Buhari's Dream: Is it all over?

The recent ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, which upheld the election of President Goodluck Jonathan, has raised questions over the political future of General Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). Sam Egburonu, Sunday Oguntola, and Kolade Adeyemi in Kano, report that the general is not ready to give up.

When the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, on last week upheld the election of President Goodluck Jonathan of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), one of the major concerns of political watchers was the likely political future of the chief petitioner, General Mohammadu Buhari. Buhari, the presidential candidate of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) had dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to court, challenging the announced results and praying that the result of the April presidential election be upturned in his favour.
Before the ruling, Buhari was quoted as saying he would no longer contest for elections if his current quest is aborted. This claim elicited speculations that the ruling would mark the end of his political career.


But reactions of his associates after the ruling suggest that he would remain active in the country’s political scene. Mr. Yinka Odumakin, the spokesperson of CPC, told The Nation, immediately after the ruling that Buhari will not give up the fight, pointing out that the ruling will not mark the end of Buhari’s political career.


He said that the ruling was faulty from the beginning. “How can the judges say CPC failed to substantiate its allegation that the presidential poll was fraught with irregularities that substantially affected the result of the election, when it was the same court that destroyed the two planks upon which CPC would have proved its case without hindrance?”
According to him, the removal of the former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, was part of the grand plan to stop Buhari.
Another plank was the refusal of CPC’s request to subject some of the controversial votes to forensic test.


According to him, once these two planks were removed, CPC was advised by its counsel to withdraw because the case had been castrated. “We only continued because we decided to allow some judges to also put their names on record either for good or for bad.”


The development notwithstanding, he argued that Buhari will not give up even though he has been short-changed. According to him, “General Buhari has made it clear that he would forever remain on the vanguard of liberating Nigeria from the clutches of exploiters. So, it is a commitment for life. He said as long as he is still breathing, he will continue to play his part to help achieve positive change in Nigeria.”
This position was in line with the pronouncements made by other major officers of the party after the ruling. The National Chairman of the party, Prince Tony Momoh, for example, did not waste any time before he told pressmen that CPC will appeal the ruling.


This is not the first time the dogged general would be going to court to contest results of elections. It is also not the first time he would threaten to quit the stage only to return to the political war field.


In 2003, he contested against former President Olusegun Obasanjo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) under the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). He lost and went to court to challenge the results.


After that encounter, it was speculated that the former military Head of State would retire from active political life.


But in 2007, Buhari re-emerged as ANPP’s presidential candidate. He lost again to late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Buhari was inconsolable. He insisted he was rigged out. So, he headed to court to seek redress. The legal tussle dragged for months. Battle-wearied, many members of the party started querying the wisdom in the prolonged court case. Some were fascinated by the offer of National Government of Unity (GNU) from Yar’Adua. They wanted to have a share of government patronage. His running mate and national chairman of ANPP, Chief Edwin Ume-Ezuoke, led this group. But Buhari, ever a hardliner, would have nothing of it. For him, it was either his victory or nothing else.


All the months the battle lasted, ANPP was in utter disarray. The party’s engine was practically knocked. The leadership was polarised. The pro-Buhari elements wanted to see the legal battle to a conclusive end. His opponents wanted to have none of it. The interregnum persisted for months, even years. Eventually, feeling betrayed, Buhari opted out. He left the party when it became obvious he was no more welcome. The late Ume-Ezuoke has joined the GNU of Yar’Adua. 


Since 2007, Buhari remained without a party. It was not until 2010 that he became active again in the political scene. He formed the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), which was registered in November 2010. The 2011 Presidential election was just five months away. But the party hit the ground running, sweeping the entire North like a hurricane. It drew appeal mainly from the Northern masses. The Almajiris and commoners in North saw the party as their own. Some pollsters started predicting a major political revolution in the coming elections. But it was not to be.


After managing few seats in the National Assembly elections in the North, the party lost out completely at the governorship election. It won only Nassarawa State and not in Katsina, Kaduna, Kano and Niger, against all expectations. In all, CPC won six senatorial seats and 30 in the House of Representatives.


