A few political developments stand out in the year 2021. In this report, AUGUSTINE AVWODE looks at those that made big headlines. These include the off-season gubernatorial election in Anambra State, the Electoral Act and the controversy generated by direct primaries and of course the two major parties’ battle with internal crises.
Anambra: Against all odds, election held
Early in January 2021, the Independent National Electoral Commission announced the date for the governorship election in Anambra State. It fixed Saturday, November 6, after doing due diligence to cater for unforeseen developments.
INEC announced the timetable and schedule of activities for the election in a statement issued by its Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye.
Okoye said that the commission had met and deliberated on the election. He said party primaries and resolution of disputes arising from the primaries would take place between June 10 and July 1.
“By virtue of Section 178(1) & (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and Section 25(7) & (8) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended), election into the office of a State Governor shall hold not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before the expiration of the term of office of the last holder of the office.
“Constitutionally and statutorily, the tenure of the governor of Anambra will expire on March 17, 2022 and the earliest date for the election into the office of Governor, Anambra, shall be Oct. 18, 2021, and the latest date for the election shall be Feb. 15, 2022.
“In the exercise of the powers conferred on it by the Constitution, the Electoral Act and all other powers enabling it in that regard, INEC has fixed Nov. 6 as the date for the conduct of the Anambra Governorship election,” Okoye declared.
“Consequently, the Commission hereby issues the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election. By the timetable and schedule of activities, the commission will issue the statutory Notice for Election on June 9.
“The Collection of Forms EC9 (Formerly CF001) and EC9B (Formerly CF002) for the election will take place on June 10, and the conduct of party primaries and resolution of disputes arising from the primaries will take place from June 10 to July 1,” he added.
Okoye said the particulars of the candidates for the election would be published on July 16, while parties would commence campaigns on August 8.
“The final list of nominated candidates will be published on October 7,” he said.
Okoye asked all registered political parties “to pay close attention to the timelines and schedule of activities outlined in the timetable and schedule of activities as they were constitutional and statutory provisions”.
In particular, he appealed to political parties to conduct their primaries in a rancour-free manner. He also pledged the assurance of the electoral umpire to guarantee a level playing field for all aspirants and conduct necessary due diligence on all forms and documents that will be submitted to the commission.
Okoye lamented that political parties were in the habit of making election tribunals the decider of electoral contests rather than the voters.
“The Commission is concerned about the spate of acrimonious primaries as well as the nomination of unqualified candidates, which results in avoidable litigations, and the nullification of elections by Election Petition Tribunals,” he said.
But while the political parties and aspirants some who later became candidates of their various parties went into preparation in earnest, insecurity was lurking in the corner.
A month before the election date, many stakeholders were unsure if the election would take place as it was badly threatened by insecurity.
Anambra suddenly turned a ‘killing field’. This was accompanied by other wanton destruction of state institutions and property.
“A month before the election date, many stakeholders were unsure if the election would take place as it was badly threatened by insecurity
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The people were confused and worried over their future and that of the state, owing to the activities of some gunmen, who raided the nooks and crannies of the state for targets. These gunmen not only attacked politicians, but they also attacked harmless and unarmed citizens and police officials, as well as set property ablaze with no record of the arrest of perpetrators.
Of particular note was the killing of a renowned medical doctor, Dr Chike Akunyili, owner of St Leo’s Hospital, Trans Ekulu, Enugu. He was the husband of the late Prof Dora Akunyili, former Director-General, National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control. He fell to the gruesome attack by some unknown gunmen at Umuoji, in Onitsha.
Two weeks before the election, President Muhammadu Buhari had to read the riot acts to the Nigeria Armed Forces and other security agencies in Nigeria to ensure that nothing stops the November 6 governorship election.
“The President has directed that under no circumstances will anything be allowed to stop the elections from taking place successfully. The people have a right to vote and select their leader.
“No group or individual will be allowed to stimulate anarchy and chaos, leading to murderous activities.
“The President has made it very clear that the Armed Forces and all law enforcement agencies must make sure that the elections take place even if it means overwhelming the entire environment with the presence of security agencies.
“There are so many implications for elections to be sabotaged by non-state actors; in the first place, we are in a democracy, secondly it is important to note that if these non-state actors should succeed in destroying the potentials for orderly elections, then it is natural that other parts of the country would also want to copy this same situation.” the National Security Adviser, General Babagana Monguno (retd), told newsmen after an emergency security meeting with President Buhari.
The election was held and a winner in the candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, Prof Charles Soludo, emerged.
