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2023 general election

2023 countdown (1): Will Ortom’s ‘endorse’ help Obi’s cause?

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By Ehichioya Ezomon

Barely 54 days to the 2023 General Election – the most crucial time for candidates to crave for endorsements – two candidates in the February 25 presidential election anxiously await the adoption of their tickets by five estranged governors of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Who, between the candidates of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the Labour Party, Peter Obi, will secure approval of the “Integrity Group” of five PDP governors (PDP-G5) for the February 25 poll?
The governors of Abia, Benue, Enugu, Oyo and Rivers states were in a rendezvous in London in the past week, to reportedly finalise their months-long consultations with candidates of the APC and LP. 
Governors Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Nyesom Wike (Rivers) have offered themselves to the highest bidder since the May 2022 presidential primaries won by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Led by Wike, who came second at the primaries – and was sidestepped by Atiku to pick Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as running mate – the governors have asked for resignation of PDP’s National Chairman Iyorcha Ayu for a Southern replacement.
As Ayu failed to resign due partly to the tacit backing of the PDP leadership, the governors have foreclosed a truce with the party, and support for the Atiku-Okowa ticket.
Going by media reports, the governors need to approve a candidate that has the capacity to defeat Atiku at the poll. And having considered Tinubu and Obi as viable candidates, who will the governors pick between the two? 
On paper – owing to APC’s structures as the ruling party, and Tinubu’s political bridges built over the years across Nigeria – the former Lagos State governor stands a better chance to tackle Atiku at the poll.
And coupled with his war chest, the governors are likely to endorse Tinubu, to overwhelm Atiku, and vindicate their split with the PDP leadership.
But there’s a comma: The APC Muslim-Muslim ticket that’s become an albatross around the necks of Tinubu and his running mate, former Borno Governor Kashim Shettima.
Notably, the five governors’ states of Abia, Benue, Enugu, Oyo and Rivers are predominantly Christians, whose leaders oppose the APC same-faith ticket. So, what role will religion play in their choice of who to adopt? 
Meanwhile, Obi, more than any other candidate, has courted the PDP-G5 to adopt him and his running mate, former Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, for the February election.
Since defecting from the PDP to LP in May 2022, Obi hasn’t relented, as his new platform mostly exists in the register of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Many polity watchers and supporters of the APC and PDP didn’t give Obi any breathing space, deriding him for running under a party that lacked the structures to compete at the poll.
But Obi and his supporters in the “ObIdients Movement” argued that their structures were the voters that would birth Obi’s touted New Nigeria.
Thus, the supporters have seized the media space, hit the towns and cities with “million-man” on the go, and crowded Obi-Datti’s rallies everywhere.
Despite the momentum – and several alleged controversial opinion polls indicating Obi’s leading the pack – the Obi-Datti ticket knows nothing is “a done deal” in the world of politics.
Obi’s soliciting the PDP-5G adoption received some sort of approval a few weeks ago when Wike promised to provide him with “logistics support” whenever he’s in Rivers to campaign.

