Controversial Victory

Peoples Democratic Party’s landslide victory in the April 19 elections generates widespread condemnation and protests by opposing political parties

By Olu Ojewale

It is certainly no fun being a winner in a hotly disputed election. Ask President George W. Bush of the United States ; President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and now, President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was recently pronounced winner of the April 19, presidential elections. Obasanjo, candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, won the election by polling 24,456,146 votes as against his main opponent, Muhammadu Buhari, presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, who received 12,710,029 votes. At a distant third was Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, who got 1,297,445 votes.

But the results have not been favourably received both at home and abroad, thereby raising the country’s political temperature. The results of governorship elections which took place same day are also hotly contested by some candidates who lost.

Taken aback by the gall opposition to the election results, which gave him another four years in office, Obasanjo was not in his element as he appeared on live telecast at 10:00 p.m. last Tuesday. Looking dull, grave, cold and unenthusiastic in his purple flowing agbada and deep brown cap with white embroidery, and constantly fidgeting with the script from which he was reading his acceptance speech. Obasanjo cut a picture of a mourner rather than that of an electoral victor. Still, he went ahead to tell Nigerians that his victory in the election was a triumph of hope. “I am, indeed, humbled by the fact that I am the people’s choice for the president and leader of Nigeria for the next four years,” he said. But there was no joy in his face as he said all those words. In fact, he looked ashened.

He had every good reason to look melancholy, and even worry. About one and half hours earlier, some members of the opposition parties led by Don Etiebet, chairman of the ANPP, had addressed a press conference to reject the results of the entire elections, citing some serious irregularities across the country. They accused the ruling PDP of manipulation, intimidation and gross electoral fraud.

Buhari, in an interview with the BBC, said elections were the most fraudulent in the history of Nigeria . He asked Obasanjo to step down otherwise he would be heading an illegitimate government after May 29.

Jerry Gana, minister of information and national orientation, warned the opposition not to overheat the system. He advised those who had grievances to go to election tribunals to seek redress and warned foreign media not to inflame the controversy surrounding the elections.

On Monday, April 21, the ANPP leadership had issued a statement saying the scale of fraud witnessed at the elections was larger than the previous National Assembly elections where there were allegations of irregularities. “Elections did not hold in several districts in the South-East and South-South and even in the few places where elections held, result sheets were not provided. Yet, INEC results showed higher voters’ turnout than the National Assembly… In several local governments, the total number exactly equated the total number of registered voters, which meant nobody died, nobody travelled and everybody voted. Surely, there must be a more ingenious way of rigging elections. Hundreds of our party men and supporters are daily being intimidated and detained around the country and many are still being held for more than 24 hours after their arrests without any charges preferred, in total disregard of the laws of the land,” Sam Nda-Isaiah, deputy director-general of the ANPP, said in the statement.

The parties were not alone in their allegations and accusations. Transition Monitoring Group, GMT, headed by Festus Okoye, a Nigerian lawyer, said the field reports of his 10,009 observers showed that voting went on smoothly, “but collation and counting of votes is largely fraudulent, especially in the South-East and in the Niger Delta.” Such a situation was pronounced in Rivers State where Obasanjo was said to have scored 92 percent of the votes cast.

International Republican Institute, IRI, US-based observer group, which covered 12 of the 36 states, reported that there were “many observed instances of obvious premeditated electoral manipulation.” The observers said they had seen ‘“under-aged, double and group voting” and that there had been “direct evidence of ballot box stuffing and gross falsification of results forms.” The group also noticed that some polling stations opened late and closed early.

The European Union, EU, team echoed similar observations in its report about the polls. “The presidential and a number of gubernatorial (governorship) elections were marred by serious irregularities and fraud in certain number of states, minimum standards for democratic elections were not met. The observers witnessed and obtained evidence of widespread election fraud in 13 states,” the observer team said in a statement. The group said the anomalies were found in Anambra, Benue, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Kaduna, Katsina and Nasarawa. The observers, however, commended the electoral process in the South-West.

The Commonwealth observer group, on the other hand, commended the whole electoral process across the nation. “From the reports of our team, we know that in most of Nigeria a genuine and largely successful effort was made to enable the people to vote freely,” the observers said in a statement.

The Media Monitoring Group of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, and Guild of Editors, NGE, said it was pleased with the conduct of both the presidential and governorship elections. The MMG’s statement signed by Smart Adeyemi and Remi Oyo, presidents of NUJ and NGE, respectively, said that although the conduct of the elections was peaceful and orderly, there were reports of irregularities, intimidation of voters and occasionally, fracas in some states. 

Indeed, Newswatch reporters who visited some of the areas in Edo and Delta states reported that the elections were anything but free. They were marked with irregularities and outright rigging. There were incidences of double and under-aged voting, intimidation of political opponents at some of the wards in the states, squabbles between INEC officials and party agents on one hand and between different agents of the parties over complaints that PDP and INEC officials were telling voters where to vote.

In some areas, INEC did not hold elections at all and the officials failed to arrive on time with voting materials in other places. Elections were peaceful in all the areas monitored although there were poor voter turn-out in areas where violence claimed three lives during the National Assembly election in Edo State . They include Ward 1, Trade Fair and Ogbebuya polling stations in Benin City .

