Washington Times Attacks Buhari over Dasuki

President Muhammadu Buhari 

   Says 'president duped US'       Presidency declines comment

Abimbola Akosile

A Washington Times report has criticised President Muhammadu Buhari over the current ordeal of former National Security Adviser Col.Sambo Dasuki (rtd) who had been under house arrest since November 4, despite a subsisting court order which granted him permission to embark on a medical trip abroad.

Dasuki who was former President Goodluck Jonathan’s National Security Adviser and served briefly in that capacity under the current government, is currently standing trial on a two-count charge of money laundering and illegal possession of firearms before a  Federal High Court in Abuja. The court however granted the former NSA, who had been on bail, permission to embark on a medical trip abroad. Operatives of the DSS however continued to lay siege to his residence thereby frustrating his travel plans.

Penultimate week, Dasuki returned to court  to report the government for refusing to allow him enforce his fundamental human rights. The Federal High Court consequently  reaffirmed its order allowing him to travel abroad for medical attention and ordered the DSS to vacate his residence - an order which the department had yet to comply with, insisting that the former NSA has questions to answer about a $2billion arms deal.

The US newspaper report  titled 'Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari Dupes the US', slammed the President for  “uttering time-worn democracy vows” during his visit to the US, where he promised “to combat graft with procedures that would be “fair, just, and scrupulously follow due process and the rule of law, as enshrined in our constitution.”

It said, “After celebrating fairness, due process, and the rule of law last July to win the goodwill of the United States, Mr. Buhari returned to Nigeria to mock all three in a vendetta against  Dasuki, the immediate past National Security Adviser.

“He placed Mr. Dasuki under house arrest. He confiscated his passport. He charged him with firearms and money laundering violations. He sought a secret trial to prevent independent scrutiny.

“He opposed Mr. Dasuki’s pretrial application to the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja for permission to receive urgent medical treatment for cancer in London, but it was nonetheless granted.

“Justice Adeniyi Ademola explained that an accused is presumed innocent before trial, and that a citizen’s health is paramount before the law. Mr. Buhari was ordered to release Mr. Dasuki’s international passport.

“Mr. Buhari defied the order. He put Mr. Dasuki’s house under siege, a microcosm of the Bosnian Serb siege of Sarajevo. Mr. Dasuki returned to court. Justice Ademola reaffirmed his order, asserting “My own orders will not be flouted.”

“Mr. Buhari has not yet budged. As a military dictator in 1985, he similarly seized the international passport of Chief Obafemi Awolowo to thwart his travel for medical treatment, which caused his death in 1987. The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Calling Dasuki’s situation an “ongoing persecution,” the Washington Times report noted disparagingly that “Members of Nigeria’s National Assembly and Senate have been reduced to playing the roles of extras in cinematic extravaganzas.”

Recalling some of the low points of the Buhari military regime in the ‘80s, the newspaper report said the era “was earmarked by chilling human rights abuses,” which it said included, “draconian edicts, exemplified by Decree 20 under which the judicial murders of Nigerian citizens Lawal Ojuolape, Bernard Ogedengbe, and Bartholomew Owoh were authorised.”

It noted that Ogedengbe was executed for a crime that did not carry the death penalty at the time it was committed in violation of the universal revulsion of EXpost facto laws.

Quoting Nobel Prize laureate Wole Soyinka, it said “these crimes were executed in defiance of pleas from virtually every sector of Nigeria and the international community—a grisly precedent for subsequent dictator Sani Abacha’s hanging of Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa in contempt of international opinion.”

It further noted that  Buhari’s brutal military dictatorship was overthrown in 1985, adding, “Mr. Dasuki played a key role. Dictators do not forget. Fast forward to today.”

Arguing that much is riding on Dasuki’s case, it said “if Mr. Buhari flouts Justice Ademola’s order with impunity, judicial independence will be fatally compromised and Nigeria’s embryonic democratic dispensation will be stillborn,” adding,  “The judiciary is the only branch capable of checking limitless executive power—the bane of Africa.”

It also said such actions could work against peaceful transfer of political power on the continent as incumbents would be afraid of being persecuted by their successors.

“President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration accepted a peaceful transfer of power to President Buhari, a laudable landmark in African politics. If Mr. Buhari is permitted with impunity to destroy his political opponents like Mr. Dasuki with tyrannical methods, peaceful transfers of power everywhere on the Continent will become problematic. The incumbents’ risk of political and personal impalement at the hands of their would-be successors will be too high.”

