FOR THE RECORD: President Buhari's Acceptance and Inaugral Speeches

THE DIE IS CAST: ACCEPTANCE STATEMENT BY GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI, GCFR, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA ON 1st, APRIL 2015

I am immensely grateful to God for this day and for this hour. I feel truly honoured and humbled that the Nigerian people have so clearly chosen me to lead them. The official announcement from INEC was the moment the vast majority of Nigerians had hoped and been waiting for. Today, history has been made, and change has finally come. Your votes have changed our national destiny for the good of all Nigerians.

INEC has announced that I, Muhammadu Buhari, shall be your next president. My team and I shall faithfully serve you. There shall no longer be a ruling party again: APC will be your governing party. We shall faithfully serve you. We shall never rule over the people as if they were subservient to government.

Our long night has passed and the daylight of new democratic governance has broken across the land. This therefore is not a victory for one man or even one party. It is a victory for Nigeria and for all Nigerians. Millions of you have worked for this day. So many have risked life and livelihood; and others have died that we may witness this moment.

And it is with a very heavy heart that I report many deaths and injuries amidst the jubilations yesterday. We send our sincere condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives; and wish speedy recovery to those who suffered injuries. I appeal to all our supporters to celebrate this victory with prayers and reflection instead of wild jubilation.

May the souls of those who died rest in peace. Let us take a moment of silence to honour all of those whose sacrifices have brought us to this fine and historic hour. As the results of the election have shown, their labour has not been and will never be in vain. Democracy and the rule of law will be re-established in the land.

Let us put the past, especially the recent past, behind us. We must forget our old battles and past grievances—and learn to forge ahead. I assure you that our government is one that will listen to and embrace all.

I pledge myself and our in-coming administration to just and principled governance. There shall be no bias against or favouritism for any Nigerian based on ethnicity, religion, region, gender or social status. I pledge myself and the government to the rule of law, in which none shall be so above the law that they are not subject to its dictates, and none shall be so below it that they are not availed of its protection.

You shall be able to go to bed knowing that you are safe and that your constitutional rights remain in safe hands. You shall be able to voice your opinion without fear of reprisal or victimization. My love and concern for this nation and what I desire for it extends to all, even to those who do not like us or our politics. You are all my people and I shall treat every one of you as my own. I shall work for those who voted for me as well as those who voted against me and even for those who did not vote at all. We all live under one name as one nation: we are all Nigerians.

Some unfortunate issues about my eligibility have been raised during the campaign. I wish to state that through devotion to this nation, everything I have learned and done has been to enable me to make the best possible contribution to public life. If I had judged myself incapable of governing I would never have sought to impose myself on it. I have served in various capacities and have always put in my best.

But despite the rancour of the elections, I extend a hand of friendship and conciliation to President Jonathan and his team. I hereby wish to state that I harbour no ill will against anyone.

Let me state clearly that President Jonathan has nothing to fear from me. Although we may not agree on the methods of governing the nation, he is a great Nigerian and still our president. He deserves our support and permanent respect by virtue of the office he has held.

This is how an honourable nation treats its servants and conducts its affairs; and this is how Nigeria should be.

I look forward to meeting with President Jonathan in the days to come to discuss how our teams can make the transition of administrations as efficient as possible.

Here, I want to thank my party for selecting me as its candidate. I thank our party leaders and members for the steadfast contributions they made to bring our dream to fruition. I thank INEC, the police and all other government agencies for performing their tasks in a proper manner and for refusing to be induced to undermine the election and the democratic process.

I also wish to thank religious Leaders, traditional leaders, the media, labour unions, Civil Society organisations, organised private sector, youths and students for their roles in this election.

I give special thanks to President Obama and his timely intervention and support for peaceful and credible elections in Nigeria and for sending Secretary John Kerry and other United States officials. The European Union – especially the United Kingdom, France, Germany and other nations that were actively involved in ensuring the success of this election are equally appreciated. My sincere thanks to the United Nations Secretary General Mr Ban-Ki Moon. The Commonwealth, China, India and other Asian and Gulf states are also hereby appreciated.

Finally our brothers in the African Union and ECOWAS have truly and clearly shown and demonstrate their commitment to our democratisation process. Former Presidents John Kuffour, Amos Sawyer, Bakili Muluzi and his team are well appreciated. I must also add my appreciation for the role played by civil societies, national and International observers, other world leaders in ensuring that Nigeria holds free and fair elections.

I assure all foreign governments that Nigeria will become a more forceful and constructive player in the global fight against terrorism and in other matters of collective concern, such as the fight against drugs, climate change, financial fraud, communicable diseases and other issues requiring global response. I want to assure our fellow African nations that Nigeria will now stand as a more constructive

partner in advancing the matters of concern to our continent, particularly with regard to economic development and eradication of poverty.

Former Heads of State and Presidents Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, General Yakubu Gowon, Alh. Shehu Shagari, General Ibrahim Babangida, Chief Ernest Shonekan and General Abdulsalami Abubakar deserve commendations for their statesmanship and words of caution and counsel for peace during the tense moments of this electoral period.

Most of all, I thank the people of Nigeria for reposing their confidence in me at this trying moment. Our nation wrestles many challenges including insecurity, corruption, economic decline. I pledge to give you my best in tackling these problems.

The good people of Nigeria, your obligation does not end with casting your ballot. I seek your voice and input as we tackle these problems.

This will not be a government democratic only in form. It will be a government democratic in substance and in how it interacts with its own people.

No doubt, this nation has suffered greatly in the recent past, and its staying power has been tested to its limits by crises, chief among which is insurgency of the Boko Haram. There is no doubt that in tackling the insurgency we have a tough and urgent job to do. But I assure you that Boko Haram will soon know the strength of our collective will and commitment to rid this nation of terror, and bring back peace and normalcy to all the affected areas. We shall spare no effort until we defeat terrorism.

