Politics

INEC plans membership verification, may disqualify parties

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INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu

Ahead of the primaries of political parties scheduled to end on June 3, the Independent National Electoral Commission says it will authenticate the membership registers submitted to it by the parties. It, however, warns that any political party that falsifies its figures or has multiple registrations on its register may have its candidate(s) disqualified.

It said whether the parties choose to adopt direct or indirect primaries, the commission would verify their delegates’ lists against the registers they submitted, adding that no infraction would be tolerated from the 18 registered political parties.

Section 77 of the Electoral Act, 2022 mandates all political parties to maintain membership registers and submit the same to the commission not later than 30 days before their respective primaries.

Subsection 2 of the Act states, “Every registered political party shall maintain a register of its members in both hard and soft copies,” while the subsection 3 reads, “Each political party shall make such a register available to the commission not later than 30 days before the date fixed for the party primaries, congresses or convention.”

 

INEC had fixed party primaries for between April 4 and June 3, and most parties have scheduled their primaries for May. This means the parties have till Tuesday, May 3, 2022, to submit their registers.

Findings, however, revealed that the parties preferred to schedule their primaries towards the deadline set by INEC so as to be able to keep an eye on one another. Another reason, according to party sources, is to limit the drastic options open to persons aggrieved during the primaries.

For example, the ruling APC said its presidential primary would hold between May 30 and June 1; Senate, May 24; House of Representatives, May 22; state Houses of Assembly, May 20, while the governorship primary would hold on May 18.

The party, which is in power in 22 states, claimed about 40 million members in the register it submitted to INEC.

Also, the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, which is in power in 12 states, said it would hold its presidential primary on May 28 and 29; governorship primary, May 21; Senate, May 14; House of Representatives, May 12; and state Houses of Assembly, May 7.

In his response to enquiries from one of our correspondents, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, who is the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, said, “The Independent National Electoral Commission will authenticate the membership register of political parties that opt for direct primaries for nominating their candidates.

“For the indirect primary mode, political parties are also required to give their lists of delegates to the commission.”

The APC and PDP, for example, have yet to indicate the option they will adopt between direct, consensus and indirect primary, but there were strong indications that the parties may adopt the indirect form of primary, eliminating the likelihood of consensus.

The consensus arrangement initiated by northern presidential aspirants in the PDP was believed to have failed as Governor Aminu Tambuwal and another aspirant, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, have distanced themselves from the emergence of Dr Bukola Saraki and Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State as the consensus candidates. Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar was not part of the arrangement.

With the calibre of aspirants expressing interest in the APC, most claiming they discussed with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and that he gave them the go-ahead, there were also strong indications that consensus may not be an option for the party.

INEC may disqualify parties with doctored registers, multiple registrations

Meanwhile, INEC has warned that any party found to have doctored its membership register or has multiple registration risks being excluded from the election in accordance with Section 84 (13) of the Electoral Act.

Responding to an inquiry on the issue, Oyekan said, “Section 84 is clear about this. If, for instance, a political party opts for the direct primary mode for its presidential primary, all registered members of the party shall vote for the aspirant of their choice. However, if a political party falsifies its membership register, this will be a direct contravention of Section 84(13). Such a party risks not having its candidate included in the election for the position in view.”

Section 84 (13) of the Act read, “Where a political party fails to comply with the provisions of this Act in the conduct of its primaries, its candidate for election shall not be included in the election for the particular position in issue.”

13 parties have yet to submit register

Barely three days to the deadline for the parties to submit their registers, only five have so far submitted their membership registers to the commission. The Electoral Act mandates all parties to submit their registers not later than 30 days to their primaries.

Given that the deadline for primaries is June 3, it implies that all the parties have till Tuesday, May 3 to submit their registers.

“Five political parties have submitted their membership registers so far,” Oyekanmi said when asked on Wednesday how many parties have submitted.

Meanwhile, the former Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Olu Agunloye, who resigned his position on Wednesday, said the party had submitted its membership register to INEC, adding that parties had ample room to include new members and expunge the names of defectors.

“The party register has been submitted and I have INEC’s acknowledgement letter already,” he added.

Asked how many members the party had on its register, he said, “I have no idea; we didn’t count the members. Party register is not about how many people. During the week, INEC admitted that it could never be a final thing. We took a batch there yesterday (Thursday) and another time, we will submit another. The batch that we took last week, for instance, some of the people may have died or resigned from the party.

“Today, from Oyo State, three new people joined the party and their names are not on the register. A former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives also called me through a mutual friend that he wants to join the SDP. His name is not on the register as we speak, but he joined today (Friday).

