INEC

By Sumayyah Auwal Ishaq

The Governor-elect, Kaduna State, Distinguished Senator Uba Sani, and his deputy, Dr Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe, were issued Certificates of Return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday.

This came after their victory at the March 18 governorship election in the state. Accordingly, the issuance of the certificate of return included lawmakers-elect to the Kaduna State House of Assembly.

Senator Sani, who won the election on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform, garnered 730,000 votes to defeat his closest rival, Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP), Isah Ashiru, who polled 719,196 votes.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Youth Society for the Prevention of Infectious Diseases and Social Vices (YOSPIS) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to forestall the recurrence of the mistakes that pervaded the Kano State gubernatorial election. 

YOSPIS made the appeal in a press statement signed by its Executive Director, Zainab Nasir Ahmad, on Wednesday. 

In the statement, the group outlined their observations of the election and recommended what INEC should do differently in subsequent elections. 

Some of the group’s recommendations include reducing the number of party agents at the polling unit, addressing the technical issues of BVAS, and the security of electoral materials, amongst other things. 

The group congratulated the Kano governor-elect, Abba Kabir Yusuf and wished him the best in his administration.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed Saturday, April 15, for the conduct of all supplementary elections. 

On Monday, the commission made this known in a press statement signed by its National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr Festus Okoye. 

Part of the statement reads: ” The Commission has fixed Saturday, 15th April 2023, for the conduct of the supplementary elections in the affected polling units nationwide.

We appeal to all political parties, candidates and stakeholders to note the date and locations of the supplementary elections. The earlier accreditation for polling and collation agents, observers and the media still subsists for the supplementary elections.”  

As regards the gubernatorial polls, voting is expected to take place in Kebbi and Adamawa states on the said date. 

The governorship elections in Adamawa and Kebbi states were earlier declared inconclusive by INEC owing to cancelled votes, which were more than the margins between leading candidates.

INEC will also conduct supplementary elections for federal and state parliamentary elections, which were declared inconclusive on the said date.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Kano State Transition Monitoring Committee, TMG, has denied calling for the review of Kano guber election results and cautioned people with evil intentions not to smear the integrity of credible civil society organisations in the state.

TMG, in a joint press release with the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre ( CISLAC) and the Kano State Civil Society Elections Situation Room, gave the advice in Kano on Saturday.

The organisations totally denounced the reports that they called for the cancellation and review of the governorship election in Kano State.

According to them, unscrupulous persons in the state are hell-bent on sneering at the integrity of civil society groups that have been working hard over the years to ensure electoral integrity in Nigeria.

“For obvious selfish and politically motivated reasons, some faceless groups in conjunction with some willing elements in the media have cooked up fake stories about civil society organisations calling for cancellation of the governorship election in Kano State and other parts of the country. ” The Group disclosed.

They stated that the news is fictitious malicious, and worrisome, and they will not condone attempts to be dragged into the mud.

“The spread of this fictitious and malicious news, in a time when the political space in Nigeria is already heated up, is not only worrisome but also has the potential to further overheat the polity. As champions of democracy, we will not allow sneer-campaigners and people with politically motivated reasons drag credible civil society organisations in Kano State and, indeed, in Nigeria at large into political wars with political parties.”

The group, therefore, called on individuals to disregard the reports making rounds that represented credible organisations in a bad light. They also urge media organisations to filter facts before reporting.

By Mubarak Umar

With the Supreme Court judgment affirming Senator Rufai Sani Hanga of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as the Senator-Elect, Kano Central Senatorial District, the people of Kano Central have reason to rejoice.

Kano Central is genuinely abuzz with excitement following the judgment. Senator Hanga challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) declaration of Malam Ibrahim Shekarau as the winner of the February 25, 2023, senatorial election in Kano Central.

This victory of Senator Hanga is a significant boost for the NNPP. It also demonstrates the importance of pursuing justice through the appropriate legal channels rather than resorting to violence or other unlawful means. This is a win for democracy and the rule of law, a testament to his resilience and determination to fight for his right.