Furthermore, we shall strongly battle another form of evil that is even worse than terrorism—the evil of corruption. Corruption attacks and seeks to destroy our national institutions and character. By misdirecting into selfish hands funds intended for the public purpose, corruption distorts the economy and worsens income inequality. It creates a class of unjustly-enriched people.

Such an illegal yet powerful force soon comes to undermine democracy because its conspirators have amassed so much money that they believe they can buy government. We shall end this threat to our economic development and democratic survival. I repeat that corruption will not be tolerated by this administration; and it shall no longer be allowed to stand as if it is a respected monument in this nation.

I ask you to join me in resolving these and the other challenges we face. Along the way, there will be victories but there may also be setbacks. Mistakes will be made. But we shall never take you for granted; so, be rest assured that our errors will be those of compassion and commitment not of wilful neglect and indifference.

We shall correct that which does not work and improve that which does. We shall not stop, stand or idle. We shall, if necessary crawl, walk and run to do the job you have elected us to do.

I realise that the expectation of our people today is as high as their commitment to change has been strong and their belief in us unshaken. While we pledge to begin doing our best without delay, we would like to appeal to them to appreciate the gravity of our situation, so that we become more realistic in our expectations.

We will govern for you and in your interests. Your vote was not wasted.

This is not the first time Nigerians have cast their votes for us, and this is not the first time they have been counted; but this is the first time that the votes have been allowed to count. With the help of God, we pledge to do our utmost to bring forth the Nigeria you seek.

Thank you for your patience and attention.

GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI, GCFR

PRESIDENT-ELECT

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA

INAUGURAL SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI FOLLOWING HIS SWEARING-IN AS PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA ON 29^TH MAY, 2015

I am immensely grateful to God Who Has preserved us to witness this day and this occasion. Today marks a triumph for Nigeria and an occasion to celebrate her freedom and cherish her democracy. Nigerians have shown their commitment to democracy and are determined to entrench its culture. Our journey has not been easy but thanks to the determination of our people and strong support from friends abroad we have today a truly democratically elected government in place.

I would like to thank President Goodluck Jonathan for his display of statesmanship in setting a precedent for us that has now made our people proud to be Nigerians wherever they are. With the support and cooperation he has given to the transition process, he has made it possible for us to show the world that despite the perceived tension in the land we can be a united people capable of doing what is right for our nation. Together we co-operated to surprise the world that had come to expect only the worst from Nigeria. I hope this act of graciously accepting defeat by the outgoing President will become the standard of political conduct in the country.

I would like to thank the millions of our supporters who believed in us even when the cause seemed hopeless. I salute their resolve in waiting long hours in rain and hot sunshine to register and cast their votes and stay all night if necessary to protect and ensure their votes count and were counted. I thank those who tirelessly carried the campaign on the social media. At the same time, I thank our other countrymen and women who did not vote for us but contributed to make our democratic culture truly competitive, strong and definitive.

I thank all of you.

Having just a few minutes ago sworn on the Holy Book, I intend to keep my oath and serve as President to all Nigerians.

I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.

A few people have privately voiced fears that on coming back to office I shall go after them. These fears are groundless. There will be no paying off old scores. The past is prologue.

Our neighbours in the Sub-region and our African brethenen should rest assured that Nigeria under our administration will be ready to play any leadership role that Africa expects of it. Here I would like to thank the governments and people of Cameroon, Chad and Niger for committing their armed forces to fight Boko Haram in Nigeria.

I also wish to assure the wider international community of our readiness to cooperate and help to combat threats of cross-border terrorism, sea piracy, refugees and boat people, financial crime, cyber crime, climate change, the spread of communicable diseases and other challenges of the 21^st century.

At home we face enormous challenges. Insecurity, pervasive corruption, the hitherto unending and seemingly impossible fuel and power shortages are the immediate concerns. We are going to tackle them head on. Nigerians will not regret that they have entrusted national responsibility to us. We must not succumb to hopelessness and defeatism. We can fix our problems.

In recent times Nigerian leaders appear to have misread our mission. Our founding fathers, Mr Herbert Macauley, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Malam Aminu Kano, Chief J.S. Tarka, Mr Eyo Ita, Chief Denis Osadeby, Chief Ladoke Akintola and their colleagues worked to establish certain standards of governance. They might have differed in their methods or tactics or details, but they were united in establishing a viable and progressive country. Some of their successors behaved like spoilt children breaking everything and bringing disorder to the house.

Furthermore, we as Nigerians must remind ourselves that we are heirs to great civilizations: Shehu Othman Dan fodio’s caliphate, the Kanem Borno Empire, the Oyo Empire, the Benin Empire and King Jaja’s formidable domain. The blood of those great ancestors flow in our veins. What is now required is to build on these legacies, to modernize and uplift Nigeria.

Daunting as the task may be it is by no means insurmountable. There is now a national consensus that our chosen route to national development is democracy. To achieve our objectives we must consciously work the democratic system. The Federal Executive under my watch will not seek to encroach on the duties and functions of the Legislative and Judicial arms of government. The law enforcing authorities will be charged to operate within the Constitution. We shall rebuild and reform the public service to become more effective and more serviceable. We shall charge them to apply themselves with integrity to stabilize the system.

For their part the legislative arm must keep to their brief of making laws, carrying out over-sight functions and doing so expeditiously. The judicial system needs reform to cleanse itself from its immediate past. The country now expects the judiciary to act with dispatch on all cases especially on corruption, serious financial crimes or abuse of office. It is only when the three arms act constitutionally that government will be enabled to serve the country optimally and avoid the confusion all too often bedeviling governance today.

Elsewhere, relations between Abuja and the States have to be clarified if we are to serve the country better. Constitutionally there are limits to powers of each of the three tiers of government but that should not mean the Federal Government should fold its arms and close its eyes to what is going on in the states and local governments. Not least the operations of the Local Government Joint Account. While the Federal Government cannot interfere in the details of its operations it will ensure that the gross corruption at the local level is checked. As far as the constitution allows me I will try to ensure that there is responsible and accountable governance at all levels of government in the country. For I will not have kept my own trust with the Nigerian people if I allow others abuse theirs under my watch.

