Manchester United legend, Paul Scholes has backed Liverpool to challenge for the Premier League title this season.

Scholes said the Reds have six good forwards that can help them in their title race this term.

Recall that Liverpool finished in the third position on the Premier League table last season.

During a recent interaction on The Overlap Fan Debate, Scholes said:

“I think Liverpool might have something to say about the title race this year.

“When I look at their forward players, I think they have five or six good players.”

He added, “Seeing Liverpool first-hand, what a squad of players, I see very little weaknesses.

“The only one we thought about was possibly [a weakness] if Virgil van Dijk or Ibrahima Konate got injured in the centre-half position.”

[DailyPost]

The Chairman and the Convener of National Peace Committee (NPC), General Abdulsalami Abubakar and Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, have said a national stakeholders’ meeting will hold today in Abuja to discuss how to tackle the multifaceted challenges facing the country.

In a statement yesterday, the committee’s leaders said last year’s general election was marked by a renewed sense of optimism and desire for change among Nigerians.

They said the optimism was demonstrated in the number of people who registered for the elections – 93,469,008 million, compared to just 57,938,945 million registered voters in 1999.

“Nigerians believed that the 2023 elections would usher in an administration that would swiftly address the nation’s lingering socio-economic challenges.

“The preparations for the elections heightened the hopes for positive socio-economic and political change. However, the outcome of the keenly contested presidential elections amplified the regional and ethnic cleavages that have underpinned our journey of nationhood,” the statement read.

It added that the well-intentioned policy of the government to improve the lives and well-being of Nigerians is yet to meet the expectations of the citizens while the economic strain is being felt by all and sundry.

“This dire situation has fuelled frustration and discontent, culminating in the recent nationwide protests on hunger.

“The demands made during the protests reflect the deep-seated challenges facing the country and the urgent need for responsive and effective governance.

“In response to this and in line with its mandate to mediate and intervene in electoral and non-electoral matters that impact on the peace and stability of Nigeria, the NPC has decided to convene a one-day town hall meeting with critical stakeholders to discuss frankly and explore the pathways to support the government in addressing and overcoming the current socio-political and economic situation facing the country,” the statement said.

The committee said the meeting will hold today at the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) Conference Centre in Abuja.

It said: “This meeting will provide a platform for constructive dialogue and collaboration, where the concerns and aspirations of the people can be discussed, and the outcomes are presented to the government.

“It is a crucial step towards bridging the gap between the government and its citizens, ensuring that their voices are heard, and their legitimate concerns addressed.”

[TheNation]

While one can hardly tell for a fact the first Nigerian to describe their electoral loss as “a rape on democracy,” it is not strange that the expression has become a go-to metaphor for Nigerian politicians who need to process the reality that hits them at the polling stations. It is consistent with the character of our politics that people will frequently trot out the phrase, and news reporters will mindlessly reproduce it as headlines. Neither side pauses to ask why—of all possible word choices in the dictionary to capture a violation of democratic norms—they had to keep using that term.

Following the Edo governorship election on Saturday, Adamawa governor Ahmadu Fintiri described the long list of crimes (nothing new, just the usual vote-buying, overcounting and undercounting of votes, and voter intimidation) allegedly committed by the APC as a “rape of democracy.” Hours after he put out a statement, the Ondo state PDP also issued a statement where their Media and Publicity Special Adviser also described the series of untoward development that arose from the election as “another rape of democracy.”

They are not the first to reach for that word to describe an election whose outcome has been unfavorable for them. After the PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar lost his presidential election contest last year, he issued a statement decrying the contest saying, “The manipulation and fraud that attended this election was unprecedented in the history of our nation. It was, indeed, a rape of democracy.” He was not alone in capturing that election in the language of sexual violation. When the National Chairman of Labour Party, Julius Abure would condemn the outcome of the same election, he too had to say it was a “rape of Nigeria’s democracy.” And just to prove to you that Abure is a man who seriously loves the metaphor, he also noted the police disruption of the peaceful rally by Labor Party members in Ebonyi State in 2022 was “a rape of democracy.”

In case those examples are not enough, I have more to share to prove that Nigerian male politicians are stuck on rape. From Femi Gbajabiamila’s reporting the blockade of the National Assembly as a “rape of democracy” in 2018, to Osun SDP state Chairman, Dr Dele Ekunola calling the Supreme Court judgment that validated Biodun Oyebanji’s electoral victory as a “rape of democracy” 2023, to National Vice Chairman of the PDP, Eddy Olafeso, rejecting the election that Kayode Fayemi won as “a rape of democracy” 2018, to the Niger PDP officials screaming that the police’s teargassing of Ekiti governor Ayodele Fayose was “a rape on democracy” in 2018, to Fayose himself describing the Appeal Court’s ruling affirming Ali Modu Sheriff as the PDP Chairman as a “rape on democracy” 2017, the rape metaphor has become a cliché in Nigerian politics. And that is the problem. Rape is not supposed to be a platitude.

Someone might say that their use of the word is just a metaphor, yes, but rape should not be reduced to a mere analogy. Rape is a brutal crime and ought not to be turned into an everyday speak, an impotent word that Nigerian men with varying degrees of political influence cheaply pull out whenever they need to sensationalize their painful electoral experiences. By turning rape into a commonplace metaphor, they not only end up desensitizing sexual assault, but they also trivialize the impact on those who have experienced it.

The word, as metaphors are supposed to function, should conjure images of a criminal assault, but I am certain that was not what happened when you heard “rape on democracy” back-to-back on Sunday after the Edo election. It meant nothing because the word itself has been violated to death by politicians who have seized on it to account for their losses. I can bet most of those who heard politicians use the term a “rape of democracy” after a series of bad electoral outings had no visceral reaction to the word either when they heard or read it. The term has lost much of its force, no thanks to those who overuse it.

