Nigerian Elections

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2015 General Elections: Are The Electorates Ready? | By: Olaniyan Olawale

The topic might appear a little controversial especially at this time of the year where only God knows the fate of our nation. Afterall, no soothsayer or prophet in the whole of the country could come out about a month ago to tell the public that the general elections slated for February was going to be postponed by 6 weeks.
The objective of this write up isn’t to argue if the postponement is anomalous or healthy for our democracy or if it was actually postponed to favour some candidates as speculated by majority of the citizenry.

However, I would always insist that one can’t be absolutely sure about some national issues. This particular one is analogous to a football match which is postponed say due to harsh weather condition or for reason not stated, should we now conclude that it was actually postponed to favour the homeside or the visiting side?
Ergo, Nigerians shouldn’t find it extremely easy to jump into conclusion about critical issues especially when concrete evidence seem not to available to the public. Hence, the objective of this write up. At this junction I think it is imperative for me to clear any lingering doubt in your mind. I am not a politician, I don’t work for any political party or candidate but still I am not apolitical.

However, when pathetic issues that could have enormous effects on political ramifications arise, we should rise up and make positive reactions against it.
Today, if you select ten electorates or let me say eligible voters at random for interrogation about why they actually want to vote for the candidate of their choice. The responses you’ll gett can make one cringe, responses that are stupefying, responses that are irritating to the ear and disgusting to the mind, or how else would one describe responses like “because we are from the same ethnic group or because we are of the same religion or because the other candidate is from a tribe I don’t like”.
It might take you several minutes before you realize there is an endless monologue going on in your mind after hearing these responses. The irony of it all is that you might find it difficult to berate people of such opinion due to the respect you have for them or the relationship that exist between you,or would you find it easy to tell your neighbour or relative that his response to such question is erroneous?
Now, this write up would be immaterial if I don’t suggest a way forward. I wouldn’t suggest that the groups that organise debates for presidential and gubernatorial candidates should do same for electorates and start asking why they are voting for their choice candidates.
That would only remain imaginary and unrealistic. However, with a proper approach and a stupendous effort, we should get a monumental achievement. This could be done by enlightening our indispensable electorates that their choices should be based on the candidate’s previous performances if he’s seeking a return to power and for “new comers”, thorough enquiries should be made about him.
It is even not too much if we go to the extent of making findings about where he had worked in the past from people that know him as any decision we make would either make or mar the future of our nation.
It is high time we stopped electing people on this our “I know him I know her” theory. We should elect people based on merit. This would enormously impact our electoral process in a positive way and it would go a long way to fertilize our embryonic democracy.

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Photos: Nigerians stage protests against Buhari in London

A group of Nigerians in London are currently staging a protest against the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, General Muhammadu Buhari who will speak at Chatham House, United Kingdom today.

President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign organization reportedly paid the protesters $20,000 to also show solidarity and support for President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and his transformation agenda project in Nigeria.

Meanwhile General Muhammadu Buhari has arrived at the Chatham House together with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Adams Oshiomole and a host of others. His lecture has been titled ‘Prospects for Democratic Consolidation in Africa: Nigeria’s Transition’.

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When God Rejects A Leader | By: Ali Adoyi

The popular belief that the voice of a people is the voice of God must not be undermined even as Nigeria faces another democratic test come March 28 and April 11.
Many things have happened in the wake of the electioneering campaign, PVC collection and distribution. Elections dates have been shifted amid controversy, INEC Chairman, Jega has been accused of working for the opposition by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The APC has equally alleged on several occasions that the incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan has an agenda to scuttle the nation’s democracy through an interim national government.
Different allegations have been flying around and people at different points are engaged in title-tattle. While some chorus “change” others chorus” continuity”.