However, no matter how well organized the governments of the federation are they cannot succeed without the support, understanding and cooperation of labour unions, organized private sector, the press and civil society organizations. I appeal to employers and workers alike to unite in raising productivity so that everybody will have the opportunity to share in increased prosperity. The Nigerian press is the most vibrant in Africa. My appeal to the media today - and this includes the social media – is to exercise its considerable powers with responsibility and patriotism.

My appeal for unity is predicated on the seriousness of the legacy we are getting into. With depleted foreign reserves, falling oil prices, leakages and debts the Nigerian economy is in deep trouble and will require careful management to bring it round and to tackle the immediate challenges confronting us, namely; Boko Haram, the Niger Delta situation, the power shortages and unemployment especially among young people. For the longer term we have to improve the standards of our education. We have to look at the whole field of medicare. We have to upgrade our dilapidated physical infrastructure.

The most immediate is Boko Haram’s insurgency. Progress has been made in recent weeks by our security forces but victory cannot be achieved by basing the Command and Control Centre in Abuja. The command centre will be relocated to Maiduguri and remain until Boko Haram is completely subdued. But we cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and all other innocent persons held hostage by insurgents.

This government will do all it can to rescue them alive. Boko Haram is a typical example of small fires causing large fires. An eccentric and unorthodox preacher with a tiny following was given posthumous fame and following by his extra judicial murder at the hands of the police. Since then through official bungling, negligence, complacency or collusion Boko Haram became a terrifying force taking tens of thousands of lives and capturing several towns and villages covering swathes of Nigerian sovereign territory.

Boko Haram is a mindless, godless group who are as far away from Islam as one can think of. At the end of the hostilities when the group is subdued the Government intends to commission a sociological study to determine its origins, remote and immediate causes of the movement, its sponsors, the international connexions to ensure that measures are taken to prevent a recurrence of this evil. For now the Armed Forces will be fully charged with prosecuting the fight against Boko haram. We shall overhaul the rules of engagement to avoid human rights violations in operations. We shall improve operational and legal mechanisms so that disciplinary steps are taken against proven human right violations by the Armed Forces.

Boko Haram is not only the security issue bedevilling our country. The spate of kidnappings, armed robberies, herdsmen/farmers clashes, cattle rustlings all help to add to the general air of insecurity in our land. We are going to erect and maintain an efficient, disciplined people – friendly and well – compensated security forces within an over – all security architecture.

The amnesty programme in the Niger Delta is due to end in December, but the Government intends to invest heavily in the projects, and programmes currently in place. I call on the leadership and people in these areas to cooperate with the State and Federal Government in the rehabilitation programmes which will be streamlined and made more effective. As ever, I am ready to listen to grievances of my fellow Nigerians. I extend my hand of fellowship to them so that we can bring peace and build prosperity for our people.

No single cause can be identified to explain Nigerian’s poor economic performance over the years than the power situation. It is a national shame that an economy of 180 million generates only 4,000MW, and distributes even less. Continuous tinkering with the structures of power supply and distribution and close on $20b expanded since 1999 have only brought darkness, frustration, misery, and resignation among Nigerians. We will not allow this to go on. Careful studies are under way during this transition to identify the quickest, safest and most cost-effective way to bring light and relief to Nigerians.

Unemployment, notably youth un-employment features strongly in our Party’s Manifesto. We intend to attack the problem frontally through revival of agriculture, solid minerals mining as well as credits to small and medium size businesses to kick – start these enterprises. We shall quickly examine the best way to revive major industries and accelerate the revival and development of our railways, roads and general infrastructure.

Your Excellencies, My fellow Nigerians I can not recall when Nigeria enjoyed so much goodwill abroad as now. The messages I received from East and West, from powerful and small countries are indicative of international expectations on us. At home the newly elected government is basking in a reservoir of goodwill and high expectations. Nigeria therefore has a window of opportunity to fulfill our long – standing potential of pulling ourselves together and realizing our mission as a great nation.

Our situation somehow reminds one of a passage in Shakespeare’s Julius Ceasar:

“There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life, Is bound in shallows and miseries.”

We have an opportunity. Let us take it.

Thank you

MUHAMMADU BUHARI, GCFR

PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER IN-CHIEF-OF THE ARMED FORCES,

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA 

10 Things We Have to Do Before the 2019 Elections

17^th April, 2015

Professor Attahiru Jega

By: Amir Abdulazeez

N

igeria is a nation that is famous for taking one step forward and then two or more steps backwards. Whenever one step is taken in the right direction, several other steps would be taken in the wrong one. This is probably one of the major reasons why we have failed to make a lasting and permanent progress in a lot of things.

A general belief in Nigeria and beyond is that the 1999 elections were credible with a high degree of legitimacy not because they were very free and fair (allegedly due to the military government’s interest in handing over to Obasanjo and PDP), but because they were ascertained to be largely a reflection of the peoples’ will. If we had built on the 1999 success in 2003 and 2007, probably we wouldn’t have found ourselves in the present situation whereby a mere acceptance of defeat is seen as heroism.

While the 2003 elections were believed to be possibly the worst elections in Nigeria’s recent history, the 2007 elections according to many local and international observers, could not pass the test of the minimum requirements for an average African election. Many opinions have declared that there were no elections in most parts of Nigeria in 2007.

The 2011 elections were by far better than those of 2003, but they fell short of those in 1999 in terms of credibility and acceptance. Despite their shortcomings, the 2011 elections represented a remarkable improvement and they laid a good foundation for the successful elections in 2015.

Many Nigerians believed that the 2015 elections were as good as near-perfect simply because the ruling party lost woefully. However, in reality, they were marred by serious irregularities and manipulations, only that the irregularities fell short of subverting the peoples’ will.