In a culture where sexual violence is not always taken seriously, where the judicial mechanisms to address the crime are barely available, these men contribute to the public desensitization of what should be a serious matter. They have probably never thought of it, but by bringing up the “rape of democracy” each time an electoral outcome does not go your way, you are turning what is essentially a matter of vile violation of another’s autonomy into an act of titillation. No matter how pained they might be that they lost an election, either because they were robbed through sheer brute force or were just not as popular as they imagined, what happened to them (and which they consciously project on “democracy”) was not a “rape.”

One also cannot entirely overlook the problematic aspect of this banalization of rape: the people glibly mouthing “rape” in all the instances I have listed are men. It makes me wonder if this is the way they think about rape. Is there some perverse underlying fantasy at play somewhere in their subconscious each time these men bring up the word to describe their experience at the polls or in the hands of some abusive authority? There is a part of me that also wonders if this subtle feminization of democracy, their seeing it as a passive and therefore violable thing, reflects a deeper psychological malaise. One cannot just assume that this is merely an issue of people speaking without reflecting on their language choices.

All of which brings me to another issue: these instances of men yelling “rape!” to characterise their bad outings during election seasons have virtually nothing to do with the culture of democracy itself. They only know that democracy and its norms are being violated when confronted with unfavorable electoral outcomes, as if democracy begins and ends with mere elections. The only time you hear complaints about a violation of democracy is when things do not go their way during an election they had wished to win, and they need to express their disappointment. If they cared so much about democracy, where do they put their voices outside elections? What are their contributions toward deepening the habit of democracy in our society? The only thing that animates them is an election. That is when they suddenly realise that democracy is being threatened and then drag out the bad metaphors to complain.

Look at Gbajabiamila, who is currently the president’s chief of staff. This was a man in whose name a journalist was recently arrested, illegally detained, and tortured for days. What was his offense? He ruffled Gbajabiamila’s small feathers with his professional report. Yet, when you saw the same Gbajabiamila talking about the “rape of democracy” some years ago, it would have been forgivable if you imagined his concerns were sincere. As soon as he got enough power, he showed he was no better.

Gbajabiamila reminds me of the clowns unleashed in the wake of last year’s election and were all over the place, yelling “fascism!” because some people online criticized the election outcome. One court jester even wrote an article comparing the Obi-dients to Mussolini. Meanwhile, before their very eyes, journalists have been detained, protesters harassed, and the security agencies—from the police to the EFCC and DSS—are going crazy. You do not hear them anymore, why? The anti-fascists are witnessing real abuse of power play out in the numbing violation of democratic norms, human rights abuse, and institutional corruption, but they are suspiciously quiet. If they care so much about democracy, should this not be their time to shine? So, why are they silent?

Social media influencer, Martins Otse, a.k.a. VeryDarkMan, has revealed that he possesses further damning evidence to support his exposé regarding Idris Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky and the voice note in which Bobrisky claimed to have served his sentence in a private apartment.

He also clarified that he had no intention of defaming human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, as suggested online.

“Now, let me tell you something even more interesting. I have another voice note to post, which I will share tomorrow, and it’s from a different person,” VeryDarkMan said in an Instagram post. “I want a thorough investigation into this matter because the EFCC was mentioned, the Comptroller General of Prisons was named, as well as Uncle Femi Falana and Falz. A deep investigation will reveal everything.”

This statement follows Falana’s denial of any involvement with Bobrisky and his issuance of a 24-hour ultimatum to VeryDarkMan to retract the statement linking him to Bobrisky.

Falana’s lawyer, in a letter to VeryDarkMan, had demanded a retraction and an apology.

The controversy began when VeryDarkMan shared a voice note in which Bobrisky claimed that, following his conviction and sentencing for the abuse of naira notes in April, his godfather, in collaboration with the Controller General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, arranged for him to serve his six-month sentence in a private apartment.

According to the voice note, Bobrisky also allegedly claimed that he had been contacted by the rapper Falz and his father, Falana, who proposed to help him secure a Federal Government pardon for a fee of ₦10 million.

However, in the letter from his lawyers demanding a retraction and apology, Falana stated: “We wish to state, without any fear of contradiction, that our client (Falana) has never, in his life, spoken to Bobrisky regarding his alleged pardon or on any matter whatsoever.”

Reacting to the letter, VeryDarkMan clarified that he never defamed the human rights lawyer, but merely expressed doubt about his alleged involvement.

He said, “First of all, I did not defame Uncle Falana, and I never will. Uncle Falana, SAN, is someone I respect 100%. I respect him not just because of his position as SAN, but because of what he has used that position to achieve—representing people like me. People like me, speak out against societal ills, the abuse of power, and influence, and the misdeeds of the government.

“How could I ever defame him? I only responded to Bobrisky’s claim that Falz connected Uncle Falana with a ₦10 million deal. What I said was that I chose not to believe Uncle Femi Falana would be associated with such a thing, and if he was, I would be disappointed because of his standing in society and what he represents.

“I had the option to cut the video where Falz was mentioned, but I didn’t because I wanted the matter to be investigated. I want a thorough investigation into this issue.

“I want a deep investigation into this case. The EFCC was named, the Comptroller General of Prisons was named, and then Uncle Femi Falana and Falz were named. A deep investigation would uncover everything, and if Bobrisky is lying, he should face the law for using someone as prominent as Uncle Falana in such a way.

“Uncle Falana, I will never defame you, and I did not defame you. Thank you very much; I still love you. You are my daddy, and I love you 100%.”

