APC

By Uzair Adam Imam

Tension rocks the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the party’s presidential candidate, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, allegedly obtained no primary and secondary school certificates. 

However, Tinubu insisted that he had two degrees from two American universities. Yet, he stated that the certificates were stolen by unknown soldiers during the military junta of the 1990s.

The Daily Reality gathered that the information was in an affidavit submitted by Tinubu to the INEC office as part of his eligibility filings for the 2023 presidential elections.

The documents released Friday by the electoral body showed that Tinubu completely left the columns for his primary and secondary schools unmarked.

Additionally, the latest claims by Tinubu in his submission to INEC reportedly contradicted the previous submissions of 1999 and 2003 when contested as a governorship candidate in Lagos state.

It was gathered that Tinubu allegedly claimed in 1999 and 2003 that he attended primary and secondary schools.

He indicated that he attended St. Paul Children’s Home School, Ibadan, between 1958 and 1964 and secondary school at the Government College, Ibadan, between 1965 and 1968.

By Adamu Abubakar Kumo

Mentorship has been the way through which a more experienced, more skilled and usually more elderly person passes his experience, expertise, knowledge etc. to the younger ones. From education to politics, business to occupation, mentorship is instrumental to the continuance of the flow of wisdom from one generation to another.

The history of Nigeria’s founding fathers is undoubtedly that of heroes and legends who wrote their names in gold in the books of history. But, looking at today’s Nigeria, one would be right to say that the wisdom of those great men has not been successfully passed down to today’s generation.

Among the six geo-political regions of the country, South-West has distinguished itself. The region seems to uphold the principles of mentorship. From Sir Herbert Macaulay, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Samuel Akintola, Aare M.K.O. Abiola and now Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Yoruba leaders have been producing leaders who subsequently would take over from them. They deliberately ‘build’ people; they sow the seeds and look after them until they grow into large formidable and strong iroko trees that can hardly be trampled or tempered with by just lilliputians if I were to borrow Shattima’s word.

The successful emergence of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu is a testimony of the presence of mentors and the continuance of political mentorship in Yoruba land.

Asiwaju, for the past two decades, has been working, influencing the appointment of some of his mentees in strategic government positions, politically supporting his allies and subordinates to attain power and building political bridges and structures across the country. The man waited patiently until when it is time, the time for the Jagaban to reap the fruits of his labour, the time when Amaechi has support from within; the time when Lawan seems to have the blessings of some party juggernauts, the time when some northerners feel that only a Northerner can defeat the opposition’s candidate. At this precious time, Bola Ahmed ‘summoned’ his mentees across the length and breadth of the country and alas, they answered! They come in their thousands with all the vigour and support the Jagaban needs.

Despite the eloquence of Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the grammar of Ayade, the bluntness of Yahaya Bello, the doggedness of Rotimi Amaechi and the ‘appeal for sympathy’ of the aspirants from the South East, Bola emerged victorious, defeating them hands down.

This ‘political war’ fought and won by the  Southwesterner may compel one to ask, where are the Asiwajus of other regions? Can somebody from North-East, North-West or North-Central brag about having the capacity to do something similar to what this septuagenarian did?

The likes of Sirs Sardauna and Balewa don’t exist anymore in the North. Moreover, nobody is following the footsteps of Hassan Usman Katsina, Sir Kasim Ibrahim, Malam Aminu Kano and many other patriots – the mentorship thread is broken. Though North has been boasting of having great and influential leaders, the problem remains that none is willing to ‘nurture’ his successor.

While Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was busy contesting to become the president right from 2007, Kwankwaso was busy fighting Ganduje and so on. On his part, Bola Tinubu was busy, making sure his candidates become governors in Ogun, Oyo, Lagos, etc. He was influencing ministerial nominations, making sure he appointed Vice President. He was equally working to bring Dimeji Bankole, Ahmed Lawan, Femi Gbajabiamila etc. In other words, Tinubu was busy ‘building’ people. Because he believes even if some choose to betray him, many others will not.

The lesson Asiwaju taught most of our leaders, especially from the North, is that, if you have a plan of twenty years, start mentoring people who will help you achieve it right from today. More importantly, look beyond your family and kinsmen when choosing your proteges.

