2015: A year like no other!

By Clifford Ndujihe, Charles Kumolu and Abiodun Alade

January: Campaigns hot up

THE brinkmanship that marked the commencement of the campaigns ahead of the 2015 general elections in 2014, spiraled into 2015 as the leading political parties, the All Progressives Congress ,APC, and Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, reached feverish peak.

The PDP particularly had a non-issue based camping around the country, as it made the deconstruction of the APC’s presidential candidate, then Gen. Muhammadu Buhari the focus of its campaign.

There were also incidents widely assumed as deliberate clampdown on the then opposition in the build up to the polls. One of such was the invasion of APC’s data office in Lagos by the Department of State Security Service, DSS, for allegedly cloning Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, in readiness for the elections.

The APC was not also left out in the issues that got the polity overheated, as some of its electioneering languages were termed as aggressive.

In a fashion that could have given the trend away as acceptable, the parties through incisive statements, unfounded allegations, hateful advertisements, radio jingles, and documentaries, threw jabs at each other at the expense of peace and sometimes national security.

It was feared that the nation could go up in flames, whichever way the outcome of the elections especially the presidential poll, would go.

In acknowledgement of the fact that tensed campaigns had taken the country to an edge, the US dispatched its Secretary of State, John Kerry, to Nigeria in trouble shooting efforts.

He specifically met the two frontline candidates separately in Lagos after which he allayed the fears of the nation.

“I came here today to deliver a very simple message and I have met with both major candidates to underscore that international community has paid a very close attention into this election and we are deeply committed to working with Nigerians with the hope that they will have an election that is free of violence and capable of instilling confidence in the future,” Kerry said.

February: Elections postponement

Bowing to the pressure from some quarters that the general elections should be postponed for security reasons, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on February 7, announced a six-week shift.

The commission said the move became necessary to enable security agencies subdue insurgency in the

North-East.

In addition, the then INEC Chairman, Prof. Atahiru Jega, said the development would afford the commission the opportunity of fine-tuning some of its processes.

‘’ We are not being forced by anybody to take this decision.  This is a decision that we had to take by ourselves.  They were not pleasant decisions to take but we had to take the decisions.  Nobody has forced us, nobody has coerced us.  We stand by this decision,’’ Jega stated.

He also said the electoral management body could not guarantee the protection of personnel, observers and voters if the elections went on as previously scheduled.

“The commission is concerned about the security of our ad-hoc staff, the young men and women of the NYSC and students of the tertiary educational institutions who constitute at least 600,000 young men and women that we will use in the elections.”

March: Presidential election

The March 28 presidential election was historic in every sense, as records were broken.

In line with post-election prognosis, it turned out as the most keenly and bitterly contested in the nation’s history.

It was an election that played up ethnicity and religion.

Indeed, the novelty, inherent in the level of public interest in the process, played out in appreciable measures, as many eligible voters turned out for the poll nationwide.

However, incidents of disenfranchisement and logistic challenges reared their heads in the election, albeit in negligible proportions.

Nonetheless, the election witnessed the critical determination of Nigerians to be assertive in the process of electing who governs them.

From the voting pattern to the outcome, Nigerians were remarkably involved like never before.

Predictably, APC’s Muhammadu Buhari emerged victorious and incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan lost.

Buhari won with a difference of 2.57 million votes.

The 73-year-old won 15,424,921 votes or 53.95 percent of the 28,587,564 total valid votes cast.

Jonathan, 57, had 12,853,162 votes (44.96 percent).

The triumph of Buhari was followed by sweeping victories of his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, in subsequently polls in all but one of the six South-West states and all but two of the North’s 19 states. In Jonathan’s South-South and the South-East states, the former President won impressively.

States won by Buhari are Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Sokoto, Yobe, Zamfara and Borno.

Jonathan emerged victorious in Rivers, Plateau, Taraba, Nasarawa, Imo, Enugu, Ekiti, Edo, Delta, Ebonyi, Cross River, Bayelsa, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Abia and the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja).