I am delighted that Senator Hanga has been elected to represent Kano Central at the National Assembly. With his experience and dedication to public service, I believe he will be an effective advocate for his constituents and a valuable asset to the Nigerian government.

A graduate of Accountancy, one-time member of the House of Representatives (1992-1993), and senator who represented Kano Central from 2003 to 2007, Hanga chaired several committees. They include Chairman Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes; Chairman Senate Sub-Committee on Housing and Urban Development; Chairman Sub-Committee on Finance; Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Tourism and Culture; and Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Special Duties.

These positions contributed to Senator Hanga’s deep understanding of Nigeria’s political and economic landscape. In addition, he has shown himself to be a skilled negotiator and collaborator, able to work effectively with others to achieve common goals. These qualities will serve him well as he navigates the complex issues facing the Kano people, particularly his constituents.

Senator Hanga has demonstrated a solid commitment to developing his community and the nation. His focus on education, healthcare, and infrastructure has been commendable. I am confident that he will continue to work tirelessly to address these and other critical challenges facing his constituents.

He is a politician with an impressive track record of public service, making him a valuable asset to any government. With years of experience working at various levels of government, Senator Hanga has developed a deep understanding of the political process, the needs of his constituents, and the challenges facing the country. His wealth of experience and expertise will undoubtedly prove invaluable in driving positive change and development initiatives in Kano Central.

Kano Central Senatorial District, located in northern Nigeria with fifteen local government areas, is known for its political and economic importance. It is the metropolitan commercial city of Kano, one of the largest cities in Nigeria.

One of the major reasons Kano Central needs good representation at Nigeria’s National Assembly is to ensure that the interests and needs of its people are adequately represented and addressed at the national level. This is important because the National Assembly is responsible for making laws that affect the entire country. It is also crucial that the laws made are fair and just for all Nigerians, including those in Kano Central. Now, the voices of Kano Central people will be heard, and their needs will be addressed in the national discourse.

Senator Hanga’s representation at the National Assembly should ensure that Kano Central gets its fair share of the national resources. This includes funds for infrastructure development, education, healthcare, and other social amenities. Moreover, with his effective representation, the district will not be left behind in terms of economic development, as policies that promote economic growth and development are made at the national level.

Furthermore, Kano Central is facing several challenges that require urgent attention from the National Assembly. These challenges include insecurity, unemployment, poverty, and a lack of access to clean water and electricity. Effective representation at the National Assembly can help to address these challenges and improve the standard of living of the people of Kano Central.

The importance of good representation at Nigeria’s National Assembly cannot be overemphasized. The National Assembly is the highest legislative body in Nigeria, responsible for making laws that govern the country. Therefore, good representation is crucial for developing any district or constituency.

Kano Central is in dire need of infrastructure development. The district is home to several markets, industries, and transportation hubs, making it a hub of economic activity in the state. However, the lack of good roads, electricity and other basic amenities hinders economic growth. A good representation of Senator Hanga at the National Assembly should ensure that the district receives adequate funding for infrastructure development.

Kano Central has several tertiary institutions, including Bayero University, Kano State Polytechnic, and Yusuf Maitama Sule University. However, the education sector in the district needs significant improvement. His representation at the National Assembly should ensure that these institutions receive adequate funding to improve the quality of education and provide better facilities for students.

Kano Central is also in dire need of better healthcare facilities. The district has several hospitals and health centres, but most are understaffed and lack adequate medical equipment. Senator Hanga should ensure that the district receives proper funding for healthcare facilities and training and medical personnel recruitment.

Kano Central has a high rate of unemployment, especially among the youth. Senator Hanga now has the opportunity to use all means of legislation that can attract foreign investors to the state and promote entrepreneurship, leading to job creation and economic growth.

Kano Central has experienced several security challenges recently, especially phone snatching, political thuggery, and burglary. Senator Hanga should ensure the district receives adequate security funding to combat these challenges and maintain peace.

I am excited to see what Senator Hanga will accomplish during his time in office. With his dedication to public service, commitment to his constituents, and extensive knowledge of the Nigerian political landscape, I am confident that he will be a valuable and effective representative for Kano Central. I wish him all the best in his new role, and I look forward to seeing his positive impact on the people of Kano and Nigeria.