Voting started on time in some areas in Ward 2 of Oredo Local Government such as Ebenezer Primary School and George Idah Model Primary School, G.R.A, Oredo Local Government, where Lucky Igbinedion, the state governor voted. At the Anglican Girls’ Grammar School, Ugbor Road and Itohar Grammar School , voting did not start when Newswatch left the area.

Igbinedion, unlike his counterpart in Delta State , queued for about 10 minutes before voting with his wife. Igbinedion entrusted the job of speaking to the press after he voted to his wife who described the process as peaceful and orderly. He, however, stayed behind after voting for some minutes discussing with friends whereas Ibori left immediately with his wife after he voted and talked to the press.

Later in the day, when Newswatch returned to the place, where Igbinedion voted, it witnessed verbal hot exchanges between Elliot Nworgu, divisional police officer, and two ANPP party agents. Nworgu explained that the policemen on duty patrol called to report that one of the party agents refused to sign the papers. “The ANPP party officials at the Akenzua Primary School refused to participate in the counting of the votes and signing the returning officer’s books,” he said. He alleged that the ANPP officials left the voting venue when it was nearing 3:00 p.m. only to return to say they would not participate in the counting of the votes.

But Leonard Isiakponah and his partner, the accused ANPP agents, told Newswatch that election was going on peacefully when suddenly some strange people drove in two cars – 504 and 505 Peugeot cars - with a mobile police officer accompanying them. “They grabbed Omorogbe. They were asking of the other party agents. Then somebody pointed at me that I was a party agent. The unarmed security agents at the polling booth looked on while we were led away by about seven people. The policemen that came with them ordered that we should go into the car. Both of us were forced into the car and they drove us away,” Isiakponah said.

He said the security men refused to tell them their offence or where they were taking them to. “They took us to Oko village, next village to Iriri and dropped us there. But while we were inside the car they were threatening us that they were going to take us to the police commissioner after which they would take us to Abuja . We didn’t answer them. We were calm. They said that we were disturbing the government of the day. Finally, they dropped us in Oko. We took transport back to the election venue,” he said. By the time they got back after 30 minutes, there was chaos at the polling station and it was getting to 3:00 p.m. , he said, adding that some of the police officers at the polling station asked where they had been taken to. The INEC officials, the police officers and other party agents at the polling station then tried to persuade them to participate in counting of the votes cast. “We refused. We decided to come and report to INEC officials here. They told us to stand by till the returning officer comes with the ballot box,” Isiakponah said. 

One of the police officials at the poll station told Newswatch that the two ANPP party agents did not raise alarm when they were being led away to draw their attention to the fact that they were led away by unknown persons.

Newswatch found that the irregularities in Edo State were a child’s play when compared to the brazen manipulation of the electoral process in Delta State . For instance, at Ogharanefe Town Hall , Ward 8 in Delta, where election was said to have started early, there was disorderliness, touts pretending to be party officials were seen guiding voters on who to vote for in front of INEC officials. When Newswatch drew the attention of the police and INEC officials to the irregularities, the policeman replied that it was not his job to ensure orderliness at the polling station but that of the INEC. When confronted, the INEC presiding officer denied knowledge of any act of irregularities. It was only after Newswatch called her attention to the disorderliness and fraudulent practices that the INEC officials started urging people to behave.

There were no elections in Wards 10 and 11 in Sapele, Delta State . There, Newswatch reporter ran into restive youths who were protesting that INEC did not conduct elections. The aggrieved youths alleged that when the officials arrived at their station they came with fake voting materials, which the electorate rejected. The rejection forced the INEC officials to go back with the materials and never returned, thus prompting the angry youths to the streets in protest.

Felix Ubokan, a councillorship candidate in the area, told Newswatch that the INEC officials brought the ballot box around 11:00 in the morning. “We discovered that most of them were fake. In Ward 11, Sapele, we detected that the ballot box was fake. We asked them to return it. For now, no election has taken place in the ward. In Ward 10 they came with ballot papers, which were not real. Our boys interrogated them and they said they would return with another one,” Ubokan said.

Anthony Iteni, an AD agent, told Newswatch that throughout Sapele Local Government no election held even though Newswatch found out it held in some places. The process was, however, manipulated. Iteni insisted that PDP rigged the election in the state and called for a cancellation of the elections.

Newswatch crew was nearly manhandled by the angry youths who accused Newswatch reporter of being a representative of the governor but for the timely arrival of some policemen who said they were watching pipelines against being vandalised. One of the policemen, who also prevented the youths from molesting motorists along Sapele-Warri Road , confirmed to Newswatch that there was serious problem in Wards 10 and 11.  “There is big, big problem here. PDP brought fake ballot papers here, we saw it. We have seen it,” he said.

But in Ward 9 in Sapele, voting that started around 10:00 a.m. ended before 12.30 p.m. clearly two and a half hours ahead of the scheduled 3:00 p.m. when all elections were supposed to end. Some voters in the area said they did not come out to vote for fear of being forced to vote somebody they didn’t want.

