Buhari could have beaten Jonathan with more votes - Shehu.

Leke Baiyewu

The Director, Media and Publicity, All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Mr. Garba Shehu, tells LEKE BAIYEWU in this interview why General Muhammadu Buhari would have won the presidential election with more votes
What is your general assessment of the presidential election, apart from the fact that General Muhammadu Buhari won the race?
We are satisfied with the process because we have won. The overall goal is to win and we have won with a clear margin. If we have to pick holes in this election, obviously there are two things; one, the card reader technology has been sabotaged in the South-East and the South-South. We do not know how they did this but we have strong suspicion that they sabotaged the technology. Therefore, the technology did not work and they blackmailed the Independent National Electoral Commission into adopting manual (voter) accreditation. They are very comfortable with it because that was what they wanted.
In one of the (presidential campaign) rallies, Governor Rotimi Amaechi (of Rivers State) said in the South-South and the South-East, they (the electorate) do not vote; what they were after is the result sheet. When some people are queuing to cast their votes, it will be an exercise in futility and a fruitless exercise because the result sheets have been taken somewhere and are being filled. You remember what Governor Amaechi did on the day of election in Port Harcourt. He said ‘I will not vote until I see the result sheet.’ He was not shown any result sheet and he did not vote.
The election was rigged in Delta, Imo and in Rivers in particular. This explained the large numbers that came out of those places. While people were on the streets of Akwa Ibom, protesting that they were not allowed to vote, these large numbers were coming out. In Rivers, people were at the INEC office, including the (APC) governorship candidate, chanting ‘we want to vote, we want to vote.’ They were not given the opportunity to vote. Our people did not make noise over it. We allowed it to pass because we believed that we had a wide margin to competently absorb all these nonsense. And that was what happened. That election would have been decided by between 65 per cent and 70 per cent win by the APC; that was our expectation. But we allowed it to pass.
If truly the APC supporters were disenfranchised in the election, why then do you think the PDP is also contesting the result of the exercise?
Our belief is that wherever the card readers were used, rigging was forestalled there. I can assure you that in the North and the South-West, the card readers worked and they worked to our satisfaction. If they (PDP) have any evidence, let them go to court.
But is it ideal for the APC to overlook the alleged disenfranchisement of its members?
Do you think that all the National Assembly seats that were carted away in Rivers will be allowed to go? I am sure that with all of those seats that were stolen in Akwa Ibom, Rivers and some other places in the South-East, fresh elections will be ordered. They will not be allowed to go like that.
Do you think there is anything spectacular about the APC that made it win the presidential election?
There are two things: first, the country generally was ready to accept change. We have to give it to Nigerians. The political environment was ripe for change. The country has been mismanaged for so many years by the PDP. They have taken Nigerians for granted. Second, you must also consider Buhari and his integrity status — the personal integrity of the leader of the campaign. It was important because Nigerians needed somebody they could trust. Third, we ran an issue-based campaign. We isolated the key issues of concern to Nigerians; the issue of insecurity, corruption, economic downturn and unemployment.
In spite of all efforts to distract us from these elements, we stayed on. While the PDP was busy jumping from one personal issue to the other, forgetting the main issues in their campaign, we addressed the issues concerning the people.
Next are the governorship and state Houses of Assembly membership elections. What is your expectation?
We will do better than we did at the presidential poll. Any police commissioner who allowed rigging in favour of Jonathan and any army commander who collaborated in rigging in the last election will now see Buhari as the next Commander-in-Chief. I don’t think any of them will allow the PDP to mess them up with the next elections.
There will also be the bandwagon effect. The bandwagon factor is moving at a fast speed and whoever is not on it is a loser. Nigerians know how the game is played; they will come on board.
But the PDP has dismissed any bandwagon effect on the forthcoming governorship poll.
Let them go and tell the people from the moon. Nigerians know themselves; we know ourselves, and we know the way it works.
How much hope do you have in breaking the PDP strongholds in the governorship poll?
The security services that played game, thinking that Jonathan would win have now seen that they were wrong. If I am the police commissioner of Rivers State, and my hope is to become the Inspector-General of Police one day, I will not follow Jonathan to the grave – a political grave. Igbo people have a parable that says it is the greedy fly that gets buried along with the corpse.
Considering your comments, is there any possibility that Buhari may come after some people when he gets into office?
No. Give him the benefit of the doubt. He had said repeatedly that there is no time for witch-hunting. Otherwise, the job won’t get done.
Does that include those believed to have been used against him or his party?
Why would he go after them? Are they not citizens? He had said he would be a president for all. You heard his (acceptance) speech on Wednesday. They should not entertain any fear. But he will take responsibility for whatever is done under him. If you’ve not committed any crime under him, there is no reason to be afraid of him. However, if the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) has been investigating someone; it is not for Buhari to stop it. That is like interfering with its work. So, ongoing cases will continue.
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Nigeria's Goodluck Jonathan: Five reasons why he lost.