Another point of note is that you will mentor a person who may rise to a position that you have never attained. This is normal. Don’t get upset when the person tried to rub shoulders with you. Instead, be focused, determined and strategic in your dealings.

Dear Northern leaders, make sure you mentor another person who may likely take over from you. Succession is natural, if you did not breed anybody, someone may grow on his own and come to fight and overtake you one day. Mentor your proteges today to have loyal mentees that will always be proud of you tomorrow.

Adamu Abubakar Kumo wrote via akumo89@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Sabiu

A 65-year-old man named Ibrahim Suleiman of Tsigi Quarters in Kiyawa local Government has been detained by Jigawa State police in connection with the abduction of an elderly woman.

The arrest was confirmed by the command’s spokeswoman, DSP Lawan Shiisu Adam.

Ibrahim Suleiman, 65, of Tsigi Quarters, Kiyawa LG, was detained in connection with the kidnapping of Ibrahim Gaya’s mother.

Recall that there were reports that unidentified gunmen abducted the 70-year-old mother of governing All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Tijjani Ibrahim Gaya for the Jigawa Central Senatorial District on Tuesday.

He stated that the suspect was apprehended after he was seen in one of the vehicles that the shooters used to torment their victims, adding that investigations into the incident were still ongoing.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

Three All Progressives Congress (APC) senators have resigned from the ruling party.

Senators Ahmad Babba Kaita (Katsina North), Lawal Yahaya Gumau (Bauchi South), and Francis Alimikhena (Edo North) are the defecting lawmakers.

Gumau defected to the New Nigeria Peoples Party, while Babba Kaita and Alimikhena joined the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, read three different letters in Tuesday’s plenary in which they announced their defections.

Senator Alimikhena’s decision to leave the APC was motivated by the “ongoing and complex crises that have plagued the APC,” particularly in his Senatorial District, “that has formed parallel executives that have weakened internal discipline, coherence, and commitment.”

Explaining the reason for his detection, Babba Kaita was quoted as saying, “As Senator representing Katsina North Senatorial District, I write to formally notify you of my resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC), and registration declaration for the Peoples Democratic Party.

“My resignation from the APC was born out of the marginalisation of critical stakeholders by the State Government and Leadership of the Party in Katsina State, where small people like me do not have a chance.

“I have since been joyful and graciously accepted into the fold of the Peoples Democratic Party in Katsina State.”

B Muhammad Sabiu

In the early hours of today (Sunday), the All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State emerged triumphant after the results of Saturday’s governorship election indicated that the party’s candidate, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, defeated the 15 other contestants that took part in the race.

Oyebanji, the state’s immediate past Secretary to the Government, won in 15 of the state’s 16 Local Government Areas after receiving 187,057 votes in the election.

His nearest rival, Mr Segun Oni of the Social Democratic Party, polled 82,211 votes, while Bisi Kolawole of the Peoples Democratic Party received 67,457 votes.

Kolawole won his LGA, Efon, with a total of 6,303 votes, beating the APC’s 4,012 votes and the SDP’s 339 votes.

However, Chief Segun Oni, the Social Democratic Party’s candidate, who voted in his home town of Ifaki-Ward Ekiti’s 2, Unit 6, accused the other parties of vote-buying in Ado Ekiti and Oye Ekiti.

He was reported to have said, “I have been told that selling and buying of votes are going on in Ado and Oye. This is not allowed by the law. I want security agents to move in and stop those doing that.”

Vote buying isn’t an unusual practice in the Nigerian political space since the rebirth of democracy in 1999 when former President Olusegun Obasanjo took over power.

By Muhammad Sabiu

Raliya Kashim, a senior staff member of the Bauchi State-owned Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic, has been suspended by the institution’s management for supporting All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Maimako Baraya, a spokesman for the polytechnic, signed the letter announcing the suspension.

The main opposition, the Peoples’s Democratic Party (PDP), is in charge of Bauchi State.

Kashim works as the polytechnic’s deputy general manager of consulting services.

She was aware of the state’s public service law prohibiting civil servants from participating in party politics, according to Mr Baraya’s letter.