I HAD very instructive discussions with two A-list Nigerian politicians before and after the Edo State governorship election; the first being on Wednesday, three days before the poll. Both men have held positions of immense responsibility in government both at the state and federal levels.

The first politician dismissed those who believed that given the pedigree of the 18 candidates and sophistication of the Edo electorate, the odds favoured the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, as unrealistic.

He was unequivocal that the result of the election had already been written. “I don’t know why Nigerians are so naïve. Which election are they talking about? The same election which result had already been written?” he asked.

That was incredulous. I reminded him of the sophistication of the Edo electorate and how they stepped up to the plate in the 2020 governorship election. He riposted that times have changed and INEC has become more brazen, emboldened by the unscrupulousness of the new kids on the leadership block.

We left it at that. On Sunday, at exactly 2.33 pm, when INEC’s deviousness was on full parade, he sent me a text message: “I told you.”

Then, on Sunday, at exactly 9.37 am, the second politician called to lament. What he said was spine-chilling. “Have you seen what is happening in Edo? These guys have become so brazen. This is unbelievable. What this means is that anyone contesting elections in Nigeria today will be doing so at his own risk.”

None of them is from Edo State. So, they had no dog in the fight, so to speak. But as stakeholders, they were as worried as every other well-meaning Nigerian. But I am more worried now because of their present mindset.

Before now, the risk we faced as a result of the insufferable duplicity of INEC was voter apathy. Over the years, as people came to the realisation that their votes never counted, voter enthusiasm continued to wane.

Only 28.63 per cent of all eligible voters participated in the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections. That was a new low in what has become a steady decline in the turnout of voters during elections. For instance, while in 2011, voter turnout was an impressive 53.7 per cent, it dropped to 43.7 per cent in 2015 and 34.75 per cent in 2019.

After the 2023 elections, it was apparent that the voter apathy will intensify and the Edo governorship election where only about 24.49 per cent of the 2,629,025 registered voters voted has proved that. One would have thought that such embarrassing statistics will make the electoral umpire have a rethink. No! Instead of thinking of how to clamber out of the putrid hole of electoral malfeasance, the hardened enablers of electoral fraud continue to dig deeper.

Now, the consequence stares us in the face. Even politicians no longer have faith in INEC and if things remain the way they are, no credible Nigerian will waste his time and resources contesting elections again. The implication is that going forward, certificate forgers, age cheats, drug barons and sundry fraudsters will have the electoral field all to themselves.

The Edo election has confirmed something which every discerning Nigerian knows: the Mahmoud Yakubu-led INEC is not credible, with no moral fibre to conduct free, fair and credible elections.

But by this brazenness, INEC has also finally overreached itself. As the legendary Chinua Achebe said in his book, A Man of the People, Yakubu now epitomises that vile character, Josiah, the local shopkeeper, who tricked a blind beggar and stole his walking stick. As one of the villagers said: “Josiah has taken away enough for the owner to notice.” In the same vein, Yakubu and the INEC gang have crossed a line with the conduct of the Edo poll and longsuffering Nigerians have noticed.

Already, director of the Abuja school of social and political thought, Dr. Sam Amadi, has called for the disbandment of INEC as presently constituted, insisting that evidence abounds the electoral umpire was to blame for every bad election conducted in the country.

I agree in toto! And I make bold to say that the APC and its candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, didn’t win last Saturday’s Edo governorship election. What INEC did was a perpetuation of the electoral malpractice that has made Nigeria a laughing stock in the comity of democratic nations. Don’t take only my word for that. All the accredited civil society organisations, CSOs, that observed the poll have rejected the result, insisting that it lacks integrity. The problem, as it has always been the case, started at the point of result collation from the ward, local government to the state level, which contradicted the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.

A coalition of civil society groups, including Advocacy for Quality Leadership and Health Awareness Foundation; Grassroots Development and Peace Initiative; Citizens Rights and Leadership Awareness Initiative, etc., alleged on Sunday that INEC used two sets of result sheets — one used in the field and another that favoured the APC – during the collation in specific senatorial districts.

The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room and some of its accredited member organisations, including Centre for Democracy and Development, CDD-West Africa; Yiaga Africa, Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI), Nigerian Women Trust Fund, NWTF; and TAF Africa, were even more scathing in their report.

In a statement on Monday, they noted that while “the voting process was concluded in a relatively peaceful atmosphere, the results collation process in some LGAs were not peaceful and did not meet the electoral integrity standards for results management.”

Concerned that the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC guidelines on collation process were wilfully compromised, particularly in Egor, Ikpoba Okha, Oredo, Esan West and Ovia South-West LGAs, they said: “Our observation of the collation process shows that it was not transparent nor opened to representatives of the various candidates in some cases. In addition, it lacks transparency in the application of the provision of the Electoral Act and the INEC Guidelines on over-voting and cancellation of results from polling units.”

Bemoaning the over-voting that was reported from more than 370 polling units across the State, they returned a damning verdict: “It is our observation that the Edo State Governorship election 2024 failed to fulfil the requirement of the conduct of credible elections, and again, raises questions about election credibility in Nigeria. As with recent polls, INEC’s ability and willingness to conduct credible elections in Nigeria remains questionable.”

The big elephant in Nigeria’s election room has always been collation and Yakubu knows that. As a history professor, he is aware of the admonition of the late Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin, to his party apparatchik in 1923 thus: “I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this — who will count the votes, and how”, because: “Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything.”