Jonathan put a foot in a personal march towards international statesmanship when he conceded defeat once Buhari was projected the winner.

April: Governorship and state assembly polls

Initially billed for February 28 but later postponed to April 11 to enable the armed forces suppress Boko Haram insurgents so that the general elections could be held in all parts of the country, especially the North-East, the nation was ready for the governorship and state assembly polls.

The governorship poll was held in 29 states. Anambra, Bayelsa, Kogi, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti and Osun states were not due to hold gubernatorial election but the assembly election was held in all the 36 states.

The elections lived up to their billings and were characterised by surprises, upsets, controversies, claims and counter-claims of manipulation by the political parties, especially the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

At the end of the fierce electoral battles, the APC dethroned the PDP as the dominant party in the country. Apart from retaining its core states of Lagos, Imo, Borno and Yobe, the APC made inroads into PDP strong holds. It added to its kitty Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Kwara, Adamawa, Bauchi, Niger and Plateau states which had been controlled by the PDP.

The only states that remained PDP’s after the April polls, and which may be lost after legal fisticuffs, are Enugu, Ebonyi, Abia, Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta, Gombe and Taraba.

Already, the Court of Appeal has annulled the elections in Rivers and Akwa Ibom and ordered re-run within 90 days. In Taraba, PDP’s victory was not only nullified, it was also awarded to the APC candidate, Senator Alhassan. The governors of the three states – Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Taraba – are already at the Supreme Court to challenge appellate the courts decisions.

May: Historic handover

Buhari assumed office as President on May 29, in an unprecedented ceremony after he won the first opposition victory by defeating a sitting President. The event was attended by all living former Nigerian leaders and over 50 world leaders or their representatives.

The 72-year-old took charge of Africa’s most populous nation, facing crises on several fronts, from severe economic turmoil to Boko Haram Islamist insurgency.

The inauguration came 32 years after the former army general seized power in a military coup. He was ousted 20 months later.

Civilian rule was restored in 1999 but the PDP had held power at the federal level for 16 years, at times appearing intent on staying on at all costs.

Buhari’s victory over Jonathan in the March 28 poll and the subsequent inauguration of a long-time opposition leader were historic. Despite the painful loss of the presidential election, Jonathan said he had no regret over his defeat, stressing that he sacrificed personal ambition for the good and unity of the country.

‘I belong to nobody’

In his famous inauguration speech, Buhari declared: ‘I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody’, promising to fight corruption and address security challenges in the country all among others.

Immediately after he was sworn in, he directed the relocation of the military command to Maiduguri, Borno State to fight Boko Haram.

Earlier on May 28, the then President Jonathan had presented his handover notes and the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference to the then President-elect Buhari. The event, which took place at the Executive Chamber of the Presidential Villa in Abuja, was preceded by the guided tour of the State House complex. At the ceremony, attended by the joint Transition Committee, Jonathan said the documents were to assist the incoming administration to navigate and resolve most of the problems hindering the nation’s progress.

After handing over to Buhari, Jonathan received a heroic welcome in Bayelsa, his state of origin.

June: Battle for NASS leadership

With the end of the 7th National Assembly on June 6 and inauguration of the 8th Assembly, the tussle for the leadership of both chambers – Senate and House of Reps – which started in May, dominated the polity in June.

To the chagrin of the Presidency and national hierarchy of the APC, those they backed for the Senate presidency and speakership of the House of Representatives fell by the way side. In the Senate, Senator Ahmed Lawan, favoured by the ruling party leadership, lost to Senator Bukola Saraki. The absence of APC senators, who went to honour an appointment with Buhari on the morning of the inauguration, paved the way for Senator Ike Ekweremadu of the opposition PDP to emerge as Deputy Senate President, a bitter pill APC leaders have found hard to swallow.

A similar scenario played out in the House of Representatives, where the party leadership-favoured Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila for the speakership lost to Hon. Yakubu Dogara.