Mubarak Umar can be contacted via mubarakumar96@yahoo.com.

By Nura Jibo

Nigerians living within and staying in the diaspora should start a self-cleansing effort to seek Allah’s forgiveness. Already, the people of the country have wronged God. Unfortunately, the current leadership does not want to agree with this position. However, let me start with the individual failures before I descend to the collective disgrace and abuse of the system.

1. The recent presidential election overtly exposed the INEC chairman’s unpreparedness. He was highly unprofessional and produced a very abysmal and disappointing outcome. In the history of Nigeria’s electoral commission, there has never been a time that a lump sum of money amounting to N335 billion was spent on a presidential election under the pretext of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) or IReV (portal) or whatever parlance Prof. Mamud Yakubu wants to call it. This guy ended up giving Nigerians the most controversial and expensive presidential election in the entire history of the world. As a professor of history, he went to Chatham House and bragged to Prof. Alex Vines and co. that in his office, “There is one of his engineers that even promised him to design a voting machine that could sense voters’ body odour.” He was telling this open and brazen “invention” to global audiences at Chatham House even when he ended up giving Nigerians the most terrible BVAS and IReV technologies that, up until now, he is struggling to fix by postponing the Guber elections by a week!

2. The N335 billion that Henry Omoru of Vanguard reported that Prof. Mamud asked from the Federal Government to conduct this kind of election was an upshot of the initial INEC budget of N305 billion plus an additional N10 billion. This stupendous amount is enough to build eight state universities in each of the 36 states of the federation, including Abuja, with a take-up grant of N1 billion each!

3. According to Dennis Amata’s analysis of the INEC 2023 election budget that appeared in Dataphyte, “The Federal Government spent N444.5 billion to conduct the country’s last three general elections, and a total of N255 billion was wasted due to the low voter turnout recorded in each of the elections.”

4. And if it is true that Mamud is a first-class historian from Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto, Nigeria, and he used his historical antecedents to brag at Chatham House and, in the end, give Nigerians this BVAS melodrama, then his first-class degree is now subjected to the vagaries of his incompetence and lack of ICT knowledge. And this is why! His poor BVAS and IReV performances had already reduced him to a local champion or, better put, a local history professor overrated in Nigeria.

5. A cursory look at the INEC’s nine (9) key items that it budgeted for the conduct of the 2023 election shows that there was a very depressing procurement of hi-tech/advanced ICT facilities such as BVAS and a hi-tech result storage database that could safeguard the security of online and offline result submittals and transmittals, as Mamud wants us to believe. Indeed, Mamud is not aware of or lacks knowledge about the disadvantages of using BVAS as a voter accreditation system. On the contrary, he was probably carried away by it because INEC was told that it could eliminate electoral malpractices and prevent multiple registrations.

6. But Mamud, as a “first-class” academic and Professor of Political History, ought to have known that using such a biometric voter identification and transmitting apparatus for instant results collation is always problematic for developing countries such as Nigeria because there is no adequate network in African countries that could effectively allow the use of BVAS and IREV portals (transmission). In fact, the incessant network failures in Nigeria and, by extension, Africa are enough to get Mamud informed of the disadvantages of using this failure-prone network facility. Moreover, as a learned history professor, this ought to have informed him how this kind of network failure gave President Yoweri Museveni an advantage to impose an internet blackout that cut off access to news, social media, and messaging services ahead of the Ugandan presidential election.

Seriously, Mamud, as a professor, needs to know better than anybody the calamity in the erratic supply of electricity that could ravage his entire BVAS and IREV efforts. In 2019, I had an international conversation with Volkswagen’s Head of Sustainability in Madrid. I tried to persuade him to patronize African countries by supplying electric cars to Nigeria and other African countries. The Volkswagen giant quickly checked my ideas by saying thus: “There is no constant supply of electricity in Africa that could charge the batteries that will drive the cars”. Therefore, Prof. Mahmud and co. ought to have known this simple arithmetic. They could have visualized that no ample network or electricity in Africa could make BVAS and IReV function well!