Now that the tribunal declared that he lost the presidential elections, some observers are wondering whether his problems have something to do with his political strategies. There are also questions as to whether he was being frustrated by a clique or a political cabal?  
Mohammed Junaid, a long time associate of the retired general said:  “I don’t know anything about any cabal, which is opposed to Buhari becoming the president of this country but certainly there are people, individuals who are in pursuit of their own selfish interests, who see him as a threat. Remember that Buhari contested against a man that belongs to the Peoples Democratic Party, a party that is made up of opportunists and butchers of our national economy, so if they do not want Buhari to be president, it is understandable. I want you to note also that even those who wanted Buhari to become the president of this country had their own selfish interests, so, nobody can be loved hundred percent out of over 150 million people. Some people are bound to be envious or to hate you for what you are and what you stand for and that is part of human nature.”


GENERAL Mohammadu Buhari came into public notice on December 31, 1983, when he emerged the Head of the Supreme Military Council (SMC), a group that overthrew Alhaji Shehu Shagari, three months after his re-election. One of the major legacies of the regime of this hard-faced general and his no-nonsense deputy, the late General Tunde Idiagbon, was a novel war it prosecuted against indiscipline which largely instilled fear into Nigerians.
Given the cycle of his defeats at the polls and in courts, some observers, are of the opinion that the best option for the former Head of State at this time may be to retire as a statesman. It seems however that Buhari and his closest associates would not hear of it. So, the battle continues

The Problem With Nigeria Is You And Me!

Posted: October 24, 2011 - 21:17

By Prince Charles Dickson

 What is the problem with Nigeria, who is the problem, today I dare say that the problem with Nigeria, is Nigerians, part of our problem, is simply put, 'us', 'we', 'you', 'them', 'they'. The problem with Nigeria actually is you and me!
Nigeria, ideally is one of the best places to live in, it is not a Police State like so-called Western Democracies. In Nigeria I can urinate anywhere and not get fined or arrested, I can get a ladder and climb the electricity poles and effect a change of power phases, that is if the problem is not from the nearby power transformer which anybody can repair with dry wood.
For a government that prides itself in placing transformation as its agenda and keeps spending billions for power it is interesting to see how there is no improvement, it is equally mind boggling and baffling that the available power supply is not paid for by both government and the governed including me.
Many persons for good reasons had seen in Jonathan nothing but good luck including you and me, an opportunity for a reawakening despite the roguery and treachery of the PDP.  A lot of us had lost hope in the system, the structure, the leadership, but with each passing day, it is becoming obvious that Nigeria may be just an empty plastic cup, to light to hold a cup of coffee cold or hot, because the problem is you and me.
I voted because he was South-South, he was Christian, was Niger Delta, he had a smile, for millions like me and you who never had met him, he seemed a nice guy--well quite early in the morning we are living witness to the result, from labour strikes to expected subsidies and a deteriorating state of security.
I am writing this essay about us because lately I have discovered that I have tried hard to write nice stuffs about leadership, but that is a hard ask, I criticize a lot and hardly give solutions, my reason, simple, there are enough solutions to Nigeria's multi-dimensional problems, enough to fill an American Congressional Library.
Until I am ready, until you are ready, the solutions would remain utopian.
I have watched us being reminded of the successes of far Malaysia and lately nearby Ghana, a success that was championed and achieved simply because of purposeful leadership, a leadership and people that have collectively gone about bringing economic prosperity, industrial strength, intellectual pride and dynamism. Unfortunately I am part of a circus, of both leadership and citizenry.
A new Nigeria cannot unfold, with fast paced infrastructural development, rapid push in human resource development, healthcare delivery, when of the approximately 150,000 graduates expected out this year, only 4% possess a chance of a job, with time the remaining 96% slowly became an unemployable lot with redundant qualifications and no form of entrepreneurial educational, is it not easy to see how we are part of the problem.
Today's Nigeria, lacks education, health and development with all the wealth, we are breeding terrorists, frustrated young men, sad mothers, senior citizens that daily curse the nation because we have refused to give them their dues, children without a hope for the future in light of public school utilities.