When Obi rallied in Port Harcourt, Wike provided him with armoured trucks and security personnel, for his movements and to protect the venue.
But the big break for the Obi-Datti campaign came on Christmas Day in Benue, when Governor Ortom urged Nigerians to vote the LP ticket.
It wasn’t the first time Ortom would plead Obi’s cause, but the “Christmas gift” was unambiguous – showing a possible direction Ortom’s colleagues could cast their lot for Obi or Tinubu.
Obi’s in Makurdi, the Benue capital city, to celebrate Christmas with Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) – victims of mostly herdsmen’s attacks, and recent flooding across Nigeria.
It’s on the back of spending time with the IDPs that Ortom unpacked the political goodies for Obi, who donated N3 million for the members’ upkeep.
Commending Obi for visiting the IDPs on Christmas Day, Ortom described him as the best person to deliver Nigeria from its challenges.
Ortom’s words: “Several presidential candidates have come here, and none of them has chosen to visit those IDPs’ camps and look at their plight to see how they are doing and give them hope that when they win, they will bring them succour, help, and hope.
“For you (Obi) to have chosen to visit the IDPs on a Christmas Day that you should be celebrating with your family, for me as a Christian, I say God will bless you and your aspiration.
“My prayer is that God will bless your aspiration to be the president of this country. Because I have seen capacity, faith, and hope.
“And I have seen someone who can bring the required equity, justice, and fairness that I have been pursuing since I became governor in 2015.
“If I were not in PDP, I would have been following you all over the place, to canvass and vote for you.
“But because I’m in PDP, I’m telling Nigerians that this man (Obi) can help deliver this country from its challenges.”
What better Christmas “gift” does Obi need than Ortom’s full-throated endorsement and canvassing for votes of Nigerians for him to be president!
The odds seem to favour Obi in the PDP-G5 camp. But the game isn’t in the bag yet, as he needs the backing of Ortom’s four colleagues – Ikpeazu, Ugwuanyi, Makinde and Wike – to wrap things up.
Will Obi fully or partly secure their support or lose entirely the quartet’s adoption to Tinubu for 2023? It’s a matter of days for the coast to clear!

Mr Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.

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2023 general election

2023 polls: Abdulsalami Peace Committee opens up on pressure to ask for cancellation

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Abdulsalami Abubakar

The National Peace Committee (NPC) has opened up on pressure it faced to intervene in the 2023 Presidential Election results. During a report presentation in Abuja, led by General Abdulsalami Abubakar, the committee disclosed that it received numerous requests to push the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to halt results collation or cancel the election due to alleged violations of the electoral act.

Key issues included concerns about the 25% vote threshold requirement for the Federal Capital Territory, with some advocates calling for a runoff.

The NPC emphasized its role as a moral authority rather than a regulatory body, highlighting its mandate to promote peace and compliance with the law, without the power to arrest or punish violators.
The committee acknowledged a gap in public understanding of its functions and the importance of moral persuasion in fostering electoral integrity and peace.

Before presenting the report to the public, the committee had earlier met with the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and other management staff of the commission where it was briefed on the electoral umpire’s preparation for the forthcoming Governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states.

Other members of the committee are Okoh Ebitu Ukiwe (Vice Chairman); Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah (Convener); Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III; John Cardinal Onaiyekan; business icons, Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola; Vanguard Newspapers Publisher, Sam Amuka Pemu; Ameze Guobadia; Idayat Hassan; Dame Priscilla Kuye; Gen. Martin Luther Agwai; Mahmud Yayale Ahmed; Channels TV owner, John Momoh; Roseline Ukeje; and, Fr. Atta Barkindo, its Head of Secretariat.

Part of the report reads; “As the election day progressed, criticisms and counter criticisms became abundant. The NPC was already being faced with a flurry of phone calls and the need to call INEC to order.

“The Peace Committee was flooded with requests for intervention. Both the Chairman of the Committee, General Abdulsalami A. Abubakar, the Convener, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah and the Head of NPC Secretariat, Fr. Atta Barkindo, were inundated with calls, requests, and petitions demanding the intervention of the NPC.

“Some of the requests wanted the NPC to prevail on INEC to stop collating election results because there were gross violations and lack of compliance with the electoral act. Others demanded that the tenets of the Peace Accord signed were not adhered to and therefore the Committee should call for cancellation of the election entirely.

“The most significant call was related to the 25% threshold for Abuja as the Federal Capital Territory. Some of the analysts who reached out to the committee asked that the final election result should not be announced because the resumptive president-elect did not score the required 25% as stated in the electoral act. If anything, there should be a runoff.

