Politics
Amina Zakari As APC’s Gambit In 2019 Elections
It is no doubt normal, and, in fact, political, for politicians and political parties to seek ways of having advantage over their opponents. But, for the sake of decency and true democracy, for sanity to prevail, and for the general good of society, whatever advantage being sought need to not only be in accordance with relevant laws, but should also obey the 4-Way Test of the things we do, say, or think.
Specifically, the 4-Way Test requires of every human being to answer four key questions as a guide to whatever we do, think, or say at any given point in our interactions with other people. The questions are: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendship? And, will it be beneficial to all concerned?
It is in this context that, last Thursday’s appointment of Hajia Amina Zakari as the head, collation of election results for the 2019 Presidential election, and subsequent reactions against it, has called for the need to critically scrutinise the facts therein, in accordance with the spirit of attaining that level of democracy Nigeria deserves, especially as often propagated by the ruling party, the All Progressives Alliance (APC), and also act in accordance with the 4-Way Test.
Amidst calls from various quarters, most of which were from the opposition, for Zakari’s removal from the position, a few, most of whom are key members of the ruling party, dismissed the calls as an acceptance of defeat by the opposition, which they claim is merely looking for strands to hold onto as the February date for the 2019 elections draws closer.
The same few buttress their stand by hinting that after all, the said while there may not be any doubt as to the integrity of Amina Zakari, especially professionally, her relationship with President Buhari, as stated earlier, makes her partisan, and hence amounts to making her a person of unquestionable integrity in this wise. was first appointed as a Commissioner into the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by the immediate past President, Goodluck Jonathan, hence placing her as the head of collation was not out of place.
What these few did not seem to consider, for whatever reason, is the fact that President Jonathan’s appointment of Amina Zakari as a Commissioner in INEC at a time he knew that Mohammadu Buhari, a co-contender for the Presidency, has close marital ties with her, only proves how democratic President Jonathan is.
The question is can such act of democracy by President Jonathan be compared to her appointment by President Buhari as head of collation of results for the Presidential election, or any other election for that matter, be compared, especially considering that virtually the entire country had rejected her in 2015 when President Buhari had first appointed her Acting Chairman of INEC? This brings to the fore the crux of the matter.
According to Premium Times, as published in its January 6, 2019 edition, Amina Zakari is the daughter of the late Emir of Kazaure, Husseini Adamu, who got married to Buhari’s elder sister, and Buhari was said to have spent part of his childhood in the palace where his sister was married. Ever since, that close relationship has been at its best.
In fact, it was also reported that former President Goodluck Jonathan’s appointment of Zakari in 2011 as INEC Commissioner was in response to Buhari’s appeal for him to have a representative in INEC as he prepared for his election to the most prestigious office in the country, which finally came to fruition in 2015.
Meanwhile, the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), legitimately empowers the Senate, to confirm the nominees of the Executive President to INEC in Section 154 (1) and to remove in Section 157 (1). Relatedly, take note that Section 14 (2a) and (3b) of Third Schedule Part 1 strongly emphasises that: “a member of the commission shall – be non-partisan and a person of unquestionable integrity.”
From the foregoing, since Nigerians are not even aware that Senate had confirmed her appointment in the first place, the question of how she got such sensitive appointment with about a month to the 2019 elections is another question requiring answer.
But while there may not be any doubt as to the integrity of Amina Zakari, especially professionally, her relationship with President Buhari, as stated earlier, makes her partisan, and hence, amounts to making her a person of unquestionable integrity in this wise.
The Daily Post of January 7, 2019 summed up the general feeling about Zakari thus: “Amina Zakari has obviously become a stumbling block in INEC since July 2015, when her appointment as the acting Chairman of INEC by President Muhammadu Buhari met stiff resistance and condemnation across the country over conflict of interest arising from her family affinity with the President”.
However, when the electoral umpire harkened to widespread calls for either her resignation or removal by redeploying her from being the head of electoral operations and logistics to head the Health and Welfare Committee on 11th October, 2018, it was highly welcomed.
Many viewed it as a direct response to several complaints against her, just as commendations poured in for the INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, as many political parties, political actors and observers also saw it as a panacea towards credible elections.