Fellow Nigerians, friends, and colleagues of Nigeria, that was Mamud Yakubu’s disgrace to Nigerians!

And one wonders what the likes of Mohammed Haruna are doing at INEC as Resident Commissioners by allowing Mahmud to use Nigeria’s ample resources and, in the end, put the entire country into global shame! Whenever I see Mohammed Haruna sitting beside Prof. Mahmud with his hand akimbo, I know that Nigeria does not have a future. Because if a combination of Mohammed Haruna, who spent a significant part of his life writing long essays about Nigeria’s underdevelopment and democratic misgovernance, and Yakubu could disgrace Nigeria this far in the name of INEC staff, then we need to call it off for Nigeria. Indeed, there are so many Mamud Yakubus and Mohammed Harunas in the land that time and space will not allow us to exemplify most of them in this analysis. Therefore, we can only mention a couple of Mahmud’s similar disgraceful elements that constitute the Nigerian system’s individual failure before narrowing down to the specific scenarios that have thrown the country into a global failure and a pariah state.

7. Therefore, the next individual’s disgrace worth mentioning here is that of Adamu Adamu, the current Nigerian Minister of Education. Adamu took ample time to write his folklore about ASUU and how to make it better. But in the end, he goofs up Nigeria’s education by forcing the entire system to suffer universities’ strike action for over seven months! Courtesy of Adamu’s Taqiyya Amana, which he displayed amidst growing educational tensions that distract Nigeria by throwing it backwards by two-semester backlogs.

We can go on and on! But to cut the story short, the colossal loss to Nigeria on this INEC’s BVAS and IReV drama has successfully reduced its chairman to a local champion who made his country not reap the benefit(s) of the huge monies that he spent on this so-called BVAS without giving Nigerians value for their money. It is a shame that for all the money he asked for, he could not provide Nigerians with an enabling environment to come out en masse and cast their votes. Mamud and co. sincerely deceive themselves by hiding under the pretext that Nigeria’s democracy is the biggest in Africa. He also brags about this point anytime he is given a chance to speak. He doesn’t know that several African countries are fairing better than Nigeria. Unfortunately, Prof. Mamud doesn’t know that his country is lagging behind certain African countries regarding voter turnout and conducting fair elections without BVAS! Here I will conclude by quoting extensively Ray Ekpu’s take on the need for INEC to wake up from its slumber and engage in a serious campaign on voter turnout.

According to Ray Ekpu, “Many African countries have done far better than Nigeria in combating voter apathy. Their voting figures are close to 100%. Look at these: Rwanda’s 2017 presidential election produced a 98.2% voting record; Equatorial Guinea (2016): 92.7%; Angola (2017): 90.4%; Seychelles (2016): 90.1%; Guinea-Bissau (2019): 89.3%; Zimbabwe (2018): 84.2%. For Nigeria to deepen its democracy, the voting figures have to go up drastically. That means that all concerned must work on improving voter education.

Voter education can also help in checking election rigging. Election rigging can only happen when there is collusion among the triumvirate, namely, politicians, INEC officials, and security personnel. Where there is no collusion, no rigging of fundamental significance can take place. There is no perfect election anywhere in the world, but rigging can be substantially reduced once people are interested in ensuring that their votes count. But in Nigeria, poverty is an issue. Many of the people who sell their permanent voters’ cards are poor. For them, those cards mean little or nothing, but a few thousand naira can mean a lot to them. It can mean the difference between a full stomach and an empty one”.

Nura Jibo is a Lifetime Member of the West African Research Association (WARA), African Studies Centre, Boston University, United States. He can be reached via jibonura@yahoo.com.

By Zaharaddeen Muhammed

It is a general psychological belief that individuals tend to keep repeating things that benefit them and help reduce their suffering. In politics, too, citizens believe that the essence of participating in the political life of their country is to maximise their benefits through attaining improved living conditions, say, for example, security of lives and properties, food, a better health care system, more employment opportunities, stable electricity and so on.