By Damian Zane
BBC News


Goodluck Jonathan is the first Nigerian sitting president to lose an election
Nigerians are so used to the idea that an incumbent should win presidential elections that President Goodluck Jonathan's failure to beat Gen Muhammadu Buhari needs some explaining. Here are five reasons why the opposition won:
1: Harder to rig
Past elections have been marred by serious irregularities and suspicions of rigging. In 2007 observers said the presidential poll was not "credible". In 2011 the vote was considered to be better run but observers said that rigging and fraud still took place.
This time the electoral commission took more steps to prevent rigging, including new biometric voters cards.
Also President Jonathan's party, the People's Democratic Party (PDP), had lost control of some key states which meant it could not control the electoral process there.
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2: Boko Haram and security
Nigerian soldiers displaying a Boko Haram black flag
The Nigerian army has made some recent gains against Boko Haram, but not enough to convince Nigerians
The election took place against the background of an Islamist insurgency in the north-east of the country. The Boko Haram militant group has killed 20,000 people and forced some three million others from their homes and President Jonathan was criticised for not getting to grips with this.






The poll was delayed for six weeks to give time for the security situation to improve, but even though most areas controlled by Boko Haram were recaptured, it seems to have come too late for many people.
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3: United opposition, crumbling PDP
PDP supporter
The extra six weeks of vigorous campaigning by the PDP was not enough to halt the slide in the party's fortunes
The PDP has been described as an election-winning machine. When it was created it united a northern elite with leading politicians from the south, but that alliance has broken up and the party lost some key figures. Even former President Olusegun Obasanjo came out against Mr Jonathan.
At the same time, the opposition managed to unite under the All Progressives Congress (APC) banner. The last six weeks of desperate and dirty campaigning, in which the APC responded in kind, was not enough to turn the tide.
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4: Economy
Dollars and Naira
Nigeria's economy is growing but the wealth is not being spread around
Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer and its largest economy, but many fail to feel the benefits with nearly half the population living below the poverty line. Continued corruption is seen as partly being to blame.
National income is due to grow by more than 5% this year and next year, but people did not seem in the mood to thank Mr Jonathan for this.
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5: Time for a change
Nigerian election posters
APC supporters chanted "change" wherever they went and it seems to have caught the mood. The PDP has been in power since the end of military rule in 1999, and 2015 is the year that Nigerians decided that someone else should have a go at sorting things out.
President-elect Buhari now has to prove he really can change things.

Nigeria election: Muhammadu Buhari wins

Residents celebrate the anticipated victory of Presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari in Kaduna, Nigeria 31 March 2015
Supporters of Muhammadu Buhari celebrated as the results came in


Former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari has become the first opposition candidate to win a presidential election in Nigeria.
Incumbent Goodluck Jonathan telephoned Gen Buhari, 72, on Tuesday night to congratulate him and concede defeat.
Unofficial voting tallies put Gen Buhari more than two million votes ahead of his rival.
Observers have generally praised the election, though there have been allegations of fraud.
Election results as they happened






A spokesman for Gen Buhari's All Progressives Congress (APC) party praised Mr Jonathan, saying: "He will remain a hero for this move. The tension will go down dramatically."
Gen Buhari's supporters took to the streets in APC strongholds, including the northern cities of Kano and Kaduna, to sing and dance in celebration.
The APC issued a statement after the result was announced, calling for "calm, sober celebrations" and warning supporters not to attack opponents.
"He or she is not with me, whoever does that," the new president said.
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Analysis: Will Ross, BBC Nigeria correspondent, Abuja
Buhari agreed last week to respect the outcome of the polls
Gen Buhari's victory is a hugely significant moment in Nigeria's turbulent history. Never before has a sitting president been defeated in an election.
Since independence from Britain in 1960, there have been numerous coups and most elections have been rigged. Of course in a close election there will be many voters who are not pleased with this outcome but the whole process is a sign that democracy is deepening in Nigeria.
The poll has once again brought to the surface dangerous religious and regional differences and there is still a threat of violence.
The man who has been voted out, Goodluck Jonathan, has played a huge part today in trying to prevent that. He made the phone call when there would no doubt have been some in his camp who would have preferred to dig their heels in.