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2023 general election

EU reports: LP says FG is feebly adopting face saving measures

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***EU only hit the nail on the head

The leadership of the Labour Party has countered the Federal Government of Nigeria for discrediting the European Union’s conclusion on the 2023 General Election wherein it faulted the modalities by which the conclusion was reached.
It reiterated what it believed as the accurate testament of the European Union’s conclusion on the 2023 general elections which merely hit the nail on the head.
A statement by the National Publicity Secretary Obiora Ifoh said,
“Eropean Union’s Conclusion on the 2023 general elections are nit Jaundiced but accurate Testament of the outcome of the FG and INEC alliance to change the will of the electorate.”
“We see this face-saving measure by the Federal Government which is coming days after the submission of the report as feeble and medicine after death.

“It will interest the government to note that the European Union’s report is only one out of numerous submissions by other international Observers who have described the outcome of the election as a sham and an exercise that did not reflect the will of the majority of Nigerians.

“Labour Party stands by the position of the EU observation mission. We have always said that this election was massively rigged in favour of the APC and their candidate.
“What the FG is saying is just an afterthought and a shameless effort to mask the obvious. Even the blind can see, the deaf can hear and they know this election was manipulated.
“Huge pieces of evidence abound for even the deaf and the blind to hear and feel. We are only hoping that the judiciary will dispense justice without fear or favour in the interest of the nation and posterity.
“Nigerians already know the true winner of the 2023 presidential election and no amount of slandering, denial, or rebuttal can change the fact that the party in power has no mandate of the electorate.

“We must also note that whatever position the INEC has taken is with active connivance with the Federal Government to deny the electorate and it clearly shows that INEC is not in any way independent.
“The Commission’s action is at the whims and caprices of the government and we know it. But Nigerians looking to the Judiciary for justice. That’s where we stand.”

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2023 general election

FG tackles EU over report on 2023 general elections

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The Federal Government has countered the European Union’s report on the 2023 general elections, describing the conclusions therein as “jaundiced”.
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy gave the indication in a statement on Sunday.

“We urge the EU and other foreign interests to be objective in all their assessments of the internal affairs of our country and allow Nigeria to breathe,”
According to him, the February 25, 2023 presidential election was “clearly and fairly” won by Tinubu, the then candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC).

He also advised that the EU allow Nigeria to breathe and not meddle in the affairs of the country.

“We find it preposterous and unconscionable that in this day and age, any foreign organisation of whatever hue can continue to insist on its own yardstick and assessment as the only way to determine the credibility and transparency of our elections,” he said.

He said the presidency was not unaware of the “machinations of the European Union to sustain its, largely, unfounded bias and claims on the election outcomes”.

Alake further stated that there is no substantial evidence provided by the EU or any foreign and local organisation that is viable enough to impeach the integrity of the 2023 election outcomes.

“We would like to know and even ask EU, how it reached the conclusions in the submitted final report with the very limited coverage of the elections by their observers who, without doubt, relied more on rumours, hearsay, cocktails of prejudiced and uninformed social media commentaries and opposition talking heads,” he stated.

“We have many reasons to believe the jaundiced report, based on the views of fewer than 50 observers, was to merely sustain the same premature denunciatory stance contained in EU’s preliminary report released in March.

“We strongly reject, in its entirety, any notion and idea from any organisation, group and individual remotely suggesting that the 2023 election was fraudulent.”

The media aide said Nigeria has put the elections behind, and Tinubu is facing the task of nation-building.

“As a country, we have put the elections behind us. President Tinubu is facing the arduous task of nation-building, while those who have reasons to challenge the process continue to do so through the courts.”

On June 27, 2023, the EU presented its report on the 2023 elections in Nigeria to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The EU said the election exposed enduring systemic weaknesses and therefore signaled a need for further legal and operational reforms to enhance transparency, inclusiveness and accountability.

The EU also identified six areas for improvement in Nigeria’s electoral process moving forward.

Some of the key areas listed by the Mission are ambiguities in the law, the establishment of a publicly accountable process for the selection of the INEC members, ensuring real-time publication of results as well as access to election results.

It also highlighted the need for protection for media practitioners while decrying the discrimination against women in elective and appointed positions as well as impunity regarding electoral offences.

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