Injects 83,645 Into Voters List

Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, may have pulled a fast one on Nigerians with the announcement that only 68,833,476 Nigerians are registered to vote in the forthcoming general elections. However, a thorough check by The UNION, indicates that the voter list, as announced by Jega on January 13, and re-affirmed on February 17, as the working figure for INEC, contains 83, 645 names more. This means 83, 645 extra permanent voter cards. In essence, by the time INEC distributes a total of 68,833,476 voter cards, it will be left with an excess of 83, 645 PVCs, whose owners are not known. The UNION had subjected the figures published by INEC to checks. Both manual and electronic calculations of the number of registered voters in the 36 states and the FCT, showed that actual number of registered voters is 68, 917, 121. This is against 68,833,476 declared by Prof. Jega.

These figures are also posted on INEC’s website and accessible by everyone. While the Commission has maintained this figure as the true and certified number of voters in the country, The UNION can authoritatively state that the Independent National Electoral Commission is working in error of 83,645 voters, registered or unregistered. This cast a major doubt on the integrity of INEC as what happens to the excess of 83,645 is not known to Nigerians. Also, the calculations for zonal collection of the PVCs are also embarrassingly faulty. It indicates that the commission may have distributed more PVCs than it has declared. This suggests that some under-the-table PVC distributions may have been made by INEC. According to INEC, total number of PVCs collected as at February 17 was 52,275,367. But when this figure was broken down to zonal collections, it indicated that some 233,598 PVCs had been distributed.

According to a critical analysis of the figures presented by INEC, upon which it said 52,275,367 were distributed as at 6pm on February 17, a total of 15, 104, 626 PVCs were distributed in the Northwest zone, while 7,755,374 was distributed in the northeast zone and 7,863,515 PVCs were given out in the north central zone including the FCT. Similarly, the analysis showed that 5,646,542 PVCs had been distributed in the southeast while 7,755,374 cards were given out in the south-south zone and 8,589,387 had been distributed in the south west states. The sum of this, calculated manually and electronically, returned a total of 52,508,965 as against 52,275,367 published by INEC, on its website, as total number of PVCs so far collected by voters. The excess figure remains a mystery given that 83,645 more names are captured in the INEC list of registered voters as published on February 17. According to the Independent National Electoral Commission figures on the sub-head “Number of Registered Voters, (C) which totalled 68,833,476. However, the auto-sum of the same figures of the 36 states and the FCT adds up to 68, 917,121, registering a difference of 83, 645 which the commission would need to do some explanation about. What may have informed this kind of embarrassing public presentation of figures to be used for the elections.

Senate Doubts the Effectiveness of Card Readers

The Senate yesterday refused to give any definite response regarding the use of the Card Reader Machines introduced by the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) for use in the March 28 and April 11 general elections. Following the deployment of the Card Reader by the INEC to accredit voters for the forthcoming elections, the Senate on Tuesday invited the commission’s Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, to appear before it and explain INEC’s preparedness for the elections. During the session, which lasted for three hours at the Red Chamber, Jega observed the challenges of the Card Reader. “Using the card readers has too many challenges. What if a card reader fails? What if a person is verified, and his finger print cannot be authenticated?,” he queried. He said that INEC has agreed with all political parties on what to do, if any of these arises. “In the likely event that a Card Reader fails, we have enough spares to deploy before the end of the accreditation at 1p.m. If we cannot replace it before the end of accreditation, then the election in that particular point will be postponed to the following day when a new Card Reader would be provided for election,” he said.