Profile: Muhammadu Buhari
Profile: Goodluck Jonathan

The former military ruler managed to win more than 25% of votes in 24 states, meaning he avoided the possibility of a run-off with Mr Jonathan.
He dominated the country's north-western states, which have suffered most from attacks by Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
In Borno state, one of the worst-affected by Islamist violence, Gen Buhari won 94% of the vote.

It is the fourth time that Gen Buhari, 72, has sought the presidency.
He ruled Nigeria from January 1984 until August 1985, taking charge after a military coup in December 1983.
Mr Jonathan had led Nigeria since 2010, initially as acting leader before winning elections in 2011.
Nigeria has suffered from several attacks by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which has killed thousands of people in its drive to establish an Islamic state.
Many voters have said that they believe Gen Buhari is better positioned to defeat Boko Haram.
The verdict on Mr Buhari's 20 months as military ruler is mixed.
The European Union's top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, congratulated Gen Buhari on his victory, saying she "looked forward to working with" him.

Muhammadu Buhari
Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria's new leader
Muhammadu Buhari in focus:
◾Aged 72
◾Muslim from northern Nigeria
◾Elected president in 28 March poll
◾Military ruler of Nigeria from 1984 to 1985
◾Deposed in a coup
◾Poor human rights record
◾Seen as incorruptible
◾Disciplinarian - civil servants late for work had to do frog jumps
◾Survived an apparent Boko Haram assassination attempt

PRESS RELEASE! PRESS RELEASE!! ON SIEGE ON GOVERNOR ROTIMI AMAECHI

NOTHING BAD MUST HAPPEN TO GOVERNOR ROTIMI AMAECHI AND THE LEADERS OF APC
The Executive Council and members of APC UK Chapter are very concerned about the threat to the life of the APC Governor of Rivers State and Director General of APC PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN ORGANISATION, Governor Rotimi Amaechi who had earlier complained that the President Goodluck Johnathan led PDP government had completed plans to assassinate him and some leaders of APC.
We are very worried that the Federal government on the orders of President Jonathan has unleashed combined units of the Nigerian army and police to barricade and lay siege to Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s house , as the APC Presidential and other candidates lead in early polls results in the General elections 2015. This is of great concern to us. We invite you to watch Governor Rotimi Amaechi, complain to a Police Officer in front of the Governor's House in Port Harcourt in front of the gentlemen of the Press, bloggers and social media users - https://fbstatic-a.akamaihd.net/rsrc.php/v2/y4/r/-PAXP-deijE.gif. 
We are all witnesses to how orderly the Nigerian people are speaking and making it clear that change has come to Nigeria through their patient and orderly voting at polling stations all over the Country in spite of intimidations and underhand dealings of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,  the police as well as the army and other security forces. We call of the PDP and President Jonathan to rein-in their forces and thugs in order to save precious Nigerian lives and property. The people are resolute to have genuine change come to Nigeria and no power can stop them now.
We are therefore asking the world to take note of the dastardly plans by President Jonathan and PDP to assassinate the leaders of APC. Indeed the APC candidate for the House of Assembly for the Dukku constituency of Gombe in Gombe State along with eight members of APC was assassinated this morning Saturday, 28 March 2015. May their gallant souls rest in peace.
We call on the police and security agencies of the Federal government of Nigeria to make sure that the perpetrators of this evil act are brought to book promptly. As for Governor Rotimi Amaechi and other leaders of APC throughout Nigeria, we call on President Jonathan and PDP to respect the peace accord signed by the APC Presidential candidate General Muhammadu Buhari and President Goodluck Johnathan and make sure that nothing happens to them: not even a hair on them should be harmed. Let peace reign and let our people live to declare the works of God Almighty and make Nigeria great again.
This is a Save-Our-Souls message to intimate the world that democracy is under threat yet again in Nigeria as the government of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP employs subterfuge and violence against the peoples of Nigeria through the manipulation and disruption of the electoral process and its umpire, Independent Electoral Commission, INEC and the incitement of ethnic militias to commit mayhem and ethnic cleansing against Nigerians. This is in order to create a situation unsuitable for elections or ripe for the outright stealing of the elections by the government and its security agencies as well as the PDP thugs. Our leaders are not safe unless President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP can give us the guarantee that they are safe and would abide by the letter and spirit of the peace accord he signed onto with our Presidential candidate General Muhammadu Buhari recently.
The world cannot afford to allow Nigeria to fail as a state. The regional and global impact, let alone, the scale of potential human suffering of allowing Nigeria to fail or degenerate into a theatre of war are too heinous to face. THIS IS WHY WE ARE NOW CALLING ON THE WHOLE WORLD TO HELP NIGERIA AVERT THIS SITUATION.
Watch the siege on Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s house in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State of Nigeria: https://fbstatic-a.akamaihd.net/rsrc.php/v2/y4/r/-PAXP-deijE.gif
Philip Ilenbarenemen,
Publicity Secretary,
APC UK Chapter

