The killer job at INEC has all the elements of failures and successes, adoration and condemnation. I don’t know what will happen after the election. Life is necessarily ambiguous and just when we think we have a clue about what’s next, things shift again. The constant flux can be exhausting and exacerbating. Given how much […]
The killer job at INEC has all the elements of failures and successes, adoration and condemnation. I don’t know what will happen after the election. Life is necessarily ambiguous and just when we think we have a clue about what’s next, things shift again. The constant flux can be exhausting and exacerbating. Given how much we want to know and the extent to which we crave understanding, a rigged election will threaten the fragile stability we are experiencing in this artificial country.
In ancient Greece, a young man asked Socrates the “secret to success”. Socrates told the young man to meet him at the nearest river the next morning. Let us take Chief Eyo Esua as an example. He was a teacher and trade unionist. He was the first chairman of the Electoral body in the country. Chief Esua was a school master and a founder member of the Nigeria Union of Teachers. He was the first full-time general secretary of the union from 1943 till he was appointed Chairman of the electoral body. He was an Efik, Calabar man, renowned for his dedication to duty and uprightness. He did all he could to ensure a successful 1964 general election.
Chief Esua also conducted the 1965 election in Western Region which was marred with misconduct and thuggery. The then Prime Minister appointed Chief Michael Ani to replace him. When Chief Ani was approached, he came to my house to seek my opinion once again as a trusted friend. I told him candidly what transpired between General Olusegun Obansanjo and me and once again, I advised him against accepting the reappointment as Chairman of FEDECO but he still saw it as a challenge and an opportunity to establish that Nigerians could conduct an impartial and fair democratic election.
The Decree states “Supplement to Official Gazette Extraordinary Na.34, Vol. 66, 23rd July,1979 ELECTORAL DECREE 1979 Decree No. 32. [23rd July 1979]. THE FEDERAL MILITARY GOVERNMENT hereby decrees as follows:—SS . 1.
On 12 August, the results started coming in and as expected, the results of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo,Ondo and Bendel states were the first to be announced. It was not until August 14, 1979, that the results of Kano, which was the last to come and Alhaji Shehu Shagari only scored 19.9% of the votes which made it impossible for him to be declared President since he had 25% in twelve states and could not secure 25% in Kano state. There were nineteen states in the Federation at that time.
At the Press Conference that day, I sat next to Chief Osuolale Abimbola Richard Akinjide SAN . Chief Akinjide who was then the Chief Legal Adviser to the NPN, only echoed the conclusion of the officials of the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Military Council. He was not the author of the twelve two third formula, which later made him famous.
Inspite of his success in 1979 election, Chief Michael Ani had no hand in what happened after the August 11, 1979 election. At the eleventh hour of announcing Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola GCFR from Abeokuta in Ogun state as the winner of that election, the Armed Forces Ruling Council of General Ibrahim Babangida GCFR, issued the following statement “in view of the spirit of litigation pending in various courts, the federal government is compelled to take appropriate steps in order to rescue the judiciary from intra-voyaging.
Now turning to the February election, money cannot be a problem to Professor Yakubu and his team. The INEC is to spend three hundred and fifty-five billion naira. The National Assembly had earlier approved three hundred and five billion naira but the electoral body has budgeted another N50 billion for its annual budget in 2023, an increment of N10 billion compared to 2022 budget which was N40 billion as approved by the National Assembly.
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