Reacting to the fact that the Card Reader is programmed to work for five hours, Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, feared that some electorate would be disfranchised. “This is a very practical thing. From what we have seen here today, it means that it will take about one minute to accredit a person. “You said that the device is programmed to work for five hours daily. Let’s assume that you commenced accreditation by 8 a.m., you will finish by 1 p.m., like you said. “If that is the case and from what we have seen here today, it means that you will only accredit 60 voters in one hour by one person per minute. It also means that only 300 voters will be accredited between the accrediting hours of 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. “We all know that most polling booths have more than 300 registered voters. Now, if this is the case, the rest of the registered voters would be disenfranchised for the election,” Abaribe said. In her worry, Senator Chris Anyanwu requested for the place of non northerners, who registered in the North. She particularly noted with concern that some Nigerians from the Southern part registered in the North, but had to run away for safety. “Would they also be considered as internally displaced persons(IDPs)? Because they registered in the North, but cannot be allowed to vote in the South, where they have run to safety,” she noted.

Anyanwu also observed that Senator Chris Ngige’s finger could not be captured in the trial exercise on the floor of the Senate. In his concern, Senator Odion Ugbeshie wondered, if INEC would not be celebrating illegality through the Card Reader. Earlier, Jega raised fears that the Card Reader would disenfranchise some electorate. “The card reader will not read every finger,” he hinted. Jega also admitted that the Commission was managing a very difficult situation in the Boko Haram strongholds and areas of operations, especially in Maiduguri, Borno State. Jega could not guarantee that all the permanent voter cards (PVCs) would be made available to their owners, with about four weeks to the rescheduled dates of the general elections. He informed the senators that INEC was yet to produce 1 million PVCs from China. In his closing remarks, the Senate President, Senator David Mark, assured the INEC boss of the Upper Chamber’s readiness to assist. “We want to win our elections, but we want to win free and fair. Nobody wants to come back from the back door. We will work with you to ensure that you succeed in what you are doing ahead of the forthcoming general elections,” Mark said. The UNION recalls that the Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma- Egba, on Tuesday said that the deployment of the Card Reader by the INEC to accredit voters is contrary to Section 52 of the Electoral Act 2010.

More Groups Support Jonathan’s Re-Election Bid

Many groups have moved into the support umbrella of President Goodluck Jonathan in the Southeast zone following a move by Governor Theodore Orji to deepen the support base of Mr. President among the sociocultural groups According to a source who confided in The Union, the surge in pro-Jonathan groups was sparked by complaints by several cultural groups across the five states of the zone that they were not being carried along in the movement for the re-election of President Jonathan despite their soft spot for him.

It was further learnt that Governor Orji, who is the coordinator of President Jonathan’s campaign organisation had latched on to the enthusiasm being shown by various groups to enlist them in the project. To this end, he invited all “credible and visible” groups to a meeting at government house Umuahia where the groups were welcomed into the campaign structure.Orji was said to have told the enlisted groups that the major task facing them now was to sensitize the grassroots on the need for them to collect their permanent voters cards (PVC).

He noted that the opposition would be strengthened when those supporting Mr. President fail to collect their PVCs, which would guarantee their active participation in the democratic process. According to the source, who is a member of one of the groups that attended the meeting with Governor Orji, all the groups welcomed their integration into the campaign organisation.He said that they expressed gratitude to the Abia governor for seeing the various socio-cultural groups and pledged their willingness and commitment to take the message of Jonathan’s re-election to every nook and cranny of the Southeast zone.

Jonathan vs the Generals

In the now brazen, even indecent, effort to bully President Goodluck Jonathan out of office, strange, unseemly things have been happening.

Reputations are being blown up, principles are being twisted, people are being told to act on faith and ignore the facts, and those peddling change are hiding the contents of the vessel.

For the reputations, the first casualty, to me, is that of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Pro. Attahiru Jega, a man I could have trusted with my choice belongings.

But when he repeatedly stated that the INEC was ready to conduct the presidential elections on 14th February 2015 when every fact contradicted him, he lost me, perhaps, forever.

Second is Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo. It is not that he had much of a reputation to begin with. I was an undergraduate in 1978 during the “Ali Must Go” students’ protests.

He lost me then, and I would never have voted for him as a civilian president because I know he has not changed and will never change. What he was in 1978 is what he is today.