However, political analysts are of the view that change is likely to take place in Nigeria despite widely held premonition that Nigeria will split after the violence that will follow the elections.
It’s true that one cannot totally override the popular fear of pre or post-election violence, the reason INEC may have fixed the initial date for February 14 (Valentine day).
However, there will surely be a new Nigeria after every other thing that may likely transpire before, during and after the elections. This thinking has equally been upheld by positive thinkers who believe that the unity and the survival of the country supersede any individual’s ambition.
This to me, is what most of us should believe. Instead of rushing our families to the village out of fear of an impending violence, we ought to establish a firm belief that Nigeria is bigger than our politicians whose interest is to scuttle democracy.
They will cause confusion and move their people out of the country, leaving us to lick our own blood. Our fear should rather become our wisdom so we can stand together against all violent politicians.

The question however is why is there so much tension in the land? Why are we all afraid? Why do we think political gladiators and supporters will resort to violence after results are announced?
The straight answer is that there is fear in the land because God has taken over the leadership of this country. God to me, has heard the cry of many Nigerians who have painfully cried to him for intervention over their several years in bondage in what seems like a political imprisonment.

In this regard, if we accept that God has taken over the leadership of the country, then it’s clear that we cannot have another leader. It then means that a leader has been dethroned by God himself, and when God dethrones a leader, he decides who becomes the next leader.
What then are the signs that a leader has been dethroned by God?
Kneeling or prostrating before a pastor must not be seen as God’s acceptance, as those men of God are mere mortals and must not be mistaken for God.
On several occasions, some Nigerians have called President Goodluck Jonathan, ”the Chosen one” with the notion that who God has chosen, no one should question.

Presidential Spokesman, Doyin Okupe, in defence of the same religious cum political ideology said, “Someone was reported to have said “A new government will be installed on the 29th of May 2015. “Lamentations 3 vs 37 says “Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass when the Lord commandeth it not? ” Isaiah 7 vs 7 says, “Thus sayeth the Lord God, it shall not stand’ neither shall it come to pass”

Doyin is known to have been using the bible to defend Mr. President’s Policies which many have termed obnoxious and unproductive, and had at one time compared Jonathan to Jesus Christ.
The President’s aide said, “People do not understand the burden this President is bearing. He’s like Jesus Christ. He’s bearing the burden of everybody.” Okupe then stated further that, “I can’t see GEJ losing this election. It’s not possible.”

Similarly, in a recent forum, Okupe shouted down his audience, saying that Buhari will never rule Nigeria. He said, ”It will not happen- It will not happen…” (Repeatedly)

In a more relative way, President Jonathan is always very good at blackmailing God through his actions. While his Spokesman, Okupe relies more on profanity to return his boss to power, Jonathan wants to constantly put God to test by visiting different men of God for prayers.
He does this only during election period, believing God can be patronized. He has forgotten the simple but popular biblical injunction that says, ” obey is better than sacrifice.”

Most failed leaders are very quick at telling God and the people that they have done well, meanwhile, they have done nothing for the people and for God.
This is similar to when Saul was rejected as King of Israel. Saul was asked to destroy everything belonging to the Amelekites, but he disobeyed God, claiming that he had done the will of God.

When Samuel, the messenger of God came-calling to deliver God’s message, Saul rushed to conclusion that he had done the will of God. ..” Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD.”

Saul was obviously prompted into self-defense because he knew he didn’t do the will of God. This is typical of Jonathan and his aides as they continually term those God is using to sanitize the system as mere whistle blowers, in defense of their actions.

If further references are made with regard to Saul’s encounter with Samuel, one would realize that if he had done what God instructed, he would have been slower to boast of it. His disobedience led to self-defence and self-destruction.

I read about the ten reasons Jonathan must be re-elected as syndicated in the social media. The question people are asking is whether it’s ideal for a leader to tell the citizens what he has done before they acknowledge his efforts?

If Jonathan had followed God’s instructions on how to build the country, there wouldn’t have been whistle blowers like former Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, and former Head of State, Olusegun Obasanjo would have been the best friend of the government today.
Unfortunately, Jonathan, with his good intention was shielded from people whose real advice and caution would have reshaped his government in preparation for the coming elections. CAN wouldn’t have been given N7bn to mobilize for the President as ”obey is better than sacrifice”.
If Jonathan had walked the walk of the chosen one, no single PDP governor would have left for the opposition today, hence APC and its candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari wouldn’t have been accepted globally to the detriment of Jonathan’s party.
If the PDP candidate had walked on the path of glory and humility, returning to Aso Rock that is currently considered a big task would have been very easy.

