By Ike Mgbatogu
Staff Writer
Does anyone actually believe that this staggeringly shady president —- Tinubu —- will serve only one term in a lawless country where rigging elections is as cinch as death? C’mon. Be real. Let’s not fool ourselves. It is going to require more than an electoral shellacking to knock this dude out of Aso Rock.
The outspoken commentator and businessman Isaac Fayose, brother of former Gov. of Ekiti state Ayo Fayose predicts that Tinubu would receive no more than 17 percent of the votes in a free and fair election at best.
Onumba.com,USA ——— Please, enlightenment me again as to who appointed Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan as INEC Chairman.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
And please correct me if I’m wrong, but Tinubu is going to be on the ballot in the forthcoming presidential election, right?
Right.
Question. Doesn’t that create an inherent conflict of interest in a hopelessly corrupt and lawless kakistocracy such as Nigeria? Keep in mind this is not Singapore. It is Nigeria.
And why is this being overlooked? That is, why is no one is talking about this, yet realistically, more than anything else, it is the ultimate harbinger that the deck is hopelessly stacked against anyone running against this incumbent.
Then add that to the monumental tragedy of having a President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, who is leading a subservient legislature that rubber-stamps everything out of Aso Rock without an iota of scrutiny.
Considering these facts, on what basis then can anyone reasonably conclude that the election process will not be compromised? That the vote count will not tinkered with? And that the election will not be ultimately rigged?
Of course, some Nigerians have not reached that conclusion and actually believe Tinubu’s next term will be a coronation rather than a contest. And all indications imply we could be heading that way.
Will this election be rigged? You decide
But don’t take my word for it. There’s some evidence to back this up.
There’s no disputing that President Tinubu has been aggressively poaching the opposition governors to hollow out his rivals and secure the APC status as the dominant political force in Nigeria. The APC now commands 31 of the 36 state governors following a surge of defections from the opposition.
The bizarre saga of Peter Obi recently fined N25,000 for alleged parking violation at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport could easily fuel the belief that Obi is being unfairly targeted.
The government has been busy buying influence, engaging in judicial capture and handing out cars and houses to justices and judges around the country like bottled water. What’s that all for in an election year? For one thing, it compromises judicial independence and makes arrant mockery of the principle of separation of powers in a democracy.
Then this. Chairman Amupitan recently came under intense fire for allegedly violating the electoral umpire’s neutrality after he reportedly replied to an APC acolyte on X (formerly Twitter) that ‘victory is sure.’ Even though he denies it, that telling remark is still connected to him.
But for the optimists still clinging to hope that Chairman Amupitan won’t look out for his guy ——– the man who handed him a plum, juicy job ——- I truly admire your delusion, so much so, that my oceanfront property in beautiful Miami beach is all yours for $99.
In short, you are truly living in a la la land. There’s a cavernous difference between hope and reality. Ousting Tinubu from Aso Rock is going to call for a monumental effort and unprecedented steps —— radical measures. Election won’t be enough.
These optimists, bless their hearts, don’t seem to grasp the scale of the skullduggery, political banditry and abuse of power playing out in Aso Rock since Tinubu’s rank incompetence descended on Nigeria about three years ago.
Scandals rocking the Tinubu presidency
Heck, even as we speak, the unfolding saga, the mind-blowing story of how a ghost agency connected to the Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila was established and inserted into the national budget approved by lawmakers has morphed into a national flabbergast. Defended initially by the presidency, it clearly exposes the institutional rot plaguing the Tinubu government.
How could this mafia-like racketeering occur right under the nose of a comatose president who has proved that he is completely tuned out? It appears a prince by the name Adeniyi Adeyemi bribed Gbajabiamila to establish a fake council attached to the presidency under the moniker Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
Allegedly, the official communication establishing the fake council bears Gbajabiamila signature, but he denies any involvement in it, claiming that his signature was forged. But even if we assume his claims are accurate, it still leaves unanswered the question of how a bogus council gained an office suite in the federal office complex and somehow made its way into the national budget.
Nigeria we hail thee. We have all heard of ghost worker, but ghost agency?
Former Minister of Sports Solomon Dalung weighed in, saying, “I’m not surprised.”
“This is a man [Tinubu] that everything about him is fake.”
As for this election, it will be rigged quicker than you can say “second term.” Take it to Polaris bank. My fellow Nigerians, we don’t have a country anymore. We used to, but not anymore. That is the depressing reality facing all of us. The legislature is hopelessly compromised unsure of what checks and balances even means anymore. The Judiciary has irresponsibly abdicated its role as the last defender of the Republic and now is completely beholden to the dictates of Aso Rock.
Nigerians weigh in
“The idea of a second term is to enable the public to have a say in whether you stay or you are removed,” said Professor Femi Otunbajo, Research Professor at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs.
“It’s not supposed to be automatic,” but “that’s in an ideal situation where elections are not rigged and manipulated.”
But unfortunately, elections are rigged in Nigeria.
“We are a hijacked country, a hijacked people who have no say,” said Professor Otunbajo
Given all of that, what’s now the way forward? What unifying principles, organs of government and Nigerians of good conscience are there to prevent our society from utter collapse?
With everything —— certainly politics —— often being transactional in Nigeria, which is a beehive of corruption at all levels of government, what exactly makes elections insulated from similar chicanery?
Professor of Political Science Jibrin Ibrahim at Ahmadou Bello University unleashed a bruising broadside against Tinubu as presiding over a “reckless presidency.”
“President Tinubu is determined to get a second term through any means possible,” said Professor Mohammed.
“That’s worrying.”
Will INEC be impartial?
Taken together, it would be profoundly naive even foolish for anyone to believe that INEC will uphold its independent posture and bring a sense of impartiality to its duties ——– certainly not when the man who appointed its chairman has a horse in the race —— and certainly not when the sole power to imprimatur election outcome resides with the same chairman ——- and certainly not when his decisions are final.
Oh, and please don’t insult us with the bullshit of always reminding the aggrieved candidates that they have the option of going to court to air their grievances unless of course you can assure Nigerians that Tinubu’s appointees would recuse themselves, and unless the matter would be adjudicated no later than 90 days from the date of filing or before the president takes office.
Then there’s the matter of reporting election outcomes. Nigerians can vote till the cows come, but if the tally does not include all votes, if ghost votes were included in the count, if the reporting of the outcome lacks transparency, and if election results are not transmitted and reported to Nigerians in real time, then the entire exercise makes a mockery of the integrity of elections that undercuts faith in democracy.