For the INEC, as electoral umpire, to therefore choose to ignore these underpinnings and daringly reappoint her to a position as sensitive as head of collation of election results at this time, it can only reasonably point to one thing: that the ruling party considers who collates results very important, hence, only a trustworthy person can occupy that position, which ordinarily is the job of the INEC Chairman. Presently, judging by events, there is no better person than Zakari.
Moreso, the partisanship of Amina Zakari, especially her loyalty to President Buhari has over the years never been in doubt.
The Daily Post of January 7 puts it thus: “The partisanship of Amina Zakari in support of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) is so obvious and her recent interview in which she said Buhari is her leader shows that her loyalty is not to Nigeria but to President Muhammadu Buhari, her uncle who desperately seeks a second term.
“She has been repeatedly accused of influencing the outcome of several elections in favour of the APC, using her strategic position as the Director of Operations”.
Again, Zakari’s appointment recently is widely believed to be the last joker towards ensuring that incumbent President Buhari is returned, no matter what. It is also seen to be part of why the President refused to assent to the amended Electoral Act, which would have greatly checked large scale electoral fraud by limiting the ability of the Presidency to freely manipulate the electoral process.
A former presidential aspirant of the APC, who recently decamped to the PDP, Chief Charles Udeogaranya may have captured the unfolding drama as played out by INEC in its proper context in the following terms:
“In the worst act of election result falsification, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has taken first step towards announcing fake and fictitious 2019 election results by the appointment of President Buhari’s niece, Amina Zakari, as Head of INEC’s Elections Results Collation Centre”.
Soibi Max-Alalibo
The immediate past President of Obolo Youth Coalition( OYC), Mr Ijong Ama Nkpon Amon, has commended the National Assembly committee on constitutional review for the inclusion of Obolo State as one of the states proposed to be created in the country.
Mr Amon also urged the NASS Committee to give priority to Obolo as the proposed state is viable in terms of human and material resources.
It would be recalled that the proposed Obolo State compromises eight local government areas, one from Rivers State and seven from Akwa Ibom State.
The OYC former National President who briefed newsmen on the issue described the proposed Obolo State as the most viable among the 31 proposed new states in the country.
He also described the inclusion of Obolo State among the list as a dream come true for sons and daughters of Obolo nation who have for years yearned for a political entity that will bring the Obolo people who are scattered in various states across the country together.
According to him, the proposed Obolo State is even more viable than some existing states in the country as it has both human and material resources to survive, adding that the proposed state is not only rich in oil and gas but has enough marine and forest resources to generate revenue.
Mr Amon who recounted how the agitation for the proposed state started said Obolo State agitators were the first to submit a memorandum to both chambers of the National Assembly for the creation of Obolo State.
According to him, the agitation started way back in 2022 when, as the president of Obolo youth coalition, he submitted a memorandum to the National Assembly, adding that he was happy that his efforts were yielding results.
The youth leader also said that there is no impediment to the creation of Obolo State as population wise and natural resources the state is fully qualified
“Obolo is over qualified in terms of geographical spread and resources.
Also population wise and land mass, Obolo is richer than some states in Nigeria. Obolo is the most viable, it has oil and gas,fishes and forest resources”, he said.
Mr Amon, who is also a one time Speaker of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Youth Parliament and president, Andoni Youth Coalition, further said the creation of Obolo State will not only help to improve the conditions of life of the Ijaw nation but also Niger Delta at large.
He argued that even if the creation of the state does not come to pass, history will record that Obolo people once agitated for their own state but expressed the hope that the agitation will yield positive results this time around.
Mr Amon urged Obolo people to be resilient and continue to pray for the actualization of the Obolo State.
Meanwhile Mr Amon has said that the creation of more states in the country will pave the way for the practice of true federalism in the country.
He told newsmen that it would enable states in the country to depend less on federal allocation as they will be made to source for revenues to survive.
According to him: “creation of more states will give more powers to the states to source for revenues and pay taxes to the federal government and this will bring true federalism”, he said.
By: John Bibor
A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has faulted calls for the creation of 31 additional states in the country .
Speaking during an interview yesterday, the PDP chieftain said creating additional states would not solve the country’s challenges or promote its development.