So, the electorate voted in Edo and then INEC allowed itself to be manipulated in deciding the “winner.” What is even more worrying is the impunity. For instance, as at 8:40 am on Sunday, results from 4455 out of the 4,519 polling units where elections were held in the state – 98.58 per cent – had been successfully uploaded on the INEC Result Viewing Portal, IREV, which means that Nigerians knew as a fact who won the election. Yet, leaving its own portal, the self-same INEC had the audacity to collate results from only God knows where that was totally at variance with what is on the IREV.

Those who want to be diplomatic have called for calm, asking those holding the short end of the electoral stick to follow due process in seeking redress.

Due process would mean going to court. That will be foolhardy because it is another layer of the fraud. As Mr. Jibrin Samuel Okutepa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), noted recently, “No matter the volumes of evidence, the judiciary appears to have taken stand and seems to be siding with the people who have no regard and respect for the sovereignty of the people.”

And his advice, for me, suffices. “It is my proposal to all ‘losers’ of elections in Nigeria not to waste time and resources to file election petitions because it is easier for an elephant to go through the eyes of the needle than for anyone who was robbed of victories in our elections to get immediate remedies and electoral justice.”

If I were Asue Ighodalo, the latest victim of Nigeria’s soulless electoral mafia led by Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, I will not go to court. The matter will be settled on the streets of Edo. If that is what those inclined to being politically correct call anarchy, so be it.

I don’t think I am the only one asking the question above which doubles as the title of this piece.

And I have no doubt that even within the circle of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, there must be those who are asking similar question except that they may not have the courage to voice their opinions or the opportunity of an answer.

After months of hide and seek, former Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, made a surprise appearance at the headquarters of the anti-corruption commission on Wednesday September 18, 2024.

That was exactly five months after he was declared wanted by the agency on April 18, 2024. It was something like the “White Lion” walking into the den.

Bello showed up at a time he was no longer the topic in the face of Nigeria cascading on a litany of other political and economic galloping. Thus, his sudden appearance, which was preceded by a well-timed statement by his media office had suddenly jumped to the front pages of the news on that day. Many were anxious to know what fate would befall Bello, who, as EFCC indicated, had had his cup full over his alleged refusal to honour its invitations.

And the impression we have all had was that Bello did not want to be questioned over the alleged theft of over N80bn belonging to Kogi state.

This impression was further helped by the Chairman of the commission himself when he revealed that he once granted Bello special privilege by making his office available as an interrogation room.

“On my honour, I put a call to him to honour him as a former governor. He said, I can’t come, claiming that a certain lady has surrounded the EFCC with over 100 Journalists to embarrass or intimidate him and all that stuff. I said if that is your fear, I will make you come directly to my floor.

“I will invite my operatives to interrogate you in my own office. What could be more honourable than that? Do you know what he said? ‘ Can’t they come to my village?”

With the attention that had trailed his fiasco with the commission in about five months, not many were taken aback realising that the EFCC didn’t know what to do with a man that had been on its wanted radar, at the very critical moment when he showed up.

With Bello in its net, many had anticipated EFCC would swing into interrogations that could see the former governor spend hours, if not a whole day or more on the hot seat.

The optimism wasn’t that high for the “White Lion” to walk out of the Den the way he did on Wednesday only for the commission to renew his status as a wanted man an hour later.
In the statement released by the media office of the former governor, he had said that while submitting himself to the commission, he had expected commission officials to be as professional as possible.

To the chagrin of many, Michael was to come back a while after his first statement to say that his boss had left the EFCC office but without being interrogated.
What Happened?

It was learnt that Bello was not even allowed to enter the main office of the commission after passing through the security check let alone sit with any official of the commission for the business of interrogation to begin.

The revelation that Bello was not interrogated had caught many by surprise. And much more amazing was the decision of the EFCC to then, perhaps less than an hour after the former Governor’s exit from its office, state that he remained a wanted person.
Wanted? A man who submitted himself to your office?

As gathered from sources close to the drama, it was learnt that Bello’s manner of surrendering himself (coming with a sitting Governor to its office) was an affront and a subtle intimidation of the commission.

On the premise that the former governor had allegedly rubbished the EFCC in the almost one year that he left office, the commission believed that Bello should not come to its office accompanied with a sitting governor, hence the desire to activate its own arrest mechanism and bring him in only on its own terms.

But the argument that Bello came to the EFCC office accompanied with a governor pales into insignificance with the turn of event where operatives, that night, took its arrest mechanism to the Kogi State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja where the same governor was also supposed to be with Bello. Clips of scenes of gunshots in the neighourhood of the Kogi state lodge are not to the credit of the commission.

And that coupled with the fact that the EFCC arrest mechanism was not effective enough to bring him manacled, as one can safely guess, was the main objective?

A week after that incident, I am yet to see the logic in allowing a man accused of N80bn financial misdeeds walk away after offering you an effortless opportunity to take him in.

I have had reason to sit with the EFCC chairman once since his appointment and I must confess that the encounter gave me the impression of a man truly angered by the kleptomania that has kept this country down for decades. He beamed with the zeal to lay his knees on the necks of those bleeding Nigeria to death. Many who watched him on national televisions lecture during his screening must have come away with the same impression.

Indeed, I recall how he vowed to ensure that a former Attorney General is brought to book for many of his alleged malfeasance in office while that Minister of Justice dictated the lawful and the unlawful in this country.

But with the turn of events, Mr. Ola Olukoyede’s true friends must tell him (even if that sounds bitter) that the strategy employed in the Bello matter has not worked. If anything, it has strengthened the argument that there might just be no N80bn missing anywhere and that someone somewhere just wants the head of the “White Lion” for an evening of pepper soup and some Skelewu dance trampling on his helpless torso.

In my view, Bello’s case seems to have put out the commission in some very bad light forcing one to query the very thought processes leading to some of the actions taken so far on this case.