Ibori assured Newswatch that all the irregularities that were observed would be eliminated in the next election.

After he was declared winner, Ibori assured Deltans of his full commitment to unity and development of the state. “This victory is an honour bestowed on me by Deltans, and it is also a concrete expression of their confidence in my determination to accelerate our collective strive for the good things of life. It is a call to greater service and I assure them that I will rise to the challenge,” he said.   

Generally, in Rivers State the April 19 elections were peaceful in the urban cities, but the rural areas were mired in terrorism, rigging and violence by party thugs that acted as monitors. There were also reports of shortage of electoral materials.

For instance, Lumene Bangha, in Khana Council, Jessey Nyodee, the returning officer, told Newswatch that INEC did not issue enough electoral materials. He said shortage of materials disenfranchised many intended voters. Castro Neeka Nwiakoro, ANPP chairmanship candidate for Khana Local Government Area, said electoral materials were issued without result sheets. He said no presiding officer was given any result sheets. He also accused the law enforcement agencies deployed for the polls of colluding to rig in favour of PDP.

In Abua Local Government Area of the state, two ANPP supporters were accused of abducting the PDP chairman in the area to unknown destination. The chairman was accused of rigging the election.

Contrary to some reports, Gabriel Toby, the deputy governor, said the elections were hitch-free and had paved positive way for electorate to exhibit maturity.

In Bayelsa State , no fewer than eight persons were killed in the electoral violence, which rocked Bassambiri in Nembe Local Government Area. The violence was said to have been caused by supporters of PDP and UNPP over disagreement on electoral issues. The police arrested Nimi Dambo, commissioner for agriculture, for his alleged role in the mayhem. Three of those who sustained injuries in the fracas were taken to the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Yenagoa, for treatment.

Akwa Ibom State was not left out of the violence. In Itak community, about nine kilometres from Uyo, the state capital, Emmanuel Etuk, a chieftain of the PDP was reportedly beaten for allegedly making away with a ballot box. There was no election in Abak Local Government. Rather, what was witnessed were sporadic gunshots which scared away voters from polling centres.

Hired thugs had a field day in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area where two persons were reportedly killed. At Obot-Akara Local Government Area, the home of Chris Ekpenyong, the deputy governor, there was an exchange of gunshots between ANPP and PDP supporters. Ekpenyong was accused of sponsoring the shooting, but he denied it.

In places like Itu, Eket, Etinan, Ukanafun and Nsit Ibom, politicians distributed money to voters to facilitate their victory at the polls. And in Ikot Ekpene, Essien Udium, Nsit Atai, Oruk Anam and Ikot Abasi local government areas the elections were marked by general apathy as the electorate boycotted the polls because of an alleged plan to rig in favour of the incumbent PDP governor. That made it easy for officials of INEC in the council to merely submit doctored results.

Opponents of Victor Attah, incumbent governor, accused him of using the state machinery to rig the elections in his party’s favour. Elections were alleged not held in some places. Such places were in Etim Ekpo Local Government, Nsit Ubium and Ukanafun. An ANPP agent alleged that ballot boxes were seen in the residence of a former council chairman for Etim Ekpo. Ime Umanah, wealthy businessman and candidate of the ANPP; Idongesit Nkanga, retired air commodore and former military administrator of the state; Ekeng Anamdu of UNPP; Mandu Ekpo, APGA and Martin Ikpe, AD, were governorship candidates in the elections.

Umanah condemned the conduct of the elections and rejected the results. He alleged that the PDP used crooked means to ensure that ANPP lost in its strongholds. He said elections were not held in Etim Ekpo, Oruk Anam and in Ini council areas. He has no plan to challenge the results in court, but wants his party to decide whether to continue with the rest of the elections.

A statement signed by Ekpenyong Ntikim, ANPP chairman in the state, alleged that the election was characterised by violence and irregularities. “A fraction of these violence and malpractices were personally witnessed by the resident commissioner when he toured some local government areas including Etim Ekpo,” the statement said.

In the result, declared by Abdullahi Muhammad, resident electoral commissioner for the state, Attah polled 1,028,764 to defeat Umanah, who polled 197,369 votes and Nkanga, who polled 109,503 votes. Mohammad said apart from a few hitches, the elections were generally free and fair. He commended the candidates for their courage to participate in the exercise and urged the people of the state to abide by the declared results.

Few minutes after the INEC boss announced the results many government officials trooped to the Government House along Wellington Bassey Way , to celebrate with Attah. The governor told journalists that he would use the second term to consolidate on his programmes. He also promised to extend hands of friendship to the opposition to build the state together.

Achike Udenwa, governor of Imo State , was full of smiles when Ignatius Umunna, secretary to the government, gave him news of his re-election last week. Umunna had sat with officials of the INEC in Owerri, the state capital, throughout Sunday, April 20, as he waited for the results compiled from various local governments in the state.

Garba Bawa, the resident electoral commissioner, announced that Udenwa, the PDP candidate, scored a total of 695,445 votes to win the governorship race. His closest rival, Ezekiel Izuogu of APGA polled 142,923 votes.  He was followed closely by Humphrey Anumudu, the ANPP candidate who came third with 101,192 votes.  Hope Uzodimna, AD scored 33,578, Emeka Nwajiuba, NDP, secured 55,395 while Alex Mbakwe of PSP scored 1,532.

Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, co-ordinator of the Obasanjo/Atiku Campaign Organisation in the South-East, described PDP’s success in the state and the South-East in general as a result of hardwork and solid party structure in the state. Iwuanyanwu, who addressed the press after the election explained also that the Igbo knew that any party that has tribal character would not win at the centre, hence their choice of PDP that was national in outlook and character.

But many indigenes of the state were not happy with the election results. Many who spoke to Newswatch in Owerri said the results did not represent the wishes and aspirations of the people. John Njoku, a retired civil servant, told Newswatch that he did not vote for Udenwa whom he described as one of the worst governors in the country today. He said a cross-section of the people he spoke with in his ward, in Enyiogugu, Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of the state did not vote for the governor. But he was not surprised about Udenwa’s victory either because of widespread manipulation of the electoral process.

Njoku accused the state government of colluding with INEC officials to manipulate the polls. “There were warnings from government agents to the rural men and women, in various places to be careful, and that soldiers and police will arrest, detain, and even kill whoever misbehaved. At the election booths, people saw gun-welding touts staring at them very angrily and many stayed away. At the collation centres, non-PDP officials were harassed and even prevented from monitoring what went on. Many boxes also changed hands and so, the PDP and officials of the state government had total control and inflated figures as much as they wished,” he said.

The majority of people, who felt angry at the malpractices also exhibited their anger in many other parts of the state. In Ahiazu Mbaise area, aggrieved youths burnt the local government secretariat in Afor-Oru to vent their anger over the alleged electoral manipulations and for shooting of an APGA official in the area, allegedly by an official of the LCA, said to be working for the PDP.

In the neighbouring Abo-Mbaise LGA, angry youths also burnt the INEC office at Ekenguru. In Nkwogwu Nguru too, youths angry over irregularities at the polls caught a vehicle loaded with ballot papers, seized the papers and destroyed them, turned the vehicle upside down and vandalised it.

None of the other parties that contested the governorship and presidential elections in Imo State has accepted the results. Newswatch leant that Izuogu and Anumudu were planning to challenge the result at the election tribunal.

Oppositions were planning similar action in Anambra State last week. Newswatch learnt that Peter Obi, candidate of APGA, was having meetings with George Moghalu, the ANPP candidate, on modalities for putting up a joint platform to challenge the election of Chris Ngige, as governor of the state.  In the results announced by INEC in Awka, capital of the state, Ngige, the PDP candidate, was declared winner with 452,820 votes.  Obi placed second with 279,647 votes and was followed by Moghalu, who scored 71,216 votes. Obinna Uzoh, candidate of the NDP who also lost was being wooed also to join in the upcoming legal war against Ngige.

Newswatch learnt, however, that Uzoh was yet to accede to join the group at press time. Chinwoke Mbadinuju, the incumbent governor who contested on the platform of AD came fourth with 45,490 votes.

All the other contestants were unanimous in their condemnation of the elections, which produced Ngige. They separately alleged that the elections were neither free nor fair. Among others, they alleged widespread manipulation and inflation of figures to suit the PDP candidate.

Peter Okeke, an official of APGA, used the results from Ihiala LGA containing 20 wards to illustrate what happened. Total votes cast here, as recorded by Afam Ofomaa, the INEC collating officer, was 53,625. The document, shown to Newswatch, did not show total number of registered voters. But it contained mutilated figures, some of which were cancelled and re-written thrice. In Amamu Ward I, where Uzoh, the NDP candidate voted, AD scored 222, NDP 1,382 and PDP 655.

Okeke told Newswatch that PDP did not score 655 but 55 and that the collating officer merely added the figure “six” in front of “55” to read 655.   “That has been in vogue in almost all parts of the state and there is nothing you can do about it because the PDP was supported by police and armed military men who took orders only from PDP officials,” he said.

Obinna Modebe, an NDP official, who supervised election in Anambra East LGA, had a similar experience to share with Newswatch. He said there was no election in most parts of the local governments but that INEC officials allowed PDP to inflate figures which suited them.  He cited example with what happened in Umuleri area of the LGA. “I started with Ward I in Umuleri and went around the 12 polling centres in the vicinity.  No election took place and no INEC official was in sight at any polling booth.  I saw soldiers, in a truck, with arms that paraded the area.  But I saw PDP officials whom I know, stationed at a nearby hill top where they were compiling the results which was later sent to INEC collating centre in Umuleri. I attempted entering the collation centre but was prevented by a fierce-looking mobile police officer from entering. This is a place where PDP officials had access too. The process is flawed against other parties,” he said.  

In Cross River State, Donald Duke received 1,193,290 votes to defeat Akpang Obi-Odu, candidate of the NDP, who polled 32,127 votes. Although John Okpa, Duke’s deputy who resigned his appointment to contest the elections under the platform of the ANPP was disqualified from contesting the elections 24 hours to the contest, some 7,567 votes were recorded for him.