I have had occasions to admire his courage. But he was Nigeria’s President, with all the prestige t he title confers. He cannot be ignored; he must be respected in spite of himself.

Early in the week, Gen. Obasanjo made a little spectacle of tearing his membership card of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the ruling party in Nigeria, which provided him the ladder to be Nigeria’s President, not once but twice.

After the ritual, he declared to the audience that he has now become a statesman; confirming my point that he has not changed and cannot change.

Given all the education he received and the exposure he has had he was still ‘clueless’ about the word “statesman.”

He seems unaware t hat it is not a nickname. It is not a title you can stick to yourself at your choosing.

‘A statesman’ is a title others give you in appreciation of extraordinary service in the service of your country, for your statesmanship.

On the contrary, Burke must have had Obasanjo in mind when he wrote that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.

In January 2009 the whole world watched President George W. Bush leave office, handing over to Mr. Barack Obama who had embarrassed the Republicans by defeating their Vietnam War hero John McCain in a landslide.

At the inauguration ceremonies, everyone could see Obama in his humane, humble naturalness (Jonathan has a similar disposition, by the way) treat the Bushes with utmost respect, walking them the whole distance to the helicopter and bidding them farewell on their departure from the White House.

The Obamas returned for the swearing-in, watched by an enraptured world and a disbelieving, almost shell-shocked Republicans, some say, racist, America.

The next day, the Republican hailstorm on the Obama presidency began. It got worse by the day. It was unrelenting. Then in April, the Tea Party, which was the modern version of the Ku Klux Klan without the burning cross, was born.

President Obama could not get a single Republican vote for anything from the Economic Recovery Act to the Affordable Healthcare Act.

But as Republicans piled on Obama, for over two years, not one uncomplimentary word came from George W. Bush.

They had blamed him for their defeat, now he was further alienated by the Republican Party for not joining in attacking the Obama administration. Not Bush Jr. He refused to attack Obama, no matter what his party thought or said.

I’m not so sure of the event where President Bush had to speak with the Press and he had to answer questions. Soon, t he i nevitable q uestion was posed: Why has he never uttered a word against President Obama.

Bush is a good natured man. He chuckled, shook his head and said, “Being President of the United States is difficult enough, without the added pressure of criticisms from a former President.” He didn’t add to it.

In contrast, Gen. Obasanjo has since 2013 kept President Jonathan under withering criticism, none of it supported by facts or any shred of evidence.

His grouse: he wanted to anoint another candidate for president, and Jonathan seeking a second term was complicating his game plan.

One of the most sensational of his allegations against President Jonathan was contained in the 18-page open letter of 2nd December 2013: “Allegations of keeping 1,000 people on political watch list rather than criminal or security watch list and training snipers and other armed personnel secretly and clandestinely acquiring weapons to match for political purposes like Abacha and training them where Abacha trained his own killers, if it is true, cannot augur well for the initiator, the government and the people of Nigeria.”

Obasanjo was accusing a sitting Nigerian president of conspiracy to murder.“Corruption has reached the level of impunity. A nd if you are not ready to name, shame, prosecute and stoutly fight against corruption, whatever you do will be hollow. It will be a laughing matter,” Obasanjo wrote.

The above were in addition to scores of other deadly accusations each of which is capable of sinking any regime if it were factual or provable.

Indeed, in Jonathan’s brief response in which he denied all the accusations, he challenged Obasanjo to prove even a single allegation of corruption: “I urge you to furnish me with the name, facts and figures of a single verifiable case of high corruption which you say stinks all around my administration and see whether the corrective action you advocate does not follow promptly.” Obasanjo never picked up the challenge.

Obasanjo’s malice does not bother about facts or proof. Knowing that Nigerians want to believe the worst, it was enough for his purpose to invent the accusations and let it circulate among Nigerians who are most likely to believe them as gospel truths.