God tends to have disserted whom he had chosen to run the country as billions of naira continue to disappear from the nation’s treasuries unaccounted for; this is to further reflect on the conversation between Saul and Samuel; Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”

And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.” Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak on.”
This goes to show that even when Jonathan and his people try everything possible to manipulate the people, by hiding the true state of the nation’s economy, God still hears the groaning and yearning of our depleting economy.
He hears even the cries of millions of people who perpetually smile in darkness following total absence of power supply; hence to obey is a better option than to make sacrifices after a deed. A Popular adage says, ” a deed committed by seven, must be atoned by seven.”
Although, sacrifice appears to be the only option for GEJ to appease God and Nigerians, his deeds can only be atoned by the same seven; I mean he may likely sacrifice his second tenure as a repercussion of his disobedience.

You still need more clarifications on why God chose to dethroned the leadership of Nigeria? Are you so convinced that our dear President has done the will of God and the people of Nigeria? Check again.

Credit: 247Nigerianewsupdate
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Presidency wants Nigerians to re-elect President Goodluck Jonathan for these 12 reasons

In a piece titled, “Twelve reasons to support Jonathan,” and published in the latest edition of Villascope – the in-house magazine of the State House, Abuja; the presidency has listed 12 reasons why Nigerians should re-elect President Jonathan.

Here are the reasons;

(1) Road constructions

(2) Railway rehabilitation

(3) Remodelling of airports

(4) Transformed agriculture sector

(5) Increased access to education

(6) Increased access to housing

(7) Improved power supply

(8) Improved water supply

(9) Better health facilities

(10) Reformed security infrastructures (11) Economic transformation

(12) Increased Nigerians participation in downstream oil sector.

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234central.com presents #MyVoteMyDemand campaign

It’s that season when politicians and the masses become ‘business partners’, so to say. Since the elective politician cannot be elected or re-elected without the votes of the masses, hence they adorn their best bargaining gear and puppy face to woo the electorate.

Their partner in development is anyone that can vote them in, and that anyone is you. How’s that possible?, for in your hand is one of the most potent weapon ever invented for governance – a Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC).
The irony of the matter is that, how many people realise how powerful they are, or their relevance in the scheme of things. How many of those who will be voting in the 2015 general elections understand that they are partners in development plan or lack of it of the politicians they elect?
Now, the most important and thought provoking question: how many of us realise that for our vote, there must be an equal demand for which those we vote for must pledge to fulfil when they get into office?
Nigeria’s leadership history of the democratic years precisely, has been littered with unfulfilled promises and national fund looting by the leaders and their cronies. Preceding several elections, politicians were fond of the rhetoric’s of I-will-build-the-world-for-you but on being elected, became aloof to the plight of the masses.
The masses on a large scale tend to have an unfair positioning, as in many situations are unaware of their rights, how to express them or maximise these rights. Instances when they even know them, are unable or largely unwilling to place a demand on the politicians.
But, with the explosion in the use of the internet via social media for information dissemination and social activism, the average politician, used to shying away from scrutiny, can now be compelled to defend his stewardship or lack of it.
At last, it is a lot more easier for the masses to know their rights, demand the attention and responsive action of those they voted into power, and in situations where the elected fail to meet those demands, can now be called out on their inability or voted out during subsequent elections.
To ensure that the masses are continually abreast with what their rights are and how to demand same is the objective of the #MyVoteMyDemand twitter hashtag campaign, being powered by 234central.com and individual affiliates.
#MyVoteMyDemand campaign is a joint effort of passionate Nigerian youths who have employed their abilities and expertise to drive the needed awareness in the hope of awakening amongst Nigerians via social media their role in the development of the type of Nigeria that we all clamour and can be proud of by facilitating through the campaign the following goals and objectives – analyse and review the manifestos of the political aspirants, enlighten Nigerians on the modalities of government policies and how they can be influenced, as well as outline strategies to drive sustainability of demands upon implementation.