This is Nigeria, the rich, poor, and everybody cries and laughs almost at the same time; the difference is the swing of the pendulum, I am part of the problem, so also you, it only depends on when, and how.
The Nigerian big man makes a law, those wanting to be Nigerian or already big men proceeds immediately to look for a way to break the law; he explores loopholes and escape clauses, like the Immunity clause used for stealing.
Ordinary Citizens would do it their own way, they will jump queues on no-excuse, they will do u-turns on an expressway, stop in the middle of the road to say hello to a long lost friend without parking.
How can I say I am not the problem, when in power I love affluence and will do anything to stay put. In religious matters, I fake it; in business, my cheques bounce. In the civil service forget the noise of 'servicom', files get missing and only re-appear when you, and I mean you reading this is given the right price.
The pain of this essay, is we know that we are the problem and rightly so too, but how about the Nigerians in their millions that want to be good for the right reasons. Those Nigerians, not easily understood because they will not give bribes, all their actions are in line with tradition, society's good norms and rationality. They largely are old now, although a few young ones and most times reside in rural areas, though a few stay in urban areas.
They are generally good and untribalized, they believe in the principles of live and let live. These Nigerians are neither the bottom power women nor the moneybag men like you and me. They strive daily to remain patriotic and committed to the Nigerian dream despite the reality, they are disciplined and are hardworking, and they battle the stark reality that as patient dogs they may never have any bone left.
These set of Nigerians suffer the Nigerian experiment because of the larger majority's inability to curb greed, inability for me and you to be fair and rational towards other peoples perspectives, opinions, positions and interests.
My continuous inability to make sacrifices for the common good, and your unwillingness to respect our institutions means that if others do not stand as a people and resolve to fight for what rightly belongs to Nigeria, the problem with Nigeria will continue. Time will tell.

Oil Subsidy Is Fiction-Okonjo Iweala Is Here To Seduce People To Accept The Callous "Oil Subsidy" Removal-Tam David West-TheNEWS

Posted: October 28, 2011 - 15:28

Professor Tam David-West

By TheNEWS

 Professor Tam David-West, Petroleum Minister during the era of General Muhammadu Buhari, and Mines, Power and Steel in the General Ibrahim Babangida government, spoke with GBENRO ADESINA on the controversy over oil subsidy removal.
For the layman on the street, does oil subsidy exist?
There is no oil subsidy in Nigeria. It is a lie and fraud. After the regime of General Buhari, I challenged government after government, from General Ibrahim Babangida and Chief Ernest Shonekan to General Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, to appear on national television with me to justify their subsidy.
Let me introduce you to the basics. Let us say a particular commodity like gari is sold for N10 per bag hypothetically and the farmers are producing to make us self-sufficient at N10. But at a time, they can’t produce enough because of either bad harvest or natural causes, the government now says since garri is a staple food, the government goes to another country where gari is produced and buys it at N20 per bag and brings it to Nigeria to sell at N10 per bag. The government now writes off the extra N10 –– that is subsidy. The extra N10 the government pays on behalf of the people for them to still buy at N10 is the subsidy paid on that commodity.
No government should exist if it can’t serve the people because government is a trust. They are trustees for the people. Edmund Burke, the great British philosopher, said that government is a contrivance of human wisdom and the wisdom should be used to satisfy people’s needs. Any government that can’t satisfy the need of its people is irrelevant and must be overthrown and kicked out.
Coming to petroleum, there is no oil subsidy. Oil subsidy in Nigeria is fiction, it doesn’t exist and it is a fraud. During Buhari’s time, we had three refineries. When necessary, I mean, whenever there was shortage of oil, we embarked on offshore processing. If at a time, the production of oil couldn’t satisfy our needs, we selected oil companies like Shell and others that we would give crude oil to refine abroad, sell at foreign exchange and pay to our account. We got quantum of barrels of crude oil and gave to these companies and after they might have refined it, let’s say they got one million litres and we needed only 200 litres, they would give us the quantity we wanted and sell the remaining and give us foreign exchange. We only took our fuel back, never imported fuel.
This time what do they do? These fraudulent people will take our oil, refine it and bring it back and sell it at foreign exchange. This is fraud in the highest places. Why is it that during Buhari era, with three refineries we were self sufficient but at their time, with four refineries we are now importing fuel?
I personally signed the contract of the fourth refinery which we call new Port Harcourt Refinery in 1984. It was one of the best in Africa, with a capacity of 160,000 barrels per day. The first refinery, in Port Harcourt, was built in 1965; Warri refinery in 1978, and Kaduna refinery in 1980. A newly constructed refinery can’t have major problem for about 30 years. The problem they will not tell you is that after Buhari, every Minister and Head of State became an oil sheikh, except General Abdulsalami Abubakar.
Some ministers have petrol stations and oil blocs. You can’t serve the nation and serve yourself at the same time because you can’t serve two masters at a time. One must serve his country and the dividends of doing this is satisfaction. Total capacity of our four refineries is 445,000 barrels per day. If the refineries are working even at 80 per cent, we will have more than enough product. They did not do that but sabotaged our refineries.
I have been shouting since 1995 and I wrote that they are killing Nigeria and poor men. And in 2009, the House of Representatives corroborated me by saying that refineries were sabotaged. Abdulsalami as head of state, reacting to the state of our refineries, said he didn’t want to open a box of scandal. Why did they do this to the common man? Who are the importers? Big people!
A senator said this year, Nigeria spends N860 million on fuel importation and they projected that by the end of the year, over N1 trillion will be spent on importation of fuel when our budget is N4.3 trillion. Insanity! Dan Etete said they needed $250 million to repair the refineries but the same minister said Nigeria is importing fuel at $900 million. Is that not insanity? If you need this huge amount of money to repair refineries, why don’t you build new refineries? The money you are using to import, use it to build refineries.