Saraki and Dogara also rejected the nominees sent in by the APC hierarchy for leadership positions in the NASS. While Saraki argued that the Senate is independent and senators should be allowed to conduct their affairs without interference from the party, Dogara said that sharing of leadership positions should be made to accommodate all the zones of the country to ensure balance and equity.

In the Senate, the rift between Senators of Like Minds, a group of lawmakers loyal to Saraki, and those of the Unity Forum, loyal to Lawan, has been difficult to resolve. The Like Minds picked holes in the new Senate Standing Order on which the election of the President and his deputy was based and the rule which shares the 57 standing committees equally among the six geo-political zones of the country irrespective of political party affiliation.

For many weeks, the aggrieved senators moved to get the alleged forgery of the 2015 Standing Order as amended probed and have gone to court over the issue.

The 2015 Senate rule book stipulates that each zone would be expected to get at least nine committee chairmanship seats out of the total 57 Senate committees.

The new Standing Order states: “The appointment of senators as chairmen and members of committees shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the six geo-political zones of the country and there shall be no predominance of senators from a few geo-political zones”.

This portion of the Standing Order runs contrary to the 2011 version, which favoured the then ruling PDP.

July: Bitter politics of NASS continues

The leadership crisis in the National Assembly over the filling of the remaining principal offices by both the ruling APC and the opposition PDP continued in July and dominated issues throughout the month.

President Muhammadu Buhari; Saraki, Senate President and Dogara, Speaker

The Senate had adjourned after inauguration. It resumed plenary on June 23, but suspended plenary on Thursday, June 25 till July 21. The resumption was later postponed to July 28.

Senate President Bukola Saraki had, before the adjournment, announced Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, Borno South, as the Majority Leader and he assumed office immediately as the candidate for the North East where the position was zoned to.

Also Senator Bala Ibn Na’allah, Kebbi South, assumed office as Deputy Senate Leader (North-West) while Senator Francis Alimikhena, Edo North, took the seat of Senate Deputy Chief Whip (South-South). The office of Senate Chief Whip was not filled following the inability of the South West to which it was zoned, produce a name.

Ahead of the resumption on July 28, jostling for the remaining leadership slots reached feverish peak with some aggrieved lawmakers threatening fire and brimstone.

Senator Isa Misau, representing Bauchi Central, attributed the crisis rocking the National Assembly to “external influence”, saying members of the legislature behind the crisis were merely acting the scripts of their godfathers.

Misau, a member of the Like Minds Senators, appealed that senators and House of Representatives members should be allowed time to work. According to him, the legislators were not elected for the purpose of fighting for leadership offices but “to go and pass legislation, motions, engage in debates and oversight functions which will lead to improved standard of living for the people.”

However, the leadership crisis in the House of Representatives was resolved on July 28 when Speaker Dogara bowed to the ruling party pressure, conceding the position of House Leader to Gbajabiamila, his erstwhile contender for speakership and the APC nominee, from Lagos State (South-West).

Dogara’s candidate for the House Leader, Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, from Kano State (North-West) got the position of Whip.

The Speaker also announced Buba Jubril as Deputy Majority Leader and Pally Iriase, Deputy Whip.

Leo Ogor is Minority Leader, Yakubu Umar Barde, Minority Whip, Chukwuka Onyema, Deputy Minority Leader and Binta Bello, Deputy Minority Whip.

The tussle for the House Majority Leader dragged on for several weeks, with the Speaker sticking to his guns that the South-west zone could not produce two principal officers as Gbajabiamila, from the zone, has emerged Majority Leader.

In a post-plenary press briefing, the spokesman for the House, Hon. Sani Zoro, said that despite initial hitches, the crisis was resolved with the intervention of President Buhari.

Also, PDP named its principal officers in the Senate.

In a letter written by Ekweremadu on behalf of the PDP Senate Caucus to the Senate President, and read on the floor of the red chamber, a former Akwa Ibom State governor, Godswill Akpabio, emerged as the Minority Leader and Emmanuel Bwacha (Taraba South), the Deputy Minority Leader.