Okpa was disqualified by a Calabar high court April 17, for his alleged indictment by a panel the state government set up to investigate allegations that he pocketed some N2 million he was given to furnish his office. The case was said to have been a ploy to disqualify him for the job.

Duke assured the people that he would use his second term to strengthen his programmes. “We will use it to correct our weaknesses in education, agriculture, internal security among others.” He advocated for a one-term period of six years for governors and seven years for president.

The gubernatorial and presidential elections in Cross River were not as violent as that of the National Assembly of the previous week. But the ANPP and the NDP have protested the conduct of the elections and the results.

The victory of Joshua Chibi Dariye, governor of Plateau State, in the election is one of the greatest surprises of the present civilian-to-civilian transition. Dariye has had a woeful outing in his current tenure of four years. The tenure has been marred by religious and ethnic crises on a scale never witnessed before in the state. The crisis was heightened by an unpopular appointment made by Dariye at the state’s agency for poverty reduction. The result was an ethno-religious crisis which enveloped the entire state for several weeks in which more than a 100 lives were lost, properties worth million of naira burnt. The popular Terminus Market, one of the best of such edifices in the country was also burnt in circumstances, which shocked the people of the state.

Apart from that, there are no meaningful projects to the administration’s credit. Several public utilities, including public water system suffered neglect. Workers suffered untold hardship as a result non-payment of salaries.

Dariye had entered the race for his re-election an unpopular candidate. But at the count of the votes, he was declared winner to the surprise of the people of the state.

Despite his low rating, Dariye showed great determination to win and worked very hard for it. He campaigned vigorously, using appointments, creation of new chiefdoms and money to facilitate his election. A source told Newswatch that Dariye made personal contacts with religious and community leaders in his drive for votes. Until the eve of the governorship elections of April 19, Dariye still went round, making personal contacts. But in most cases, he was rebuffed.

One such incident occurred at the Central Mosque in Jos on April 18. Dariye, who had reasoned that he needed the support of the Muslim population to win in Jos North Local Government Area was alleged to have sent N4 million to the mosque. The money arrived during the Jumat prayers of that day. But leaders of the group rejected the money, vowing to teach him a lesson at the polls.

Everywhere, the mood was against Dariye, even until the day of polling. James Pam, a businessman, told Newswatch at an Ungwan Ciroma polling station near Tina Junction in the Jos metropolis that the election was an opportunity to vote for peace. He said Dariye’s tenure had robbed Plateau of its reputation of a peaceful state, noting that Jonah Jang, a retired naval commodore and governorship candidate of the ANPP was more preferred.

Pam spoke the minds of many indigenes and non-indigenes of Plateau State who voted in the elections of April 19. Jang, who was defeated by Dariye at the primary stages of the Plateau State governorship contest in 1998 had another opportunity recently. But he contested on the ticket of ANPP when it became obvious that Dariye would not let go the PDP machinery in the state, which he had firmly secured.

Jang’s greatest undoing was Damishi Sango, former minister of sports who ran the governorship race on the ticket of Alliance for Democracy, AD. Sango was the least popular of the three front runners in the race. When it became clear that neither Jang nor Sango would beat Dariye in the race, some political leaders approached Sango to drop out of the race under an agreement, which would brighten the prospects of Jang. Sources told Newswatch that Sango declined, arguing that such a step would amount to a betrayal of his supporters.

The conduct of the elections was generally peaceful in Plateau. There were fears at the beginning, given the recent history of ethno-religious violence in the state. A combined team of soldiers and armed policemen provided security cover for the elections and cars were thoroughly searched.

At Jenta Adamu, some voters had completed voting as early as 9:00 a.m. and retired to nearby burukutu joint - a local liquor for which the Biron, the major ethnic group in the state prepare very well.

Even though voting started early, it did not end at 3:00 p.m. as demanded by INEC. In most places in Jos, voting did not end until 6:00 p.m. Abdullahi Musa, an electoral officer told Newswatch that the state recorded a far higher turn-out of voters than it did in the National Assembly elections, blaming the delay in ending the polling on this development.

Abubakar Audu, governor of Kogi State, was far from his usual boisterous self on the evening of Sunday, April 20.  He withdrew into the inner recess of his palatial mansion in Government House, Lokoja, and was in a sober mood, unwilling to see or talk to anybody. Contrary to his widely reported boast that his men and his party, ANPP, would be in power in the state for the next 25 years, he was humbled during the governorship election by Ibrahim Idris of the PDP who polled 469, 942 as against Audu’s 293, 089. He had waited with baited breath at his residence for the results of the election. When the results were announced on the Nigeria Television Authority, NTA, Lokoja, he was thrown off balance. Newswatch learnt that Audu immediately decided to leave for Ogbonicha, his village. Another surprise awaited him at the gate of Government House.

Within 10 minutes of announcing the result of the election, hundreds of residents of Lokoja trooped to the Government House and barricaded it, demanding that Audu should pack his bags and quit immediately as he had been voted out. That put paid to his planned escape to Ogbonicha. It took the intervention of the police, officials of INEC and PDP who appealed to the crowd to go home. The crowd then spilled onto the streets of Lokoja, in different directions singing victory songs and pouring abuses on Audu. Tunde Ogbeha, a senator representing the Kogi West senatorial district who won his re-election, led a group of his supporters to celebrate the victory of his party in the governorship election. He drove round Lokoja in an open vehicle and long convoy of cars singing victory songs.