The campaign will also focus on defining the role of the citizenry in driving national development, enlighten the electorate on leadership structures and responsibilities of the various political offices and government organisations and drive discussions about ongoing issues 

in a bid to promote informed voting amongst the electorate for the candidate of their choice based on their own assessment.

Despite general opinion that Nigerian leaders can’t be compelled to be accountable, it is the hope of the campaign team, on behalf of the populace to drive engagement of the aspirants and their campaign team with the electorate via the open platform of online media, to outline their intended strategies in order to execute their promises and foster a sense of accountability.
The key focus of the #MyVoteMyDemand project is to drive progressive actions and collaborations of key individuals and organisations to compel the aspirants and leaders to deliver on their promises and provide needed infrastructure in key areas such as Security, Health, Infrastructure and policy, Entrepreneurship and enterprise, Power, Education, Employment, and Gender issues.
In order to achieve this, we have employed the capacity of the team and its existing online media network through the curation and dissemination of campaign relevant content and ultimately provide social-support for our community members with the aim of empowering our Nigerian community members with access to developmental information, funding and networking opportunities, which we believe is a vital strategy in ensuring the sustainability of any progressive change demanded for and acceded to by those in leadership..
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Photos: Nigerians in London march for Buhari/Osibanjo

London-based Nigerians took to the streets to show support/solidarity for All Progressive Congress Party Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari and his running mate Prof. Yemi Osinbajo yesterday, February 14,2015.

Some donned APC/Buhari branded tshirts, others carried placards with inscriptions on their placards r Buhari-Hope 2014, for a new Nigeria, Investigate #EkitiGate and many more.

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Opinion: Dear politicians, we are not burnt offerings | By: Emmanuel Egobiambu