Baraya was quoted to have said in the letter, “The employee recently posted videos containing campaign materials of the presidential and the governorship candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is a clear violation of the code of ethics for public servants.”

“We wish to assure the general public that there would be no sacred cow, and it will never be intimidated by the activities of political jobbers, fifth columnists and enemies of the state.”

By Aliyu Nuhu

There is no way Nigerians will vote APC back to power if the country is a normal society with normal people. But the people voting our leaders are not the ones reading this write up. They are the people who vote with their stomach instead of their conscience. Stomach infrastructure is very much around and it is the reason why governors will be the deciding factor in who becomes the Nigeria’s president.

Here are APC failures and why Nigerians are not happy with it. But first let’s mention the areas the government made some progress.

This government built infrastructure. It is the best in Africa by regional standard. More are needed but within its two terms it completed Kaduna-Abuja railway and kept it running. It completed Itakpe-Aladja rail and it is operating. It built in record time Ibadan-Lagos railway and it is running. It has started Kano-Kaduna rail, Kano-Katsina-Maradi rails. It has almost completed second Niger bridge. It has almost completed Lagos-Ibadan express. It has gone far in building Kano-Kaduna-Abuja express. It has almost completed Kano-Maiduguri express. It has expanded and improved all the international airports to very high standards. Aminu Kano international airport, Nnamdi Azikwe international airport, Murtala Muhammed international airport, Portharcourt international airport and Enugu international airport. There are many roads that cannot be mentioned. In terms of infrastructure, APC has developed Nigeria.

Economic development is about infrastructure. That has been achieved to a modest standard. The next government will build on it. That is how societies develop.

However, the areas of failures are here but not according to their importance though.

1- Electricity: APC did not build power plants and did not build transmission infrastructure. The Siemens $2.3 bn power deal is still on paper. The government inherited 4000mw Electricity generation and today we have national grid collapse and abysmal 2000mw generation. Nigeria can never grow without electricity. Any claim of growing the economy is simply preposterous.

2- APC did not build refineries. The country is still shamelessly importing fuel. Petroleum products are the country’s biggest import and biggest waste of foreign earnings. Whatever the country gains in exporting crude oil is wasted in importing refined petroleum products in the most corrupt and dubious style. Nigeria will never grow by importing a commodity it has in abundance and has comparative advantage over 160 countries. Because Nigeria imports fuel the commodity is never enough nor available.

3- Insecurity: by any standard, Nigeria is among the most violent countries on Earth. The whole country is circled by terror so much that killing of 40 worshippers is quickly overshadowed by more violent events. Most of Nigeria’s roads are taken over by bandits. People no longer travel for normal living. A journey from Abuja to Kaduna is becoming a suicide mission.

4- Bad economy: the economic health indicators are level of poverty, inequality, corruption, hunger unemployment, inflation, interest rates, foreign exchange rate and volume of international trade. There is no space to take each of them but in a nutshell Nigeria is simply facing economic crisis.

5- Education: APC inherited university strikes and is bequeathing university strikes. Primary school enrollment is at its worst level with 12 million children roaming thr streets. Child education is the telescope used in looking at the future of a nation. If the children who will be around in the future are not getting education, then it is easy to know the kind of Nigerians in the next 20 years.

6- Health: the hospitals are still what they were before APC or even worse. No equipments, no trained personnel, no drugs and no electricity. Nigerians travel outside for medical treatment and those that have no money stay and die.

7- Corruption: this government is gradually overtaking PDP in official stealing. The little gain made in jailing few governors has been reversed by the departing president who made fight against corruption his cardinal goal.

These are just few areas critical to nation’s life that makes APC a terrible choice for Nigerians. But unfortunately and very sadly APC may still remain in power because of a weak opposition. If the small parties don’t merge and present a single candidate in PDP there is no way APC will not form the next government. Mark my words. No political party can take on APC alone.

By Muhammad Aminu 

The Kano State Chapter of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has condemned the Kano State Government’s plan to secure a loan of N10 billion for CCTV installation in the State.

The party, in a statement signed by Kano State Chairman, Hon. Umar Doguwa described the loan as mortgaging the future of Kano children by the incumbent Governor.