Why do you think Obasanjo did not repair the four refineries we had and build four extra for petroleum to be sold at N20 as he analysed when he was in power?
Olusegun Obasanjo is a great liar. They will not do so in order to continue to import fuel for selfish reasons.
Is it true that Nigeria has the lowest prices of refined products among oil producing countries?
Forget Jonathan! He doesn’t understand what he is saying. He is only parroting what they told him. He talks like a parrot. Can he remove what doesn’t exist? Can’t we build our own refineries to serve us and remove the untold hardship they want to impose on us? Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the subsidy goes to the wrong hands. If they remove it, will people not suffer the more? Everything will increase. The new minimum wage of N18,000 will become N2,000.

But Obasanjo said because it is built in phases, it will take about five years to build a refinery?
It is a lie. I told you Obasanjo is a liar. It took just two years to build the fourth refinery. I signed its contract. It is between two and three years. The problem is that there is intellectual laziness and physical indolence. In developed countries, the president will not just talk without being well quizzed. But in Nigeria, at a media chat once, Obasanjo shouted on journalists or talked to them as a teacher. They kept quiet. It doesn’t take five years to build a refinery.

Okonjo-Iweala talked about cushioning the effect of the removal of oil subsidy?
Rubbish! She is sermonising to seduce people to accept the callous oil subsidy removal. Things she promised are palliative, nobody should agree. Labour and Nigerians should make it impossible because you don’t take away what doesn’t exist. We don’t need oil subsidy to build roads, provide water and electricity; vote for capital projects has taken care of that. Degrees don’t guarantee good governance.
Can a school certificate holder rule a nation?

Yes and very well. What degree does Shehu Shagari and Balewa have? School teachers. Winston Churchill was among the dullest in his class and he became one of the greatest British leaders. Degrees don’t make leaders. Leadership is a natural endowment or one acquires it by hard work.
Jonathan wasn’t born great, he said he was born poor. Rubbish! It is a privilege to be born into a wealthy home. I was born into a wealthy home but one can’t control where God puts you. I tell my son that he should not allow the wealth of his father to go into his head because his minister father could as well be a driver. You don’t regret where you were born. So, I didn’t have shoes or wasn’t born great is rubbish. God is not partial. He does things with reasons.
Being born humble is not an issue. How you articulate your humble situation is the issue. That you are born rich doesn’t say you should look down on people. The problem with Jonathan is that though he has Ph.D, he is a brilliant man, but there is a difference between native intelligence and book intelligence. Jonathan is basically brilliant. The danger in that is that such people whenever somebody like Iweala comes talking, they idolise them like mental geniuses and become internally inferior to them. Whatever they say goes –– garbage in, garbage out. He doesn’t have the stamina to challenge them.
For a prince to be advised wisely, he must be wise too. Iweala is not the most brilliant economist. There are hundreds of people more brilliant than she is. Pius Okigbo and Ojetunji Aboyade, they served the nation meritoriously. She is working with somebody psychologically inferior and she will lead him into a ditch. She talks like the president. She once said that government would not negotiate with the Niger Delta militants. Did they not negotiate later? She was paid in dollars when she served in Obasanjo’s cabinet and her monthly pay was N2.8 million and now she is saying oil subsidy is killing the economy. Hypocrite!
If you know that what you are doing is right, convince people in arguments, facts and figures, not by sermonisation. Now, they have hired consultants with millions of naira to convince Nigeria to accept their rubbish. It was done during Shonekan’s time when a Nigerian was given N20mn for public relations job. He collapsed. They have started again. Please, Senators, Honourables of the House of Representatives, throw out this bill. Don’t think and say we are safe in Nigeria. There could be corporate protest here, just like what is happening in the Arab world. If you do anything that will make Nigerians suffer more, they will go on the streets because the suffering is already too much. I can afford things but millions of Nigerians that form the majority cannot. They should know that government is not about commissioning or investment and profits. Government should have moral dimension. Any government that disregards the moral dimension, that is, respect of God, God will punish such for making Nigerians to suffer.