The power is in our hands to resist all appearances of political incitement by unscrupulous elements who seek to score cheap political goals because it would amount to an own goal if we succumb to their machinations
As political events heat up, it is expedient to note that the manner, in which some aspirants are going about it, leaves much to be desired. Recent reports in the media are suggesting that a violence-free general elections, is under treat.
It was widely reported that buses belonging to the PDP, were burnt in Jos while APC’s state secretariats, were attacked in Rivers state; all by yet-to-be-identified persons.  These are just a few examples of the “do-or-die” nature of campaign going on it the country.  I begin to ask myself if it is the masses that they claim to represent that they are fighting for.
Now that the elections are at our doors, attention is shifting to the masses; those who have been abandoned to their fate. They are now the goose that lay the golden egg, sort after by all.
To make matters worse, they have bought many souls who are now ready instruments of violence and heating up of the already-hot political atmosphere.
Some who may not carry guns and cutlass have taken to different means to make their points even when the language used in such is nothing but insulting and lacks simple logic.
With the advent of the internet, this is now comes with little or no restrictions, unlike the mass media. Most Nigerians have turned political strategists and campaign managers, churning out all manner of facts; real and unreal.
Since most users of the internet and new/social media are the youths and thus since they form a large chunk of the voting population, are targeted by some irresponsible politicians to become their “political hallelujah boys”.
Every single minute that passes, one is exposed to one post or the other launching assault on perceived opponents. Words traded in such posts are laden with ethnic, religious and political bias.
And the question that I ask myself is “how much have they paid them?” to carry the cross of the campaign on their shoulders even when most of the political elite care little or none about the welfare of the man on the street.
Just like a popular musician sang, “ANOTHER YEAR HAS COME AND THEY WANT MY VOTE ONCE MORE”, it is election year and political jobbers are here again.  My concern is the plight of the common man on the street that is often carried away, and incited by some power-starved politicians who want power by all means.
These politicians can go any length to “use” people, notably the youths, to power their political life. But again, I ask myself if we have not yet learnt our lessons because it seems that we forget so fast what happen to us.
These same power hungry politicians’ lure people into carrying of arms, snatching of ballot boxes and other sundry acts in previous elections, only for the victims to live with the scars afterwards.  They buy guns for us so that they can get to where they want to go, but how many of their children are in the country, not to talk of doing such?
As Nigerians, especially youths, we must begin to ask ourselves if the so called politicians that we want to kill ourselves for, truly care for us. We have been deceived for long and thus we do not wish to continue doing same thing while those we think we are working for smile to the bank at the end of the day.
Even if you share a different opinion from another, that does not warrant the shedding of blood. For how long can we continue to kill ourselves, hoping that it would be better some day? Must we slaughter ourselves while those we slaughter for, fly over us in jets to cool their head in the “tushest” of apartments abroad?
I know we want to take full part in the political process. It is our right but we must remember that where our rights end, other peoples’ own start from there. I am speaking mainly to the youths. Everyday, the pangs of unemployment, poor power supply, strikes and the likes, stare us in the face yet we want to kill, steal and destroy for them.
We have been deceived for long and need to stand up and take the bull by the horn. Nigerian youths, this is the time to take our destiny in our hands! Why should we kill and cause chaos just because of some insincere political thieves, who masquerade as agents of hope and a better Nigeria?
We are the ones that can lead this country to the heights we so desire of it, not outsiders! If we must take the bull by the horn, then we should eschew violence from our conducts.
This is a democratic setting and we must allow the free flow of opinions, irrespective of our stance. We are the future of this country, and if we are to land in the Promised Land that we are clamoring for, then violence is not the path!
The power is in our hands to resist all appearances of political incitement by unscrupulous elements who seek to score cheap political goals because it would amount to an own goal if we succumb to their machinations!
We should be thinking of issue-based campaigns and not just sitting and watch them draw us back; incite us into fighting and then leave us to kill ourselves.
Although, I commend the signing of peace pact by the presidential candidates; being the major actors, before, during and after the elections, it is good to note that it should go beyond that because we have seen agreements broken in the past and this might not be different.
The candidates must know that it is never a do-or-die affair. Nigerians, we must take our destiny in our hands, let us not allow some devils in the mode of angels to stir us into violence, because if we do, we would be the ones that would face the consequences!
To those who think they can come again with their alluring and inciting words to push us into killing innocent souls, you would only succeed if we fail to learn our lessons from the past. The time is right for us to take this country to the next level.
There is no need to kill your brother because he shares a different political point of view. Respect is earned and also reciprocal.
Credit: Y!Naija
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Nigeria’s Postponed Election Is An Embarrassment Of Bad Choices. Chimamanda Adichie writes.