The statement read: “The New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), condemned in totality, the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s fresh demand of N10 billion loan request from Acess Bank to install CCTV cameras in the State. 

Governor Ganduje seems to be using his seat of power to mortgage the future of the State and that of our children.”

Hon. Doguwa stated that despite the acute water shortage in Kano, the Governor chose to fund insignificant projects.

“Ignoring the fact that the State is experiencing widely increased water scarcity, the Governor chooses to borrow to fund a project as insignificant as CCTV installation.

“The NNPP can’t sit down to watch this clueless administration stockpiling debts in the state without a commensurate achievement on the ground,” he added.

He lamented that the administration refused to settle secondary school students’ examination fees, which led to students dropping out despite taking loans in the name of reforms in education.

“Due to the failure of Ganduje’s government to pay their Senior Secondary School examination fees, countless students have been forced to drop out of school, and others are on the verge of dropping out.

“Kano people can vividly recall that Ganduje had borrowed the sum of fifteen billion naira on education reform, but the money was diverted to something else, and today, a significant number of our students dropped out from schooling as the government cannot cater for their common interest examination and senior secondary school examination,” he said

While appealing to the State Assembly to desist from granting such approval in the future by putting Kano’s interest ahead of Governor’s desire, Doguwa warned that should NNPP win the 2023 gubernatorial election; it will not honour the agreement.

“We wish to categorically draw the attention of all commercial banks and other financial lending institutions within and outside the country to be cautious with the Ganduje’s demand for loans as the next administration will not in any way honour such reckless borrowings.”

He stated, “Our great party is urging the State House of Assembly to refrain from granting trivial demands from the Governor like these.

“We implore honourable members to put the needs of Kano’s good people ahead of the Governor’s insatiable desire to wreck the future of the State before we defeat them in the 2023 election.

“We also call on the Access Bank to resist any temptation to advance any loan to the borrowing Governor Ganduje, who is hellbent on mortgaging the state to satisfy his self ends.”

He chided Ganduje’s administration for its failure to maintain CCTV installations deployed by the Kwankwaso administration only to plan to borrow funds for the same purpose.

“With a sense of nostalgia, the general public remembered that in the past, our party’s presidential hopeful, Engr, Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, deployed CCTV in strategic locations throughout the State.

“However, the current administration, that seeks N10 billion loan to install new ones, failed to handle them, and the good people of Kano can’t trust a governor with the installation of new ones at their detriment,” he noted.

It can be recalled that The Daily Reality reported that the Kano State House of Assembly had approved a loan request of 10 billion naira for Gov Ganduje’s administration to install CCTV installation in Kano to tackle security challenges.

By Amir Abdulazeez

When President Obasanjo carelessly picked Goodluck Jonathan to serve as Umaru ‘Yaradua’s potential Vice President in 2007, little did we know that the politics of choosing running mates would later become complex and problematic. The death of Umaru, the ascension of Jonathan, the surprising emergence of Namadi Sambo and Patrick Yakowa becoming the first Christian Civilian Governor of Kaduna State would all combine to later add more relevance to the politics of running mate selection. In 2014, APC had more headaches picking a presidential running mate than the presidential candidate himself. It took them so much time and effort that one thought they would organize a new convention for that purpose.

Today, the Muslim-Muslim ticket debacle is the bane of Nigerian political discourse. While clamouring for fairness and balance, which are needed for a fragile system like Nigeria’s, we should also remember that from 1999 to date, no religion can claim any net gain from this Nigerian version of democracy. Ordinary followers of all faiths have been victims of bad governance, even pagans. We have suffered so much that if a pagan/pagan ticket will eradicate insecurity, fix the economy and bring development while being fair to all interests and affiliations, we should allow it. Therefore, the choice is between searching for solutions and satisfying sentiments; we seem to favour the latter.

A section of public commentators and spectators are already suggesting a walkover for Atiku Abubakar in the 2023 polls. That is the biggest complacency I have ever seen in contemporary Nigerian politics. How can you be facing a ruling party with almost 65% of political stakeholdership in the country and be expecting to have a walkover? Atiku is an institution, but his successes in the last two PDP primaries are more financial supremacy than political dominance. That aside, barring a Buhari-like scenario, Atiku will make a good president. He is perhaps the only fully independent candidate with a clear and accessible blueprint since 2007. In 2011, he had a better manifesto and approach than President Goodluck Jonathan; he only lost the PDP primaries to the power of incumbency. By the way, what happened to the Jonathan 2023 candidacy?