The report called on the United States to insist on independent human rights observers to monitor Dasuki’s prosecution and trial, and a demand that President Buhari honours his vow to follow due process and the rule of law.
“The stakes are too high to remain silent,” it added.

THISDAY could however not get response from the presidency as officials declined comments

Audu, Voters Express Satisfaction With Conduct Of Polls

Audu

THE candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Prince Abubakar Audu has expressed satisfaction with the process of the gubernatorial election in Kogi State.

The former Governor, who spoke immediately after casting his vote at his Ogbonicha country home, was accredited at about 12:18 pm and voted 1.40pm at ward 010 Ogbonicha in Ofu Local Government Area. He however expressed concern over ballot snatching in Anyigba, Etiaja and Ajetachi.

Meanwhile, the All Progressive Congress Chairman, Hadi Ametuo has described election in the Central Senatorial District of the state as peaceful, adding that the turn out was good.
“There is no cause for alarm, things are moving well and at the end of the exercise, parties will be satisfied with the arrangement. For the accreditation, card readers were working well.”

Materials arrived on time in the polling units visited in Okene, Adavi and Okehi LGAs, while accreditation started by 8am as schedule and the turn out was massive. However in some polling units in Okene town, there was low turn out, with massive security in the area to forestall breakdown of law and order.

A Youth Corps member, who spoke with our reporter at Ogboroko ward 1 polling unit, said the exercise has been very peaceful without hitches.

The candidate of the Labour party Dr. Philip Salau confirmed that the exercise was orderly, except for few polling units where he had information that card readers were not functioning and late arrival of materials.
“Before we had reliable information that a political party would jam the card readers to justify the use of manual accreditation so that they can be thumb printing the ballot papers. We petitioned INEC on this and it seems our prediction is right,” he said.

While urging the electoral body to take action on the card readers and ensure availability of materials for the election, he alleged that some people were planning to invade some polling units during voting with gun to chase away voters and be able to do the thumb printing of ballot paper.

Also speaking, the Senior Special Assistance to the Governor on Okene Local Council, Yahaya Karaku, commended INEC for early arrival of materials.
“If things continue and end the way they started, credit would go to president Muhammadu Buhari. Things are going smoothly and materials arrived on time.”

He advised the people not to resort to violence irrespective of who wins the election, but to celebrate because the era of political acrimony was over.

On his part, a chieftain of the APC Sule Abdul Kokori said the exercise is going on smoothly in the area because INEC has done their job well.
He attributed the low turn out of voters in Okene town to the fact that in the two major parties, the governorship candidates are not from the Central Senatorial District.

Gov. Wada, Wife Raise Alarm Over Faulty Card Readers

Wada

INEC Cancels Voting In One Polling Unit
THE candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Kogi State Gubernatorial election, Governor Idris Wada, has raised alarm over some clandestine moves to frustrate the election with faulty card readers.

Meanwhile, citing reported case of ballot box snatching, Kogi Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Halilu Pai, has announced the cancellation of a polling unit in Itaja Ward in the university town of Ayingba in Dekina Local Council.

According to INEC, voting was going on when some hoodlums seized the ballot box and disrupted the process. Pai assured that security agents have put the situation under control and that the disrupted process would not count.  The Governor, who spoke after his accreditation at Odu ward 1 unit 001 for which the card reader failed him and his wife, said he was surprised for card readers to be failing in an election that has witnessed high level of preparation.
“For a simple isolated election in one state in the entire country, we still have card reader incidence after INEC gave assurances that they have perfected their acts even with back up card readers. Look at the massive turn out of people they are going to be completely disenfranchised.”

The Governor, who was visibly perturbed, said at his unit, there were very few incidence forms and no photocopy machine.
“I wonder how people are going to vote. This seems to me as a deliberate effort to frustrate the entire process,” he said.
“There were incidences of people snatching of ballot boxes at Iyanyo Ward in Ibaji Local Government. I have received reports of thumb printing and ballot box snatching in Anyigba; it’s completely unwarranted in this type of election.”

He said after all the campaigns, people should be allowed to exercise their free choice even as he expressed the optimism that if the election were free and fair he would win.