By my reckoning, even if the EFCC chairman has all the good intentions with his agenda, does he have the personnel to drive the vision? And by personnel, we must include whether he has around him, officials who have the courage to tell him the bitter truth especially when it comes to the commission’s operational modus operandi under him.

In the case of Yahaya Bello, could someone have, at the nick of time on September 18th, dissuaded the EFCC Chairman by telling him that sending him away uninterrogated would throw up some unsavoury backlash?

Every institutional leader needs around him, those who can speak some unpatronizing words for them to achieve their goals.

Of course, it might just be that Olukoyede is not surrounded by good advisers only, the commission has some bad eggs whose agenda are just at variance with the very objectives of the commission.

Just on Tuesday September 24th, Martins Vincent Otse, popularly called VeryDarkMan again put Olukoyede’s commission on the spotlight with his revelation and allegation that some officials took a bribe of N15m to drop the money laundering allegations against cross-dresser, Idris Okuneye (Bobrisky).

A good thing he has ordered probe and we do not know where the pendulum swings on this new development. The onus is on the accuser to prove his allegations.

But then, at a time that the odour of the Yahaya Bello arrest saga is still fresh and generating wrong vibes, the Bobrisky bribery development all adds up for something not making the optics look good.

No one is in doubt the very debilitating impacts of brazen frauds on the country. And the very reason a commission such as the EFCC would enjoy support of the civil society, anti-corruption crusading organisations and the media.

However, I doubt if Olukoyede did not leave many of those whose support he had enjoyed, wondering whether something is not going amiss. Assuming without conceding that Bello truly has helped himself with an N80bn theft, he has succeeded in boxing the EFCC into a bad corner to explain it has no other motive other than fighting corruption.

Apart from Bello, how many of the EFCC’s wanted persons would submit themselves and still be asked to go away for them to be arrested ‘properly?’ And that is why many would keep demanding answer on this case from the EFCC, what happened?

Okanlawon is the publisher NPO Reports, Lagos.

Yusuf Tuggar, minister of foreign affairs, has called for a bridging of the digital divide between developed and developing economies.

The minister made the demand on Wednesday during his address at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

Tuggar said the global community must take action-oriented measures to “reform the international financial architecture” in a bid “to promote an inclusive non-discriminatory and transparent international trading system as well as to implement comprehensive debt relief measures”.

He also sought for “strengthening of measures to ensure timely repatriation of illicit financial flows and assets”.

“Support for the actualisation and implementation of the UN secretary general’s SDGs stimulation proposal which includes a provision of $500 billion per year for the global south.

“Access to the climate loss and damage funds for the global south.

“Bridging the digital divide between the global north and south through technology sharing and capacity building, including in areas such as artificial intelligence, to ensure no one is left behind.

“It is also imperative that the international community develops measures to enhance a common understanding on cryptocurrency given its significant impact on the global economy as well as its links to transnational crimes and money laundering.

“This is especially important in Africa, where economies are most vulnerable due to historical imbalances in the international multilateral system.”

SUPPORT FOR AFRICA TO MEET SDGs

Tuggar asked the international community to lend Africa a helping hand on the SDGs.

“The SDG Index estimates that only about 16 percent of the SDG targets are on track to be achieved. We must, therefore, ensure that today’s adoption of the Pact for the Future is backed by a real willingness to fulfil outstanding commitments,” he said.

“With the remaining 84 percent of the SDG targets for 2030 yet to be achieved, countries in the global north must do more to support sustainable development in the global south.

“We are optimistic that these targets can be met if commitments are backed by action. However, in the event we fall short of achieving the SDG targets by 2030, we strongly believe that the deadline should be extended.

“The collective resolve and support of the international community could help Africa tackle regional challenges, particularly with regard to sustainable financing for SDG implementation.”

He also urged support for indigenous production and exports from Africa.

[TheCable]

I have it on good authority that the ‘West African Jollof Rice Competition’ has long been concluded at the ‘Virtual Olympics’. From available records, Nigeria took the gold medal in all the varieties. But my Ghanaian friend, Mustapha Sanah (HRH Dalun-Lana Tapha Mahamadu II) will never agree to this. Shortly before I left Abuja for Accra last week Wednesday, I sent Mustapha a message: “Just finished preparing my Jollof rice to bring for you so that you can enjoy the Nigerian delicacy.” The response from the former Northern Development and Democratic Institute (NDDI) chairman was instant: “Don’t bother with Nigerian Jollof. You are coming to Accra, the Jollof capital of Africa.”

While the online rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana as to who cooks the best Jollof rice continues, there are more pressing challenges for the two countries. That was the main takeaway from my encounter with former President John Dramani Mahama last Friday in Accra. The candidate of the main opposition National Democratic Coalition (NDC) for the December 7 election in Ghana had just returned home from campaigning and was clearly exhausted when he hosted me. But our interaction confirmed my understanding that Ghana’s coming election is very consequential for the country and sub-region. Incidentally, the election mirrors the upcoming November 5 contest in the United States. In Ghana, Mahama (who was president between 2012 and 2016) is contesting against the incumbent Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of the ruling New Patriotic Party’s (NPP). But how did I get to Ghana?

For the past three years, Mustapha has been ‘harassing’ me to visit. I missed his coronation last year when he was enskinned the Chief of Dalun by Ya-Na Abukari Mahama II. But having visited me in Abuja earlier this year, I just had to reciprocate. And the prospect of feeling the ground ahead of the December 7 presidential election provided the greater incentive for my visit. On arrival in Accra, I was received by his emissary and brother, Alhaji Kamil. By last Thursday morning, we took the one-hour flight to Tamale, the capital of Ghana’s Northern Region and the country’s third largest city, where Mustapha was waiting. Of course, our real destination was Dalun, a 25-minute drive from Tamale where I saw him hold court among his people as their paramount ruler.

