Politics

2023: Uncertainty As INEC, Parties Meet Over Primaries, Others

Published

2 years ago

May 27, 2022

Editor

The Independent National Electoral Commission will today have a crucial meeting with the leadership of the 18 registered political parties under the auspices of the Inter-Party Advisory Council.

Sources however told The PUNCH that the meeting, scheduled to hold at the commission’s Headquarters in Abuja at 3.30pm would dwell on the ongoing primaries for 2023 election.

Also to be discussed is the demand of parties seeking the review of the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2023 general election.

However, it was not yet clear as at the time of this report if INEC would after today’s meeting accede to the demands of the parties by adjusting the timetable.

The two major political parties, All Progressives Congress and Peoples Democratic Party have scheduled their presidential primaries for this weekend.

INEC had reviewed its schedules for the 2023 general elections in Nigeria in February after the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rerd.), assented to the 2022 Electoral Act.

In compliance with the new Electoral Acts, the commission fixed April 4 to June 3 for the election of flag bearers of all political parties for the 2023 elections.

But political parties under the aegis of IPAC and political actors have continued to mount pressure on the commission to extend the June 3 deadline for the primaries.

The civil society organisations and prominent Nigerians, including a former chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, have warned the commission against yielding to the demands of the political parties.

Jega said shifting the deadline would be a recipe for disaster.

IPAC, during a parley with the INEC held earlier this month urged the commission to shift the deadline by 37 days.

The chairman of IPAC, Yabagi Sani, accused the commission of not carrying leadership of political parties along while designing the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2023 elections.

Sani said the Sallah holiday, forthcoming Ekiti and Osun States governorship elections and screening of an unprecedented large number of aspirants were issues that could hamper timely and strict compliance with the timetable.

A chieftain of the APC, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, had accused INEC of endangering the conduct of the 2023 general elections with what he alleged to be its “plots and partisan interests”.

While warning of looming danger from the “tight INEC schedule of primaries imposed on political parties in the country”, he said the commission’s schedule “has been influenced purely by a section of the political elites who have positioned themselves to benefit from this INEC calendar.”

According to him, it was not the business of INEC to fix dates of primaries in as much as the primaries were conducted 180 days before the election in accordance with the provision of extant law.

But responding, the Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, said the extant laws give INEC the power, as a regulator of political parties, to determine when party primaries should take place.

Oyekanmi told journalists that the extension being sought by parties, if granted, would disrupt the planning template for the 2023 general election with dire consequences.

He said, “The timetable and schedule of activities for the 2023 general election was released as far back as February this year, one full year ahead of the election. The conduct of primaries was fixed for April 4 – June 3, 2022.

“The extant laws, indeed, give INEC the power, as a regulator of political parties, to determine when party primaries should take place, contrary to the gentleman’s view. It is quite obvious that he has not read the Electoral Act, which is quite disappointing)

“The INEC Chairman had, on at least three occasions, urged the political parties to conduct their primaries within the stipulated timeline, as no extension will be entertained.

“The extension being sought, if granted, would disrupt the planning template for the 2023 general election, with dire consequences.

“Why is it that the parties cannot conduct their primaries within two months (April and May)? Interestingly, none of them complained about the timeline for party primaries when the timetable was released in February. Why now?”

The Special Assistant to the INEC chairman, Prof. Muhammed Kuna, said contrary to Olawepo-Hashim’s
assumptions, the timetable for the primaries was carefully deliberated upon in the commission with the full knowledge of the various critical activities the commission has to conduct before the 2023 general elections.

These, he said, included the printing and display of the list of nominated candidates, printing of results sheets, movement of ballot papers among other activities.

“Just imagine the number of candidates and pages that have to be printed for each candidate for all 18 parties, for all constituencies for the election (executive and legislative at Federal and State levels); the printing of ballot papers (for all registered voters for all constituencies (1 presidential, 109 Senatorial, 360 Federal Constituencies, 28×2 Governorship and Deputy Governorship; and 993 State constituencies); the printing of results sheets and the movement of ballot papers, results sheets and related election materials and personnel to location”, he stated.

Kuna added that timeline for the primaries was fixed to enable the completion of these and related critical tasks that cannot begin until parties submit their nominees.

The INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu said any attempt to review the timeline as requested by IPAC will alter the rest of the INEC schedule of activities ahead of the 2023 polls.

He insisted that the commission has given enough time for parties to conduct primaries to select their candidates for the poll.

“I hereby reiterate the position of the Commission that there will be no review of the timelines. There are so many inter-related activities that are associated with the timelines which must be carried out.

“Any review to extend the timeline for one activity will affect other activities and put unnecessary pressure on political parties and the Commission. This will ultimately result in more complications than what the extension seeks to achieve. Therefore, the Commission will not review the timelines,” Yakubu told leaders of the political parties in attendance.

Politics

Atiku Hints On Supporting Obi For 2027 Presidential Race

Published

11 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has said that if in 2027, the party decides that it is the South-East’s turn and selects Peter Obi as its candidate, he will readily offer his support.

“I have said repeatedly and I even said it before the 2023 general elections that if the PDP decides to zone the presidential ticket to the South or South-East specifically, I won’t contest it. As long as it’s the decision of the party, I will abide by it. But I contested the 2023 presidential ticket because it was thrown open to all members of the party.

“If the party decides that it’s the turn of the South-East and Peter Obi is chosen, I won’t hesitate to support him,” Atiku declared in a recent interview with BBC Hausa Service.

He added that a merger between the PDP and Labour Party is possible.