How do you react to the fact that governors have endorsed it and labour has tactically endorsed it with conditions?
All that is nonsense. NLC should represent the masses well. NLC should not give any condition for the consideration of the removal of oil subsidy. Government has ways of compromising labour. When things are hot, they can approach them with millions and buy them over and they will start to talk with double tongues. NLC should be firm. The government should publish the names of those that are importing fuel and government should sign that if it is removed and the effects are not felt between three and six months, then we must dissolve the present government. If they remove oil subsidy, l will lead a protest. I will organise students for demonstration.
Do you still have faith in Nigeria?
My dear young man, if I don’t have faith in Nigeria, I will not be talking to you. I still have faith in Nigeria. To keep Nigeria as one is a task that must be done. We should differentiate between metaphysical Nigeria and political Nigeria. Nigeria is a great country blessed by God. The way we are going, the political Nigeria will destroy the metaphysical Nigeria. Most of those in government are rogues and thieves. They love themselves more than Nigeria. Every Nigerian owes Nigeria more than what Nigeria owes him/her. Nigeria will change for better when we have more statesmen than politicians.
Now, we have a bunch of politicians who only think of the next election while a statesman thinks of the future. Nigeria will collapse if we have more politicians than statesmen. Nigeria is a country where a senator is earning more than the President of America. They even buy government houses. They spend billions on cars and they can’t pay N18,000 minimum wage. They have morally crippled the country and the governance. They will be destroyed by God. Nigeria is a great country –– no natural disaster, there are able men and natural resources. But people are still crying, no job, graduates are driving taxis, doing menial jobs. Many now engage in armed robbery because they have to survive. May God bless us with good leaders.
The worst enemy of Buhari says that Buhari is not corrupt and that is the truth. It takes integrity and rigidity not to be corrupt and lead the nation. You don’t lead like Jonathan. God will punish those that are punishing Nigerians and Nigeria. When the poor man weeps, the tears go to heaven and come down with burning fire and consume his enemies. And that is what will happen in Nigeria.

BUHARI: A MESSIAH THE VILLAINS LOVE TO VILIFY

BUHARI: A MESSIAH THE VILLAINS LOVE TO VILIFY

By Godwin Erhahon, Benin City

Email: godwin.erhahon@ymail.com.

Nothing in recent time exposed how much most Nigerians hate the truth than the media distortion against General Muhammadu Buhari, Presidential Candidate of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), of the report of the Federal Government Panel on April 2011 post-election violence.

Virtually all Nigerian national dailies of Tuesday, October 11, that I read chose to interpret the report of the Sheikh Ahmed Lemu-led Panel as an indictment on General Buhari, under common sensational headline > “Post-election Violence: FG Panel Report indicts Buhari”.

A careful and objective study of the story which Nigerian press chose to give that judgmentally sensationalized headline would leave every discerning mind wondering why  our national press whose editors rank among  the most enlightened, courageous  and progressive journalists in the world chose to inform their readers that the panel report indicts General Buhari.

The Chairman of the Panel, Sheikh Lemu himself was so embarrassed by the media distortion of his panel report that he immediately refuted it. As patriots who anxiously awaited the report of the panel, what ought to interest us most in the report should have been:

              i.            The actual cause of the riots;

           ii.            The persons who sponsored or instigated the riots, if any;

         iii.            What should be done to prevent such riots in future;

         iv.            How to pacify and heal the wounds of victims;

            v.            How to promote the national unity that has been seriously jeopardized by the violence, etc.