As every Nigerian could see, Obasanjo could not be converted into a democrat even after he was practically bribed with the presidency.

As president, he was the same dictator he was during the military era. Governors who crossed him, were impeached; those he disliked, were jailed.

Obasanjo and Gen. Buhari are two sides of the same coin. Like Obasanjo, Buhari cannot change.

It was the same mistake Nigerians made in permitting the generals to appropriate their democracy in 1999 by drafting Obasanjo whose primary mission was to cover up for the generals – the only mission he truly accomplished.

In other countries of the world, these generals would be in prison for corruption and gross human rights abuses as happened in South Korea, Chile and Argentina.

A hundred cases of gross abuse of human rights can be proved in court against General Buhari by a pupil lawyer.

The manifest conspiracy of the generals against Jonathan, who is a natural democrat, ought to raise an alarm inside any Nigerian who values democracy.

The generals d o n ot u nderstand democracy even when they are bribed to lead it. It cannot now be inserted in their DNA. It is too late.

In Buhari’s particular case, he is even less disposed toward democracy than Obasanjo whose raw survival instinct could force to accommodate the legislature. Buhari never accepted that he lost in any of his last three elections.

He always felt he had been defrauded. When he loses in court, it is the judges’ fault, not the law. He has no patience f or d ue p rocess. The Igbos say you can’t learn to be left-handed (leftie) at old age.

All the efforts to manipulate Nigerians into thinking of a different Buhari without any sign or proof is simply what it is – an effort to win an election by exploiting the credulity of Nigerians as happened i n 1999. History is about to repeat itself.

President Jonathan Lists 12 Reasons Nigerians Should Vote For Him Again

The presidency has listed 12 reasons why Nigerians must vote for President Jonathan again.

This was contained in a piece, titled, “Twelve reasons to support Jonathan,” published in the current edition of the in-house magazine of the State House, Abuja, called Villascope.

Here are the reasons listed out;

Road constructions, Railway rehabilitation, Remodelling of airports, Transformed agriculture sector, Increased access to education, Increased access to housing, Improved power supply, Improved water supply, Better health facilities, Reformed security infrastructures, Economic transformation and Increased Nigerians participation in downstream oil sector.

Woman Changes Name To “Abcdefg Hijklmn Opqrst Uvwxyz

After a Two-year battle, Colombian teacher of art and photography finally won her right to change her name to “Abcdefg Hijklmn Opqrst Uvwxyz”.

The 36-year-old, who lives in the Colombian capital Bogota, according to DailyMail, has a habit of regularly changing her name depending on her mood and prior to the latest change was known as Ladyzunga Cyborg. She teaches art and photography at three universities as well as designing fashion on the side.

She also has a passion for fetish clothes and bondage events and said she always feels the need to constantly ‘redefine’ herself and felt that it was now appropriate to have a name that was hard to say.

She said:

‘I’ve changed my name so people wouldn’t know it’s me. But it’s not because I was disturbed by it but because I wanted to always bring an element of surprise.’

Ms Uvwxyz, admitted that officials had often raised eyebrows at her unusual names, but that her latest name change to become Abcdefg Hijklmn Opqrst Uvwxyz had involved her biggest battle yet.

Adding that she had been fighting red tape for two years in order to finally get approval to now call herself Abcdefg Hijklmn Opqrst Uvwxyz.

B’ Haram releases new video, vows to disrupt polls

Militant Islamist sect, Boko Haram, has vowed to disrupt the March 28 and April 11 elections.

“The elections will not be held even if we are dead. Even if we are not alive Allah will never allow you to do it,” the leader of the sect, Abubakar Shekau, said in a new video on Tuesday evening.

The video appeared to be the first message released by the group on Twitter, a sign of its changing media tactics after previous messages were distributed to journalists on DVD.

Shekau was shown in unusual clarity in front of a solid blue background, dressed in black and with an automatic weapon resting to his right.

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