Is INEC Ready For Tomorrow’s Elections?, By Jibrin Ibrahim
In this column last week, I asserted confidently that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was ready to conduct the 2019 elections. It was not but should have been. It was particularly unfortunate that the Commission covered up its unpreparedness and deceived Nigerians and indeed the world that it was…
Mahmood Yakubu’s Second Chance, By Azu Ishiekwene
Last week, when I described the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, as one of the most frequently executed men on social media, I had no idea what was coming. About 48 hours later – and after weeks, if not months of repeatedly assuring the public…
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An Election Day Diary, By Ose Oyamendan
Elections are supposed to be a good thing. It’s the one time every four years that a voter can stick up his or her middle finger at the leadership and not risk getting shot by a stray bullet. It’s like one of those rare cosmic events, the one time talakawas…
The Consequences of A Second Buhari Term, By Majeed Dahiru
Going into the rescheduled 2019 presidential election in a few days, Nigerians are presented with clearly contrasting choices in the two frontline candidates. Before investing their democratic capital on either President Muhammadu Buhari of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) or Atiku Abubakar of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),…
Nigeria’s Disconcerting Electoral Cycles: Here We Go Again!, By Dele Agekameh
The postponement will cost some more than others, but we are all equally stained by the stigma of never getting it right the first time, of unnecessary delays and the domino effect of African time that may have been started by the same political parties now calling foul and demanding…
Before We Crucify the INEC Chairman Alone, By Zainab Suleiman Okino
Professor Mahmood talked of sabotage as one of the reasons for the shift. This cannot be disputed by any stretch of the imagination; he knows better because he is in the thick of things. Every group tries to court, bring down, blame, drag, and use INEC to its advantage, even…
Nigeria 2019: When Words Become Dangerous Portents, By Bámidélé Adémólá-Olátéjú
Clearly, the fear of loss, despite the denial, caused the president to misdirect his shoot at sight order will likely aid voter suppression on Saturday. Out of the fear of possible violence, most voters, especially in the South where the military are good at baring their fangs, are likely to…
Amosun’s Treasonable Mischief and Other Stories, By Louis Odion
Not until Muntader al-Zaidi’s act of suicidal daring was the world jolted to shoe-throwing as a form of Arab expression of deep social anger. Visiting President George Bush was only beginning to warm into a joint press conference with the Iraqi leader in Baghdad in the winter of 2008 when…
How Well Did We Do, Last Year?, By Uddin Ifeanyi
Unfortunately, over the years, the federal government’s guidance on the economy’s outlook has diverged from eventual outcomes in ways that have turned the former into an exercise in creative writing. The eventual outcome, as in the numbers for last year’s budget, is not so much stranger than fiction. But undiluted…
Drum Beating, Dancers Ready: Why Did Yakubu Stop the Beat?, By Festus Adedayo
It is no news that Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has postponed the presidential and National Assembly elections that were to hold yesterday. It is also no news that angers, frustration and condemnation of this decision have jammed the Nigerian electoral space. A number of contesting theories have sprung…