After reading the panel report, as a journalist, I feel the most appropriate headline for any objective and patriotic newspaper should have been one that highlights the indictment of the Federal Government , that being the accurate summary and import of it all.

The part of the report that the press chose to interpret against General Buhari reads:

“Provocative utterances by many individuals and widespread charge by prominent politicians, including CPC presidential candidate to the electorate to guard their votes, appeared to have been misconstrued by many voters to include recourse to violence”.

In the above observation, not a declaration, by the panel, allusions are made to “utterances by many individuals” “widespread charge by prominent politicians including (not especially) CPC presidential candidate”, “appeared to have been misconstrued (not found to have been obeyed) by many voters…” brackets mine.

Obviously, the reference to CPC presidential candidate in the panel’s observation was in response to charges in some of the memos it received which had attempted to single him out for indictment. It is therefore exoneration, not indictment, of General Buhari, as it states that the “utterances” were made by “many” and “misconstrued” by voters. Come to look at it, in a country as ours where cabals of election riggers have continued to perpetuate themselves in power, is it wrong for opposition parties or their candidates to charge their supporters to vote, wait and guard their votes till true results are announced? If we blame post-election mass protest on pre-election calls on voters to protect their votes, are we not confirming that the protesters were voters who found that their votes have been fraudulently reversed? What lesson are we leaving for future elections by blaming those who challenged those they saw reversing their mandate or by shielding the reversers of the mandate?  Are we saying that Nigerians should not challenge those caught in the act of altering election results in future elections? Should we continue to wait for election petition tribunals most of which are manned by jurists who see their service on the tribunals as opportunities to have their share of the public fund stolen by the ruling parties to miscarry justice? Why should we play down the vital aspect of the panel report which blamed the insecurity in our country on the corruption of our rulers and the consequential mass sufferings, hunger and frustration?

Even as I write this piece, PDP supporters in Lagos State are protesting alleged rigging of Local Government Election in that state. Should we blame President Goodluck Jonathan for damages done by the protesters?

Why must we make General Buhari cheap target of vilification because he refused to steal but insists on ending stealing of our common wealth?

For easy understanding of how unjustifiably misleading the media headlines were, let us see the actual findings of the panel report on the causes of the electoral mayhem:

1.      “The existing widespread desire for change as a result of frustration and disappointment of many members of the general public regarding the inability of successive past regimes to solve the  problems of power failure nationwide, deplorable state of Federal Government roads throughout the nation , bribery and corruption which  have virtually been legitimized in all affairs of our nation. Thus with regard to the remedy of bribery and corruption, we recommend that the Heads of the three arms of government as well as other major stakeholders in Nigeria should come together and agree on the effective way forward to avoid the impending catastrophe.

2.      “General insecurity of life and property in peoples houses and on the high-ways and kidnapping are fuel to the fire of public frustration and disappointment. The true state of affairs could escalate to social revolution if preventive measures are not taken in time. In fact, the current sporadic demonstrations in educational institutions and labour unions are all considered to be signals of more serious negative events to come. This assertion could be verified for Your Excellency by the security agencies.

3.      “The manner in which political office holders have lucratised their respective positions at the expense of the whole nation. The panel discovered that the remunerations and allowances of the members of legislature, in particular are considered by stakeholders who addressed us or wrote to us about the issue to be outrageous. It has turned politics in Nigeria to a do- or-die affair for which many politicians of all parties are seriously establishing private armies to execute. In that respect, easy access to drugs, serious general poverty at the grassroots level  and youth unemployment, in particular, are providing many foot soldiers ready for recruitment at a cheap rate. The security agencies could verify this assertion also.

4.      “Generally speaking, the basic cause of the violence in nearly all the communities concerned is political. Ethno- religious sentiments were brought into the issue through negative campaigns and rumour- mongering by unscrupulous individuals to achieve their ulterior motives. The zoning controversy, which started basically as an internal political affair of the ruling party, ultimately changes the nature of the presidential election into ethno-religious contest in the country particularly in the northern states.