It is important to note that the role of credible elections in a democracy cannot be overemphasized. Both the 1999 and 2015 elections are probably not as credible as the annulled June 12, 1993 elections-believed to be the freest and fairest elections in Nigeria’s history. However, if we are to keep improving and edging closer to electoral perfection, we must build on the 2015 success. Some of the ways to do that is by doing the following things ahead of 2019;

De-registration of ‘Brief-Case’ Political Parties;

While winning elections is not the only function of political parties across the world, in Nigeria it seems to be the determining factor not only for recognition but for meaningful existence. With the general lack of ideological basis in the Nigerian Political Party System, only winning elections can be used to determine the strength of the political parties. For instance, the APC may be ruling Imo and Borno State, but almost nothing in terms of policies will show that the two states are being ruled by the same party.

Where any of the parties is lucky to have a hard working elected public office holder, his performance will translate to the success of that party and the party would be seen to have performed well in that state, seat or office. Base on this, all those brief-case political parties (who may never win any election in the next 50 years) that contributed in adding to the length of our ballot papers thereby confusing the electorates leading to high amount of invalid votes must be de-registered latest by the end of 2016 when all cases in the election petitions tribunals might have been settled. Strict registration procedures must also be put in place to discourage any non-serious party from resurfacing.

Available results of the 2015 elections a released by INEC suggests that only 8 parties managed to win at least one seat and they are; All Progressives’ Congress (APC), Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Labour Party (LP), Accord Party (AP), Peoples’ Democratic Movement (PDM), Peoples’ Progressive Alliance (PPA) and Social Democratic Party (SDP). While two-party system may limit the options of Nigerians, 8 parties are more than enough, we do not need 30 or 40 useless parties.

Election Tribunals Must Ensure Justice;

Many election outcomes across the country would surely be contested in courts. Media reports suggests that no less than 100 genuine and serious cases ranging from governorship, senatorial, house of representatives and state house of assembly elections would be filed in courts nationwide. The figure could be between 200 and 350 especially if we consider the fact that even candidates with no strong cases would still want to try their luck in court.

Elections are not perfect, that is why we have election tribunals and their duty is to ensure speedy justice. Justice must not be delayed because it is totally unfair and unacceptable for someone to continue sitting on an illegal or stolen mandate for long just because the tribunals are dragging the case for whatever reason.

Before the elections, multiple alarms of foul play have been raised in different quarters and during the course of the elections, many candidates have complained of rigging, violence, manipulation and oppression, but all INEC could do was to tell them to head to court if they were not satisfied. Therefore, it is the duty of the election tribunals to rescue the people from being governed through illegal mandates in various capacities. We have had enough of people serving out stolen two terms of 8-years in the last 12 years.

It is believed that, if the aggrieved candidates can present a good case with evidence and the courts will respond by doing a good job, many parliamentary and even governorship elections would be overturned. The courts must hear every case base on merit and should not dismiss any on flimsy technical grounds. Candidates who could prove beyond reasonable doubt that they won elections should be declared winners instead of wasting government funds by ordering for re-runs.

Many are likely to escape with illegal mandates due to their good lawyers, but all in all, the tribunals must not record a success rate of below 75%. Candidates with no serious cases can help by staying away from the tribunals and allow them to deal with serious ones. The success of the courts would determine the future confidence level of people in the judicial-electoral process. If the courts do not prove to be a solution, people will resort to winning elections at all cost to avoid going to courts.

Jega’s Reforms in INEC have to be sustained;

Professor Attahiru Jega has according to media reports made it clear that he is not accepting a renewal when his tenure ends in June. Jega has re-invented and re-shaped INEC through a set of reforms and innovations which his successor should sustain. He had laid a solid foundation for others to build upon. In building such foundation, he had to sacrifice the 2011 elections for the lasting success of forthcoming elections. Jega took over INEC in 2010 when elections were around the corner, but many expected him to reform the electoral body and conduct a unanimously acceptable election at the same time. However, few knew it was not practically possible. Jega managed to carry out some reforms and conducted an improved election in line with such reforms in 2011.

The introduction of the card readers and the sanitization of the accreditation and voting processes have helped in no small measure towards making the whole system credible. The next INEC Chairman should take us closer to electronic voting or even there by 2019.

All Elections between 2015 and 2019 should be Well Conducted;

Let us note that between 2015 and 2019, there will be governorship elections in Kogi, Bayelsa, Ondo, Edo, Anambra, Ekiti and Osun States. It is the conduct of elections in these seven states that will determine our optimism or pessimism on the 2019 General Elections. The Federal Government, INEC and all stakeholders must make sure that these elections record a remarkable improvement upon the 2015 elections with a success rate of between 85 to 95 %. The more we have credible elections, the better for the system.

Political party bigwigs and champions must jettison the habit of relocating to a state where elections are holding with the aim of winning it for their party at all cost. Let the people in every state determine what they want without external interference.

The elections tribunal are likely to annul a handful of elections and order for re-runs. Such re-runs or bye-elections must be conducted freely, fairly, peacefully and creditably.

Election Fraudsters and Offenders Must Face the Law;

Election riggers are never punished in Nigeria; even if the court settles a case, it only awards victory to the petitioner or orders for a re-run, it never punishes anyone. This is the reason behind the brazen impunity in our electoral system as people rig without being afraid of any consequences. May be this is due to the shortcomings of the Electoral Act; future Electoral Acts must come hard on riggers.

Before we amend the Electoral Act, perpetrators of different electoral crimes in the last elections must not be allowed to get away with it. The in-coming or even the out-going Federal Government should set up a panel under the Attorney General to investigate election riggings, violence, fraud, under age voting and vote buying, so that those found guilty should be immediately prosecuted.

Whenever one sees long voter queues comprising of women, poor, old, disabled and other weak people; one feels like advocating the death sentence for election riggers.