Recall that the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, last Thursday said the House had received proposals for the creation of 31 new states.
Hon. Kalu, who is also Chairman of the House Constitution Review Committee, said that six new states were proposed in the North-Central, four in the North-East, five in the North-West, five in the South- South, five in the South-East and seven in the South-West.
According to him, the proposed states include Okun, Okura and Confluence from Kogi; Benue Ala and Apa from Benue; FCT State; Amana from Adamawa; Katagum from Bauchi; Savannah from Borno; Muri from Taraba; New Kaduna and Gujarat from Kaduna State; Tiga and Ari from Kano; Kainji from Kebbi; Etiti and Orashi as the sixth states in the South-East; Adada from Enugu; and Orlu and Aba.
Others are Ogoja from Cross River, Warri from Delta, Ori and Obolo from Rivers, Torumbe from Ondo, Ibadan from Oyo, Lagoon from Lagos and Ogun, Ijebu from Ogun, and Oke Ogun/Ijesha from Oyo/Ogun/Osun states.
Some political stakeholders have, however, vehemently opposed the idea, describing it as unnecessary.
Reacting, Chief George said what was needed in the country at this time was not creation of additional states.
He argued that the fact that some existing states were not viable clearly showed that state creation would not solve the country’s deep structural problems.
Instead, Chief George called on the National Assembly to make efforts to ensure the country achieves true federalism, saying that it was a sure way to achieve accelerated development .
He stated, “Don”t tell me we should create more states. Forget about more states. We want to create more states and then everybody will be rushing to Abuja. This is not sustainable. Let us look at our federal structure first, the same federal system we run with America. Why are we not running it as they run their own?
“Go to New York City, the Mayor of New York controls the airport, the John Kennedy Airport, he controls the ports, the sea ports, the Mayor of New York, not the governor.
“Go to New Orleans, the Mayor there controls the ports. The same in Texas, all oil companies are not controlled by the President. That is federalism. Those people don’t run to Washington every hour to meet the President.
“In America, they have state police and even county police. Why can’t we have such here? Creation of more states is not sustainable. What we need now is to address the problems in our federal structure.”
Calling for devolution of power, Chief George said power devolution would catalyse the development of the country.
He, however, said the present constitution was not working and there was a need to have a new constitution to drive the country’s development.
The PDP chieftain said the current constitution put too much power in the centre, leaving the states and local governments helpless and incapacitated.
He noted: “There is no state in this country that the Almighty has not endowed. It is either agriculture or minerals or human resources. But the constitution of this country is not right. We need to revisit it and now allow all those states to manage themselves, manage their resources. That is the beginning of the cleansing of this country. Nothing is working because the foundation is faulty”.
Chief George called for the adoption of the recommendations of the 2014 Confab to achieve true federalism and address the country’s numerous challenges.
A former Organising Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, Elder Blessing Tiko, has urged the people of Port Harcourt City Local Government Area support the administration of Hon. Ezebunwo Ichemati.
Elder Tiko made this in an exclusive interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The former party organising secretary, who is also the coordinator of Port Harcourt Environmental Sanitation Initiative, said Hon Ichemati has raised the bar as far as the administration of the capital city is concerned.
He particularly praised the Mayor for embarking on some people-oriented projects within his first one hundred days in office.
According to him, the Mayor has bought vehicles for all the councilors and principal aides of the council including the Deputy Mayor.
He also praised him for the construction of a two bedroom flat for 93 years old widow at Elekahia and purchase of land for Ogbunabali community as its play ground.
Elder Tiko also commended the Mayor the for construction of a road in Elekahia and installation of street lights and the ongoing reconstruction of a road and drainage system at Ekwe Street in Diobu.
According to him the ongoing construction of international educational centre at the council premises also deserves commendation.
He further said that the Mayor, during the end of year festivities, also visited the Port Harcourt Correctional Center and some homes for the less privileged to celebrate with them.
Elder Tiko urged the people to appreciate the gestures of the Mayor by supporting him to ensure that he succeeds, stressing that, if possible, the Mayor should be endorsed for a second term in office.
In addition, the elder statesman also commended Governor Siminalayi Fubara for his purposeful leadership in the state.
By: John Bibor
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