2015: Year of Victory for Change

Fri, Dec 25, 2015

By publisher

10 MIN READ

BREAKING NEWS, Featured, Politics

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IT was an election year in Nigeria in 2015. The general election was a make or mar for the country, which had been on political precipice and which some analysts said could disintegrate in the year.

Mercifully, the Nigerian politicians were in their elements and the then sitting President Goodluck Jonathan was able to read the danger ahead. Hence, when his main opponent, now President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Peoples Congress, APC, won the election, Jonathan was magnanimous enough even before the final results were called his opponent to concede defeat.

Thus the presidential election of March 28, ended the 16 years reign of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in power and the enthronement of the APC as the ruling party. Interestingly, the APC had run the election on change mantra. The presidential results seemed to have had effect on the legislative and governorship elections across the country as the APC replicated the success all over.

In the end, in federal legislative elections also held on Saturday, March 28, the APC won 60 seats in the Senate, while the PDP won 49 seats. And in the House of Representatives, the APC won 225 seats as against 125 seats won by the PDP.

The APC repeated the feat in the governorship and state legislative elections held on Saturday, April 11. Out of the whole 36 states of the federation, the APC won in 22, while the PDP won in 13 states. Ironically, the PDP has had its success in three of the states truncated by the respective state tribunals who have asked for a re-run in the affected states.

Managing the election success was to become a big issue for the APC in June as efforts by the party to dictate those to hold principal posts at federal legislative arm of government failed.

Hence, contrary to the plans of the party hierarchy, Bukola Saraki, former governor of Kwara State, emerged as Senate president and Ike Ekweremadu of the PDP, was elected deputy Senate president, thereby rubbishing previous arrangements whereby the two critical offices were from the same party.

The APC had preferred Ahmed Lawan, to emerge the Senate president.

The same scenario almost repeated itself in the House of Representatives as Yakubu Dogara emerged as speaker of the House contrary to the dictate of the party leadership. However, unlike Saraki, Dogara’s deputy emerged from the same APC.

In the contest, Dogara defeated Femi Gbajabiamila, who represents Surulere federal constituency, Lagos State, in a keenly contested election. Gbajabiamila had been the choice of the APC leadership for the position.

Rilwan Akiolu, oba of Lagos, on Sunday, April 5, told the Igbo living in Lagos to vote for Akinwumi Ambode, governorship candidate of the APC, or else they would be thrown into the lagoon.

A visibly angry monarch, in an unconcealed threat, said that he was not ready to beg the Igbo, but if they repeated what they did on March 28, when they voted for the then President Goodluck Jonathan, presidential candidate of the PDP, and helped PDP and another party to win six legislative seats in Lagos, then they should be ready for the consequences.

The threat caused uproar in the political circles and the case against the Oba may soon be filled at an international court of justice.

The leadership crisis in the House of Representatives appeared to have been finally resolved when Gbajabiamila emerged as majority leader of the House on Tuesday, July 28.

On September 21 Olu Falae, former secretary to the government of the federation, was kidnapped in his farm in Akure, Ondo State thereby raising political tension across the country. The situation prompted President Buhari to order Solomon Arase, inspector general of Police, to ensure the rescue of the former presidential candidate within 48 hours of giving the order.

On October 15, the 67th National Executive Council, NEC, meeting of the PDP, which held in Abuja, formally adopted the report of the post election review committee headed by Ike Ekweremadu, deputy Senate president, on how to reposition the party.

On Wednesday, October 21, the Akwa-Ibom governorship election tribunal sitting in Abuja nullified the gubernatorial election of April 11, in 18 local government of Akwa Ibom State and upheld 13 others. This apparently made the election of Governor Emmanuel Udom untenable.

A three-man elections petitions tribunal in Rivers State on October 24, nullified the election of Governor Nyesom Wike and ordered fresh elections to take place in 90 days. The tribunal team led by Justice Mohammed Ambrosa said the election conducted on April 11, 2015 which brought Wike of the PDP to power was substantially flawed as it was marred by violence. The governor has since filed an appeal.

On Monday, October 26, the River State House of Assembly election petition tribunal nullified the election of 20 House of Assembly members in the state. The four separate panels of the Rivers State national and state assembly elections petitions tribunal nullified the elections of Owaji Ibani, speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly and 19 other seats won by candidates of the PDP in the April 11, 2015 elections.

The tribunals upheld the petitions of the APC and its candidates in 20 out of the total 32 constituency elections.

The state governorship election petition tribunal, sitting in Asaba, on Monday, October 26, dismissed the petitions filed by the governorship candidates of the Labour Party, LP, and the APC challenging the election of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of the PDP as governor on April 11, 2015.

Great Ogboru, candidate of the LP and O’tega Emerhor, candidate of the APC, challenged the declaration of Okowa of the PDP as the winner with 724,680 votes, defeating Ogboru who polled 130,028 votes, and Emerhor with 67,825 votes.