HOW BUHARI WILL APPLY COMMON SENSE TO TRANSFORM THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY

By Chief Lawson A. Omokhodion
The record of General Muhammadu Buhari’s  (GMB) involvement in making Nigeria a respectable country is out in the open domain. When he assumed power after the December 31, 1983 military coup, the conservative NPN (National Party of Nigeria) federal government had virtually destroyed the economy the way the conservative PDP federal government has destroyed the Nigerian economy today. Fake import bills, massive current account deficit, shortage of foreign exchange, huge external borrowing by the NPN government, austerity measures via the government economic stabilisation act of 1982, drug peddling and smuggling, violence all over the country particularly after the Ondo State vigorously contested elections and general state of despair were characteristic of he NPN government. The way it was under the NPN in 1983 is the same as it is in the PDP government of today. GMB came as head of state to rescue the country and he took certain drastic steps. The NPN government had run down the country’s foreign exchange reserves because of the over invoicing of projects, fraudulent expenditure on the construction of the federal capital city of Abuja and the profligacy of the government of President Shehu Shagari who was as weak and as clueless as the present leadership.
To address critical shortages GMB did not go out for foreign loans the way President Jonathan and Finance Minister Okonjo-Iweala are busy doing now by borrowing from China, ADB and world financial markets. He cut down on imports and rationed what was available in the country. Nigerians got used to managing what was available and producing locally what they could. It was then that toilet rolls began to be produced in Nigeria. GMB’s government now went into counter trade to be able to barter crude oil for critical supplies and the country moved in a disciplined manner. Nigerians now formed a cueing culture and both Nigerian men and women learnt how to be orderly, how to wait patiently for their turns and how to be polite to other Nigerians. In a matter of months Nigeria regained its respect among the comity of nations.  Unlike today where impunity, disorderliness and a culture-of-do-what-you-like prevails in government, orderliness was the reward of GMB’s presidency. We must return to the rea of order and good governance that only Buhari will ensure.
GMB hates corruption and disdains crude capital accumulation and wealth without work. He clamped all the corrupt leaders of the three political parties into detention and the government set up the special military tribunals to try the corrupt politicians. The parties were NPN, APP and the UPN. Many of the governors were sent to jail with their ministers and commissioners. These are the same corrupt people fighting Buhari today and yet under the PDP federal government these politicians have once again ruined the economy the way the NPN ruined the economy in 1983. To further make useless the money stolen by corrupt politicians, in 1984 GMB changed the colours and configuration of the Naira. The politicians were in trouble and they started working with the Ibrahim Babangida group to stage a military coup. GMB served as head of state from December 31, 1983 to August 1985 (18 months) and not one case of corruption was ever brought against his government or in the states. He would punish corruption vigorously and without mercy. But President Jonathan is soft on corruption. If Nigeria does not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria as GMB said. When he became PTF Chairman, the known fact was that GMB would approve a contract with two conditions. Either the contractor performed well and got his cheque with a handshake or performed badly and got handcuffs heading to jail. He punished offenders and rewarded good performers. The EFFC and ICPC will be allowed to do their work independently without interference and according to the states setting them up. 
Buhari hates religious violence and the unnecessary waste of human lives. As head of state no one religious riot broke out. He was put under pressure to take Nigeria into the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Countries) but he refused saying that Nigeria was a secular state and no one religion must be allowed to dominate the country. It was the government of Ibrahim Babangida that took Nigeria into the OIC in 1986 leading to the crisis that led to the sacking of Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe as the chief of general staff. GMB led the Nigerian armed forces to crush the maitasine riot in the North-East and drove away the Chadian forces that occupied portions of Nigeria’s territory. Under GMB there will be no religious or Boko Haram crisis and if any one comes up it will be immediately addressed. GMB will not declare state of emergency in selected local government areas in the states where insurgents take over without taking firm action across the entire states. It was the way that the government of President Jonathan handled the Boko Haram criminality at the initial stages that gave impetus to the insurgency to grow out of hands. As an old time general of the Nigerian army, GMB will take decisive action on all matters of insecurity be it the murderous Hausa Fulani herdsmen, armed robberies, kidnapping or total lawlessness by individuals or groups.
