Nigeria: Adamawa's Chance for Change

This Day (Lagos)

COLUMN
24 April 2008
Posted to the web 25 April 2008

Ibrahim Modibbo
Lagos

As the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag-bearer Admiral Murtala Nyako and his Action Congress Counterpart (AC) Alhaji Ibrahim Bapetel step up their rural campaign for election into the Dougirei Government House Yola, I ponder on Chinua Achebe's deep reflection on Nigeria.

The literary icon, social aristocrat and highly respected man of letters, whose love for humanity found its deepest and most profound expression in his zeal, determination and commitment for social justice anchored on equity and fair play said " Nigeria is a country that manages to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory". Writing this about two decades ago, Achebe seemed to have a premonition of Adamawa politics at the background due to the current trials and travails that characterize governance and democracy in the state.


Since the emergence of our nascent democracy in 1999, Adamawa has been a state conquered by a cabal, ruled by a puppet that was tied to the aprons of a despot. When other states are looking forward to vision 2020 in terms of indices of development, Adamawa is several years behind, under neo-colonialism.

As the campaigns begin, I learnt former Governor Boni Haruna is leading the AC's team against Nyako. This is no cheers but jeers and tears for democracy. Haruna is a sad reminder of our democratic experiment as he desperately squandered the goodwill and our collective destiny on the alter of friendship and god-fatherism.

While on campaign, I wonder what Boni would be telling the people of Adamawa. What would be his legacies and modest contributions in social, political and economic spheres to warrant our people to vote for his candidate, Bapetel, a quiet and unassuming personality that is seen in many quarters as a surrogate.

Haruna ran one of the most brazen and reckless administrations under the Olusegun Obasanjo era and if an epitaph would be written on his government, it will read "He came, saw and left uneventful". He is a personification of the Action Congress and the government Bapetel is desperately trying to canvass would be a continuation of that ill-fated administration where nothing worked, as even payment of workers salaries needed the blessing of the "Abuja Monarch". Fears abound that Bapetel, as an important and highly influential member of the Boni kitchen cabinet, cannot be good news nor would there be any radical departure from the past as the people's hopelessness and helplessness, poverty and penury would be elongated if he is voted into office. A Hyena never produces a goat as its offspring.

Elections are all about choice and change and the people of Adamawa are clamouring for that change so as to break away from the vicious circle of retrogressive and under-development politics. Having served as the secretary to the Government in the Boni administration, Bapetel is seen as a puppet that is being planted for business to continue as usual.

Having lost the initiative to govern well and provide dividends of democracy to its people, the Boni/Bapetel camp has lost the moral authority to seek the mandate of Adamawa people to once again enslave them, as they would be rejected at the ballot box. With about 400billion Naira or more accrued to it as revenue from the federal and internally generated sources in its eight years of wasteful service, the Boni administration did not construct a single road, renovate any standard building nor did it put in place a single "round hut" as its housing policy to the people. What we saw was an era of brazenness, social and economic profligacy as a hallmark of governance.

Running a government that was notorious for rolling out empty political promises and short delivery of physical and infrastructural facilities, Boni's re-newed energy towards capturing Adamawa would be wishful thinking as the people of the state are getting wiser by the day. What the people of the state would like AC to bring forth as its campaign strategy are defined policies and programmes of action anchored on new ideas, concepts and vision instead of whipping up ethno-religious sentiments and politics of hate as its centre piece of campaign.

The hallmark of any true democracy is not irrational antagonism, stone age acrimony or primodial sentiments but logical dialogue and campaign based on facts, not fiction. While great minds discuss issues and ideas on how to move any society forward, little ones discuss people and how to primitively acquire power and loot the treasury. The guerilla campaigns of the Boni camp in Adamawa is a source of concern to democrats of conscience. Acutely aware of nothing tangible to sell the party and its candidate, it has resorted to cheap blackmail and spreading of rumours that dangerously border an ethnicity and religion. Spreading micro-ethnic sentiments will not yield votes for AC as the eight year rule of Boni failed woefully to improve the living standard of the ethnic minorities whose issue has now become a subject of intense political blackmail.

The Nyako administration on the other hand has been fair in its dealings in the last eight months of governance. Transparency and accountability, scarce commodities under the previous administration, have assumed the focal points of governance. What Nyako has achieved in the last eight months has surpassed the entire achievements of Boni's eight years.

Nyako, described as a bridge builder, grassroots mobilizer, liberal philanthropist and charitable industrialist with a passion for modern Agriculture (Baba mai Mangoro), has built an exemplary and all inclusive government based on the fear of God, determination, confidence and tireless pursuit of excellence in moving the state forward. The issue of ethno-religious favouritism cannot be placed on his door steps and the alleged wasteful spending by some of his aides are the handiwork of his political opponents and detractors that are acutely apprehensive of the ever increasing popularity of the bearded Navay general.