PDP: A walk back from the precipice
Like a bolt from the blue, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party was suddenly enmeshed in leadership squabbles. What started as a personality and ego clash between two chieftains moved quickly like a whirlwind, assuming a life of its own, and almost brought the party to its knees.
At the centre of the crisis was the former National Chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus. Events moved rather too fast for him and they spun out of control. From being barred by the court from parading himself as chairman of the party, to his unexpected suspension by the party. He was declared suspended by Ward 5 of Andoni Local Government Area of the state, which is his primary base, after an extraordinary meeting of the ward executives.
The PDP Ward 5 chairman, George Christopher, simply said Secondus’ suspension was necessitated after considering “issues affecting the party.”
He added, “The ward executive of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ward 5, Ikuru town; the leaders on the 31st of August, 2021, discussed issues that affect the party.
“Suspension of Prince Uche Secondus was done by the ward executive after a duly constituted ward meeting called by the Secretary on the instructions of the chairman, according to the Constitution of our great party.”
“The party at the ward further reaffirmed his suspension and thanked the party at the local government and state level for agreeing on the suspension,” Christopher said in a statement.
Out of the 17 members of the Executive, 11 reportedly endorsed the decision to suspend the embattled national chairman.
But in his reaction, Secondus said through his media office that the “suspension” was a mere wish of the ward executives as only the National Executive Committee could discipline the national chairman.
The statement by his media adviser, Ike Abonyi, said, “The media office of Prince Uche Secondus ordinarily should not be responding to every ‘noise’ in the media being engineered by those who set out to distract and destroy the PP.”
His suspension came after stakeholders and leaders of the party from the local government paid a solidarity visit to the state chairman of the party, Amb. Desmond Akawor, to declare their support for the sack of Secondus.
His kinsmen from his Ikuru town, Ward 5, added voice to his suspension, as men and women bearing placards with various inscriptions insisted that Secondus must leave the party. They also declared their support for the move by the Rivers State leadership of the party to suspend Secondus from the party. The protesters expressed their support for Governor Nyesom Wike and pledged to stand by whatever decision the PDP in the state takes on Secondus.
In a bid to assert his authority and save himself and position, he went to Court to get a counter injunction to that given in Rivers State. Before too long, the party was on fire as conflicting injunctions started flying all over the place. Things were looking seriously gloomy for the party and all stakeholders.
But spirited efforts by the major organs of the party, including the National Executive Committee, the National Caucus of the party, the governors and other elders succeeded in fixing the party’s National Convention for October 30-31. With the Convention successfully held and a new National Chairman elected alongside 20 new NWC members, the PDP practically walked back from the precipice.
Though savouring the air of stability and unity now, it is not yet Uhuru for the Ayu-led opposition as the party still has whatever the Supreme Court would say in Secondus’ appeal to contend with.
How would Ayu respond to the challenges he inherited and pilot the affairs of the party? Only time will tell.
APC: Designing a lasting formula for power control
For the ruling All Progressives Congress, its stock took a hit with the order of a Federal Capital Territory High Court in March 2020, suspending Adams Oshiomhole as its National Chairman, pending the determination of a substantive suit.
The judge, Danlami Senchi, gave the order following an application of interlocutory injunction asking the court to suspend Oshiomhole, having been suspended as a member of the APC by the party in Edo State.
The application was filed by Oluwale Afolabi. While Oshiomhole was the first respondent, the APC was the second respondent. In his application, dated and filed on January 16, Afolabi had contended that since Oshiomhole did not challenge his suspension by the party, he remained suspended and could not continue to act as chairman of the party.
In his ruling, Justice Senchi held that the first and second respondents wrongfully kept Oshiomhole as the national chairman of the party. The Court of Appeal upheld the suspension in mid-June of 2020.
The removal of Oshiomhole was one of the fallouts of a brutal face-off between the ex-national chairman and Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki. The Governor then moved to the PDP and he eventually emerged as the flag bearer of the party and went on to win the election.
The Edo misstep was not the only ‘sin’ of Oshiomhole. States like Zamfara, Rivers, Oyo and others that were not supposed to be lost by the APC all contributed to the exit of the renowned labour leader from his enviable seat as the chairman of the ruling party in Nigeria.
Following the Appeal Court affirmation of the suspension, the NEC of the party on the advice of President Muhammadu Buhari dissolved the NWC in late June.
The APC consequently appointed Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, as the chairman of the new caretaker committee. Buni was sworn in at the meeting by Nigeria’s Justice Minister, Abubakar Malami.
Present at the meeting were Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Ahmad Lawan, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila and 15 APC governors from Nasarawa, Niger, Jigawa, Yobe, Plateau, Kogi, Imo, Gombe, Osun, Ogun, Lagos, Kwara, Ekiti, Kano and Kebbi states.