Last week, Victor, a carpenter, came to my Lagos home to fix a broken chair. I asked him whom he preferred as Nigeria’s next president: the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan, or his challenger, Muhammadu Buhari.
“I don’t have a voter’s card, but if I did, I would vote for somebody I don’t like,” he said. “I don’t like Buhari. But Jonathan is not performing.”
Victor sounded like many people I know: utterly unenthusiastic about the two major candidates in our upcoming election.
Were Nigerians to vote on likeability alone, Jonathan would win. He is mild-mannered and genially unsophisticated, with a conventional sense of humor. Buhari has a severe, ascetic air about him, a rigid uprightness; it is easy to imagine him in 1984, leading a military government whose soldiers routinely beat up civil servants. 
Neither candidate is articulate. Jonathan is given to rambling; his unscripted speeches leave listeners vaguely confused. Buhari is thick-tongued, his words difficult to decipher. In public appearances, he seems uncomfortable not only with the melodrama of campaigning but also with the very idea of it.
To be a democratic candidate is to implore and persuade, and his demeanor suggests a man who is not at ease with amiable consensus. Still, he is no stranger to campaigns. This is his third run as a presidential candidate; the last time, in 2011, he lost to Jonathan.
This time, Buhari’s prospects are better. Jonathan is widely perceived as ineffectual, and the clearest example, which has eclipsed his entire presidency, is his response to Boko Haram. Such a barbaric Islamist insurgency would challenge any government.
But while Boko Haram bombed and butchered, Jonathan seemed frozen in a confused, tone-deaf inaction. Conflicting stories emerged of an ill-equipped army, of a corrupt military leadership, of northern elites sponsoring Boko Haram, and even of the government itself sponsoring Boko Haram.
Jonathan floated to power, unprepared, on a serendipitous cloud. He was a deputy governor of Bayelsa state who became governor when his corrupt boss was forced to quit. Chosen as vice president because powerbrokers considered him the most harmless option from southern Nigeria, he became president when his northern boss died in office.
Nigerians gave him their goodwill—he seemed refreshingly unassuming—but there were powerful forces who wanted him out, largely because he was a southerner, and it was supposed to be the north’s ‘turn’ to occupy the presidential office.
And so the provincial outsider suddenly thrust onto the throne, blinking in the chaotic glare of competing interests, surrounded by a small band of sycophants, startled by the hostility of his traducers, became paranoid. He was slow to act, distrustful and diffident. His mildness came across as cluelessness. His response to criticism calcified to a single theme: His enemies were out to get him.
When the Chibok girls were kidnapped, he and his team seemed at first to believe that it was a fraud organized by his enemies to embarrass him. His politics of defensiveness made it difficult to sell his genuine successes, such as his focus on the long-neglected agricultural sector and infrastructure projects. His spokespeople alleged endless conspiracy theories, compared him to Jesus Christ, and generally kept him entombed in his own sense of victimhood.
The delusions of Buhari’s spokespeople are better packaged, and obviously free of incumbency’s crippling weight. They blame Jonathan for everything that is wrong with Nigeria, even the most multifarious, ancient knots. They dismiss references to Buhari’s past military leadership, and couch their willful refusal in the language of ‘change,’ as though Buhari, by representing change from Jonathan, has also taken on an ahistorical saintliness.
I remember the Buhari years as a blur of bleakness. I remember my mother bringing home sad rations of tinned milk, otherwise known as “essential commodities”—the consequences of Buhari’s economic policy.
I remember air thick with fear, civil servants made to do frog jumps for being late to work, journalists imprisoned, Nigerians flogged for not standing in line, a political vision that cast citizens as recalcitrant beasts to be whipped into shape.
Buhari’s greatest source of appeal is that he is widely perceived as non-corrupt. Nigerians have been told how little money he has, how spare his lifestyle is. But to sell the idea of an incorruptible candidate who will fight corruption is to rely on the disingenuous trope that Buhari is not his party.
Like Jonathan’s People’s Democratic Party, Buhari’s All Progressives Congress is stained with corruption, and its patrons have a checkered history of exploitative participation in governance. Buhari’s team is counting on the strength of his perceived personal integrity: his image as a good guy forced by realpolitik to hold hands with the bad guys, who will be shaken off after his victory.
In my ancestral home state of Anambra, where Jonathan is generally liked, the stronger force at play is a distrust of Buhari, partly borne of memories of his military rule, and partly borne of his reputation, among some Christians, as a Muslim fundamentalist. When I asked a relative whom she would vote for, she said, “Jonathan of course. Am I crazy to vote for Buhari so that Nigeria will become a sharia country?”
Nigeria has predictable voting patterns, as all democratic countries do. Buhari can expect support from large swaths of the core north, and Jonathan from southern states. Region and religion are potent forces here. Vice presidents are carefully picked with these factors in mind: Buhari’s is a southwestern Christian and Jonathan’s is a northern Muslim. 
But it is not so simple. There are non-northerners who would ordinarily balk at voting for a ‘northerner’ but who support Buhari because he can presumably fight corruption. There are northern supporters of Jonathan who are not part of the region’s Christian minorities.
Last week, I was indifferent about the elections, tired of television commercials and contrived controversies. There were rumors that the election, which was scheduled for February 14, would be postponed, but there always are; our political space is a lair of conspiracies. I was uninterested in the apocalyptic predictions. Nigeria was not imploding. 
We had crossed this crossroads before, we were merely electing a president in an election bereft of inspiration. And the existence of a real opposition party that might very well win was a sign of progress in our young democracy.
Then, on Saturday, the elections were delayed for six weeks. Nigeria’s security agencies, we were told, would not be available to secure the elections because they would be fighting Boko Haram and needed at least another month and a half to do so. (Nigeria has been fighting Boko Haram for five years, and military leaders recently claimed to be ready for the elections.)
Even if the reason were not so absurd, Nigerians are politically astute enough to know that the postponement has nothing to do with security. It is a flailing act of desperation from an incumbent terrified of losing. There are fears of further postponements, of ploys to illegally extend Jonathan’s term. 
In a country with the specter of a military coup always hanging over it, the consequences could be dangerous. My indifference has turned to anger. What a staggeringly self-serving act of contempt for Nigerians. It has cast, at least for the next six weeks, the darkest possible shroud over our democracy: uncertainty.
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General Buhari's take on general elections postponement.