As military governor of the former North-East state as it was then known and covering the whole of present day Borno and Yobe states and parts of Taraba and Adamawa states, the administrative capacity of GMB was never in doubt. He managed the resources of the state and Maiduguri the state capital was a beautiful, peaceful and progressive city under GMB governorship. Under President Jonathan the city of Maiduguri is a dangerous and abandoned city and a home of internally displaced persons. GMB was the petroleum minister under the government of Olusegun Obasanjo in 1976-79. GMB knows the history of the nation’s refineries and what is required for them to work. GMB will ask the original equipment manufacturers used for the refineries to return to fix the nation’s four refineries. If the refineries are working the corruption in fuel subsidy payments will be eliminated. The $20 billion that we pay annually for petroleum imports will be saved. Jobs will be created. The refineries will create jobs and the spin-off effects will positively affect the economy. The money stolen by accused subsidy thieves who include the sons of two former PDP Chairman will no longer be accessible to them. Cases of corrupt enrichment to the detriment of the people of Nigeria will not be swept under the carpet. GMB will make local refineries functional and new ones will be built by both private businessmen and government. Nigeria practices a mixed economy system and GMB will not abandon the government to private capitalists. GMB will work with the private sector and will make sure the public sector provides the facilitating environment for economic growth.
GMB will pay special attention to road and rail network. The cost of building roads will not be higher than the cost obtainable in Ghana or Togo; two countries that share the same weather conditions like Nigeria. The hierarchy of corruption in both the federal and state legislature and executive organs will be dismantled. The monies saved will be used to provide jobs to Nigerians and improve the state of the local economy. The rail lines will be given genuine attention and more will be done at a cost much less than the cost of railway today. The current rail line being executed by the Lagos State government that the President Jonathan is blocking will be facilitated. In 1984, the proposed metro line planned by the civilian government of Lateef Jakande was cancelled by then Lagos state government of Mudashiru Lawal because Lawal explained to the supreme military council that corruption and contract manipulation were quite evident in the awards. The 2015 GMB’s federal government will provide a nationwide framework for transparency so that disagreements between governments like the type that occurred with Mudashiru Lawal and Lateef Jakande will not be allowed to obstruct public spirited projects. GMB is a progressive personality and as President he will return Nigeria to a state of respectability in all spheres of life.
GMB will improve public schools across the land by proving both a policy framework and needed resources. The situation where only the very poor send their children to public primary and secondary schools will change. GMB will improve the state of public hospitals such that the poor, the aged and the weak will find a place for medical attention. The huge resources spent by Nigerian parents to educate their children abroad in universities and attend hospitals abroad when they are sick will be addressed by upgrading the facilities in public institutions and making sure that strikes by professional bodies and lockouts will be minimised by constructive engagement and appeal to a higher ideal of nation building. GMB will make sure instances of crude oil theft are either completely eliminated or reduced to a few barrels per day. GMB will pass the petroleum industry bill by working sincerely with the legislative chambers to achieve what PDP with double majority in the two chambers under President Jonathan could not achieve.  GMB will make sure all the funds that have been disbursed to make abundant electricity supply possible in Nigeria are applied as approved. GMB will not witch hunt but he will insist that any federal government project expenditure must carry commensurate value.
GMB will project a strong Nigeria. A nation where no-one will be oppressed. A nation where our diversity is strength and not the disabling weakness it has become. A nation where the rich and the poor will coexist as equals before the law. A country where local production is enhanced and import dependency minimised. A nation that is sympathetic to the strong and welcoming for the rich. GMB will give us a nation where the young school leavers and young graduates will be gainfully employed and happy and committed to a new Nigeria. We need just common sense to transform Nigeria’s socio-economic directions. Buhari has the common sense.
A vote for APC’s General Muhammadu Buhari is a vote for a prosperous new Nigeria.
 *Chief Omokhodion was MD/CEO Liberty Bank Plc