Delivering the judgement Justice Nasir Gunmi, the chairman, dismissed the petitions for what he described as lack of merit and the inability by the petitioners to prove their cases beyond reasonable doubt.

The Supreme Court of Nigeria on Thursday, October 29, upheld the victory of Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, candidate of the APC in the April 11, gubernatorial election held in the state.

The seven-man panel of the Supreme Court presided over by Justice John Fabiyi, held that the challenge by Emeka Ihedioha, candidate of the PDP to Okorocha’s election lacked merit.

The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal for Taraba on Saturday, November 7, nullified the election of Governor Darius Ishaku of the PDP. The tribunal, sitting in Abuja, declared Aisha Alhassan, candidate of the APC and current minister of Women’s Affairs, as the winner of the April 11 governorship election in the state. The three-member tribunal held that Ishaku was not validly nominated as candidate of the PDP and therefore, did not qualify, from start, to contest the governorship election.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, November 11, formally allotted portfolios to 36 men and women who would work in his cabinet. The Senate had on Thursday, October 29, confirmed the last batch of the ministers containing 18 names.

The confirmation of the ministers had been full of drama as some of the appointees, especially that of Chibuike Amaechi, former governor of Rivers State, were vehemently opposed by the opposition from his state. Amaechi’s screening was shifted for three times and when he was eventually screened on Thursday, October 22, the Senate put off his confirmation for one week.

The PDP members in the Senate staged a walk out when it was apparent that they would be overwhelmed during the voting session, citing the case of corruption against Amaechi as reason they refrained from endorsing him.

On Tuesday, November 17, Ekweremadu was reported to have escaped assassination while going to work in the morning. Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, November 19, Olisa Metuh, PDP national publicity secretary, alleged that the attack on the deputy Senate president was part of the plan by the ruling party to use violent means to muzzle opposition to facilitate President Muhammadu Buhari’s alleged 2019 re-election bid.

He said intelligence report available to the party had shown that Ekweremadu was not an isolated target as other prominent leaders of the PDP, such as Bello Haliru Mohammed, acting chairman of the party Board of Trustees; Uche Secondus, acting national president; Adewale Oladipo, national secretary; members of the National Working Committee; Godswill Akpabio, Senate minority leader; Leo Ogor, House minority leader, among others had also been pencilled down for assassination.

On November 21, the gubernatorial election in Kogi State between Governor Idris Wada of the PDP and Abubakar Audu of the APC was declared inclonclusive because of nullification of election in 91 centres. Audu was leading in the election when he suddenly slumped and died, thereby raising constitution issue.

Based on the development, Wada asked the Independent electoral Commission to declare him as the winner of the governorship election in Kogi State, while James Faleke, running mate of the late Audu asked that he was the rightful winner.

But the INEC conceded to the APC to pick another candidate and Yahaya Bello, an aspirant who came second in the party primary, was picked. So, when the supplementary election was held on December 5, and the APC won, Bello was declared the winner and the governor-elect.

In any case, moves by the party leadership to reconcile Bello and Faleke to serve as running mate of the new governor has failed.

The Department of State Security, DSS, on Tuesday, December 1, arrested Sambo Dasuki, a retired colonel and former national security adviser. The DSS operatives whisked Dasuki away to its headquarters early on Tuesday morning for interrogation in connection with $2billion arms deals.

The ex-NSA’s arrest came barely hours after Bashir Yuguda, a former minister of state for Finance, and 20 others were arrested by the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, November 30, in connection with the arms deal.

Dasuki’s arrest ended a month-long siege and legal battle between him and the DSS.

The Supreme Court, on Thursday, December 3, fixed February 5, 2016, for judgment on the appeal filed by Bukola Saraki, Senate president, challenging the charges of false asset declaration preferred against him and the jurisdiction of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, to entertain the case.

The governorship election in Bayelsa State, which held on December 5, was declared inconclusive by the INEC because of some disturbances in the Southern Ijaw of the state. However, Governor Seriake Dickson of the PDP was clearly leading in the poll with Timipreye Sylva, a former governor and candidate of the APC trailing behind.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Friday, December 11, upheld the election of Godswill Akpabio, Senate minority leader, as senator representing Akwa Ibom North West senatorial district after dismissing the appeal by Inibehe Okori, candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate in the March 28, 2015 poll.

The Kogi State House of Assembly, on Thursday, December 10, removed Momoh Jimoh-Lawal as speaker along with Ali Akuh, his deputy, and Hassan Bello, minority leader. They were replaced by Godwin Osuyi, speaker; John Abbah, deputy speaker and Eneche Ojochemenemi Linus, minority leader.

— Jan 4, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT

Did You Miss:

• Ndigbo-Lagos, Traditional Rulers Condemns Oba’s Threat against Igbos

• Appeal Court Upholds Akpabio’s Election

• DSS Arrests Dasuki

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