(Below is a press statement from the All Progressive Congress Party regarding General Muhammadu Buhari’s take on the postponement of general elections in Nigeria.)
We Must Remain Calm But Resolute. Following the decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone the 2015 general elections by six weeks, I wish to appeal for utmost restraint and calm by all Nigerians, especially the teeming supporters of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
This postponement, which comes on the heels of  the bogey of the National Security Adviser that half of the registered voters were being disenfranchised was exposed as a crude and fraudulent attempt to subvert the electoral process.
The PDP administration has now engineered a postponement using the threat that security will not be guaranteed across the length and breadth  of Nigeria because of military engagement in some states in the North East.  
It  is important to note that although INEC acted within its constitutional powers, it is clear that it has been boxed into a situation where it has had to bow to pressure. Thus, the independence of INEC has been gravely compromised.
As a Nigerian and a presidential candidate in the elections, I share in the disappointment and frustration of this decision. This postponement coming a week to the first election has raised so many questions, many of which shall be asked in the days ahead.
However, we must not allow ourselves to be tempted into taking actions that could further endanger the democratic process.  
Our country is going through a difficult time in the hands of terrorists. Any act of violence can only complicate the security challenges in the country and provide further justification to those who would want to exploit every situation to frustrate the democratic process in the face of certain defeat at the polls.
If anything, this postponement should strengthen our resolve and commitment to rescue our country from the current economic and social collapse from this desperate band. Our desire for change must surpass their desperation to hold on to power at all cost.  We are clearly dealing with people who feel they can get away with placing their personal interest over those of our nation and its citizens.
What is at stake is the very survival of our country. We must not allow this temporary delay to abort this great opportunity.   While I share the pains and frustrations of my fellow citizens over this development, my deep faith in the democratic process assures me that this country, with your support, will overcome.
We must remain resolute and rise above all provocations. We must continue to trust in the entire democratic process and in INEC, which has been brought under so much pressure in the last few days. Our trust can only serve to encourage the electoral body to remain steadfast and remain committed to the rule of law. 
 I wish to state strongly that our  party will not tolerate any further interference with the electoral process. The rescheduled elections of March 28thand April 11th, 2015 must be sacrosanct.
Nigeria is definitely greater than any of us, and much more important than our individual ambitions. Before us there was Nigeria, and long after we are gone there will still be Nigeria. Let  us continue to do our part to make it thegreat  country that it should be. We must rescue our dear country. God  being on our side, we shall salvage Nigeria together.
God Bless Nigeria! 
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR
Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Party, APC.
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US disappointed over postponement of Nigeria’s general elections.

The United States Secretary of State, Mr. John Kerry, has expressed ‎his disappointment over Nigeria’s decision to postpone her general elections.

Recall that the elections which were scheduled for Feb 14th to Feb 28th for the Presidency , State and Local Government elections  will now hold from March 23rd 2015 and April 11.



Kerry, who paid a visit to the country few weeks back stressed that, “Political interference with the Independent National Electoral Commission is unacceptable, and it is critical that the government do not use security concerns as a pretext for impeding the democratic process.”

He continued, “As I reaffirmed when I visited Lagos last month, we support a free, transparent, and credible electoral process in Nigeria and renew our calls on all candidates, their supporters, and Nigerian citizens to maintain calm and reject election-related violence.”

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