5.     “The most important major cause was the failure on the part of the previous successive regimes since the military handover of power in 1999 to implement the recommendations of various committees, commissions and panels that had taken place in our nation. That failure facilitated the wide spread sense of impunity in the culprits and perpetrators of crimes and violence in the Nigerian society”.

Why did our editors play down on the above findings and chose to concoct their own indictments of Buhari as if they were given that baseless headline by Buhari’s enemies ahead of the report?  

Have we forgotten so soon that General Buhari was one prominent northern politician who openly dissociated himself from the agitation for zoning of the presidency to the north? How fair is it for us to blame him for the consequences of an agitation that he dissociated himself from? Or we have chosen to forget or ignore those virtuous principles of his? Why are we so desperate to stain the stainless general?      

Must we gang up against Buhari because he has no money to bribe us with, having served our nation with utmost sincerity and patriotism?

Give the report of the Lemu-led panel to even a secondary school student to summarize the cause of the April post-election violence as identified by the panel and you will find that, as unbiased minds, their summary will differ from the concocted newspaper headlines.

I advice my colleagues, journalists, to always be guided by their conscience, true nationalist spirit, facts and the fear of God in the practice of our noble profession. Corrupt persons in power are our common enemies. No matter the size of the pea nuts that they give us from their loot, they remain our common enemies.

Now that the Federal Government Panel has traced the cause of the riot to the failure and ills of the PDP-controlled Federal Government, let us wait and see how President Goodluck Jonathan who had boasted that he would implement the report no matter whose ox is gored, will do.

From his handling of this report, we shall see how good Jonathan’s luck is to Nigeria.

Buhari: INEC should account for N100bn

0

September 30, 2011

by blueprinceIM

Jega

By Abdulrahman Abdulrauf

Abuja

Former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), has challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to account for the N100 billion it took from the federal government for the conduct of the 2011 general elections.

 He told Nigerians to stand up and demand explanation on how the commission expended the money.

 Buhari claimed that most of the money was cornered by persons he described as faceless and corrupt politicians.

 The presidential candidate for the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the 2011 presidential poll spoke while responding on behalf of other awardees at the 2011 edition of the Leadership Conferences and Award Ceremony, organised by Leadership Conferences Limited, a subsidiary of the Leadership Newspapers Group.

 At the event, former Lagos state governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was named “Person of the Year 2010,” while Buhari bagged “Politician of the Year 2010,” while the Edo state governor, Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, was conferred with the “Governor of the Year 2010″ award.

 In attendance were all governors of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) states, as well as their federal, and state lawmakers.

 In his remarks, Buhari alleged that the electoral commission is yet to justify the money it collected from the government.

 Recalling how he fought for 50 months at the tribunal when he contested both the 2003 and the 2008 elections, the CPC presidential candidate, who is at the tribunal to challenge the victory of President Goodluck Jonathan, said the nation’s electoral system was fraught with inadequacies.

 He said, “I want you people to take note of three things about INEC. INEC asked for N87 billion. Reliably, I learnt they were given about N100 billion. They said they had registered 73.5 million Nigerians, their fingerprints taken at the polling units from ward through local government to state, that fingerprints were being recorded with the biometric data available.

 ”The first thing that our legal team asked was to have all of these (registration and fingerprints) because there were no elections in 20 states. This was stood down. So, how can INEC account for N100 billion for doing nothing? It’s very important. Nigerians must insist on this, because if we can donate N100 billion to faceless officials and corrupt officials and, then, we say it’s against the security of the country to bring evidence as contained in the act, then something is wrong.”

 In his reaction, the Chief Press Secretary to INEC, Mr. Kayode Idowu, said if it is the money appropriated in the budget, they are for certain purposes and the balance would certainly be returned to the treasury, saying the question of foul play did not arise.

 Idowu said, “In this regard, our books are very clear. For us at the commission, we do not have anything to hide. All our spendings were rightly captured as indicated in the Appropriation Act.

 ”And on the second leg of not having access to the data, the court had ruled and we abide by that. The General needs not make it a media issue.”

Buhari: Lemu panel indicts Jonathan, PDP

Buhari: Lemu panel indicts Jonathan, PDP

Written by Nuruddeen M. Abdallah Wednesday, 12 October 2011 05:00

inShare

SocButtons plugin

7Share

The presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday that President Goodluck Jonathan and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were the ones indicted by the Sheikh Ahmed Lemu panel.