It was my first time in northern Ghana which bears a number of similarities to northern Nigeria, especially in terms of culture, level of development (when compared with the south) and religion—the people are predominantly Muslim. But they do not have the kind of security challenge we grapple with in Northern Nigeria. In fact, the whole of Ghana is a relatively secure country. Before I eventually left Tamale with Mustapha, we visited the respected 88-year-old statesman and politician from the region, Alhaji Ibrahim Mahama who happens to be an uncle to the former president. A 1965 law graduate from the University of Ghana who was appointed Commissioner for Secretariats and Departments two years later, the elder Mahama is a living encyclopedia on the nation. He is also a former lawmaker, having been elected in 1969 to represent the Tamale constituency in the first parliament during Ghana’s Second Republic.

I had an interesting conversation with the witty old man, an author of three books, copies of which he autographed for me. The first, ‘History of Dagbon and Dangomba’ is about people and cultures in northern Ghana while the second, ‘The Destiny of a Horse Boy’ is an autobiography which weaves the story of his life with that of pre-independent Ghana. But perhaps the most insightful of the three books is ‘Murder of an African King: Ya-na Yakubu II’. In the book, Mahama traced the circumstances that led to the 2002 murder of a First-Class monarch in Northern Ghana. By his riveting account, the murder could be located in the attempts to subvert the rotational succession system between two branches of the Dagbon royal family: Abudu and Andani. It was the bid to manipulate the process and the ensuing palace intrigues that set in motion a train of events that eventually culminated in the murder of the monarch.

Before Mustapha and I left the elder statesman, an appointment had been sought and secured for me to see his nephew, the former president (and NDC presidential candidate) in Accra the next day. A former member of Ghana’s Parliament who had also served as a Minister, the younger Mahama was vice president when his principal, John Atta Mills died in July 2012. He thus became president the same way President Goodluck Jonathan assumed power in Nigeria in 2010. In December 2012, Mahama contested to be the president of Ghana and won. Four years later in 2016, he sought a second term and was defeated by the incumbent President Akuffo-Addo of the NPP. Although Mahama lost again in 2020, his party (NCC) took 31 parliamentary seats from the ruling NPP. With both parties winning the same number of seats (137 each) resulting in a hung parliament, the lone independent candidate, Andrew Asiamah Amoako supported the NDC candidate, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, who was elected speaker. So, while Akuffo-Addo of NPP is president, Mahama’s NDC controls the parliament. That provides the background to the coming election in December.

Meanwhile, a day before my arrival in Ghana, thousands of NDC supporters had embarked on a nationwide protest, demanding forensic audit of the country’s voter register which they claim contains significant discrepancies that could affect the outcome of the elections in December. “We have identified 50,000 dead people on the register, and the possibility of voting by proxies for these individuals in the future is very real,” the NDC director of elections, Edward Omane Boamah, claimed while seeking a parliamentary probe into the alleged discrepancies which include illegal name transfers and missing voters. Their presidential candidate shares the same view. “Many registered voters could not find their names, while others have had their names transferred without their knowledge,” Mahama himself told me last Friday.

But both the Electoral Commission (EC) chairman, Jean Adukwu Mensa and the incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo have dismissed the allegations. In a message on X (formerly Twitter) last week, the commission assured Ghanaians that its register is “robust and credible”, dismissing the opposition’s allegations as baseless. “Ignore assertions that the voters’ register is not fit for the 2024 elections,” the EC posted. Addressing a religious gathering on 29 August, President Akufo-Addo also allayed fears of manipulation. “Rigging is not part of the NPP’s DNA. We are committed to conducting the upcoming election in an atmosphere of peace and security, enforcing transparency and respect for the electoral laws of our country,” the president said. “Those bent on raising the spectre of election rigging will be disappointed.”

Mahama, of course, is taking the presidential assurance with a pinch of salt. “If the EC has nothing to hide, why are they afraid of an exercise that would guarantee transparency, especially since voters’ register has been audited before in the past? In 2016 following allegations like this, a five-man committee was established to resolve the issues,” Mahama said while arguing that the electoral body is creating doubts about its impartiality. “I was in Liberia for their election and when a similar issue arose, it was resolved with an independent audit. When there are doubts about the integrity of electoral process, an independent body is needed to resolve them.”

Notwithstanding his position on the voter register, Mahama is upbeat that he will win the December election because he believes when his record in office is contrasted with that of the current administration, Ghanaians have an easy choice to make. “Ghana has lost its position as the second largest economy in West Africa to Cote D’Ivoire. Until this administration, Ghana used to be second after Nigeria,” Mahama said while reeling out the decisions taken by the current administration that have impacted negatively on the economy. “We have a debt crisis; investors have lost the confidence in our country with many businesses either leaving Ghana for other countries or shutting down completely.”

Mahama cited the example of the cocoa industry which he said has been grossly mismanaged, leaving many of the farmers frustrated. “With their excessive borrowings, they have destroyed the cocoa industry, just as they have done with the oil and gas sector”, said Mahama. “Rather than new investment what you have now is divestment. In fact, because of the toxic environment they have created, we have the worst FDI in recent history. They keep taxing the people, while borrowing heavily. They cannot even borrow again. Ghana has one of the worst inflations in the world.”

If the situation is as bad as painted, how would Mahama govern if he wins? Change, according to him, will create a new beginning. “Our policies will encourage new businesses, restore investors’ confidence, reduce recurrent expenditure and stablise economy.” He specifically stated that he will grant incentives to revive the cocoa industry. “How can we assist farmers? Water is important so for small scale farmers, we will help with boreholes and other inputs like fertilizer.”