Politics must be De-Commercialized;

Nigerian politics seems to be only for the rich people or for people backed by godfathers with big purses. This is because many Nigerians are money worshipers and also politics has been turned into a big commercial and lucrative industry. This is why we witnessed excessive use of money to buy party nominations in all our elections from 2003 to date.

This anomaly is likely to continue unabated up to 2019 unless everyone decides to change. Federal, state and local governments must cut governance cost and make political appointments less attractive and lucrative. Political parties must significantly cut down the price of nomination forms and ban the use of money in party primaries and disqualify any candidate that violates. Law enforcement agencies must arrest politicians who spend more than what the Electoral Act stipulates during electioneering. Above all, citizens must stop worshiping corrupt politicians, stop selling their votes and demand nothing but service and accountability from elected officials.

INEC be made more Independent and Should Conduct LG Elections;

In the build-up to the 2015 elections, INEC’s independence was seriously threatened.  The electoral body was appeared to be bullied into accepting some decisions of the Presidency and Service Chiefs. The law has mandated INEC to fully take charge of election issues and the law must be respected and unless in emergency and unavoidable cases, no one should directly or indirectly dictate to INEC what it should do or not. Adequate legislation must be put in place to ensure complete independence of INEC and ensure that such independence is protected.

INEC’s mandate should be constitutionally extended to allow it conduct local government elections. State ‘Independent’ Electoral Commissions have been conducting nonsense in the name of local government elections since 2003. The last time we had meaningful local government elections was in 1999 when they were conducted by INEC. State governors have proven their lack of patriotism by organizing and executing fraudulent local government elections over the years and nothing in sight suggests that they are going to change. Therefore, to save the local councils, proper elections must be conducted by INEC uniformly across the country.

Level Playing Ground Should be Created;

Many a time we confuse elections to mean voting only. Voting is only one out of many activities that make up an election. Election is a process that starts right from candidate nominations, campaigns, up to settlement of petitions in election tribunals. Right from 1999 to date, we have never had a level playing ground for all parties and candidates at different stages of the election process.

Parties in power stand to enjoy many privileges and benefits. For instance, the ruling party monopolises the usage of state-owned media at little or no cost and apparently deny the opposition the use of such.  A sitting president controls the security forces to his own electoral advantage or that of his party. He uses government-owned and maintained jets for all his campaigns while the opposition would have to hire jets or alternatively ply the dangerous roads across the country for their campaigns. Incumbents have unrestricted access to campaign grounds while opposition are made to undergo many bureaucratic processes before they have a simple permission to use a venue. The federal and state governments together with the national and state parliaments must put in place adequate measures to ensure that all candidates irrespective of their parties are treated equally. Incumbents must not enjoy too much advantage over his opponents.

Nigerian electorates seem not to be well motivated either due to lack of confidence or interest in the electoral process and governance or due to hard voting conditions; hence, we have witnessed huge voter apathy in recent years. Only consistent free and fair elections, leadership accountability and good governance can revive the interest and confidence of Nigerians in government.

Another important issue is that of the bandwagon effect in Nigerian elections which is very dangerous. Many candidates were not elected base on their own merits but because their elections were conducted the same time with candidates who seem to be the peoples’ choice. Incompetent and less competent candidates have benefitted from the bandwagon effect, just as competent candidates became victims. Future elections should be conducted separately in an order which the bandwagon effect will have little or no influence.

Candidates should Emerge by Popular will;

The most popular aspirants usually lose in the party primaries probably because they don’t have money or godfathers, leaving voters to elect between bad choices or for whomever candidates the party primaries produce for them in the general elections.

Nigerian political parties must think of ways through which candidates would emerge through popular will of the people and not through the narrow interests of few people. In the last elections APC’s modified indirect primaries saw only 6,008 delegates select a Presidential Candidate for more than 170 million people while PDP used about 3000 delegates to vote for just one contender. Also, 21 delegates were alleged to have determined the PDP gubernatorial candidate for the whole of Yobe State.

If candidates emerge by popular will, the people will have little problem with whomever emerges victorious in the general elections as all the party candidates were initially determined by the people.

APC Must Lead by Example;

The All Progressives Congress is the new ruling party with enormous influence and goodwill across the country. APC should not be preoccupied with governing Nigeria only; it should also concentrate on reforming our political system. If APC wants to make history, this is the best opportunity.

From 1999 to date, the PDP had introduced many things into our political system, most of which did more harm than good. PDP introduced the Party Board of Trustees (A body whose function is largely mysterious and appears to weaken the main leadership of the party), zoning of positions which caused many divisions among Nigerians and did a lot of damage to competency, candidate impositions, undemocratic consensus in the election of party officials, encouraging party cross-carpeting, position of party leader-who appears to be even above the party constitution. All these were negative inventions which the APC also embraced and unfortunately institutionalized some of them.

The APC must immediately make a self-assessment and make necessary amendments; let this victory not get into its head. APC must champion the cause of ideology in Nigerian political party system, internal democracy, building strong parties, party supremacy, accountability and good governance, etc. If the ruling party behaves properly, all other parties trying to unseat it in 2019 will be left with no option than to follow suit.

©2015: abdulazeezamir@hotmail.com

Dalilai 7 da Suka Sa Bai Kamata a Zaɓi Kwankwaso a Matsayin Sanata ba

14 Ga Maris, 2015

Daga: Amir Abdulazeez

M

ai yiwuwa idan da za a kaɗa ƙuri’a a tsakanin ‘yan Jihar Kano akan cewar ko sun yarda a yi wa Kundin Tsarin Mulkin ƙasa gyara domin Dakta Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso ya zarce a matsayin Gwamnan Kano, to ana kyautata zaton za su iya amincewa da wannan sauyi; wataƙila ma da gagarumin rinjaye. Ba don komai ba sai don cewar Kwankwaso ya yi rawar gani ƙwarai da gaske daga dawowar mulkinsa a 2011 zuwa 2015. Wannan ko kusa ba ta nufin cewar Kwankwason bai yi kura-kurai a mulkinsa ba; a’a ta na nufin cewar alkhairan da ya shuka sun rinjayi matsalolinsa a sha’anin mulkin Kano sosai da sosai, sannan kuma ya bar abubuwa na tarihi waɗanda za a daɗe ana mora kuma su sa a dinga tunawa da shi.