John Odawnu, chairman of PDP in the state appealed to his party supporters to desist from violence as they celebrated the defeat of Audu. Zakari Momoh, a resident of Lokoja told Newswatch that he and the others were celebrating the fall of Audu because he had over-stayed his welcome. Momoh and scores of the jubilant residents pulled down all the billboards and other outdoor campaign materials of Audu conspicuously displayed at major road intersections in Lokoja. They made a bonfire of what was left of Audu’s campaign materials and stayed awake all night. The story was the same in all the major towns in the state.

Audu’s strategy for the election was also said to have worked against him. His action plan was hinged on a central plot called “operation deliver your ward.” By this, all the permanent secretaries, heads of parastatals and directors were given N100,000, N50,000 and N30, 000, respectively to deliver their wards. But Newswatch learnt that rather than give the money out to prospective voters, Audu’s men pocketed the money. A source that refused to be mentioned told Newswatch that for long permanent secretaries, heads of parastatals and directors in the various ministries had operated without imprest account. “They now saw this as easy money which they put in their pockets and simply stayed at home. I can confirm to you that even his commissioners who got more money won’t vote for him,” the source said.

A source told Newswatch that even members of Audu’s cabinet were known not to have voted for him because he often humiliated them publicly with verbal insults and open chastisement. He was said not to allow his commissioners to approve contracts beyond N500,000. They were known to prostrate to him before having their way or their say, or even coming close to him.

Andrew Adah, the chairman of Kogi State Primary Education Board, SPEB, turned desperate at Agbeji on election day when he observed that the voting pattern at the two polling units in the town was going against his party, ANPP. Newswatch learnt at Agbeji that Adah allegedly engaged the services of thugs to disrupt the voting. In protest, members of PDP grabbed one of the ballot boxes and headed to the police station where the votes were eventually counted.

Isa Edime, chairman, publicity and public affairs of the Idris’ campaign team confirmed to Newswatch that thugs were also used to disrupt voting in Anyigba and Ochaja. 

Since his election, Idris has savored his victory. He attributed his victory to divine intervention. “I believe it is not my making. It is God that made it possible. All I did was to work very hard towards it. I thank God for it. I also thank the entire people of Kogi State for the confidence they have reposed in our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and me. The entire party and I will work very hard to justify the overwhelming love the people showed in voting me and the party into power,” Idris told Newswatch.

But there was no happy end for the elections in some parts of Benue State. Although the election was hitch-free in many areas, the zone A senatorial district turned bloody when violence erupted in the area. Eighteen people including the daughter of James Azape, second class chief in Kwande, were killed in Adikpo, headquarters of Kwande Local Government Area by armed soldiers who were deployed in the area for peace-keeping.  Property worth millions of naira belonging to members of PDP were also destroyed. Zone A senatorial district, made up of Kwande, Konshisha, Kastina-Ala, Ukum, Logo, Ushongo, Vandeikya local government areas is also the stronghold of Paul Unongo, the ANPP gubernatorial candidate. Unongo is from Kwande Local Government area of Benue State.

Newswatch learnt that the soldiers were invited to the area by Emmanuel Ashongu, transition chairman of Kwande Local Government Area, following crisis in the area on April 19. The crisis led to the torching of houses belonging to Basil Kwembe, a retired colonel; Ason Bur, former deputy governor; Hilary Ikima, a permanent secretary in the Akume administration. A Mercedes Benz car belonging to Margaret Gom was burnt by political opponents.

A source told Newswatch in Adikpo that the soldiers opened fire on the defenceless civilians at about 5:00 p.m. well after the voting process was over and the people had poured into the streets in celebration of what they said was victory for them. As the soldiers passed by, the source said the crowed jeered at them.  Infuriated by this, the soldiers opened fire on the crowd.

But another source told Newswatch that the youths had mounted roadblocks preventing free flow of traffic in and around Adikpo town. And that when the soldiers arrived, they directed the youths to dismantle the roadblocks to no avail as the youths remained defiant.

After a defiant posture by the youths, the source said the soldiers, under the command of  J.C Uzogwe, for fear of being disarmed, opened fire, killing 12 people on the spot while six later died in the hospital.

Unongo, in a statement on April 20, said the pre-emptive attacks by men of the 72 Air Borne Battalion, in Katsina –Ala, Logo and Ukum destroyed lives and created panic, which totally demoralised people.

He said he had no faith or confidence in the election where the governor of the state who is also the candidate for the same office and his agents, had massively pre-voted, through the assistance of the resident electoral commissioner and the military.

“I am unable to continue to accept the concocted results of election, which has been marred by massive rigging, extensive military-inflicted violence, extensive killing of my supporters, the destruction of valid ballots, intimidation and extreme harassment.” Unongo said.

In Kano metropolis on Saturday, April 19, two features were easily noticeable – the intimidating presence of security personnel made up mainly of armed soldiers and policemen who were complemented by men of the Road Safety, Customs and Immigrations. The second feature was the mass of human beings who thronged each of the voting centres to cast their votes in the presidential and governorship elections.