An interesting prelude to the election occurred last Friday at the Electoral Commission’s office where agents of all the 13 candidates (ten parties and three independents) competed for positions on the ballot paper. At the end of the lottery exercise, the ruling NPP picked the first spot for Bawumia while the main opposition NDC picked number 8 for Mahama. Trust politicians, supporters of Bawumia are already making a song and dance about their luck in picking the number one slot on the ballot paper.

However, beyond being candidate of the ruling party and current vice president, Bawumia has impeccable credentials. A former banker and author of several publications, Bawumia obtained a First-Class Honours Degree in Economics from Buckingham University, United Kingdom, a master’s degree in the same discipline from Lincoln College, Oxford before completing his doctorate in 1995 at the Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada. But Mahama (who holds a bachelor’s degree in history and a postgraduate diploma in communication studies from the University of Ghana before attending another postgraduate programme at the Institute of Social Sciences in Moscow, Soviet Union) was dismissive of his opponent during our encounter. “Bawumia was touted as the economic whiz kid. He was delivering lectures all over the place before he became vice president. Eight years later, there is nothing to show for all the talk,” says Mahama. “Since they know that the people can no longer be hoodwinked after they have messed up the economy, he is now campaigning on digitilisation, whatever that means.”

For all their challenges as a country, Ghana appears relatively stable to me, especially when compared with Nigeria that is more endowed resource wise and with a bigger economy. That is perhaps because their institutions work better—a necessary condition for the rule of law to prevail. I needled Mahama on the things he believes are still working for his country, despite the challenges he enumerated. “I think that over the years, we have succeeded in ensuring even development across the 261 districts where the presence of government is at least minimally felt in terms of basic structures like stable electricity, primary healthcare, water systems which may be boreholes etc.” he said. “There is also the school feeding systems while the Ghana Education Fund is for all tiers. I suppose those things have helped to stabilise our system and we don’t have any serious security challenge.”

Ghanaians may take those things for granted but as a Nigerian, I cannot. In most rural communities across the country today, kidnappers have driven smallholder farmers out of business, with dire implications for food security. Using $1.90 a day as threshold, as of 2023, about three million people in Ghana lived in extreme poverty. Meanwhile, within the same period, an estimated 87 million Nigerians (representing 38.9 percent) were living below the poverty line. While the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per Capita in Ghana is estimated to be $5,716, that of Nigeria is $1,109. The estimated population of Nigeria, of course, is about 232 million while that of Ghana is about 34 million. The annual population growth rate in Nigeria is 2.44 percent as compared with that of Ghana at 1.9 percent.

We can infer from the foregoing that, all factors considered, Ghana still makes better choices than we do. No matter how ‘tastier’ our jollof rice may be. With their elections devoid of blatant malpractices or violence, their system has over the past three decades produced outcomes that generally reflect the wishes of the electorate. Despite fears over the voter register by the main opposition NDC ahead of the December presidential poll, the general outlook for Ghanaian democracy seems quite bright. That, of course, does not mean that democracy has brought about the desired dividend for the average Ghanaians. Like the rest of West Africa, there is much work ahead in terms of delivering the public good. That much has been confirmed by no less a personality than the Speaker of the Ghanaian Parliament, Alban Bagbin.

Delivering the 2024 University of Ghana (UG) Alumni Lecture last Thursday evening, Bagbin lamented that even though the country enjoys a measure of political stability, democracy is yet to drastically improve the lives of the ordinary people. “The question on many of our citizens’ minds is ‘has democracy really delivered’? That is a very legitimate question,” Bagbin told his audience. “I venture to submit that the focus of the final brains behind the Constitution was to achieve political stability. If my guess is right, I must admit we have succeeded in doing just that at the expense of development. We now must move on to focus on development.”

The speaker locates most of the problems in the excessive powers of the presidency, the same issue we deal with in Nigeria.Citing as an example the recent anti-gay bill passed by Parliament which President Akuffo-Addo refused to assent, Bagbin said despite the constitutional provisions regarding separation of powers, checks and balances between and among the arms of government are being observed in the breach. “Our democracy is supposed to stand on three legs – the executive, the legislature and the judiciary – with equal powers. Yet, the framers of the Constitution created a powerful executive, to the detriment of the two other branches of government,” Bagbin lamented. “We thus run a system that stands on one strong, and two weak legs.”

I left Accra last Saturday, despite the best efforts by Mustapha to take me back to his community in northern Ghana for the 2024 Damba festival. But I yield the last word to Bagbin whose admonition for Ghana will also serve those overfed politicians who taunt Nigerians with how they would continue “eating” at public expense. Failure to address the existential challenges of the people is increasingly making military rule attractive within the sub-region, according to Bagbin. Quoting the October 2023 edition of the Economist magazine, Bagbin said: “Africans are frustrated about the sham that passes for ‘democracy’ in most countries. They are also fed up with the flimsy states that provide neither security nor prosperity.” According to Bagbin who also referenced Afrobarometer report, such sentiments are now leading to an “increasing attraction for military rule and intervention”.

That, I believe, should be a wake-up call for political leaders not only in Ghana but also across West Africa. Now, where is my plate of Jollof rice?

Ngozi Azodoh @60

Dr Ngozi Azodoh, retired Director of Health Planning, Research and Statistics at the Federal Ministry of Health, was 60 yesterday. She is to many of us at The Everlasting Arms Parish (TEAP) of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Abuja a wonderful mother, sister and friend. I can only wish her happy birthday, long life and good health.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had barely finished announcing the result of last Saturday’s Edo governorship poll when I got a call to eat the humble pie. Senator Adams Oshiomhole, the man I called a product vendor in my last article, had pulled off another big one!