Buhari who spoke to Daily Trust through his spokesperson Yinka Odumakin commended the panel for unravelling the causes of the violence that followed the April general elections. He explained that in its submissions, the panel fingered the manner the president and his party, the PDP handled the zoning controversy that almost torn it into shreds as well as divided the along sectional and religious lines, as one of the causes of the post-elections violence.

“The zoning controversy that rocked the party and the country as well turned the presidential elections into North –South and Christians-Muslims war,” he said. He added that abject poverty, mass youth unemployment, illiteracy, has been identified as responsible for the violent reactions of electoral irregularities by the committee, which is an indictment of the president and his party that has been in power in the last 12 years.

He explained that contrary to some reports the panel didn’t indict Buhari “because of the fact that the panel didn’t come out to state where and when Buhari incited people into violence.” He said that Buhari is not denying the fact that he “urged his supporters to protect their votes.  It was on record that he was not the only one that said so. The Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega had urged the electorate to stay behind and protect their votes. Pastor Enoch Adeboye (of the Redeemed Christian Church of God) has publicly urged Nigerians to protect their votes, as well as many other politicians.”

Lemu panel report: I was exonerated –Buhari ...Commends panel

Lemu panel report: I was exonerated –Buhari
...Commends panel
From AIDOGHIE PAULINUS, Abuja
Wednesday, October 12, 2011

General Muhammadu Buhari Photo: Sun News Publishing More Stories on This Section

Former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, has said that the Sheikh Ahmed Lemu-led panel on the violence which erupted after the April 2011, presidential poll, did not in any way indict him.
Buhari said that the panel exonerated him rather than the perceived indictment arising from the statement that he asked people to protect their votes. 

Sequel to the crisis, there were calls from some quarters that Buhari who was the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the April 2011, presidential election should be arrested.
Those who made the calls, alleged that Buhari’s statement during the election campaign, triggered the violence that led to loss of lives in some parts of the country.

President Goodluck Jonathan, in the wake of the crisis, had set up the Sheik Ahmed Lemu-led panel to look into the crisis and make recommendation when necessary.

Submitting its report on Monday at the State House, Abuja, chairman of the committee, Sheik Ahmed Lemu, blamed some politicians, including Buhari, for the post 2011 elections violence that erupted in some parts of the country.
Lemu however, added that the committee, not being a judicial panel, avoided indicting any individual or group.
The report of the panel which was turned in exactly five months the panel was constituted, attributed the violence, partly to the statement credited to the former military leader shortly before the election that voters should “guard their votes.”

The report also blamed successive regimes for not acting on past reports on violence and civil disturbances, by bringing perpetrators to book, noting that it facilitated the widespread of impunity by perpetrators of crimes and violence in the Nigerian society.
But speaking through his spokesman, Mr Yinka Odumakin, Buhari said that he was not indicted at all in what the Lemu panel has done.
“There is no indictment of General Buhari at all in what Lemu has done.

“If all they could quote was that General Buhari asked people to guard their votes, then they should also blame Jega because the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) also printed posters, asking people to vote, wait and protect their votes.
“All the Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Nigeria should also be blamed because they asked people to register, to vote and protect their votes.
“So, we would have been worried if they have been able to come up to establish the allegations they are making after the elections, that General Buhari asked people to go and lynch people, which the panel set up has not been able to establish.  
“Already, there is a case filed in court against the Presidential Spokesman, Reuben Abati, who made that kind of reckless allegation that General Buhari asked people to lynch. That case is already in the Lagos High Court.

“People should look more to the other recommendations of the panel rather than sensationalizing Buhari’s asking people to defend their votes.
“They have talked about the other causes of the violence, which I think are the real causes of the violence: the zoning policy in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which turned the election into a North-South, Muslim-Christian thing, the question of poverty which they talked about, coupled with the way politics has been lucratized by politicians and other recommendations.”
These are the much, more fundamental issues.” 
Odumakin further said that “if all they could trace to Buhari was that he told people to guard their votes, I think the panel has just exonerated him from the vicious lies and propaganda that have stood against him.”
Buhari however commended the panel “for the courage to do a painstaking job in identifying the right causes of the violence.”