With a voter population of more than 4.2 million people and their infectious support for Buhari, Kano State was tipped as one of the trouble spots for the elections. To check the possible eruption of violence in the state, the Federal Government was said to have started the process of militarising the state as early as April 16, when stern-looking soldiers were off-loaded at violent-prone areas of the state.

For Rabiu Kwankwaso, the state governor, it was obvious that the influence of Buhari was going to cost him his seat if he did not work extra hard to shore up his support base. This, he did by cutting deals, with his opponents and muscling those who refused to play games with him.

A source told Newswatch that the governor struck a quick alliance with Ibrahim Al-Amin, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party, PRP. Amin had emerged as the closest challenger to Kwankwaso but the National Assembly election of the previous week showed that the Buhari factor was capable of enthroning Ibrahim Shekarau, the ANPP candidate, as the new governor.

The Kwankwaso/Al-Amin accord, brokered by Mohammed Abacha, son of late Sani Abacha, former Nigerian military ruler, was not only aimed at stopping Shekarau from winning in Kano, but also to shore up Obasanjo’s support base there. In return, according to the source, Al-Amin was tipped for a federal appointment as a minister of state. The PRP chairman in the state would also bag a commissionership job if Kwankwaso returned.

To make this possible, Al-Amin was to ask his supporters to cast their votes for Obasanjo and Kwankwaso, though he did not officially step down from the race. Part of the deal, the source said, included complete freedom for Mohammed Abacha from any further harassment from the Federal Government’s security agents. To give the deal the seal of authority and credibility, Anthony Anenih, former minister of works and housing as well as Obasanjo’s re-election campaign co-ordinator, flew into Kano, Wednesday, April 16, to preside over a meeting that lasted till 2:00 a.m. the following day. It was at that meeting, held in Government House, Kano, that both parties signed the agreement. Added to the pact with Al-Amin and the Abacha family, Kwankwaso enjoyed tremendous support from non-indigenes in the state who are predominantly in the Sabon Gari, a constituency that boasts of more than 100,000 voters.

To make assurance of victory doubly sure, Kwankwaso embarked on muscling the opposition ANPP through the use of the police. Kabiru Mohammed, the party’s state chairman and Ahmed Ibrahim Babankowa, a retired commissioner of police and chieftain of the party, were arrested and clamped into detention on Friday, April 18.

Their offence was that they had addressed a press conference a day before alleging that ballot papers meant for the April 19, elections, were already being sold in the open market in Kano. They displayed samples of booklets of the said ballot papers, which they claimed they also bought.

They also leaked a letter, purportedly written by the governor, directing that police authorities in the state should be given N5 million, the INEC N10 million and another N5 million to be shared among divisional police officers, DPO, in the 44 local government areas of the state.

Both men were detained on the orders of the state police commissioner who said the letter was a forged document. He also wanted the ANPP chieftains to show the police, where they bought the ballot papers. As this was not done, they remained in detention while election took place.

Shekarau was, however, not overwhelmed by the plotting of his opponents in the race. He too moved fast to consolidate some alliances with major political power-brokers in the state, among who were the Ulamas, Islamic clerics, and some fringe parties like the PSP and United Nigeria Peoples Party, UNPP.

The Buhari fever nevertheless, propelled the ANPP to victory, irrespective of Kwankwaso’s numerous achievements in the last four years.

Saminu Turaki, incumbent governor of Jigawa State and candidate of ANPP, remains a force in that rural state. Prior to the last elections, the governor was alleged to have engaged a number of people in the state in some arms-twisting deals aimed at returning him into office. A source in the state told Newswatch that the governor doled out N100,000 each to the state’s civil servants.

The money was said to be an inducement to the workers who in turn, would cast their votes for him. To make the offer irresistible, the governor was said to have told the workers that the money was a form of loan which would be converted to a gift if he was re-elected. But if he lost the election, the loan would be repaid with immediate effect.

The traditional chiefs were not left out of the deal. They were warned to work for Turaki’s re-election or have themselves to blame if he lost. All these were, however, a child’s play when compared to the electoral fraud which the governor allegedly engaged in on election day. As early as 6:00 a.m. Turaki was said to have gone to Gannza, headquarters of Buji Local Government Area where he allegedly locked himself up at the secretariat and stuffed the ballot boxes with thumb-printed.

The report got to Sule Lamido, minister of external affairs, who immediately dispatched his men, including a team of policemen, to the local government secretariat. On getting there, the men confirmed that the governor was sighted inside doing his thing. When he noticed their presence, Turaki ordered the ballot boxes to be loaded into a waiting vehicle (a bus) and fled with them. He, however, left Kabiru Ali, Jigawa State head of service, behind. The report was formally lodged with both the INEC and police in the state. Reactions of leaders of the two Federal Government institutions were more astonishing than the fraud itself.

At the INEC office in Dutse, Zakari Ishiaku, the Commission’s administrative secretary, almost declared war against Falalu Tukur Gantsa, the PDP co-ordinator in Dutse senatorial district, who lodged the complaint.