Again, PDP kicks against Card Readers

by Gbade Ogunwale, Assistant Editor, Abu
The presidential campaign organisation of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) has again kicked against the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to use of Smart Card Reader for Saturday’s election.
At a media briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, the Director of Media and Publicity of the campaign, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, alleged that INEC has colluded with the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) to compromise the card readers.
According to him, the contract for the production of card readers was awarded to companies owned by a friend and supporter of the presidential candidate of the APC, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
Fani-Kayode said: “Our concerns stem from the fact that the moving spirit and a major shareholder and board member of the company that supplied the card reader system and machines to INEC is not only a friend of but also an ardent and keen supporter of General Mohammadu Buhari and the APC.
“That man’s name is Sani Musa and he is indeed the main force behind the company. The company’s name is Act Technologies Ltd. and the Chairman of the company is one Engineer SK Danladi.
“How and why INEC would give the contract to supply the card readers to a fanatical APC supporter and to a man whose other company was officially blacklisted by INEC a couple of years ago for sharp practices, needs to be explained.
“Sani Musa has expressed his undying support for the APC and General Buhari and his hatred and virulent opposition to the PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan openly and publicly on his Facebook wall.
“Some of his comments on Facebook read as follows: I stand with him (Buhari) for whatever reason and I imagine the kind of people given spaces in our nation’s news tabloids.  Hoodlums are having field day in Nigeria since the inception of GEJ’s administration.  Mad men, hooligans and vultures have taken over decency of the society.  May Allah save us from the torments of this (sic) rascals and expose their intentions on our nation state be it the Boko Haram, killer militants or by extension those in authority with wicked intentions-Amen.

“Worst still, it is clear that certain aspects of and electronic components within the card reader system which will be used in Saturday’s election have not only been compromised but that the encryption codes and so-called ”master key” may have been made available to the opposition or their friends and agents. This will enable them to access the system, fabricate and generate fake votes and manipulate the voting patterns to their advantage.
“This constitutes a very serious breach of security and it is a criminal offence. It is also very dangerous. Worst still it can easily be carried out successfully because, if done quietly and properly and without any deep scrutiny, it is virtually fool-proof.
“All you need to make it work is to have certain relevant and key INEC officials that are in the know to work closely with the supplier of the card readers and an opposition party that is so hungry and desperate for power that they are ready to pay large sums of money to their friends and associates to help them get it by hook or by crook.
“We believe that all those components are now in place and that the biggest and most brazen attempt to rig elections in the history of our country will take place on Saturday if the necessary measures are not taken to prevent it.
“If the conspiracy is not exposed, if the Nigerian people do not rise up and demand answers, if the plan is not intercepted and aborted, if the Chairman of INEC does not answer the relevant questions and take the necessary steps and if the relevant individuals, including Sani Musa and his collaborators and co-conspirators in INEC and the opposition, are not called to order, arrested, interrogated and prosecuted their plan may well succeed.
“In view of this dastardly plan that is in the offing and this unwholesome conspiracy, we call on the party leadership and faithful to direct our supporters and polling agents to be very vigilant at every polling booth and to guard and protect their votes. After voting they should stay at the polling booths to ensure that their votes are counted and that they are not manipulated or changed.”

PRESIDENT JONATHAN AND OKONJO-IWEALA DRAG ECONOMY INTO DISASTER ZONE.

BY CHIEF LAWSON A. OMOKHODION.