“INEC agreed that this is an ongoing thing, which will be updated. That is why the soft copy is very important. In the soft copy, it is easier to delete and add. For the hard copy, the first batch that was submitted last week didn’t enter the booth of the car; some were put on the back seat of the car. We are setting up a department because we are collating them seat by seat and local government per local government.”

Also, the Peoples Redemption Party said it had submitted its register and that it had about 200,000 members.

The Special Adviser to the party’s National Chairman, Mohammed Ishaq, who spoke on behalf of his principal, said, “INEC demanded it and we have submitted it, but I need to confirm further. We have about 200,000 members nationwide.

“So far, seven members have indicated an interest in picking the presidential forms, but only two have so far bought the forms. They are Mrs Patience Key and Colonel Gboluga Mosogu (retd.).”

Kola, the son of the winner of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election, Chief Moshood Abiola, joined the party on April 14 and indicated interest in the presidential ticket.

In the African Action Alliance, the party’s Public Relations Officer, Sylvester Cletus, noted that the register was not ready as of Thursday night, adding that the National Chairman, Leonard Nzenwa, was doing the final sorting.

On the number of members, he said there were over 50,000, but the register was currently being updated as more members continue to join the party.

“We are compiling the register. Thursday was the deadline for submission to the national headquarters in Abuja and every state chairman did that. So, we are doing the final sorting,” Nzenwa added.

Asked how many presidential aspirants the party has, he said, “Claro Nwosu is the only one for now. Somebody expressed an interest but has yet to buy the forms.”

The Chairman of the National Rescue Movement, Abubakar Jikamsi, also said the party submitted its register on Wednesday, but he declined giving further details.

Commission to create unit, hire prosecutors for electoral offences

Meanwhile, in its Strategic Plan 2022-2026 with the theme, ‘Consolidating free, fair, credible and inclusive elections, which was launched about two weeks ago, the commission said it would create a new unit and hire prosecutors to facilitate the prosecution of electoral offences.

“In order to facilitate effective prosecution of electoral offenders, reduce impunity and enhance deterrence, the commission will establish a prosecution unit staffed with trained prosecutors to facilitate quicker and efficient prosecution of electoral offences,” it said.

Some of the offences captured in the Electoral Act include those relating to finances of a political party, registration, nomination, buying and selling voter cards, offences relating to the register of voters and offences on election day, and the latter is captured in Section 126 of the Electoral Act.

The section indicated that offences on election day to include canvassing for votes or persuading a voter not to vote for a particular candidate, being in possession of any offensive weapon, wearing any dress, having any facial or other decoration, which in any event is calculated to intimidate voters; loitering, snatching or destroying any election materials and blaring siren; and putting on or carrying any badge, poster, banner, flag or symbol relating to a political party or to the election.

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Appeal Court Sacks Kwankwaso Reinstate Datti in Kano

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The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Monday sacked Musa Ilyasu Kwankwaso of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and reinstated Yusuf Umar Datti of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in the Kura/Madobi/Garun Malam Federal Constituency Election.

It was reported that the three-panel led by Justice Tunde Oyebamiji Awotoye allowed an Appeal by Yusuf Datti and averred that the tribunal was wrong to have counted the date of the Appellant’s resignation on the date of his party’s primary election and that Section 77 of the Electoral Act was misapplied.

The appellate court stated that no court has jurisdiction on the issue of membership of the part.

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Hon. Debo Badru Appointed As Member Of Committee On Guideline For Repositioning of APC In Osun state

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Debo Badru

Debo Badru Appointed As Member Of The Committee On The Guideline For Repositioning of APC In Osun state

The Executive Council of the Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has named Hon. Debo Badru as part of the 11-member committee on the Guideline for the Repositioning of the All Progressives Congress(APC) in Osun State.

Hon Debo Badru, former Special Adviser to ex-Governor Gboyega Oyetola on Intergovernmental Political Affairs who is from Iwo Local Government of Osun State is a respected community leader who holds a Diploma from Nigerian Air Force Technical Training School, Kaduna, and served as an Air Force Officer between 1983 and 1990 after which he ventured into politics.

Going forward, the guideline committee which was unveiled on the 16th of October, 2023 also has the Rt. Hon. Timothy Owoeye, the immediate-past Speaker of the state House of Assembly, as its Chairman while the Secretary is Hon Sunday Akere, former state Commissioner for Information.