The party christened its caretaker committee as Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee It was principally designed to steer the party in the direction of stability and for it to retain power as the ruling party.
But the Buni-led CECPC has been battling some internal distractions following the Supreme Court ruling on the Ondo governorship election petition in which the party escaped by the whiskers.
Apart from rancorous congresses and factions in many state chapters, some tendencies wanted the Buni-led CECPC out, even when it was obvious that he had stabilised the party and given it a new lease of life.
The most vivid of such orchestrated crises was by an alleged support group within the APC and which called itself Progressives Youth Movement. The group announced the purported disbandment of the Buni-led CECPC and replaced it with its leader, Mustapha Audu as Chairman of the new CECPC with a mandate to conduct the party’s national convention on February 26. The party quickly disowned it and called on security agencies to go after them for a criminal breach of peace in the party.
Before the uproar generated by the PYM, there had been grumblings in many of its state chapters resulting in parallel congresses. As of the time of writing this review, the February date for the National Convention of the party doesn’t seem to be sacrosanct.
There is one thing, however, that cannot be taken away from the APC. It has fully bounced back from the state of possible extinction staring it in the face 12 months ago. As it is now, it has fully negotiated that bend and has carefully designed the formula for power retention at the centre. But how that materialises, the coming months will show.
An Act to deepen democratic ethos
Attempts to amend and refine the Electoral Act 2010 have been on for long. The last 8th NASS passed the amendment but the President refused to assent to it.
The Act is seen by many people as a major plank toward deepening Nigeria’s democratic ethos. The 9th NASS has again passed the amended bill and passed it to the President for assent. As of the time of writing this report, the Bill has barely three days for the President to sign it or return it.
The Bill made fundamental changes in the Act. But the issue of direct or indirect primaries has elicited so much controversy as to make the bill look that it begins with and ends with direct primaries provision only. Referred to as Clause 87, the provisions are as follow:
Clause 87: Nomination of candidates by parties.
Subsection 1:
Old: A political party seeking to nominate candidates for elections under this Act shall hold direct or indirect primaries for aspirants to all elective positions, which may be monitored by the Commission.
New: “A political party seeking to nominate candidates for elections under this Bill shall hold direct primaries for aspirants to all elective positions, which shall be monitored by the Commission”.
Subsections 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 were deleted; and new Subsections 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 were inserted, while Subsections 8 and 9 were renumbered. The newly inserted subsections are:
Subsection 3: The procedure for the nomination of candidates by political parties for the various elective positions by direct primaries shall ensure that all aspirants are given equal opportunity of being voted for by members of the party and given the opportunity to have agents for the purpose of monitoring the primaries.
Subsection 4: The procedure adopted for the direct primaries shall be spelt out in a guideline to be issued by the political party and filed with the Commission at least 14 days before the primary election.
Subsection 5: A political party shall maintain a register of its members and provide in the guideline for the conduct of the primaries that the register of its members shall be used for accreditation for the primaries.
Subsection 6: The Commission shall deploy personnel to monitor the primaries in all the centres where the direct primaries are held.
Subsection 7: Every aspirant cleared by the party to contest at the primary not later than fourteen days to the primary shall be entitled to a copy of the guideline for the conduct of the primaries in which he or she is participating.
The provision had generated a lot of heat in the polity with stakeholders sharply divided over what method political parties should adopt in picking their candidates for elections.
The Bill addressed several issues. The Bill pegs the cost of campaign expenses and or nomination fees for aspirants, by an amendment to section 87 which proposes that a Presidential aspirant pay no more than N10million for his nomination fee while a Governorship aspirant be levied no more than N5million for the said position. Similarly, a Senatorial aspirant to the Federal legislature is to pay no more than N2million for nomination fees.
Also, the amendment prohibits political parties from imposing additional requirements for the nomination of candidates outside those contained under the 1999 Constitution (age, educational qualification, criminal record etc). However, the Bill deviates by increasing the amounts allowed for campaign expenses for all categories of aspirants.
Of particular interest is the provision for the use of technological innovations such as smart card readers that will use biometrics to authenticate voters. It is expected that incorporating the use of the device in the Electoral Act will lay to rest series of court cases on the status of the device vis a vis the manual voters register as well as add credibility to the election process.
For instance, INEC is mandated to reschedule another election in any polling unit where the smart card reader fails and a fresh one is not deployed 3 hours before the close of the elections except where votes from the card reader would not affect the overall result in that constituency; signalling the end of incident forms.