Kwankwaso ya samar wa da kansa gurbi na din-din-din a cikin tarihin Jihar Kano, kuma ko iya haka ya tsaya, babu wani abu da zai zo ya share wannan gurbi nasa. Me yiwuwa Marigayi Audu Baƙo da Marigayi Muhammad Abubakar Rimi ne kaɗai za su sha gabansa ta fuskar ciyar da Kano gaba a gwamnatance; sannan kuma a siyasance ya taka rawar ganin da bayan irin su Malam Aminu Kano da ire-irensa, to sai irinsu Kwankwason za a yi magana.

Masu hikima su kan ce, wani lokaci ba wai samun nasara ita ta fi wahala ba, a’a sarrafa nasarar, alkinta ta, ƙasƙan da kai a cikin ta da kuma sanin lokacin da ya kamata kada a zarce rawa da makaɗi bayan an samu nasarar. Daga dukkan alamu Gwamna Kwankwaso ya samu gaagrumar nasarar siyasa, amma ya na nema ya zarce rawa da makaɗi, ko dai da gangan ko kuma cikin rashin sani. Ya kamata jama’ar Kano su fargar da shi, su taimake shi ya dawo hayyacinsa.

Lokacin da wasu daga cikin masoya na haƙiƙa na Maigirma Kwankwaso suka dinga ba shi shawara ya tsaya takarar Sanata bisa ganin cewar wannan kujera ita ta fi dacewa da shi a wannan yanayin da ake ciki, shi kuma a lokacin sai ya ke ganin kujerar shugabancin ƙasa ce kawai dai-dai da shi. Duk da cewar ita ma takarar shugaban ƙasar da ya yi ta yi amfani kuma da ya samu nasara ana kyautata masa zaton zai yi abin kirki ƙwarai saboda ƙwarewarsa a ɓangaren zartarwa, amma bai kamata a ce bayan ya sha kaye, kuma a ce ya dawo ya na neman kujerar da ya ƙi nema tun da farko ba. Ga wasu daga cikin dalilan da suka sa bai kamata a zaɓe shi ya zama Sanatan Kano ta Tsakiya ba;

Nuna Haɗama Da Tsananin Son Mulki;

Kwankwaso ya nuna tsananin kwaɗayi da haɗamar mulki, irin wanda kusan ba a taɓa ganin irinsa a Jihar Kano ba a wannan siyasar jamhuriya ta huɗu da muke ciki. Saboda tsabar haɗama, Kwankwaso ya yi takarar kujeru biyu lokaci ɗaya; kujerar shugaban ƙasa da ta Sanata; yayin da ya tafi ya na yin takarar shugaban ƙasar da kansa, ita kuma ta Sanatan sai ya bayar da ita ajiya ana yi masa a ƙarƙashin kwamishinansa kuma surukinsa. Banda cewar wannan ya saɓa da tsarin dimokraɗiyya, adalci da sanin ya kamata, ya ma saɓa da tsarin gaskiya da kuma jagoranci. Ai ko Kano da APC ɗin mallakin mutum ne na kansa, ai bai kamata ya yi haka ba. Da wani ne ya yi wannan, da ba a san irin maganganun da Kwankwaso zai faɗa a kansa ba.

Wannan ta nuna burin Kwankwaso shi ne ya dauwama a kan mulki ba tare da ya sauka ba, ko kuma babu wanda ya cancanta sai shi. Tunda Kwankwaso ya nuna shi ya ƙasaita har ya tafi takarar shugaban ƙasa, kuma yace da gaske ya ke yi, to ai bai kamata kuma ya raba ƙafa ko ya dawo da baya, bayan an kayar da shi, yace zai nemi Sanata ba. Inda ya san ba da gaske ya ke ba, da tun farko sai ya haƙura ya nemi Sanatan.

A shekarar 1993, Injiniya Magaji Abdullahi ya tsaya Sanata a jam’iyyar SDP kuma ya yi nasara bayan ya faɗi zaɓen gwamna, haka a shekarar 1999 ya kuma yin irin haka a jam’iyyar APP amma sai Sanatan Kano ta Arewa mai ci yanzu Bello Hayatu Gwarzo ya yi nasara a kansa. To amma bambancin Injiniya Magaji da Kwankwaso, shi ba raba ƙafa ko takara biyu ya dinga yi a lokaci ɗaya ba, kuma ba ajiyar kujerar Sanatan ya bayar ba, a’a zuwa ya yi ya sake shiga zaɓe kamar kowa, kuma aka zaɓe shi.

Aikin Gwamna Daban da na Ɗan Majalisa;

Me yiwuwa idan aka ce a kaf Najeriya a yanzu babu wani Gwamna da ya ke da ƙwarewa da sanin makamar aiki kamar Kwankwaso, to ba lallai a yi kuskure ba. Wannan ma a bayyane ta ke domin shi kaɗai ne ya dawo mulki shekaru takawas bayan rabuwa da mulkin. Wannan shekaru takwas ta ba shi ilimi mai yawa a matasyinsa na ɗan kallo, kuma a dawowarsa ya yi aiki da wannan ilimi wajen samun nasarorin da ya samu. Saboda haka Kwankwaso ya na da ƙwarewa a ɓangaren zartarwa sosai. Hakan ce ta sa wasu mutanen suke ganin in da ya zama shugaban ƙasa, zai iya kawo gyare-gyare masu amfani ko kuma idan aka ba shi Ministan wata muhimmiyar ma’aikata a Gwamnatin Tarayya, zai taka rawar gani.