These allegations, loaded with gaps and glaring flaws, made it expedient to join issues, to correct the erroneous impression, obvious mischief, deliberate falsehood and misrepresentation of facts that informed some articles written recently in the Nigerian media.

The Nyako administration in its short sojourn has endeared the governor to the minds and hearts of the people of the state. If politics were mathematics,Nyako would have no business going on campaign around the state as his achievements already speak volumes for themselves. Within his first one hundred days, he has provided portable water in almost all the taps in Yola. What took Haruna eight years of fruitless delivery, Nyako, according to Christy Bulama, president of Adamawa Women Forum, has graciously made available to the populace. She said, "within 100 days in office, you can turn on your taps and get water. The road works are also in progress. Earnestly we are in support of Nyako".

While Nyako has completed the Jimeta township roads, the beauty of Yola has started attracting the envy of political opponents, as the nylon tar that stretches from the Welcome to Yola gate along Numan Road up to the city centre through the airport has been completed. Schools and hospitals were built in different locations of the state while renovation work to upgrade decaying infrastructural facilities occupies a central position. Agreed that it is a mortal sin for a star to rival the brilliance of a sun; the Bapetel candidancy does not inspire any confidence in the Adamawa electorate as his political clout, exposure, personality profile, public relations, political connection and leadership qualities are grossly inadequate to pose any serious challenge to Nyako. As a former governor who was tested and trusted in the art of administration and good governance, and one that has delivered dividends of democracy within just a year, there are clear indications that the next round of elections would not only be a landslide but an earthquake in favour of Nyako.

Since the dawn of history, the Boni camp has never won any election in a free and fair atmosphere in Adamawa. People have discovered these dubious political tricks (Ruwa ya kare wa dan kada) and would not allow a repeat of 1999 and 2003.

Nigeria: In Adamawa, the Odds Favour Nyako

This Day (Lagos)

COLUMN
24 April 2008
Posted to the web 25 April 2008

Dan Akpovwa
Lagos

I read with more than a passive interest Chuks Okocha's analysis on the "Undercurrents of Adamawa Guber Contest" published in Thisday of Monday April 21, 2008 (Page 20) and came away with the conclusion that the man is very knowledgeable about the politics of that State.

Okocha's conclusion in the last line that the "the outcome (of the re-run election), from all indication is too close to call" is very far from the truth. As a journalist who has travelled extensively in Adamawa State, am inclined to disagree.

The Adamawa State Election Petitions Tribunal had voided the governorship election of April 14, 2007 which was won fair and square by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Admiral Murtala Nyako (rtd). The ground for the nullification was due to no fault of the PDP flagbearer, rather it had to do with the exclusion of the name of the Action Congress (AC) candidate, Alhaji Ibrahim Bapetel from the ballot by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from the ballot following his indictment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over corruption charges. The Appeal Court upheld the ruling of the tribunal.

On paper, tomorrow's fresh poll is contest between the ousted governor and PDP candidate, Admiral Nyako and the AC flagbearer, Bapetel. But a look at the bigger picture will reveal that what is at stake is the very political relevance of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, erstwhile vice president under former president Olusegun Obasanjo and his side kick, ex-governor Boni Haruna.

In the 1999 and 2003 elections, the PDP was the dominant party and what seemed like their unity of purpose helped them win the elections on both occasions. All the political heavyweights in the State were in the PDP then led by Atiku Abubakar. Others were former Gongola Governor, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, a serving Senator and former Minister, Prof. Jibril Aminu, Senator Mahmud Waziri, the Wakilin Adamawa and former Nigerian Ambassador to the US, Ambassador Hassan Adamu, Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa and former Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Vice-Chancellor, Senator Iya Abubakar to mention but a few.

But post 2003, the once united PDP came under serious internal stress resulting in some PDP members defecting to other parties notably newly formed AC. Atiku was the notable leader of the decampees that join the AC. The former vice president's alleged persecution by his former boss brought him some sympathisers. There was a time when many people felt if the elections were held, the AC) might have won, largely due to the influence of Atiku and the then sitting governor, Boni Haruna. Both men were the leading lights of AC in Adamawa State.

However, unproven allegations of corruption levelled against Atiku helped to demystify the former Vice-President and whittle down his powers as a leader. The result? His supporters began to desert him. Though his position as the Vice President of Nigeria conferred on him the status of a national leader, but by the time Obasanjo "finished" with him, Atiku was reduced to a "state" leader. People who looked up to him to provide leadership and direction for their cause found none.