Other members of the committee are Dr Oyebade Olowogboyega, the immediate-past State Head of Service; Hon Funmi Olaseinde, former member of the state House of Assembly; Dr. Adeniji Adekunle, former Chairman, Ife-Central Local Government Council Area of the state.

Also on the list as members are Hon Hakeem Atanda; Hon Rasaq Adeosun, former Special Adviser to ex-Governor Gboyega Oyetola on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs; Hon(Mrs) Ayo Omidiran, former member, House of Representatives who represented Irewole/Isokan/Aiyedaade Federal Constituency; Hon Femi Kujembola, the state Treasurer of the party and one-time Chairman of Atakumosa-East Local Government Council Area of the state and Comrade Kehinde Ayantunji, former Senior Special Adviser (SSA) to former Governor Oyetola on Youths and Students’ Affairs.

It would be recalled that the state leader of the party, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Oyetola, inaugurated the APC repositioning committee in the state sometime ago.

The APC Repositioning Committee under the chairmanship of Prof Adewole submitted the report of the committee with fanfare in Osogbo recently with a pledge by Alhaji Oyetola and the state chairman of the party, Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, to implement the recommendations to the letter.

The terms of reference of the guideline committee are:

1) Collation of actionable recommendations from the report of the Repositioning Committee;

2) Development of the framework for implementing the recommendations of the Repositioning Committee’s report;

3) This Committee will liaise with the party organ at the state level in order to kickstart implementation.

4) The Committee should provide a final report in two weeks.

 

e-SIGNED:

 

Sooko TAJUDEEN LAWAL,

Chairman,
Osun State APC.

 

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PBAT’s Reforms and Nigerian Youths by Amb. Habeeb Whyte Esq.,MBA

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Habeeb Whyte

PBAT’S REFORMS AND NIGERIAN YOUTHS

I remain Habeeb Whyte and I still harbour the responsibility. I believe life placed on me to suggest a path deserving a collective action from Nigerian youths towards the faith of our father’s land and in determining our own future.
I have grown to know that everything that irritates us as Nigerian youths about someone can lead us to understanding the person more. Just like Adlous Hoxley puts it, ‘there are things known and there are things unknown and in between are door of perception’. What we are, is what we have been as youths. What we would be is what we do now. I am aware that wisdom comes from knowing that what others say about you is not your reality. It is their reality. One has not only an ability to perceive the world but an ability to alter one’s perception of it.Simply, one can change things by the manner in which one looks at them. Reality is only a reflection of our own intentions, biases, knacks and desires.

I have always looked with a different lens because I have kept my views informed not by parochial considerations or personal gains but by the solemn embrace of the fate of my realities as a Nigerian Youth. As a person, I have thoroughly taken caution on the realities of the general elections that ushered in President Bola Ahmad Tinubu. I have always known that only weak minds stay at the middle of the road in trying periods like this. I rather I appreciate that I have to painstakingly learn with the willingness to unlearn and relearn the politics of this country. More so, I was not born until the crisis had started. I do not want to join the bandwagon of commentators that make opinions on issues they know close to nothing about. I think this should be the wisest path for anybody that was only a child through the 90’s and beyond. The generational paradigm as it affects our choice of governance differs. Our reasoning often time is shapedby what our parents, teachers and elderly ones told us and not by what we participated in as major players.

We have only participated in the Occupy Nigeria campaign, Not Too Young to Run campaign and the most pronounced is the End Sars campaign. I made bold to say that I partook in all the major phases of this campaign. I made my voice seen and felt by demanding for good governance and importantly, youth involvement in governance. I know that at a point. I am aware that in the past, no place was reserved for members of the youth constituency during policy formulations. We were weathered with policies that seem not to be too friendly to our growth but now the story has changed. There was a progressive call that was obeyed by the people in power. Allahu Akbar!!!

Having fought for what was right, we became enemies to our progression by allowing the fate of governance ushered in by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his political opponents to take the spaces where the world is judging us from. Our attitude across our social media platforms on our leaders is not worthy at all. We are distracted while these persons are living their lives – Their dreams. We are allowing men make mockery of our intelligence by sheepishly dragging us into the fate of their own dark hour. Are they better of Mr. President? We should better be concerned on how to help Mr. President achieve his goals. It should interest us that we have a listening leader and someone who prioritizes our constituency before any other constituency. The deliberate reason why some of us supported President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was because we saw him as that leader that would pave the way for the youths to become real stakeholders in governance.Every time Mr. President speaks to us a Nation, he continually emphasizes our importance. He gives us score cards but we are not really interested in assessing same with good critics. He kept on appointing and giving us key responsibilities at sectors that we would not have imagined any one from our constituency at earliest time like this to be in such position. I am aware that Mr. President is not only fulfilling his election promises but he is carrying the youths along towards achieving a sustainable future for this Nation. There is a steady engagement and participation of young people in the development process. A country we prayed for!

