, reports suggested patterns of violence consistent with voter intimidation and suppression. In Lagos, there were rampant reports of attacks on voters in parts not considered friendly to the candidacy of the ruling APC or on polling units considered to have a majority of such voters. Despite these attacks, voters showed remarkable resilience and courage. In Surulere, Lagos, a young woman attacked and stabbed in the face by thugs suspected to be from the ruling party returned bloodied and bandaged to cast her vote.
Contrary to the repeated assurance of INEC’s leadership, election day appears to have caught the Commission unprepared. In many places, the flaws were too evident: shoddy election logistics; confusion over the location of polling units or the allocation of voters to units; misleading configuration of data into the Bi-Modal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS); misconduct or suspected collusion by polling officials with political party interests were reported.
Equally contrary to the assurances of the Commission, the BVAS failed or disappointed in many locations. Some its high-profile victims include the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike; and the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and Nigeria’s former Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. As a result, in many places around the country, voting continued well into the night or will resume today, Sunday, 26 February.
Where voters braved the hurdles erected by the INEC and the polling officials showed up and coaxed performance out of the BVAS machines, in many cases the results transmission process became hostage to Nigerian arrangements. Long after voting had closed, on Saturday night, the INEC’s results viewing portal had not yet logged any results and a significant number of locations reported refusal of polling officials to upload result sheets to the INEC results portal, raising suspicions of results manipulation to the end of achieving co-ordinated substitution and replacement of results from the polling units with manufactured outcomes that bear no relationship to what occurred at voting.
In many parts of the country, a substantial number of reported anomalies occurred under the watch of security agencies. In Kano, the Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Yakubu, was asked why the police took no action against what appeared to be a systematic pattern of voting by persons who were manifestly children. Far from denying it, he stuttered his way to an extraordinary mea culpa, claiming: “it is very difficult to determine by mere appearance who is a minor or not. Most of the ones you are seeing, may be their growth rate might be impaired.”
As the count gets underway, three things already seem very clear. First, Nigerian citizens took this election seriously and their collective belief in the destiny of their country is the biggest single good news in this election.
Second, the assurances of the INEC about competent management of the election were always empty and lacking in credibility. The citizens deserved better than the INEC served up.
Third, whatever the outcome that the INEC chooses to announce, the winner in these elections will almost certainly receive less than 50% of the votes cast and will need to run a government of all talents (GOAT), seeking and finding ways to ensure that every part of the country takes a stake in the government that emerges.
This will be important because Nigeria’s new president will need more than just a good bank of political capital to spend on the country’s myriad problems when he takes over at the end of May 2023. He will also need the talent to bind the country’s wounds. For that, INEC needs to guarantee a credible count, absent that whoever is announced as winner will lack the authority needed to put Nigeria back on the map as Africa’s anchor country.
Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, a lawyer, teaches at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy can be reached at chidi.odinkalu@tufts.edu.
POLITICS
Osun 2026 Guber: APC Aspirants Should Not Waste Money Contesting Against Adeleke – Ex Party Chieftain, Jackson Ojo
By Mike Odiakose, Abuja
A former Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Jackson Lekan Ojo has advised those in the race for the APC ticket not to waste their resources as the victory of Governor Isiaka Adeleke is practically a done deal.
In a video post on his Facebook page, Jackson Ojo said Governor Adeleke has won the heart of the people of his state with his transformation of all the 30 local governments in the State and prompt payment of workers and pensioners.
According to him, the achievements of Governor Adeleke has already done 80 percent of his campaign ahead of the election.
Jackson Ojo, who is a Security Expert and global affairs analyst, from Osun State, stressed that he has always advised political office holders to perform while in office as this is the greatest strategy and tactics to win future elections.
He stressed that the abysmal performance of the APC at the Federal level and the poor performance of previous APC governors in Osun state will count heavily against any candidate that is presented by the party to contest against governor Adeleke.
The former APC chieftain added that he is not patronizing the governor for any personal gain as there is nothing that the governor can give him that God has not already given him.
He stressed that his intervention in the Osun governorship race is to stop opponents of the governor from wasting their resources for an election they can never win.
His words: “Two weeks ago I resigned from partisan politics, so I am no longer member of any political party in Nigeria. When I speak now I am not speaking in favour or against any political party. So, I am very free to air my views
“This is my views on the forthcoming governorship election in Osun state. I still see some people struggling for governor in Osun state come 2026.
“That is highly impossible for an APC aspirant. What is the APC government doing at the national level, what are the doing in the Senate, what are they doing in the House of Representatives to encourage Nigerians?
“If we are in a place like America or United Kingdom (UK) APC will not be able to win ordinary councillorship again in this country. Is it in the management of economy, education, health, security and others?
“In all these areas put together they have not scored up to 10 percent. I can boldly mark them today they they have woefully failed in area of agricultural development, educational development, health development, security, economy and infrastructural development. In all ramifications this party has failed.
“Look at the antecedents of the APC in Osun state. Aregbesola tried a bit, yes, but then Aregbesola left the State aground.