By the time he washed ashore up like a piece of driftwood in Adamawa politics, people like Professor Aminu, Professor Iya Abubakar, Ambassadors Hassan Adamu and Dan Suleiman had grown in stature and influence. These distinguished gentlemen are all for the re-election of Admiral Nyako and they are campaigning with him in all nooks and crannies of the state.

On a recent visit to Adamawa State by this writer, it was obvious that the majority of the populace were with Team Nyako. Many people spoken to said that Alhaji Bapetel would have stood a better chance if he was not running on the AC platform. For one, he is viewed as a key member of the Boni Haruna Administration that did not perform in the eight years he ruled. The talk among neutral indigenes was that the only development that can be attributed to Boni Haruna is the development of the ABTI University, a private university owned by Atiku.

By contrast, in the nine months that Nyako was governor, he embarked on a massive road rehabilitation programme in the state. Dualisation of the Airport Road for instance is being done by the ousted Nyako administration. He also provided pipe-borne water for the old Yola and Jimeta areas as well as Mubi, places that never had water in the eight years of Haruna Administration. These are some of the issues that will make the PDP candidate win the fresh election on Saturday.

This may also explain in part, why Nyako and his campaign team were always well received on the campaign trail. I observed them in Yola, Numan, Guyuk, Lamorde, Michika, Hong and other places, the turnouts were huge. I tried to also follow the AC campaigns of Alhaji Bapetel, but could not locate them. On my trip to Adamawa, one thing was clear: Atiku has since lost relevance in the state. His relevance and "imaginary influence" are only on the pages of newspapers. As we all know, he has a formidable PR machine.

The death knell for Atiku as a politician was sounded over three years ago. What we have seen since then was a Rite of Passage of a once astute politician. His total demystification and ultimate political death will be completed this Saturday when the PDP and its candidate, Admiral Murtala Nyako (rtd), win the re-run election by a landslide.

Adamawa re-run gov election: Nyako in early lead - Voters’ card sold for N100 - Large turn-out of voters - Nyako, Atiku, Bamanga Tukur, others speak - Ballot box snatching recorded in Michika - Police confirm 16 arrests, one death in Michika Idowu Samuel & Wale Akintunde - 27.04.2008

REPORTS reaching the Sunday Tribune as at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday indicated that Nyako, the governorship candidate of PDP was in the early lead.


He came tops in the elections in Yola North, Yola South, Demsa, Michika, Shelleng, Numan, Guyuk, Larmode and Tongo, nine out of the 21 local government areas in which the elections took place.


Contrary to the hype on possible violence in the re-run governorship election in Adamawa State, the election went peacefully as the process recorded large turn out of voters in nearly all the local government areas of the state.


The orderliness and the general peaceful conduct excited the stakeholders from across the political parties who applauded the preparations by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security agencies detailed for the process.


Security was observed to have been tight as the combined teams of Police, Army and Civil Defence Corps were seen parading the streets of Yola, Michika, Demsa and other key areas of the state while the people of the state went about their normal businesses.


There was no restriction of movement in the entire state, although some indigenes of the state chose to stay at home to monitor the election rather than opening their shops for business operations like others.


Those who spoke with Sunday Tribune attributed the large turn out of voters for the re-run election to the relaxed security measures put in place by the security agencies and the assurances of peaceful conduct of the election promised the people of the state by both the police and the INEC.


The former governor of Adamawa State who is also the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag bearer in the re-run election, Air Vice Marshall Murtala Nyako, who cast his ballot in Hamanyero at about 10.32 am in Mayo Belwa local government area expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the election.


Former vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the rallying force for the major opposition party in Adamawa state, Action Congress (AC) rated the conduct as peaceful, stressing that he was personally impressed wit h the INEC’s arrangement.


Atiku spoke after casting his vote at about 11.05 am at the Ajiya Ward 1, Yola North, stating that he had always had a conviction that Nigeria had been blessed with the human and material resources to conduct free and fair election, only that the country lacked the political will to do so.


He said his assessment of the preparation by INEC for the election as at the previous day was good, although he added that he would remain skeptical about the conduct until after the last count of votes.


The AC candidate, Alhaji Ibrahim Bapetel, echoed a similar view on the election, stressing that he was satisfied with the preparation for the election by the INEC, the security operatives and other agencies saddled with the task of conducting the election.


The former governor of Osun State, who is also the Senate Committee Chairman on INEC also expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the election in Adamawa, adding that there had been a remarkable improvement in the preparations put in place by the INEC when compared with the conduct of a similar election in Kogi State.


Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, who also voted in the re-run election, commended the conduct and the orderliness by the voters, stating that the security arrangement put in place by the security agencies made the difference.


Voting started generally in most of the polling centers visited in Yola North and Yola South as the electorate comprising women and youth mainly trooped out in large numbers to cast their vote.


In few of the polling centers visited in Yola south, voting did not start until 10.00am owing to the rowdy scenes created by the eager voters and the suspicion by party agents of one another.


Cases of interposition of electoral materials were also recorded in some voting centers, most especially at Yola North Capital School, Doubeli and at Jambutu Ward Damilu Primary school. The officials of INEC on ground complained that different voters registers were posted to their respective centres in a manner that caused confusion in the affected centers.


The officials of INEC who spoke with Sunday Tribune attributed the shortcoming to the initiative by the Commission not to use the old hands for the election.


One of them said the shortcoming was real but temporary, explaining that the decision of INEC to make do with new hands in order to enhance the security of electoral materials and raise confidence among voters since according to him there had been loud suspicion among the older staff on manipulative tendencies.


The Michika local government area of Adamawa State, however, proved to be the snag on the peaceful conduct of the election given the report of protest and skirmishes at the instance of some voters.


The protest was mainly at the instance of members of the opposition parties who complained against attempts to snatch ballot boxes in some of the voting centers in the local government by agents suspected to be PDP members, whereas the security operatives on ground were reported to have given a good account of themselves in containing the threat to break down of law and order in the local government.


However, the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Uba Ringim, who co-ordinated the security system for the election confirmed that one person was shot dead, while the Police arrested not less than 16 perons, while the police according to him, arrested three men in Yola.


However, some centres in Mubi North Local Government witnessed the exchange of votes for a price tag of between N100 and N200, during the re-run governorship election in Adamawa State.


Eyewitness accounts during Saturday’s election revealed that about 12 political touts were seen engaging in the option trading of votes as it did not cause any rumpus.


The political parties of the touts could not be ascertained while the trading went on in the presence of security personnel, who were posted there to ensure law and order.


Also, police invaded the residence of a PDP chieftain (names’ withheld) at Wure-gude ward over a tip-off that he was in possession of ballot papers, but nothing was recovered from the house.


Meanwhile, a comprehensive result of the exercise would be announced today.

the results are being announced now on ait now

Nijah for you

i have just finished listening to results on AIT and i must say the number of cancelled votes was alarming! up to 5% in some LGAs, whats up with that?

God, Nigeria!

only Toungo is remaining. but i must say i think Nyako won fair and square. what do others in or with families in Adamawa think.

please this isn't about insulting PDP as a party.

lets stick to the main players and their achievements or what they will achieve.

i just heard actually it was 8-10% in some local govt areas!!! Ri-damn- diculous.

So who is winning so far?

PDP won 20 out of the 20 so far. one more to go

i'm just learnng about the voided votes. will get back at u.

so far what i have heard from my INEC official friend is that the votes had to be voided becoz like one of the articles above mentioned, voter cards had been sold to many individuals who had not voted in the earlier election.

for that reason, when the voter NUMBER was checked against the voter REGISTER, all the ones that werent there before were discarded.

i have to say on AIT and NTA news yesterday i was shocked by the amount of clearly underage kids that were allowed to cast votes.

Apparently, they let them cast their votes to avoid any confusion, the type that is unfortunately typical in Nigeria, so that the election would go on peacefully. but again when checked against the register the new voting cards were discarded becoz it was seen that these people were not legally registered to vote.

if i have more i'll let u know.

Anyone hearing anything from Yola? what is happening at the AC and LP camps? Apparently Nyako's home is brimming with wellwishers and PDP people in town are jubilating big time. (even though the official results havent been announced bcoz of the last LGA result that hasnt arrived Yola.

I really hope the police is ready if any 'kata-kata' starts. what has Atiku said so far? it's difficult to believe he even lost Jada, his own local govt but apparently PDP didnt rest there. they campaigned like tireless maniacs in order to try and humiliate him while AC took it for granted in the belief that they had already won it.

what say u? free and fair or have people reported incidents of fraud. let us know!

Free and fair? In Nigeria? not yet.

The most[b] powerful [/b] Party always wins

so dyu guys think it was free and fair?seems strange to me that the diffrence will be that great even in atiku's local govt

lucabrasi:

so dyu guys think it was free and fair?seems strange to me that the diffrence will be that great even in atiku's local govt

the difference in his LGA was one of the smallest but i get where your comin from. my jaw was on the floor when the result was announced. even the electoral officer for AC walked away pissed(!) refusing to sign that he had witnessed the count.