Duk wannan ba wai ta na nufin Kwankwaso zai samu nasara idan ya zama Sanata ba. Farko dai shi ba mutum ne ma mai girmama majalisa ba. Idan muka kalli yadda ya sa ƙafa ya shure Majalisar Dokokin Jihar Kano, ya mayar da ita ‘yar amshin Shata, ya shaƙe ta, ya maƙure ta, to ya ishe mu hujjar cewa majalisa ba wajen zuwansa ba ne. Majalisa waje ne na tattaunawa, shawartawa, bibiya, lallama da tuntuɓa kafin a gabatar da duk wani ƙuduri; duk kuwa wanda ya san Kwankwaso sosai, ya san bai dace da waɗannan abubuwa ba domin mutum ne da ake yi wa zargin ya shahara wajen yanke hukunci shi kaɗai.

Kodayake a kullum ya kan fake da cewa ya yi Ɗan Majalisar Tarayya a 1993 a ƙarƙashin Jam’iyyar SDP kuma har ma ya zama Mataimakin Kakakin Majalisa a wancan lokaci. Sai dai a gaskiya wannan kaɗai ba za ta ba shi cancantar da ake buƙata ba domin a wancan lokaci sun yi aiki ne da Shugaban ƙasa na soja, don haka su ‘yan amshin shata ne lamba ɗaya kuma ba su ma daɗe ba, Janaral Abacha ya yi waje da su.   

Zarce Gona Da Iri, Rashin Manufa;

Kwankwaso ya samu gagarumar nasara a rayuwarsa ta mulki da siyasa; wannan ce ta sa ya ke neman ya zarce gona da iri. A tunaninsa wataƙila babu wanda zai iya abu sai shi ko kuma abu in dai babu shi, to bai cika ba. Ya zama wajibi a taka masa burki a dai-dai wannan lokacin. Idan aka yi haka ma an taimakeshi domin kada duniya ta ruɗeshi ya ɗauka babu wani mai baiwa sai shi.

Bayan haka da alama shi da Shekarau gasa suke yi; wannan ya yi Gwamna, wancan ma ya yi, wannan ya yi Minista wancan ma ya yi, wannna ya yi takarar shugaban ƙasa wancan ma ya yi, don haka to bari wannan ya tafi Sanata domin ya sha gaban wannan. Kuskure ne a dinga amfani da kujerar wakilci wacce ake so a yi amfani da ita don bauta wa jama’a ta wannan hanyar.

Babu wasu alamu na zahiri da suka nuna cewar Dakta Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso ya na da wata tartibiyar manufa wacce zai aiwatar idan ya je Majalisar Dattawa ta Sanatoci; kawai burinsa ya samu kujerar. Babu mamaki bayan an zaɓe shi, idan aka ba shi wata babbar kujerar ya rabu da ita kamar yadda tsohon Gwamnan Jihar Kebbi Adamu Aliero ya yi, ya ajiye kujerar Sanata wacce jama’a suka zaɓe shi, ya tafi ya karɓi ministan Abuja kuma ƙarshe aka sallame shi daga ministan.

Majalisar Dattawa Ba Wajen Ritayar Gwamnoni Ba Ce;

Gwamnonin Najeriya, ciki har da Kwankwaso sun ɗauko wata hanya ta mayar da Majalisar Dattawa wani zaure wanda za su dinga yin ritaya ko hutawa a cikinsa. Wannan ya taimaka matuƙa wajen zubar da darajar majalisar tare da kawo mata gagarumin naƙasu wajen ci gaban ta.

Na farko dai, mafi yawan Gwamnonin Najeriya ba wata dokar kirki ko tsarin doka suka sani ba, sannan kuma idan sun sani, ba damuwa suka yi da aiki da ita ba. Hasalima, wasu daga cikinsu gani suke yi sun ma fi ƙarfin dokar. Banda kama-karya babu abinda suka saba da shi. To akan me za a zaɓe su wai su zo su yi doka? Mafi yawancinsu suna zuwa majalisar ne don wai ala dole sai sun ci gaba da mulki tunda wa’adin mulkinsu na gwamna ya ƙare, kuma mafi yawancinsu ta hanyar ƙarfa-ƙarfa suke karɓar takarar daga hannun waɗanda suke kan kujerar.

Daga 1999 zuwa yanzu, tsofaffin gwamnoni  11 ne suka zama sanatoci, yayin da 14 suka yi takara basu ci ba a tsawon wannan shekaru 16 na dawowar dimokradiyya. Amma wannan bai sa majalisar dattawan ta canza zani daga zargin da ake yi mata na kasa yin aikin da ya dace ba. Maimakon haka ma, sai ƙara taɓarɓarewa da ta ke yi dalilin shigowarsu. A yanzu haka akwai tsofaffin gwamnoni guda 9 a zauren Majalisar Dattawa yayin kuma da adadin tsofaffin gwamnoni da kuma masu barin gado waɗanda suke takarar Sanata a jam’iyyu daban-daban ya kai 26.

Kwankwaso Ba Ya Kamfen;

Duk bayan waɗannan  dalilan, shi Kwankwaso da alama gani yake kamar dole ne ma a zaɓe shi Sanata. Me yiwuwa gani ya ke yi kamar cancantarsa, isarsa da ƙasaitarsa sun wadatar, ba sai ya fita kamfen ya nemi alfarma a gurin masu zaɓe ba. Wataƙila a tunaninsa nasarorin da ya samu a matsayinsa na gwamna su za su sa shi ya samu kujerar Sanata ba hamayya.

Abin da kwankwaso ya kasa ganewa shi ne dukkan aiyukan da ya yi, ba wai alfarma ko taimako ya yi wa mutane ba. Shi ya kawo kansa da ƙoƙon bararsa a hannu tare da manufofinsa akan ya na neman sahalewar mutane da su ɗauke shi aiki domin ya zamar musu gwamna, su kuma suka ba shi dama, ya yi ƙoƙarin da zai yi kuma mutane suka ce sun yaba masa. Saboda haka idan yanzu ya na neman su sahale masa ya zama Sanata, ai ba kwanciya zai yi ya dinga taƙama da aikin da ya yi musu a gwamna ba, fitowa zai sake yi da ƙoƙon bara a hannu da buɗaɗɗiyar murya kuma ba tare da wata taƙama ba, ya bayyana manufofinsa, yace ya na neman a ɗauke shi aikin wakilci na Sanata. Idan an ga ya dace, ya cancanta, sai a zaɓe shi.