“When Baba Jeje, Mr. Go Slow, the unfortunate Minister of Blue Economy or whatever they call it, came there was nothing to write home about during his tenure as governor of Osun State. He came, he bartered the state, he rubbished the State, he insulted the state, he disgraced the State on the platform of APC.
“Now another APC is coming out now thinking of winning? Winning where, defeat who?
“Governor Adeleke does not know me, there is no benefit Adeleke can give me that God has not given to me. I can’t be a Commissioner in Osun state. No. I can’t be Special Adviser or whatever. I can’t even take their contract. I don’t think they can award the kind of contract that I need to an individual.
“But then, Adeleke has tried. If you go to my community you will see the way he has positively turned the community. Even if I am the governor of Osun State I don’t think I can do what Adeleke has done in my town and that transformation cuts across all the 30 local government areas of Osun State. All the communities, all the local governments, all.
“This man is no longer paying half salary of quarter salary. This man is not owning workers, he is not owning pensioners. This alone has spoken, this alone has done 80 percent of his campaign.
“If you perform well in office that is the highest strategy and tactics that you can use to win the heart of the people.
“Come 2026 whoever is putting money on ground in Osun state to go and contest governorship in Osun state, honestly that person has money to waste. It is sadaka, the money they have stolen they want to come and do sadaka. It is Adeleke till 2030.”
By Mike Odiakose, Abuja
Former Director General of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum, Hon C.I.D Maduabum has resigned from the party and joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
In a statement made available to Daily Asset in Abuja on Sunday, Hon Maduabum said he is dumping the PDP because the party has been “hijacked by self-serving, unscrupulous elements who are more interested in personal power grabs than in party discipline, internal democracy, or national interest.
”Part of his statement read: “After deep reflection, extensive consultations, and careful evaluation of the current political realities within the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), I have taken the difficult but necessary decision to resign my membership of the PDP with immediate effect.
“As a committed democrat, a two-term member of the House of Representatives, and former Director-General of the PDP Governors’ Forum, I have dedicated significant portions of my political life to building the PDP as a platform for democratic consolidation and national development.
“However, the soul of the party I once served with pride has been hijacked by self-serving, unscrupulous elements who are more interested in personal power grabs than in party discipline, internal democracy, or national interest.
“The PDP today is a shadow of its former self. It has descended into chaos, internal betrayal, and systematic destruction by diverse forces who have no regard for the principles upon which the party was founded. Sadly, voices of reason are no longer welcome, and genuine reformers are vilified or silenced.
“I can no longer in good conscience remain in a house that has been stripped of its moral compass and overrun by opportunists.
“In light of this, I am proud to announce that I am joining the African Democratic Congress (ADC) — a party that now stands as the only credible democratic alternative for Nigeria.
“The ADC is emerging as a beacon of hope for good governance, integrity, accountability, and inclusive politics. It offers the opportunity for principled politics, genuine people-oriented leadership, and a platform for rebuilding our nation from the grassroots up.
“The ADC Coalition includes progressive minded people like Mr. Peter Obi and others.
“I join the ADC not merely as a defector but as a reformer committed to helping build a new political culture — one based on merit, ideology, discipline, youth inclusion, and national unity.
“The time has come for all well-meaning Nigerians to take a stand against the decay in our political system. I call on all patriots, especially those disillusioned by the dysfunction in the traditional parties, to rally around this movement for a new Nigeria through the ADC.
“I remain committed to the democratic ideals of justice, equity, and service to the people. The struggle to rescue Nigeria and restore its promise continues — and it begins now on a new, firmer footing.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it has registered 96,085 new voters in nine days and extended the exercise by three days in Anambra.
The commission disclosed this in a statement by Sam Olumekun, National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, on Thursday in Abuja, after its weekly meeting.
He said that on the preliminary stage of the CVR, 56,017 representing 58 per cent of new registrants were female while 50,429 52 representing 48 per cent were young people between the ages of 18 and 34.
“The commission is pleased with the turnout of registrants in Anambra and the peaceful conduct of the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) in all the 326 registration centres in the state.
“As of yesterday, Wednesday, 96,085 new voters have successfully registered in nine days. On average, the Commission registered over 10,600 voters per day.
“In addition, 12,595 voters applied for transfer of their registration both within and outside the state while 7,061 persons applied for the update of their records or the replacement of their damaged or lost Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs).
“The CVR in Anambra ends today. However, in response to appeal from citizens, the Commission hereby extends the exercise for three more days. It will now end on Sunday, July 20,” he said.
Olumekun said that the commission would thereafter display the register for claims and objections by citizens as provided by law.
This, according to him, will be followed by a further clean-up of the data using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS).
“Subsequently, the detailed breakdown of the new registrants by age, gender, occupation and disability will be published for public information,” he said.
Olumekun also disclosed that INEC had received five more letters of intent from associations seeking registration as political parties.
According to him, the new application brings the number received so far by the commission to 134.
Olumekun stated that the details of the new associations, indicating their proposed names, acronyms, logos, addresses and interim leaderships were already published on INEC website and other platforms for public information.
He said that INEC would continue to keep the citizens up to date on all its activities.
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