I used to live in fear when discussions that bother on handing over of power to youths is concerned. This is because, I could picture the future as it would unfold should that happen. Why? Because, we Nigerian youths were not prepared for the role and we fail to recognize the fact that there has been deliberate effort to incapacitate us. This is what I mean whenever I talk about bastardization of our youths. Now, we are beginning to have a fair share of our lack of preparedness. What ideas are our representatives across board bringing onboard? Are we still bothered on who won or loss election? Are we still bent on why President Tinubu should not have won the elections while our various State Governors are getting palliatives from Federal Government and we are not seeing the effect in most States. I wish the type of energy deployed to bringing down the person of Mr. President could be extended to demanding for good governance from our Governors. Demanding accountability especially on the proceed of subsidy is concerned would have been true patriotism than the former. We are not even bothered that local governments are been buried in governance by most Governors in Nigeria. Are we not worried about the debt profile of some States and yet there is no evidence of development.  The States that most of us we inherit as Governors, Senators, House of Representative members, House of Assembly members etc. as far as governance is concerned in years to come. What do we tend to make up as leaders of our generation; when our kids start asking questions, what type of answers are we planning to give them. Is it that we would be comfortable telling them that when we had a President with unprecedented electoral results and tribunal verdict, we were busy playing cards of his opponents. Would it not interest you to tell your kids you were part of those that speak and do good for the sake of the Country and not because you are Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo. You were a Nigerian before you identify as a Hausa, Yoruba or Igbo. This is us – that have forgotten so soon that most of our Governors are yet to publish the judgements of their respective tribunal of enquiries on the End Sars saga. It is just ridiculous that we are have been soaked into another narrative that would not add any legal value to our corporate existence. Whether bitter or sweet, Mr. President is here to stay.

PRESIDENT TINUBU APPOINTS NEW EFCC CHAIRMAN AND SECRETARY OF THE COMMISSION

We must accept this reality and not be caught in a web of a divided society. We must give our total support to the social governance policy trust fund of Mr. President. He has tagged it the ‘Renewed Hope’ – we already have a developmental plan as opposed the several documents of plans and agenda intentioned on sentiments and prepared without national interests. We are beginning to see the light that we would be handed a working country with national development agenda under implementation, and enjoy the supervision of patriotic elders whose only consideration is national interest. The fact is this, we have a President that has placed upon himself the responsibility to provide the reference point of discipline, patriotism, humility, and adequate sense of self by extending his limits beyond the average standard that is acceptable to his generation. Mr. President has succeeded in employing his political authority to stimulate hope and pride in the corporate purpose of this Nation. We must not be used as detractors to the birth of a New Nigeria. Interestingly, youths of India, Singapore, Brazil, China and Indonesia compete with the world’s best in Information Technology, Agriculture, Entertainment, Alternative energy, Medicine etc.  Of course, those building our bridges and roads are their own youths. The expatriate doctors in our best hospitals are their youths. Those designing and building the phones we use are their youths. Now, our own youths are already leading spaces more due to the deliberate intervention of Mr. President’s faith in our abilities.

I could remember that one of the assurances of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the Southwest APC Youths rally was that Mr. President would give opportunities to youths to flourish in their areas of activities, the Governor said young people would be part of the major drivers of the Tinubu presidency. This is never in doubt again. Mr. President in less than six months of Presidency has the highest number of youths in key and strategic positions in Government. The amazing part is that, Mr. President is not stopping. I would always wish for a productive mindset like that of our President. He is a thorough blend of the mosaictraits – he would lead the path to the New Nigeria. The path he kicks started from his very first appointment in office. It is unprecedented. If he is not the Messiah; he is the Moses.

Thanks.

Amb. Habeeb Whyte Esq., MBA.

(WHYTE is a Lawyer, Author, Advocate of Youth Involvement in Good Governance, United Nations Award winner, Regional Africa International Arbitration Award winner, Coca cola/The Nation Campuslife Award winner, Quill Promasidor runner up for Best Future Writer in Nigeria, Royal Ambassador for the Royal Court of Ife Kingdom, Ecowas Youth Ambassador, Cordinator – BAT Lawyers Ogun State and Secretary – Cityboy Movement Ogun State).

Email: whyte287@gmail.com

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