On hearing that the policemen who spotted Turaki with ballot boxes were those attached to Lamido, Ishiaku became extremely bellicose. “What you are saying is not true. If you have your officials or agents, let them be sincere to you. If they noticed this anomaly, they should reject the ballot boxes,” he said. The police were not moved by the allegation either.

The return of Turaki was described by Lamido as a continuation of the curse which he represents in the state. “Saminu Turaki is not only a curse, he is also an embarrassment to everybody,” Lamido told Newswatch.

Mala Kachalla, incumbent governor of Borno State, who abandoned the ANPP to join AD could not use the power of incumbency to retain himself in power. He lost to Ali Modu Sheriff, the candidate of ANPP. Sheriff won the election by 581,880 votes to beat Kashim Ibrahim-Iman of PDP to second place with 341,537 votes while Kachalla came third, scoring 336,165 votes.

Perhaps, the most worrisome of the whole electoral process was the sweeping away of the AD governors in the South-West. Though the Newswatch reporters who went round the states said there was no mass rigging to suggest that the elections were not free and fair. There were many issues pointing to the fact. Obasanjo had succeeded in polarising the politics of the region.

The Yoruba race was divided as soon Obasanjo was elected president. Many Yoruba leaders believed that Obasanjo being a Yoruba man should be supported so that he could succeed. That was why they allowed the late Bola Ige, former attorney-general to serve in his government. But at a point, the Yoruba suspected that he was using Ige to destroy Afenifere, Yoruba cultural group. Newswatch learnt that that was why some people were bent on removing him from the group. That divided Afenifere until Ige was killed December 23, 2001. The wounds of that time are still festering, especially with the formation of the Yoruba Council of Elders, YCE, two years ago to rival Afenifere. The YCE is believed to be an outfit of Obasanjo aimed at weakening Afenifere’s dominance and win support for the president. There is mutual suspicion between YCE and Afenifere who have been working at cross purposes. Everything that the Afenifere stood for, the YCE would oppose it.

One of the problems of the Afenifere is that its leadership does not want to separate it from AD. That was what led to the initial conflict in the group. Ige was clearly in support of separating them, whereas the strong forces within did not like it. Today, a number of people in Afenifere are not in AD, but they are often blamed for the problems in AD.

That appeared to be the case when one looks at the misfortune of AD at the last elections as a sellout. The leaders of the AD erroneously believed that the Yoruba were solidly behind the party and cared less about watching their rear. They failed to see the serious incursion of the PDP who were wining and dining with Obasanjo and still went into a pact with him not to field any Yoruba candidate against him in the presidential elections. It was the National Assembly elections April 12, that woke the party to the reality on the ground. Thereafter, Abraham Adesanya, chairman of Afenifere and leader of the AD, cried out: “I have no doubt in my mind that with the performance of these (AD) governors and with the reputation of Afenifere, we are bound to win if we have a level ground to play. But unfortunately, I doubt if that level ground is here.”

Too late. The damage had been done. Adebisi Akande with his impressive record of service as Osun State governor, still lost to Olagunsoye Oyinlola, a retired brigadier-general, and the man whose record as military governor of Lagos State could not match that of Akande. Lam Adesina of Oyo State, lost to Rasheed Ladoja, a former senator, while Olusegun Agagu, former minister of power and steel, succeeded in wrestling the power from Adebayo Adefarati of Ondo State. A new governor similarly emerged Ekiti State in the person of youthful, Ayo Fayose who beat Niyi Adebayo. Olusegun Osoba of Ogun State, was also shocked when he was defeated by Gbenga Daniel. They were all PDP candidates. Only Ahmed Bola Tinubu, governor of Lagos State, survived the PDP rampage.

Like a person acting a different script, Ahmed Abdulkadir, national chairman of AD, said in Abuja, April 21, that his party conceded defeat in the interest of peace, stability and democracy. He also accepted responsibility for the failure of the party at the polls.

But some of the governors were not ready to succumb without a fight. The onslaught sent the leadership of the party to soul-searching meetings. At the end of such meetings last Wednesday, the governors decided to go along with the other parties to boycott the next elections into state assembly and local governments.

What has become a real surprise for political analysts is that it was more difficult for Obasanjo to get through the primaries than scaling through April 19, election. At the primaries, most of the PDP governors had threatened to dump him and vote for Alex Ekwueme, former vice-president and his main challenger for the party ticket. Atiku Abubakar, vice-president, was also said to be in the league with the governors to deny Obasanjo the party ticket until his last minute U-turn.

Now that Obasanjo has the hot ticket, which increasingly looks like a big cross for him, how would he carry it without breaking his back? That is one million naira question now agitating the minds of many Nigerians and foreign observers. As for Abel Guobadia, chairman of the INEC, except for a few hiccups, the elections were free and fair.

Reported by Bala Dan Abu, Maureen Chigbo, Tobs Agbaegbu, Salif Atojoko, Obong Akpaekong, Chuks Ehirim, Ekenna Geoffrey, Psaro Yornamue, Phillip Oladunjoye and Tosin Omoniyi.

Newswatch Volume 37 No. 17, May 5, 2003

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