18,000 something for AC and 21,000 something for PDP. but again ridiculously large amount of votes were voided. 7000 something i believe.

More on the reasons for the voiding of votes. like mentioned earlier, the name on the voter card had to match that on the register.
Also apparently INEC (in what can only be described as incredibly idiotic behaviour) had added the names of ALL political parties in the country(50!) on the ballot paper even though only 12(!) were contesting. apparently some people accidentally voted for parties that were not even running in the belief that they were voting for other parties.

one more lesson learnt by INEC i hope. so what do people think?

Baro:

Free and fair? In Nigeria? not yet.

The most[b] powerful [/b] Party always wins

i really believe that in the case of Adamawa the elections were transparent. only in Jada did the electoral officer refuse to sign. everywhere else people followed the boxes to the collection centres and waited until they were counted. Even AIT reporters seemed impressed by the conduct.
Nigeria is on the right path.

lets assume the election was free and fair,the question even though its hard to believe is did inec do any fast magic overnight or was it as a result of boni haruna/atiku not doing enough for adamawa? a friend of mine whose father is one of the very top ac contestants just told me now that maybe its cause of people's perception that nyako is doing more than boni haruna so i think it boils down to who has done more fr the state,but i can only go by that as i have not been to adamamwa myself

lucabrasi:

lets assume the election was free and fair,the question even though its hard to believe is did inec do any fast magic overnight or was it as a result of boni haruna/atiku not doing enough for adamawa? a friend of mine whose father is one of the very top ac contestants just told me now that maybe its cause of people's perception that nyako is doing more than boni haruna so i think it boils down to who has done more fr the state,but i can only go by that as i have not been to adamamwa myself

i really dont think INEC did any fast magic. i have to say i agree with ur friend the perception is that Nyako was doin a really good job, at least a lot better than Boni and the rest of the past adminstration, thats why i think PDP won fair and square. it would have been VERY hard to beat them

now that he has won ,lets just hope that he ll do a good job because adamawa needs to meet up with the rest of the developing states in terms of what they r lacking considering the amount of eminent people from that place, i wonder what they have been looking at all these years

lucabrasi:

now that he has won ,lets just hope that he ll do a good job because adamawa needs to meet up with the rest of the developing states in terms of what they r lacking considering the amount of eminent people from that place, i wonder what they have been looking at all these years

thats what we are prayin for, big time. its about our state and what needs to be done. i really hope after all our support he will deliver

thats the main thing because most of them in all the parties are all the same ,if not they should have been helping the state even before their elections and things would have been better,and also at least ac will be a vibrant opposition and will keep him on his toes, still waiting for atiku's comment on the overall election, tinubu is leaving adamawa today

i agree with u.

what are they doing about the 16 people caught and the man that brought them from borno?
mr zillaxy,we r waiting for updates pls

sorry. i can't tell u anything on that. As u know the nigerian police dont keep us updated.

i wont be surprised if the police flog them and then let them go. i cant imagine any serious action taken by the police- thats nigeria for u.

it is still unclear who hired the men. a lot of finger pointin goin on between PDP and AC.

i'll post the reply by Atiku/AC shortly on the elections.

Nyako wins Adamawa fresh polls, Bapetel protests


Victory for highest bidder, says AC

Let's build a new state, governor-elect pleads

From Bayo Ohu, Muyiwa Adeyemi and Kelechi Okoronkwo, Emmanuel Ande and Muhammed Abubakar, Yola
THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday declared Alhaji Murtala Hammanyero Nyako, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, the winner of the Adamawa State rescheduled governorship election held on Saturday.

He secured the return ticket to the Adamawa Government House with 361, 720 votes to defeat his closest rival Alhaji Ibrahim Bapetel of the Action Congress (AC), who scored 201,767, a margin of 159,062.

Nyako led the AC in all the 21 local councils of the state, including the Jarda Local Government Area where former Vice President Atiku Abubakar comes from.

While the governor-elect at his residence hailed the conduct of the election, Bapetel, in a swift reaction yesterday, said the result was like a fairy tale. He said that since the creation of the state in 1976, never has it been credited with the type of landslide victory recorded in the Saturday poll by the PDP.

Bapetel alleged that there were ballot papers designed to disenfranchise AC supporters, violence among other electoral irregularities.

Nyako called on those who contested the election but lost to join him in his bid to move the state forward.

Nyako, who spoke at his residence in the midst of PDP leaders like Senators Jubril Aminu, Grace Bent, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Marwa and Hassan Adamu, declared that the result of the election had shown that he was still popular among the electorate.