 

The drums of the 2015 Presidential elections have been sounding since December 2014. By March 28 the people would speak.  While PDP’s President Jonathan is running on its records of the past five years, the APC candidate General Muhammadu Buhari is running on his promises to the electorate. Anyhow, a new government would be sworn-in on May 29.  Watchers of the Nigerian economy are wondering what is going on particularly when all senior federal government officials have relocated to their states of origin for politics. But what will the Finance Minister and Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and her team tell the world about the economic successes of President Jonathan? That the economy suddenly fell apart one year after rebasing the GDP?  That the federal executive council weekly meetings only approve projects that are never funded? That policies are not discussed at the council? Many questions to answer but it must resist the temptation of being carried away by the digitally re-mastered pictorial depiction of phenomenal achievements by a federal government that is now so adept at propaganda and deception. Aside the issues of corruption and insecurity it is time to discuss government duties, obligations and responsibilities to guarantee citizens’ socio-economic rights.

Okonjo-Iweala must worry why fuel importation is a key result area of the economy she manages?  The last time on TV she was explaining payments to fuel importers and why there would be no fuel scarcity. In fact in the past six months the government has paid estimated $6billion (six billion dollars) for fuel importation. Okonjo-Iweala must feel so ashamed that as an economist her government cannot take advantage of the nation’s natural resource endowment in crude oil to grow the economy. Over three and half years after the 2012 fuel subsidy crisis, Ngozi’s federal economy has no new petroleum refinery in sight and the existing ones continue to operate at 18% of capacity. Jobs lost in their thousands! At the last count Nigeria’s OPEC quota of 2.3 million barrels per day is undermined by both oil theft of 400,000 barrels per day and inability to generate sales. Yet the 480,000 daily barrels of crude oil that could have been refined locally are replaced by imported fuel. Ngozi and the federal government place their hope on the fact that the Aliko Dangote’s refinery will be ready in 2017 as if Dangote is synonymous with the federal government.  What will Ngozi tell her World Bank colleagues that has made Nigeria so dependent on imports on every aspect of its life? Import of furniture items?  Import of kerosene stoves? Has Ngozi read the goals and lessons of the structural adjustment programme of 1986? As a world bank trained economist why no long-term development planning agenda that guides the economy she is co-ordinating? Will this economy continue to dwell in the zone of disaster once again as from May 29?

Does this economy know how much it loses to OECD countries on annual foreign educational pursuits by students and medical tourism by the rich? Nigerians annually troop to the UK, Canada, USA, Switzerland, Dubai and others for quality university education. It costs a minimum of six million naira annually for undergraduate tuition and board in the UK. There are over 5000 Nigerian students in UK universities. Some students go to Benin republic and Ghana to receive university education in both good and inferior institutions. Students do go to India for university education, a country that was nowhere in the 1970s. In Nigeria none of its about 150 universities is rated amongst the first 1000 universities in the world. A country where both federal and state government owned universities cannot boast of proper toilet facilities for its hostel students. In Nigeria’s public universities, the inadequacy of both halls of residence, classrooms and lecture theatres negate the existence of these institutions. In the past 5 years the federal government alone has set up nearly 20 universities without even a study to ascertain the type of education and skills needed by the national economy. Yet these universities must produce good quality graduates for the economy and pronounce them fit both in learning and character. Why will a federal government not achieve excellence in academics and infrastructure in 10 selected universities in 5 years? In 16 years? If there are 10 world class universities in Nigeria most of the students who fly to the UK, Canada and USA for university education will remain at home to school and conserve the nation’s scarce foreign exchange. Does Ngozi know that as Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy she must be concerned? Does Ngozi know that job creation in this economy is her number one priority? A country where nine out of every 10 graduates are unemployed confirms that the economic policies have failed. Job creation is beyond ventures like Sure-P; You-win; graduate internship programme for 20,000 youths, or agropreneur programmes for 5000 youths in an environment where well over 25 million youths are daily searching for jobs. The Nigerian youths are debased and dehumanised by joblessness. What is the desirable annual unemployment rate that Ngozi and her colleagues target? How come federal government institutions like PRODA and FIIRO cannot be reorganised, funded, and engineered to achieve breakthroughs in the Nigerian manufacturing world to create jobs, products and services? Why must national initiatives in local raw materials conversion programmes of yesteryears wither away?