Wife of the Governor Hajia Wada said, if the card reader fails to capture her and she had to fill form, it means the local people will not have any chance to vote.
“They should do whatever they need to do to let our people vote. This is our voting unit and here we have massive support. We have reports that this is what is happening all over the wards; observers have reported that this is the situation all over. We cannot allow this to happen.

Aregbesola must explain Osun’s finances now —PDP chieftain

•Aregbesola

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the party’s senatorial candidate in Osun Central in the last general election and Asiwaju of Iresiland, Dr Oluwole Oludaisi Aina, has challenged the state governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state to explain the finances of the state in the last five years, noting that the state government had been economical with the truth for too long about the state’s financial situation.

Aina, who made this position at the weekend, noted that it had become imperative for the governor to come clean about the finances of the state, following the revelation of the Federal Ministry of Finance on the September 2015 allocation, which showed that the state only had N55,874,781 million as net allocation due to the state from a total statutory allocation of N2.4 billion.

He noted that the development was not only worrisome but also called for urgent attention by all stakeholders and elders in the state, “because Osun was the only state with less than N1 billion after deductions,” saying: “Aregbesola’s consistent claims that former President Goodluck Jonathan had been withholding the state’s allocations because he was an opposition governor had all along been a blatant lie, as the publication showed that allocations accruing to Osun State for September only remained a paltry N55 million.”

“The question one would want to ask is did Jonathan instruct President MuhammaduBuhari to withhold Osun’s allocations now that APC is in power? This is the time that all Osun State’s men of reason must begin to ask questions of what Aregbesola’s government has done with our money. He should come out with the breakdown of the debts that led to the huge deductions; how much debt did the PDP government left behind and how many projects has his government embark or completed  to warrant the state having next to nothing to  take home with allocation of only N55 million. 

“At least, we know that Aregbesola has not commissioned any major projects in the state and the roads he claimed to be doing are currently abandoned. The question is how then did our state come to this sorry state?, Aina queried.

The PDP chieftain called on President Buhari to begin his anti-corruption drive from Osun State by asking questions on how Aregbesola handled the finances of the state in the last five years, noting that it would be sad to have  Aregbesola plunder Osun State and the APC government would remain silent.

Card Reader Fails Wada, Amid Large Voter Turnout

Voters during the governorship election in Kogi State…yesterday PHOTO: JOHN AKUBO

• Audu Commends Exercise
• Motorists Protest Restriction On Movement
• Group Cautions On Fake Results
STOKED by fear of violence that resulted in huge deployment of security personnel, yesterday’s gubernatorial election in Kogi State turned out eventually to be largely peaceful.

The election also drew a mammoth crowd of voters in the major test of wits between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the new opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Apathy was, however, recorded in Kogi West Senatorial District where many registered voters stayed indoors or went to their farms, as children played football on deserted streets.

Some observers attribute the lukewarm attitude to the fact that the area, populated mainly by the Yoruba-speaking people of the state, has not played leading roles in politics of the state.
Also, the Kogi State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Halilu Pai, canceled election at a polling unit in Itaja ward in Ayingba, Dekina Local Council, over an incident of ballot box snatching. Voting was ongoing when some hoodlums seized the box, disrupting the process.

Kogi State governor, Idris Wada, who is seeking re-election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) raised alarm, yesterday, after a card reader malfunctioned, as he sought accreditation.
At Odu Ward 1 Unit 001, where the device failed to authenticate him and his wife, Wada expressed disappointment that the glitch could still occur after much touted preparation by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

A visibly worried Wada, who warned that the development could disenfranchise many voters, said: “For a simple isolated election in one state in an entire country, we still have card reader incidence after INEC gave assurances that they have perfected their acts, even with back-up card readers. Look at the massive turnout of people that are going to be completely disenfranchised.”

He wondered why there were very few incidence forms and no photocopying machine at the unit, adding: “This seems to me like a deliberate effort to frustrate the entire process.”

Appraising the build up to voting, Wada said: “Most Nigerians were looking up to this election and I personally believed that the process would be free and fair, given the massive security deployment, yet we are hearing of incidences of thuggery, of people in fake military uniforms, of people snatching ballot boxes at Iyanyo Ward in Ibaji Local Government. I also received reports of thumb printing and ballot box snatching in Anyigba. It is completely unwarranted in this type of election.”
He noted that after all the campaigns, people should not now be denied freedom of choice, even as he expressed optimism that if the election is free and fair, he would win.
“The incidences I am hearing are troubling. But I will not rush to make judgment. I hope, however, that the authorities are listening and they will take immediate action because this election is a litmus test on Nigeria’s democracy,” he said.