Tunda da alama Kwankwaso gani ya ke yi kamar shi zai taimakawa mutane ko kuma aiyukansa na gwamna sun isheshi, ba sai ya yi kamfen ba, to ya kamata jama’ar Kano ta tsakiya su nuna masa kuskurensa ta hanyar ƙin zaɓar sa. Nan gaba idan ya shirya wa neman Sanatan, sai ya fito ya yi kamfen ya nuna musu cewar Sanata yake nema domin maganar gwamna ta riga ta wuce.

Lado Bai Gaza Ba;

Idan mutum ya na kan kujera, kuma wa’adinsa bai zo ƙarshe ba ko kuma ya na da sauran damar ci gaba, to ba hikima ba ne canza shi, matuƙar bai gaza ba. A dukkanin sanatocin da Kano ta tsakiya ta yi daga 1999 zuwa yanzu, da wahala a samu wanda ya taka rawar ganin da Lado ya taka tun daga kan Sanata Kura Muhammed, Sanata Rufa’i Sani Hanga da kuma Sanata Muhammad Bello.

Lado ya kawo ƙudururruka masu muhimmanci a majalisa kuma ya na bayar da gudunmawa dai-dai gwargwado. Bayan haka ya kawo manya da ƙananan aikace-aikace a ciki da wajen mazaɓarsa ta Kano ta tsakiya. Idan aka yi la’akari da cewar wannan shi ne zuwansa na farko, to ya kamata a yaba masa.

Matsalolin Sanata Lado guda biyu ne kacal; na farko manyan aiyukan da yake taƙama da su (titin gadar sama na Gyaɗi-Gyaɗi da kuma raba titin Kano zuwa Katsina) duk ba a kammalasu ba. Shi titin Kano zuwa Katsina ma kusan a ce ba a yi kashi ɗaya bisa hamsin na aikin ba duk da cewa shekara kusan ɗaya da rabi kenan da bayar da kwangilar aikin titin. Wasu daga cikin manyan aiyukan da yake faɗa ma kamar gadar sama a Shataletalen Miltara da kuma a Kurna Babban Layi, har yanzu babu wanda ya ga alamar farasu.

Matsalar Lado ta biyu ita ce tsarin kamfen ko yanayin yaƙin neman zaɓensa. Mutane da yawa suna yi masa kallon wanda ya birkice ya sukurkuce ya ke neman duk hanyar da zai bi kada kujerarsa ta suɓuce. Wannan ta saka shi yin wasu abubuwa da suka saɓa da al’adar yaƙin neman zaɓe, kamar rabon kayan miya da nama, rabon ruwan zafi a asibitoci, sallamar Lado da dai sauransu. Abin da ma aka fi ƙalubalantarsa da shi shi ne, bai tashi yin waɗannan abubuwa ba, sai da zaɓe ya matso.

To amma duk da haka, Lado sai ya fi Kwankwaso amfani nesa ba kusa ba a majalisa domin shi zai kwantar da kai ya yi biyayya ya nemo aiyuka. Zai yi shawara ya tattauna da ‘yan uwansa domin samun mafita ga mazaɓarsa, saɓanin Kwankwaso da ya saba shi a gurinsa ake neman alfarma da aiyukan. Bayan haka kuma, ana kyautata masa zaton zai yi ƙoƙarin matsa lamba don ganin an ƙarasa waɗannan aiyukan da ya nemo domin so yake ya bar tarihi tunda kusan a ce yanzu ya fara siyasa, shi kuwa Kwankwaso ya riga ya gama kafa tarihi, babu wani abu da ya ke buƙata ya yi a nan gaba.

Kwankwaso! Lokacin Zama Cikakken Dattijo Ya Yi;

Dakta Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso yanzu haka shekaraunsa na haihuwa 60 ba kaɗan, kuma kullum burinsa a ce shi ne jagora, kowa  a ƙarƙashinsa ya ke. Dattijantaka ta kan ƙarawa jagoranci armashi; ita kuwa dattijantaka ba ta samuwa idan mutum kullum burinsa  a ce shi zai riƙe muƙami ko zai tsaya takara. A 1999 Marigayi Dakta Muhammad Abubukar Rimi da Malam Musa Gwadabe ba su fi shekaru sittin sittin ba, amma suka zama dattijai a siyasa. A lokacin suna da damar su tsaya kowwanne irin muƙami a Jihar Kano kuma su ci ba hammaya, amma maimakon haka sai suka ɗaurewa irinsu Kwankwaso gindi, a lokacion shi Kwankwason bai fi shekaru 42 zuwa 43 ba. Akwai lokacin da aka yi ta bai wa Rimi shawarar ya tsaya Sanata, amma yace shi ba zai tsaya ba tunda ga yaransa nan na siyasa birjik waɗanda za su iya aikin Sanata, bai kamata ya zama cinye-duk yace sai ya yi da kansa ba.

Kwankwaso ya ɗauko tafiya mai nisa, kuma an kawo gaɓar da zai zama dattijo a siyasar Jihar Kano. Duk wata kujera da ta ke da alaƙa da Kano, in dai ba ya zama dolen-dole ba, to a daina rububinsa da ita. Idan ya na so, ya iya ci gaba da takarar shugaban ƙasa domin ita wannan dama kujera ce ta dattijai kuma ƙwararru. Idan kuma ba haka ba, watarana sai ya wayi gari tsamo-tsamo ya na takarar kujera ɗaya da ya-ku-bayi irina.

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