He said: "I thank God for the renewed mandate given me by the people of the state and I can tell you that the task of building the state, which at present is one of the most backward in the country has just begun.

"Let the other party members join hands with me so that we can move the state forward. I congratulate INEC for doing a marvellous job and by mobilising its members of staff for this wonderful job," he said.

On his part, Bapetel said: "It is with a heavy heart that I address you this afternoon, as you all are aware, this afternoon (yesterday), the INEC announced what it claimed to be the result of the election, the PDP was credited with this victory in all the 21 local governments of this state.

"To everyone conversant with the politics of this state, this is like a fairy tale. Since the establishment of this state in 1976, never has this kind of landslide victory been credited to any party. The heterogeneous composition of Adamawa State has always reflected in the political choices of the state. The result as announced by the INEC today (yesterday) is alien to Adamawa State," Bapetel said.

He said he rejected the result of the election on the ground that there were violence and smuggling of ballot papers to disenfranchise the supporters of AC.

"On the following ground, we reject the result: in the election held yesterday (Saturday), the INEC presented voters with ballot papers that were clearly designed to put the AC in jeopardy. The ballot papers were designed in such a way that many voters who thought they were voting for the AC ended up printing on the edge of the slot for MRDD, a party that had no candidate in the election.

"Besides, many of the snatched ballot papers were thumb-printed for the MRDD to create the impression that the election was decided by voided votes. This explains the unprecedented number of invalid votes in the election. Never in the history of elections in Nigeria have we had about 20 per cent of the votes returned as invalidate," he added.

But in a statement made available to journalists in Yola, Bapetel said that he would not challenge the outcome of the election at the tribunal.

Even though he rejected the result, Bapetel said that there was no need going to the tribunal for adjudication on the election.

Bapetel stated that the result had shown that the highest bidder won it.

He said: "We have decided as a party not to challenge this false result in the tribunal. The PDP has turned election into a vicious circle and we have decided not to make ourselves a part of this circus any longer."

Also, the AC, in a statement yesterday in Yola by its publicity secretary, Lai Mohammed, described the election as yet another big farce, with the result sold to the highest bidder by the very institutions charged with conducting a free and fair election.

AC also said never in the history of elections in Adamawa State has one party ever won all the local councils given the diversity and plurality of values, religion, ethnic and cultural mix of the state.

"The so-called victory by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)," according to AC, did not reflect the true wishes of the Adamawa people who trooped out in large numbers to vote for the AC and its candidate in the election, Ibrahim Bapetel.

"The result declared by INEC did not reflect what happened on the ground throughout Adamawa State on Saturday. In due course, the AC will provide its tally of the result from all the polling stations and Nigerians will be shocked by the depravity of the PDP-led Federal Government," it said.

The party added that once again, the PDP government had shown its determination to foist a one-party rule on Nigerians by rigging itself to power in every state of the country.

"The sham election has also proved the hollowness of the government's much touted electoral reform, rule of law and war against corruption. We expect the PDP, INEC and their accomplices to dismiss us as bad losers.

" But by the time we release the full and sordid details of what transpired, the public auctioning of Adamawa State governorship seat, Nigerians will be shocked to their bone marrows at the complicity from the highest echelons of government, the PDP, INEC and other institutions entrusted with the conduct of the election.

"However, we wish to assure our teeming supporters and all true democrats worldwide that all attempts by the INEC and the PDP led-Federal Government to humiliate the AC and its leaders as well as the country's judicial system, which ordered the re-run election and defined the parameters for its conduct will fail ultimately.

"Nigerians need, and indeed richly deserve, an opposition party and an alternative to the monstrous and greedy behemoth that is the PDP. The AC is fully prepared to play this role. The party wishes to restate its confidence and continued support for its leader and presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and its governorship candidate in Adamawa State, Ibrahim Bapetel.

" The struggle to enthrone true democracy in Nigeria is a long and difficult one and the AC is ready for the long haul. The party will continue to resist all efforts to make our dear country a one-party state," AC said.

talk about sore losers. if all the voided votes had been added to them, they still wouldn't have won.

all the snatched ballot boxes' votes were voided to avoid problems of exchange of the box but even with that all voided votes came up to about 120 and aomething thousand. still plenty margin for an Nyako win.

furthermore, we did have an election that a party won all the local govt areas. it was the 2003 election. under the watchful eyes of Boni, Atiku and the then PDP (now all AC members) we saw a CLEANSWEEP, super landslide victory of Atiku and his boys. the lowest they scored was 93% of the vote!!! someone even published a book about the fiasco.

they can't appeal because even if ALL the voided votes went to them they still wouldnt have won. their excuse is a very bad one.

i look forward to the day when a main opposition in an election concedes defeat.