From 1992, this is Atiku’s 7^th attempt at the Presidency, with 2019 being his closest to success. Many believe 2023 is his year, and so many apparent factors call for optimism in his camp. However, two fundamental things may haunt Waziri; (in)consistency and (un)popularity. Buhari and Tinubu are successfully reaping the harvests of consistency and perseverance; they stuck to opposition politics all their lives. Atiku should’ve remained in opposition when he decamped to Action Congress in 2007 or should’ve stayed in the ruling PDP when he decamped back in 2011. Ambition had kept him running from one place to another, making him neither establishment nor anti-establishment. The second question is whether there is a single state in Nigeria in which Atiku can secure one million votes or more in 2023? I hope we all remember Dr Rabi’u Kwankwaso’s 3-K States theory?

Tinubu’s boast in Ogun State over his role in the emergence of Buhari as President needs some revisiting and clarification. To avoid doubt, Muhammadu Buhari did not lose the 2003 presidential elections; it was brutally rigged to return Obasanjo for a second term. 2003 will easily enter the list of the worst elections in modern world history. In 2007, the results of the presidential election were simply written, so we can’t even call that election not to talk of who won or lost. I have never relied on 2003 and 2007 election figures for research or serious analysis because they are primarily fabricated. The 2011 elections were relatively fair, but at least 40% of the vote was rigged, written, or inflated, especially in the South-South and South-East.

In the circumstances like these, we cannot comfortably declare Buhari a loser of all the previous elections he contested and only became a winner when he met Tinubu. Although 2015 was indeed the weakest version of political Buhari, it was confirmed that he had lost hope and that the APC merger spearheaded by Tinubu was what brought him back to life. But it is also true that so many other factors other than Tinubu contributed crucially to Buhari’s victory. One major one was the abysmal performance of Goodluck Jonathan. One, however, is that, without Tinubu’s support, it would’ve been near impossible for Buhari to emerge APC flagbearer against the financial powerhouses in Kwankwaso and Atiku.

This brings us to the argument that access to public funds is why some candidates (not aspirants) are stronger than others. Supporters of a particular presidential candidate even claimed that if their man had equal access to public funds, he would be better than certain candidates. This is laughable; a debate like this will take us nowhere. Just campaign for your candidate and persuade people to vote for him. If we are talking about the abuse of people’s trust and the utilization of our commonwealth for personal political development, none of the prominent politicians in Nigeria will come out clean. So, let us not deceive ourselves and others.

Where are our smaller political parties who had spent most of their last four years fighting INEC over deregistration? This is a reasonable amount of time they would’ve spent coming together to form a strong bloc. In case we don’t know, 74 of them were deregistered for failing to meet the requirements to continue to exist as political parties. About 10 to 15 of the currently existing will be due for deregistration by this time next year. Instead of them to consider merging to form a decent alternative, they’ll rather hang on only to be fighting a legal survival battle with INEC next year. As the strongest and largest intellectual organization in West Africa, I don’t even know why ASUU is yet to form a political party or adopt any of the smaller parties to set up a path towards satisfying their own demands all by themselves instead of waiting and hoping for a hopeless Federal Government.

Why is nobody talking about the enormous task ahead of the next president, whom credible international reports suggest will have to use 100% of his revenue in servicing (not repaying) debts by 2024? To execute projects or even pay salaries, the next government may have to borrow further. Nigeria is in trouble. We are drowning in the ocean of foreign debts. Meanwhile, we are concerned over a presidential candidate’s religion more than his ability to bring us out of this mess. Buhari has failed because Jonathan had built a solid foundation for that failure. Now he has built a worse foundation for his successor. The possibility and danger of the next president, irrespective of his affiliation and preparedness to economically be worse than Buhari, is imminent. May God help us.