Senator Philip Aduda (FCT) is Minority Chief Whip, while Senator Biodun Olujimi (Ekiti South) is Deputy Minority Whip.

September: Mixed reactions greet Buhari’s style

September was dominated by mixed reactions trailing President Buhari’s leadership. While some said he was too slow, others claimed he needed time to think through whatever action he wanted to take. There were also claims and counter-claims over his alleged lopsided appointments in favour of the North, almost to the total exclusion of the South-East. So also were mixed views on Buhari’s delay in appointing his ministers four months after his swearing-in.

The ruling APC contended with internal disharmony over the President’s alleged ignoring governors and the National Working Committee, NWC, in the compilation of the ministerial list and composition of the cabinet.

The issue forced the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, to announce plans by the party to ensure that Buhari abided by the dictates of “party supremacy” in the ministerial appointments, hinting that the party was being carried along.

And presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, on September 4, dispelled the insinuation and insisted that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Buhari will announce his ministers by September 30 at the latest.

Indeed, on September 30, Buhari sent the list of first batch of 21 ministerial nominees to the Senate.

In the first list were Chris Ngige (Anambra), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), Abdulrahman Dambazau (Kano), Aisha Alhassan (Taraba), Ogbonnaya Onu (Ebonyi), Kemi Adeosun (Ogun), Abubakar Malami (Kebbi), Sen Hadi Sirika (Katsina), Barr. Adebayo Shittu (Oyo), Suleiman Adam (Jigawa), Solomon Dalong (Plateau), Ibe Kachikwu (Delta),

Osagie Ehanire (Edo), Audu Ogbeh (Benue), Udo Udo Udoma (Akwa Ibom), Lai Mohammed (Kwara), Ahmed Isa Ibeto (Niger), Amina Mohammed (Gombe) and Ibrahim Usman Jibril (Nasarawa).

October: Ministerial screening, fuel scarcity, MASSOB/IPOB protests

Screening of the ministerial nominees dominated proceedings in the Senate in October. Buhari sent the remaining nominees to cover all states of the federation and dropped Ibeto (Niger) from the list.

The other nominees were Hajia Khadija Bukar Ibrahim (Yobe), Cladius Omoleye Daramola (Ondo), Prof Anthony Onwuka (Imo), Geoffrey Onyema (Enugu), Dan Ali (Zamfara), Barr James Ocholi (Kogi), Zainab Ahmed (Kaduna), Okechukwu Enelamah (Abia), Muhammadu Bello (Adamawa), Mustapha Baba Shehuri (Borno), Aisha Abubakar (Gombe), Heineken Lokpobiri (Bayelsa), Adamu Adamu (Bauchi), Isaac Adewole (Osun), Abubakar Bawa Bwari (Niger) and Pastor Usani Uguru (Cross River).

The screening of Amaechi, who had petitions against him, raised dust in the Senate. There was tension in the air as PDP and APC senators bickered over the issue. This was as Senate President Saraki battled with his alleged false assets declaration case at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Federal High Court and Court of Appeal.

In the long run, PDP senators walked out of the Senate chamber after the APC leadership ruled that Senate Ethics Committee’s report on the petition against the former governor of Rivers State should not be discussed.

Thereafter, Amaechi was screened, like other nominees, by the committee of the whole house. All the nominees were, subsequently, cleared and confirmed for ministerial appointment.

October also saw the beginning of protests by the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for the actualisation of Republic of Biafra.

Their protests were stoked by the Department of State Service (DSS) arrest of the Director of Radio Biafra and IPOB leader, Mr Nnamdi Kanu, on October 17 at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on his arrival from London.

The nation also started experiencing biting fuel scarcity across the country. Long fuel queues, attributed to non-payment of subsidy claims and rising dollar exchange rates, became the order of the day and fuel sold in the black market at N200 per litre on the average.