Nigeria: PDP Reclaims Adamawa

This Day (Lagos)

28 April 2008
Posted to the web 28 April 2008

Chuks Okocha and Matthew Onah
Yola

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the re-run Adamawa State governorship election, Admiral Murtala Nyako (rtd), yesterday coasted home to victory as he defeated his rival, Alhaji Ibrahim Bapetel, of the Action Congress (AC).

Dr Abdul Bulama, the Resident Electoral Commis-sioner in the state, who was also the Returning Officer, declared that PDP won in all the 21 local governments of the state.

Nyako beat other 11 contestants by polling 361,729 votes. His closest rival, Bapetel, scored 201,767. Joel Madaki of the Labour Party (LP) came third with 7,360 votes.

Nyako was removed by the Court of Appeal which upheld the decision of governorship election tribunal, which nullified his election on the basis of Bapetel being unlawfully excluded from April 14, 2007 election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Bulama said that the state had a total of 1.3 million registered voters, out of which 701,196 were valid votes and 126,272 were rejected or "invalid".

As the results were being announced, the streets of Yola and Jemeta erupted in jubilation in support of Nyako.

Street urchins on motorbikes celebrated Nyako's victory with acrobatic displays.

The defeat of Bapetel is seen in political circles as an indirect defeat of his political sponsor, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the former vice-president and the presidential candidate of AC in the last general elections.

According to the Electoral Officers from the local government areas of the state who presented the results of the election, there were pockets of skirmishes.

For instance, the Electoral Officer in Hong Local Government, Y. Ayuba, said electoral materials were snatched by thugs, with INEC officials kidnapped and the original copies of the results taken away, but the results were compiled based on other copies of the results in possession of security agents.

He said only two party agents - from the PDP and AC - signed the copies of the collated results.

The same case of thuggery was witnessed in Gombi Local Government, as the Electoral Officer, Johnson Bagudu, said in one of the units in the council, the Presiding Officer was abducted. The result of the polling units was eventually cancelled.

The Electoral Officer in Mubi North, Salihu Nyahu, said that results in two polling units were cancelled as a result of violence and thuggery, while in Jada Local Government, the home local government of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Electoral Officer, Musa Usman, said the result of the election was only signed by the PDP agent, as the AC and other agents of other political parties were not around when the collation was completed.

Also, in Guyuk and Shelleng, the Electoral Officers said that results in two polling units where ballot boxes were snatched were cancelled.

In Michika Local Government, the Electoral Officer, Julius Yagba, said thugs snatched the ballot boxes at the Junior Secondary School, Machika, and in an encounter with security agents, some of the thugs were killed. Others, he said, were critically injured. This, he said, did not affect the outcome of poll in the local government.

The votes cast for the candidate of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) were cancelled as the thumb printings were done in-between the spaces provided on the ballot papers.

Nyako, in his acceptance speech, congratulated INEC for conducting a "transparent election" and praised the PDP chieftains for uniting behind him for the poll.

He also thanked the people for "renewing the mandate" given to him last year and promised to continue from where he stopped by continuing with the basic necessities of life. He commended all the parties for making the election peaceful.

Among PDP chieftains with him were Senator Jibril Aminu, Senator Grace Bent, Gen. Buba Marwa and Chairman of North-east PDP, Senator Paul Wampana.

However, AC has criticised the outcome of the election, saying it was "auctioned to the highest bidder".

The party described the poll as "yet another big farce with the result sold to the highest bidder by the very institutions charged with conducting a free and fair election".

In a statement issued in Yola yesterday by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, it said that never in the history of elections in Adamawa State has one party ever won all the local government councils given the diversity and plurality of values, religion, ethnic and cultural mix of the state.

The so-called victory by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did not reflect the true wishes of the Adamawa people who trooped out in large numbers to vote for the AC and its candidate in the election, Ibrahim Bapetel. The results declared by INEC did not reflect what happened on the ground throughout Adamawa State on Saturday. In due course, the AC will provide its tally of the results from all the polling stations and Nigerians will be shocked by the depravity of the PDP-led Federal Government," he said.

The party added that once again, "the PDP government has shown its determination to foist a one-party rule on Nigerians by rigging itself to power in every state of Nigeria. The sham re-run election has also proved the hollowness of the government's much touted electoral reform, rule of law and war against corruption. We expect the PDP, INEC and their accomplices to dismiss us as bad losers.