All of the political dynamics of today are closely related to 1999, some a bit earlier. Suppose you have not directly experienced Nigerian political development from 1999 with a mix of some pre-1999 historical knowledge. In that case, you will find it difficult, if not impossible, to connect specific dots that you see today. Extensive and intensive reading may help, but politely interacting with veterans will do better. Unfortunately, social media, where most of the political debates occur, is dominated by youths who knew little or nothing pre-2011 and don’t invest significant time in reading but trying to engage or even confront the same veterans that would’ve been their best opportunity at understanding the genesis of the current situation.

There are some visible changes in Nigeria’s socio-political spaces, although not new but have taken a different twist from the previous. The renewed order is the attempt to criminalize certain political choices against others. Between 2014 to 2018, discourses were dominated by hate, campaigns of calumny, fabrications and outright abuse. Today, political promoters are trying hard to make it appear that only their candidates are good enough, and any other choice is treason. This is extremism. Let’s be careful, everything is a matter of opinion, and everyone is entitled to his.

Twitter: @AmirAbdulazeez

Tordue Simon Targema

One of the most disturbing illusions in the Nigerian political space is the age-long notion that “votes don’t count”. This notion is mainly responsible for wide-scale political apathy among the citizens, especially the youths who constitute the majority of the voting population. A striking irony with the notion, however, is that those who peddle and promote it are active voters who always make sure they vote at each poll- from the ward to national elections! This irony, therefore, exposes the folly of those who accept the notion and, thus, disenfranchise themselves.

Of course, it is no longer news that the Nigerian electoral process is enmeshed in malpractices – from vote-buying to actual duplication of ballot figures. Yes, the enormity of malpractices in the Nigerian electoral system is weighty and serves to sustain this ugly notion that has become a great source of worry today.

Notwithstanding these malpractices, a fact that cannot be contested remains that votes are still essential and determine who wins the election. Yes, this is a reality, and even a casual observation of the Nigerian electoral process justifies it. For example, have you ever wondered why electoral evils such as vote-buying, underage voting, ballot snatching and massive thumbprinting of ballot papers by thugs all thrive during elections? The answer is simple: it is because politicians understand that the final vote-tally matters most and would stop at nothing to ensure that more individuals vote for them!

As a Presiding Officer in one of Nigeria’s most keenly contested national elections- the 2015 general elections, and as a voter at several elections, both local and national, I have sufficient grounds to attest to the fact that votes do not just count, but that politicians also realise this fact and stop at nothing to get their supporters to vote for them. The desperation they usually demonstrate during election seasons to woo voters justifies this. You can, therefore, refuse to vote at your sole expense!

I served as a Presiding Officer in one of the most strategic elections in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. A popular candidate with a wide fan margin- Muhammadu Buhari, contested against the then-incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan. Buhari and his kingmakers had convinced the masses that they had all the solutions to Nigeria’s numerous problems- which were, at that time, overwhelming like always. This narrative was supported by the fact that realities proved Jonathan to be a clueless weakling who lacked the strategy and tact to successfully navigate the country out of its numerous woes- endemic insecurity, pervasive corruption and deteriorating living standards.

Despite his limitations, Jonathan had a pool of supporters who still believed in his leadership philosophy, sympathised with him based on his developmental strides, tribe, region and religion, and also had the potent privilege of incumbency! Never underestimate the power of incumbency in Nigerian elections. This made the election one of the most highly contested, as the margin between the two top contenders eventually indicated.

But most striking is the fact that technology was introduced for the first time in the conduct of elections – the almighty card reader! This made almost all the difference and took the political class aback during the polls. The political class, sensing that it would no longer be business as usual, embarked on massive mobilisation and canvassing for votes. Money flew in the air- as it has become the custom with elections in the country, gifts and inducements of all kinds – clothes, foodstuffs, livestock etc., exchanged between the political class and the masses to woo them to vote.

I had an experience as a Presiding Officer that made me believe that politicians believe in voting as the surest way to win elections! Stakeholders in my polling unit tried their best to get me to manipulate the outcome of the presidential election but to no avail. I would tactically tell them that I had a template, and any manipulation of the outcome would go against my template. Although I had no problem with that, the results would be rejected at the collation centre! This would quickly disarm them, and I had my way through without any rancour. That way, I finished the presidential election without a hitch from any angle.