You don’t need statistical data to conclude that, since 1999, when Nigeria returned to a democratic system, the sufferings of Nigerians coming out to vote for a better life increased. As such, many citizens choose not to exercise their franchise as it does not benefit their lives.

Abraham Lincoln’s definition of Democracy as a government of the people by the people and for the people seems irrelevant in Nigeria because some of the leaders who served political offices in the past were suspected to be products of statistical inflation during elections, not by choice of the majority. Thus, they are not by the people; our leaders are considered to serve themselves rather than the general populace. That is why they strive to get into power by hook or crook.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) reported that during the 1999 general election, out of 58 Million Nigerians that registered to vote, only 30 million were able to vote, 42 out of 61 million registered voters voted in 2003, only 35 million out of 62 million in 2007, 39 million out of 74 million cast their votes in 2011, 29 million out of 67 million in 2015, 29 million out of 82 million in 2019 and, sadly, in the recent 2023 presidential election we have witnessed the lowest turnout whereby of all the 93.46 million eligible registered voters we have, only 24.97 million came out and cast votes.

Though many factors like; lack of voter education, electoral malpractices and vote buying during primary elections, which produce uninspiring candidates in the general elections, rigging during the general election, and the activities of political thugs are contributing factors to political absenteeism during elections, the major factor that converts responsible citizens into political absentees is bad governance resulted by poor- performing elected officials and political parties.

To respond to this signal of “not having feelings” citizens about the political affairs of our dear country, resulting from a lack of efforts from the side of our political leaders to improve people’s situation, I see it that the best way to lure people back to the polls is to promote people’s welfare. Campaigns and sensitisations are less effective these days—only action matters.

Take, for example, the issue of vote buying. You can’t convince someone who lives from hand to mouth, similarly being denied the opportunity of going to market on election day to get what to eat, not to collect a bag of grated maize for a vote—relief materials matter.

Zaharaddeen Muhammed wrote from Azare and could be reached via zahmuhaza@gmail.com.

By Ishaka Mohammed

While some people are after the quality of leadership, others are primarily concerned about the identities or affliliations of the people in positions of authority. Anyway, democracy gives us the chance to participate in the process of choosing our leaders. The responsibility of the electoral body, therefore, is to ensure free, fair and credible elections. But can this body be graded excellent by all the electorate or citizens?

The answer is no. It’s impossible for an agency like the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), to avoid fierce criticisms. Provided some candidates lose elections, issues must be raised against the commission. However, this body can reduce doubts to the bare minimum if it scores high in terms of transparency. Sadly, it usually scores low in this aspect. 

INEC has rescheduled the governorship and state assembly elections to March 18, as against the initial date: March 11, 2023. That’s just a week difference. This decision comes with diverse consequences, but my main focus is on how it affects the suffering inflicted by the so-called cashless policy.

The Supreme Court of Nigeria ruled on Friday, March 3, 2023 that the old naira notes (N200, N500 and N1,000) remain legal tender until December 31, 2023. Many Nigerians celebrated the pronouncement, but I was unsure if President Buhari and the Central Bank of Nigeria would honour the ruling. Expectedly, it’s been almost a week since the judgment, but neither of the two has issued any statement about it. However, there’s been a sense of relief as many banks are reportedly paying and accepting the old notes.

As for the President and the CBN, I expected them to say something, maybe a few days after the governorship and state assembly elections, as they might consider the scarcity of cash as an effective measure against vote-buying. So, I was counting down to the end of our suffering—our struggle for cash—when INEC scattered my thoughts by rescheduling the elections. With this postponement, we’ll have to endure the suffering a little longer.

This cashless policy introduced by the Federal Government of Nigeria has been disastrous for the the country. Businesses and individuals are facing tough times due to the scarcity of cash in the economy. The stress of queueing at banks and POS shops, more hunger for the majority, transport costs to and from banks, a depressed market for traders (particularly those running small-scale businesses dealing in perishable goods), difficult in commuting to workplaces or schools, etc. — these are just a few of what Nigerians are enduring.