Why? I had no dog in the fight. But I got the drift. I had warned that given Oshiomhole’s reputation for campaigning for candidates for whom he often ended up apologising, voters could hardly ignore the warning label on his candidate, Monday Okpebholo, and that, at any rate, if it wasn’t that in politics, crime multiplies grace, Comrade’s factory should have been sealed or closed long ago.

But he got this one, right? Okpebholo, who Oshiomhole carried on his back throughout the campaign, is now governor-elect. The Comrade is entitled to ask his critics to eat the humble pie. Fair enough. While I shop for the sugar-free variety, let’s review the poll, starting with issues we might agree on.

Powershift

Rotation or zoning is still a crucial factor in politics. The two leading parties in the contest – the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – put forward candidates from Edo Central that had not produced a governor before, except for the brief spell of Oserheimen Osunbor.

The governor-elect, Okpebholo (APC), and his rival, Asue Ighodalo (PDP), are from this senatorial district. But the Labour Party thought differently: the party put forward Olumide Akpata from Edo South, which, apart from being the home of Governor Godwin Obaseki, had also produced more governors than any other. Akpata invited the fight to his crowded backyard.

The first thing Saturday’s election taught was that Edo people wanted power to shift elsewhere. Ighodalo may not have reaped the full benefit, but the result showed that he defeated Okpebholo in Edo Central, even though he currently represents this zone in the Senate. That lesson – that zoning matters – was lost on Labour, and it paid dearly for it.

Godfather never sleeps

Godfathers matter, too. In elite circles and on TV discussion programmes, we can criticise godfathers and call them names, like I called Oshiomhole, a decorated vendor of lousy products. It doesn’t matter, as the results of the poll have shown. The election was a contest of godfathers: Oshiomhole vs. Obaseki, each with a hefty trail of other godfathers lurking in the shadows.

If godfathers didn’t matter, Obaseki wouldn’t go, like a thief in the night, accompanied by Ighodalo, to the Abuja private residence of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, his interim godfather four years ago in a desperate attempt to curry favour.

Complaining about the role of godfathers in our elections won’t change anything. Party members or their sympathisers must be prepared to put their money and energy where their mouth is. It’s a waste of time to disregard party funding and involvement in party organisation, only to complain at elections that Piper Godfathers are playing a disgusting tune. They will.

Oshiomhole has redeemed himself as a preeminent product vendor and godfather of Edo politics. He has also retired Obaseki to Afrinvest or whatever may be left of his investment company.

There’s a life lesson here, too: choose your fight. The question was not who Obaseki was fighting but who he was not fighting. He fought Oshiomhole, fought those who sheltered him from vagrancy four years ago, fought his deputy, fought relations of his deputy in the civil service, fought anyone remotely connected to Oshiomhole, fought the Palace, and fought anyone who advised him to stop fighting. Ultimately, he’ll have to deal with the echoes of what might have been – alone.

Over their dead body

There’s yet another thing the poll tells us – something the PDP may learn over its dead body: that the division in the party which snatched its cap in 2023 may behead it sooner than later. The ruling APC has had problems, especially concerning the chairman’s home troubles and the power tussle in the North Central. However, the gold for internal chaos must go to the PDP and the Labour Party.

Even though PDP governors converged on Benin during the election to present a common front, the party’s core – the governors and its National Working Committee – has been wracked by divisions. The same problem has split the Labour Party down the middle, with each party’s faction claiming to be the authentic one. On Saturday, the candidates of both parties were, strictly speaking, political orphans struggling to get to shore from the parties’ sinking boats.  

Broken

Saturday also cleared any doubts that voter apathy is an increasingly severe problem. In a state with a population of about 4.4 million and over half of them registered voters, voter turnout was 24.49 percent. We have seen this trend in virtually every election. All that happens the day after is the parties and INEC trading blame.

Until politicians restore trust and people begin to see elections as a viable means of making politicians accountable, the voter numbers will continue to drop.

To make matters worse, elections have become warfare. For example, the ratio of voters to security personnel in the Edo election was 1:11. Ultimately, voters are either overwhelmed by indifference or lethargy or discouraged by fear.

But who cares? Once the results are announced and the winner is declared, those who are displeased and have the money go to court. Voters go home, until the next cycle.

Adding up

Discrepancies between the figures on the election result viewer portal (iREV), the number of accredited voters, and what INEC finally announces remain a severe headache. The bimodal accreditation system’s whole point was to reduce significant disputes over figures and make the process more transparent.

Some progress has been made since Mike Tyson was on the voter roll, and palm kernel shells were improvised as thumbprints. Yet, it’s a considerable irony that the same system, which seemed to work well in 2020 and was praised by the PDP and independent monitors as a contributory factor for the poll’s success that year, was perhaps one of the most contentious in Saturday’s vote. INEC must get its act together.

Never say, never

And finally, we saw again on Saturday that interests are the only thing permanent in politics. And I’m not talking here about Philip Shaibu changing parties like underwear, although you would be right to cite that as a good example. I’m talking about Ighodalo and what might have been.

In case you missed it, Senator Babafemi Ojudu shared a viral message last week: Asue Ighodalo was a member of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu transition committee after he was elected Lagos State governor in 1999. In another life, Ighodalo, a dyed-in-the-wool Lagos Boy, might have been on Tinubu’s side, as Obaseki once was. What politics cannot divide does not exist.

But who knows? Never say never. If lousy product vendors can get a second – even a third – life, you never know what the future holds. As they wrote on the tail of that famous mammy wagon to Eastern Nigeria many years ago: No condition is permanent!