Atiku added that members of the party would decide his fate in the 2027 general elections.

The former Vice President mentioned that his recent meeting with Obi might indicate a possible alliance leading up to the 2027 general elections.

Responding to questions about the meeting with Obi, Atiku said, “It’s just a normal friendly meeting that we often have, particularly among us in the opposition parties. Such meetings are healthy for Nigeria’s democracy and in the country’s interest.”

On whether this will bring about a merger, he said, “Yes, it’s very much possible. We can merge to achieve a common goal. So, it’s possible, and nothing can stop it if we wish to achieve that.”

The former Vice President, who denied that the choice of presidential candidate might frustrate the merger discussion, said, “That’s not true. That challenge will not arise. I can tell you that the choice of who will fly the flag of the party won’t be an issue.”

On why he’s still in active politics, Atiku said, “Yes, we can’t keep quiet and watch things go wrong. People are suffering and we are committed to making Nigeria a better place.

“It means you are not tired of politics of Nigeria? Not at all. I am still in active politics in Nigeria, at least, as long as God permits.

“My age doesn’t stop the young ones from testing their fate. Everybody, irrespective of age, is allowed to aspire to be anybody in the society, politically or otherwise.”

Regarding his 2027 Presidential ambition, the former Vice President said “That would depend on the decision of my party. I can’t make any categorical statement on that. It’s the duty of the party to decide on the way to go in the next election.

“Until that time comes. Let’s just wait and see how it will turn out.

“It must not be interpreted like that. I must not be eyeing elections to have meetings with political friends and associates. Currently, we are practising democracy in this country which we fought for with our blood.”

Last week, Obi held a private meeting with Atiku and some other PDP leaders in Abuja.

Obi also met separately with former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido and former Senate President Bukola Saraki, sparking speculation about a possible coalition for the 2027 general elections.

Obi was a PDP member until 2022, when he left to pursue his presidential ambitions with the Labour Party.

He finished third behind Atiku in the February 23 presidential election, which was won by Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress.

Atiku blamed Obi’s departure from the PDP for his loss to Tinubu.

Analysts argued that Atiku’s 6,984,520 votes combined with Obi’s 6,101,533 votes could have secured a win against Tinubu, who received 8,794,726 votes.

Monday’s meeting marked the first public interaction between Obi and Atiku since the election.

Social media and online platforms were flooded with viral photos of Obi’s meetings with the three PDP figures on Monday.

In 2019, Atiku and Obi ran together on the PDP ticket but were defeated by former President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC.

However, due to internal conflicts, Obi, who was Atiku’s running mate in 2019, left the PDP and ran as the Labour Party’s candidate in the 2023 presidential election.

Politics

JUST IN: Ex-PDP Deputy National Chair, Oyedokun Defects To APC

Published

2 days ago

May 16, 2024

Editor

A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun, has resigned his membership of the party and announced defection to the All Progressives Congress.

Oyedokun, a notable personality within the political circle in Osun State and beyond, said he decided to dump the PDP after consultation with his loyalists.

He said he would be joining APC, where his experience, efforts, and leadership roles would be valued and appreciated.

His resignation letter addressed to the National Chairman of the PDP through the ward, local government and state chairmen of the party obtained late Thursday further read, “As a functional member and leader of PDP (Ward 13, Jagun/ Osi-Bale Ode, Odo-Otin South Local Government, Osun State,) whose high electoral productivity and value have been credibly and positively acknowledged in my ward, across the local council, state and country-wide for the enhancement of the fortune of the PDP, I have the honour (though with pain) in announcing the renunciation of my membership of the party on principle, having observed that the ideals of we, founding members, had been sorely contaminated.

“In taking this step which is not even without due consultation with my teaming loyalists in the PDP, I have consequently decided to shift my allegiance to the All Progressives Congress (APC) where I believe my experience, efforts and leadership roles would be valued and appreciated.”

Oyedokun’s defection to the APC is coming at the time the aspirant he supported during the 2022 Osun governorship primary of PDP, Mr Dotun Babayemi is also moving to the national ruling party.

Osun APC said on Wednesday that Babayemi and his supporters would be dumping PDP and joining the party at a rally scheduled to be held in Osogbo on Friday.
PUNCH

Politics

Poll: APC Has No Sellable Candidate, Nothing To Campaign On – Edo Govt

Published

5 days ago

May 13, 2024

Editor

The Edo State Government claimed on Monday that the All Progressives Congress, APC, has no credible candidate for the September 21 governorship election.

This was an assertion made by the Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, at a press conference in Benin City.

Nehikhare also alleged that the party is using lies and propaganda as its campaign strategy.

According to him: “The only APC strategy for the governorship election is to resort to lies and propaganda. When a party takes lies and propaganda as an election strategy, it means it has nothing to offer the people. The party lacks people with character, capacity, and intellect.”

The commissioner who took journalists through a screened shot WhatsApp chat said: “What we have here is the official APC WhatsApp platform, their own people screenshot their discussion. One of them who has a conscience asks, is this the only thing we have?”

Nehikhare, who said APC is ashamed to campaign for its candidate, noted that, as of today, nobody had heard of what the party has for the state.

“All we heard is how they are going to help their paymaster, lies and propaganda that will not help the state,” he added.

He opined that lies and propaganda are not strategies the opposition party, like APC, can use to win the September 21 governorship election.

The commissioner, who warned against misinformation and fake news ahead of the governorship election, urged media practitioners to be neutral in matters concerning lies and propaganda.

He, however, noted that Governor Godwin Obaseki’s administration has a lot of achievements to market and sell its candidate for the election.