The wife of the governor, Hajia Wada, regretted that if the card reader failed to authenticate her person, it meant many people would equally be deprived.
She said: “They (INEC) should do whatever they need to do to let our people vote. This is our unit. And, here, we have massive support. We have reports that this is what is happening all over the wards. Observers have reported that this is the situation all over. We cannot allow this to happen. Are we going to tell these people to go back home?
“These people left their homes since cock crow and yet they are stranded? The same thing happened during the presidential election. I am spending more than 10 minutes to be accredited. This is not a good omen.”

In Idah Local Government, accreditation of voters commenced at 8:45am, amid a heavy presence of security personnel in many of the polling stations.

The candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Prince Abubakar Audu, however, expressed satisfaction with the election.

Audu, who spoke shortly after casting his vote at his Ogbonicha country home, nevertheless, expressed concern over incidences of ballot snatching in Anyigba, Etiaja and Ajetachi.
He was accredited at 12.18pm and voted at 1.40pm at Ward 010, Ogbonicha, in Ofu Local Government.

Labour Party candidate, Dr. Philip Salau, said, but for malfunctioning card readers and late arrival of materials, the exercise was orderly, adding: “We had reliable information that a political party would jam the card readers to justify the use of manual accreditation, so that they can thumb print the ballot papers. We petitioned INEC on this and it seems our prediction is right.”

He said information reaching him indicated some armed persons planned to invade polling units, chase voters away and compromise the process.
As Nigerians wait anxiously for the result of the polls, the Civil Society Situation Room, a body comprising more than 60 civic groups, warned of the danger of peddling false election results online.

Ezenma Nwagwu, who is the Executive Director, Partners for Electoral Reforms, said, yesterday, that reports flying on social media are replete with deliberate falsehood, aimed at misleading the general public, and called for caution.

Meanwhile, more than a dozen trailers, yesterday, blocked the Ajaokuta-Itobe-Ayingba highway in protest, following directives by the Inspector General of Police curbing their movement.
The police, on account of the election, had advised travellers passing through Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, and other towns in the state, to suspend their journey or find alternative routes.

The action by drivers of the trailers, which included those of Dangote Cement Company, caused a sever gridlock that impeded the movement of persons on election duty. It took decisive effort by the military to force the drivers to give way.

But for few reports of card reader glitches and low turnout of voters, particularly in Kogi West Senatorial District, the election was conducted peacefully, amid very tight security.
Voting started as scheduled in almost all the polling units in the urban centres, as personnel and materials had been promptly deployed to various units the day before. There were, however, reports of lateness in commencement of voting in some rural communities.

At Iyara, headquarters of Ijumu Local Council, adhoc officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were seen collecting non-sensitive materials as at 7pm Friday evening. By 9 pm, they were conveyed to their respective units, flanked by security operatives.

According to the police, 16,000 men and women were deployed to the 21 local councils of the state. These were supported by an unspecified number of personnel drawn from agencies, like the Department of State Security, Customs and Immigration Services, as well as soldiers and men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
Voter apathy was observed in many polling units visited by The Guardian in Ijumu, Kabba/Bunu, Adavi and Lokoja Local Councils.

At Sanko Unit 003 of Odolu Ward in Kabba, only 93 voters had been accredited of the 636 registered voters, an hour to commencement of voting. As at 20 minutes to the exercise, 174 had been accredited out of 503 registered voters at Okekoko Ward, Unit 007, close to the palace of the Obaro of Kabba.
INEC Presiding Officers in the two units, Aruwayo Samuel and Blessing Obaje, expressed satisfaction with the behaviour of voters who waited patiently for commencement of the exercise, although they voiced concern over low turnout.

APC Chairman in the state, Hadi Ametuo, described the election in the Central Senatorial District of the state as peaceful.
“There is no cause for alarm; things are moving well. And at the end of the exercise, parties will be satisfied with the arrangement,” he said.
Voting materials arrived on time in the polling units visited in Okene, Adavi and Okehi Local Government. Accreditation started at 8am as scheduled, amid a massive turnout of voters. There was, however, low turnout at some polling units in Okene town.
A corps member who spoke with our reporter at Ogboroko Ward 1 unit described the exercise as very peaceful.