"But by the time we release the full and sordid details of what transpired the public auctioning of Adamawa State governorship seat, Nigerians will be shocked to their bone marrows at the complicity from the highest echelons of government, the PDP, INEC and other institutions entrusted with the conduct of the election. However, we wish to assure our teeming supporters and all true democrats worldwide that all attempts by the INEC and the PDP-led Federal Government to humiliate the AC and its leaders as well as the country's judicial system which ordered the re-run election and defined the parameters for its conduct will fail ultimately.

"Nigerians need, and indeed richly deserve, an opposition party and an alternative to the monstrous and greedy behemoth that is the PDP. The AC is fully prepared to play this role. The party wishes to restate its confidence and continued support for its leader and presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and its governorship candidate in Adamawa State, Ibrahim Bapetel. The struggle to enthrone true democracy in Nigeria is a long and difficult one and the AC is ready for the long haul. The party will continue to resist all efforts to make our dear country a one-party state."

In the same manner, Bapetel said that the ballot papers were designed to rig the election in favour of PDP.

In a statement, Bapetel said: "The ballot paper was designed in such a way that many voters who thought they were voting for AC ended up printing on the edge of the slot of the MRDD, a party that had no candidate in the election."

He also accused PDP of being behind the snatching of ballot boxes, stating that this explain the unprecedented number of invalidated votes in the election, explaining that never in the history of elections in Nigeria that it witnessed about 20 per cent invalid votes.

Bapetel, however, said that he and his party, AC had resolved not to challenge the outcome of the election in the court, as the "PDP has turned into a vicious circle and we have decided not to make ourselves part of this circus any longer".

PDP wins Adamawa guber polls again
• Monday, Apr 28, 2008
Former Governor of Adamawa State, Mr. Murtala Nyako of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has re-emerged as the Adamawa State Governor-elect after the re-run election held in the state last Saturday.

According to the Returning Officer, Dr. Abdul Bulama who announced the result yesterday, Nyako polled 361,751 votes to defeat his Action Congress (AC) counterpart, the major contender of the race, Mr. Ibrahim Bapetel who polled 201,752 votes.

The Labour Party Candidate, Joel Madaki who spoke with newsmen after the announcement of the result said he had no option than to accept the defeat, since they say the victory came from God.

Mr. Madaki, argued that since no one can challenge God, the best thing was to accept in the result good faith.

Reacting to the victory the PDP National Chairman, Prince Eze Vincent Ogbulafor said it is a mark of hardwork by the PDP in Adamawa State.

Meanwhile, the governor-elect, Mr. Nyako has promised to work with all in the state, irrespective of their political parties, for the betterment of the common man.

It would be recalled that the re-run election was necessitated by the cancellation of the election of PDP’s Murtala Nyako in the election of April 14, 2007 by the Court of Appeal, citing non-inclusion of the AC candidate as the reason.

zillaxy:

talk about sore losers. if all the voided votes had been added to them, they still wouldn't have won.

all the snatched ballot boxes' votes were voided to avoid problems of exchange of the box but even with that all voided votes came up to about 120 and aomething thousand. still plenty margin for an Nyako win.

furthermore, we did have an election that a party won all the local govt areas. it was the 2003 election. under the watchful eyes of Boni, Atiku and the then PDP (now all AC members) we saw a CLEANSWEEP, super landslide victory of Atiku and his boys. the lowest they scored was 93% of the vote!!! someone even published a book about the fiasco.

they can't appeal because even if ALL the voided votes went to them they still wouldnt have won. their excuse is a very bad one.

i look forward to the day when a main opposition in an election concedes defeat.

common now,you dont expect them to say yes we accept just like that, it was not a hundred percent free and fair but over all it was an ok result and im sure thats why they have said they will not challenge it in court,lets wait till they release their own collated figures and then we will see if it makes sense or not on the whole i believe that GOD has dcreed who will win and on this ocassion he has decreed that nyako is it, since they have said they are not challenging it in court that is the only way they can say it publicly that they have accepted the results and in adittion have signed it

lucabrasi:

common now,you don't expect them to say yes we accept just like that, it was not a hundred percent free and fair but over all it was an ok result and im sure thats why they have said they will not challenge it in court,lets wait till they release their own collated figures and then we will see if it makes sense or not on the whole i believe that GOD has dcreed who will win and on this ocassion he has decreed that nyako is it, since they have said they are not challenging it in court that is the only way they can say it publicly that they have accepted the results and in adittion have signed it

i'm definitely waiting for the 'evidence' to emerge.
it'll be nice if they actually have secret footage of electoral fraud! maybe inec officials askin for bribes or ballots being stuffed! becoz anything short of that wont be dat believeable. simply saying 'these are our results' wont satisfy anyone.

not 100% but over 95%- which is still high.

but ur right. i'm hoping for too much, too soon.

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