The multi-billion dollar cost of medical tourism in Europe, America and India is another drain pipe on the nation’s resources. How can a finance minister watch helplessly as billions of dollars are moved by patients seeking medical treatment abroad? Yet a strategic analysis of the environment would have pushed the federal government to singly or in partnership remodel a few existing teaching hospitals into world class hospitals making provisions for a no strike contract. Basic health challenges that nurses and assistants handle in Europe and America lead to instant death in Nigeria. Infant and Children and maternal mortality remain common place. Killer high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke and hospitals have no CT Scans, no MRI, no dialysis machines, no defibrillator, no reagents, no cancer treatment machines and yet there is a federal government. Equipment are not available and trained doctors have all left in frustration leaving behind only the sympathetic ones ready to help us through the domestic medical rot. By the time the Central Bank of Nigeria releases foreign exchange for fuel importation, approve foreign exchange for payment of foreign school fees, and basic travel allowance and disburses funds and business travel allowance for sick Nigerians going abroad for medical treatment little wonder that the nation’s foreign reserves can hardly hold its ground. With the international oil market gone soft the outlook for the local foreign exchange market is now dismal and horrendous.

The government must blame itself for allowing the exchange rate to break through the psychological threshold of N200/$ and now trading at N200/$ open market and N198/$ CBN. An economy where such a massive devaluation of its currency has taken place and yet the interest rate on loans and advances is an average of 27% pa is not serious about economic survival. Will Ngozi say that the fundamentals of the Nigerian economy as they stand today do credit to President Jonathan’s government? Since the second tier foreign exchange market of1986 the present experience has been the most traumatic. When businesses borrow they must pay back otherwise they come in conflict with the banks. Repeated bank loses on such transactions does not augur well for the economy. When banks collapse it is on account of the debilitating effects of bad loans on their shareholders’ funds. The small and medium sized businesses in the country cannot survive on an interest rate of 27%pa. The large scale industries cannot survive for much longer on both an interest rate of 27%pa and an exchange rate of either N198/$ or N220/$. The outlook is that the Nigerian economy is on a free fall. This delicate period has been compounded by an election where no rules are obeyed. All the ministers now play politics. The result is that confidence has left the economy and investors both local and foreign are adopting a wait and see attitude. The daily stock market price losses and decline in market capitalisation indicate that the economy is in turmoil but neither Okonjo-Iweala nor her colleagues know what to do.

It is instructive how the country has been allowed to go to the dogs in such a short time.  Senior federal government officials tell lies so freely. The Agriculture Minister Dr Adesina has extolled cassava bread but tried as I have there is no one loaf of cassava bread in sight. So where is Cassava bread? Similarly, the Agriculture Minister told the nation that several rice mills have been commissioned and notably in Abakaliki. And yet all my efforts to buy a bag of Adesina rice have failed. Many federal ministers are strangers to the Nigerian environment. Like Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala the agriculture minister is of the OECD stalk; a stranger in the land. If Dr Adesina knew better he would know that the only way to successfully transform agriculture in Nigeria was to reorganise the commodity boards and re-establish the Nigerian palm produce board; the Nigerian rubber board; the Nigerian Grains board; the Nigerian cotton board; the Nigerian cocoa board and create a new one called the Nigerian rice board. Many federal ministers have no sense of Nigeria’s economic history. The result has been a catastrophic failure and destructive economic agenda by strangers hired from western institutions to run critical arms of government. May be Trade and Investment minister Olusegun Aganga’s made-in-Nigeria Toyota cars may roll out soon.

Whenever I see Professor Nebo the Power Minister on national TV I feel very sorry for him. The reason is that he has tried every known trick in the books to convince Nigerians that 4,000 megawatts is a good buy for the well over $35billion poured into electricity supply and generation by the PDP government in the past 15 years. When Professor Nebo is not bemoaning gas pipe lines vandalization, he is crying over transmission lines. Yet no report is heard of gas explosion as a result of pipeline vandalization. If indeed a gas pipeline is vandalized the resultant fire outburst will be catastrophic. Recently, the Central Bank of Nigeria offered a soft loan of N213 billion to the gencos and discos that bought the assets of the power holding company of Nigeria. This massive loan is being disbursed through commercial banks. If past experience is anything to go by, this loan will go the way the aviation and textile intervention funds went. Meanwhile, Professor Nebo is confused as he knows there is no public electricity in the country. Too many fundamental questions need to be answered by federal ministers. Tons of presidential goodwill wasted. Fuel subsidies’ frauds unresolved? The docile EFCC and ICPC have made embezzlement of public funds such an easy past time. Why is impunity our guiding principle? The next President must apply a new strategy. We must change how things run in this country.  Let Buhari run Nigeria!

 *Chief Omokhodion was the Managing Director/CEO of Liberty Bank Plc.