While I was preparing to go to the bank a few weeks ago, an elderly neighbour transferred N5,000 to my account to help her withdraw. It would been easier for some of us (Jaiz Bank customers) until that time. I went to the bank, fully prepared for long queues, but there was no cash. The woman’s money remained in my account for a few more days until one afternoon, when she called me on the phone (while I was at work) to send it back to her. She’d seen a POS attendant somewhere with some cash. She quickly sent her daughter home to get her debit card, but within a few minutes, the POS operator exhausted the cash by serving other customers in the queue. He charged N200 for every N1,000 withdrawn, yet the queue was long. The woman regretted leaving her card at home; she needed money to cook for her children. Before that time, she had, on two or three occasions, gone to queue at banks as early as 5 a.m. 

Talking about businesses, although some business owners have started acquiring POS machines and accepting bank transfers, bad network remains an obstacle. Besides, most business owners can’t afford such because of many reasons, including illiteracy and the smallness of their business scales. These are enough proof that Nigeria has yet to be ready for the cashless policy.

I can say that with the presence of digital financial institutions like Opay and PalmPay, multiple debit cards, and my little exposure due to education, I’m better off than millions of Nigerians in terms of the capacity to cope with the scarcity of cash in the country. Despite my obvious advantages, when a student of mine gave me N300 to buy a book for her a few days ago, I kept the cash in my pocket and transferred the same value to the bookseller. Yes, I needed the cash to buy items like onions, tomatoes, etc.

Back to the rescheduling of the elections, I don’t know if I’m being somewhat pessimistic, but this is just what I think. Neither President Buhari nor Godwin Emefiele may say anything about the Supreme Court ruling until after the governorship and state assembly elections. As a result, the postponement of these elections means that we may have to endure the suffering for another couple of days, say 11 or even more.

Ishaka Mohammed wrote from Kaduna State. He can be contacted via ishakamohammed39@gmail.com.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Ahead of the March 11 governorship election, the Youth Society for the Prevention of Infectious Diseases and Social Vices (YOSPIS) has commended the FG’s cashless policy towards the election and the efforts of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in conducting one of the freest and fairest elections in the country.

The Executive Director of YOSPIS, Zainab Ahmad Nasir, who made the call on Thursday, said, “We would like to commend the National Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Federal Government for conducting a free, fair and credible Presidential election in Nigeria. We hope and pray the same will happen next week for gubernatorial elections across the country.

“The vote buying was hugely reduced due to the new naira policy implemented by the Federal Government. However, despite its readiness, the commission [INEC] failed to provide some materials on time, like cubicles, among other materials. Many polling units in the State experienced the faults of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), late arrival of INEC officials and materials, change of polling units, absence of cubicles, violence and overvoting in some areas.”

The Director also urged the general public to remain calm and peaceful during the elections process and report any suspicious act to the security personnel.

She said, “We hope the electorates will continue to remain calm, peaceful and confident in the electoral process and report any wrongdoing they witness.”

The Daily Reality gathered that the Presidential elections last week had left many families in deep mourning of their relatives who were burnt to ashes or sustained gunshot wounds on election day in Kano.

Several reports indicated how Alhassan Ado Doguwa, the Majority Leader of the House of Representative of Nigeria, had allegedly shot three people and instructed thugs to set ablaze the Campaign Office of the New Nigerian People Party (NNPP) in Doguwa Local Government Area of Kano.

The development had allegedly led to the death of no fewer than fifteen innocent souls who happened to be inside the building when it was set on fire.

Miss Nasir concluded that “We hope the perpetrators of this dastardly violence will be brought to book and face the consequences of their actions.”

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Ahmad Tinubu, has received the Certificate of Return as the President-elect of Nigeria.

On Wednesday, the certificate was presented to him by the Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

Tinubu was accompanied by his beloved wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Vice President-elect Kashim Shettima and a retinue of governors and party chieftains.  

Tinubu had polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat his closest rival, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 6,984,520.

The Vice President-elect, Kashim Shettima, also collected his certificate of return alongside his principal.