By the second election- gubernatorial and state assembly, I had to contend with yet another challenge! The elite had studied the workings of the card reader and decided on how to manipulate the election, but that could only still be possible if they got people to vote- even if they were illegal voters. A particular stakeholder insisted he would convey me on his bike from the collation centre to the polling unit- some several kilometres away from the ward collation centre, which was equally an interior rural area, far removed from the local government headquarters. I obliged.

On our way, he intimated to me of his ambition: he had hundreds of unclaimed voters cards belonging to his polling unit, which he wanted to use. He observed during the presidential election that voters whose cards were successfully authenticated by the card reader and those that the machine could not authenticate their cards due to one reason or the other were eligible to vote.

The card reader operates at two levels: accreditation, which confirms whether a given card belongs to a polling unit or not, and authentication, which verifies that a voter’s biometric records match those of the card they are carrying. Authentication is usually successful once the card confirms a voter’s thumbprint. Where it fails to confirm, authentication is deemed unsuccessful, but the voter can still vote – provided that the card is successfully accredited. The Presiding Officer then fills an incident report form for such a voter. At the end of the voting process, the total number of successfully authenticated cards and the unsuccessful ones is expected to tally with- or at least, be more than the total votes cast, not the other way round.

The stakeholder pleaded with me to allow him to use the cards he was carrying since both those whose biometric records are successfully authenticated and those whose records fail are eligible voters. When I consulted with my team at the polling unit, I discovered that they had already mobilised and were ready to disrupt the election should we reject the bid. As a confirmation, we had early reports from the neighbouring polling unit that the electoral officers were booted out of the village! The Supervisory Officer had to call all of us and seek our tactical cooperation in the interest of peace.

Stakeholders at our unit then embarked on aggressive canvassing for voters- because I categorically told them that I would not allow one person to vote twice, whatever happened! So they had to pay willing young men with no cards to the turn of N500 per voting to use the unclaimed cards and vote for their political parties. Funny enough, all political parties cooperated and brought their supporters to use the unclaimed cards and vote. We had a peaceful voting process afterwards.  

During the 2019 general elections, I had an amusing but similar experience, this time around as a voter and not an electoral staff. The stakeholders of my polling unit had hundreds of unclaimed voters cards belonging to the unit. They undertook to pay each available voter N500 to vote for their parties. My friend was into the game and had to vote as many as four times! In the fourth round, the Presiding Officer warned him to respect himself and not return.

Now tell me: if votes don’t count as purported – or say they don’t matter, why would politicians go that far to get people to vote for their parties? Have you ever observed how desperate political stakeholders are during voter registration? For example, in the first and only voter registration exercise I participated in as ad-hoc staff, I was posted to the village of a one-time Member, the House of Representatives, a very interior village that is hardly accessible.

The ex-Member solely undertook to take care of our welfare; provided our accommodation, a generator for our comfort at night, ensured that we had the best meals and all of that. Why would a man do that if he had known that votes are needless and all he needs to do is manipulate election results during elections?

By my analysis, winning an election in Nigeria today is the responsibility of two sets of individuals within a political party: the individual voters and the elite class. As a voter, your duty to your party and the preferred candidate is to vote – and get as many of your friends as possible to vote for him as well. Once you do that, you have fulfilled your responsibility as a party loyalist and patriotic citizen. Leave the rest to the elite; it does not concern you. Even if your party did not win in the end, the conviction that you played your part- as a patriotic citizen would- is enough consolation.

The greatest disservice many young men do to their favourite political parties and the country at large is to make all the noise on social media while they do not know what a voters card looks like, have never voted and have no intention to vote, after all, wallowing in the illusion that “votes don’t count in Nigeria after all”. This crop of individuals is the major problem we have in Nigeria.

A clarion call to all Nigerian youths as the 2023 election approaches is to disabuse your mindset of this counterproductive notion, register, get your voters card and vote. Votes actually count! Don’t be deceived.

Tordue Simon Targema is a doctoral student at the Department of Communication Arts, University of Uyo, and teaches in the department of Mass Communication, Taraba State University Jalingo. Email: torduesimon@gmail.com.