November: Dasukigate

After months of siege on the home of the immediate past National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, by operatives of the DSS, Buhari, on November 17, ordered his arrest for allegedly siphoning billions of dollars earmarked for arms purchases.

The development followed the release of the interim report by the presidential committee investigating arms procurement.

The President had, on August 31, set up a 13-man committee to audit the procurement of arms and equipment in the armed forces and the defence sector from 2007 to date.

Former National Security Adviser, NSA, to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Col. Sambo Dasuki

Dasuki described the order as surprising and embarrassing, noting that he was never invited by the committee. He maintained that he acted in the best interest of Nigeria and denied any wrongdoing, stressing that he was ready for open and public trial of his stewardship rather than secret trial in the court as being canvassed by prosecutors.

It was said that no fewer than 20 top officials of the previous administration, alleged to have played active roles in the pilfering of funds meant for the procurement of weapons for the armed forces, were taken into custody by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for questioning.

Top among those held by the anti-graft agency were a former Minister of State for Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, and a former Director of Finance in the Office of the National Security Adviser, Shuaibu Salisu.

Kogi poll and the death after

A former governor and the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the November 21 governorship election in Kogi State, Prince Abubakar Audu, was in the lead following the collation of results from all the local government areas of the state, when the election was declared inconclusive by the electoral umpire on Sunday, November 22. Then Audu dropped dead. Governor Idris Wada declared seven days of mourning. If Audu’s death was surprising, his burial attracted some drama as there was jubilation in Lokoja on Monday, November 23 by supporters over the rumour that the former governor had ”resurrected”. This followed the promise to revive Audu by a prophet. However, the prophet failed to resurrect Audu, prompting the youths to go berserk, threatening to kill the prophet.

The death threw the Kogi election into a constitutional crisis as Audu’s running mate urged that he be declared winner of the poll, noting that he carried a moral burden to defend his boss’ mandate at the poll. The candidate of the PDP, Wada, also asked INEC to declare him as winner since Audu, who was leading in the poll, was dead.

However, INEC asked APC to replace Audu, following the pronouncement to that effect by the Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami. While the PDP kicked against the pronouncement, the battle for the APC ticket resumed with Kogi East Senatorial District and state lawmakers from APC asking the party to present Audu’s son, Muhammed, to stand in the supplementary poll.

The National Working Committee of the APC unveiled Alh. Yahaya Bello, popularly known as Fair Plus, as the replacement for the late Audu. Bello was the first runners-up in the APC governorship primary in the state. As expected, he won the poll but Hon. James Abiodun Faleke rejected his choice as deputy and approached the tribunal.

New ministers

Buhari, on November 11, performed the inauguration ceremony of his ministers in Abuja, almost six months after he was sworn-in as President. He also assigned portfolios to all the 36 ministers. This is contrary to the speculations that there would some ministers without portfolio.

HID

The President, among other eminent Nigerians, attended the burial of the late Chief HID Awolowo in Ikenne, Ogun State on November 25. The widow of the sage and late Premier of the defunct Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, had died in September, two months to her centenary birthday.

December: Naira at all time low

Naira

Nnamdi-Kanu in court

The Naira continued its depreciation at the parallel market to an all-time low, exchanging at N280 to a dollar.

Budget

Buhari, presenting the N6.08 trillion 2016 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly, said the government had not increased fuel price and that the pump price of fuel remained N87 per litre. The PDP described the budget as a big fraud and executive conspiracy tailored towards mortgaging the future of the nation.

Nnamdi Kanu

The Federal Government filed a fresh six-count charge of treason and managing the affairs of ‘an unlawful society,’ against the embattled leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, days after the prosecutors withdrew criminal charges against him at Magistrate Court, Wuse Zone 2.

Kanu was charged before the Federal High Court, Abuja alongside two others, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi.

Fuel Scarcity

The Federal Government blamed the Jonathan administration for the fuel scarcity in the country. The government said Nigerians were ‘paying for the sins of Jonathan’.

Information source:Vanguard

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