BlackBox Nigeria

The United States of America on Saturday said it is "deeply disappointed" by Nigeria's decision to postpone elections and issued a call for calm.

The six-week delay was announced after security chiefs said the military needed more time to secure areas under the control of Boko Haram, the Islamist extremists who have seized swathes of territory in northeastern Nigeria.

"The United States is deeply disappointed by the decision to postpone Nigeria's presidential election, which had been scheduled for February 14," Kerry said in a statement.

"Political interference with the Independent National Electoral Commission is unacceptable, and it is critical that the government not use security concerns as a pretext for impeding the democratic process," he stressed.

Kerry said the international community "will be watching closely as the Nigerian government prepares for elections on the newly scheduled dates. The United States underscores the importance of ensuring that there are no further delays."

Since the turn of the year, the militant group has increased the intensity of its campaign, in part to further undermine the democratic process, which it views as un-Islamic.

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

The insurgency has killed at least 13,000 people and pushed more than a million from their homes since 2009.

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It appears singer Wande Coal, has parted ways with his management company, Bankulli Entertainment.

According to a press statement released by Bankulli entertainment, Wande has developed a different Focus and direction for his career hence the termination of contract.

See the press statement that they released below:

"News making rounds across social media & blogs regarding us (Bankulli Entertainment) parting ways with pop star Wande Coal has been brought to our attention, and we'll like to officially clear the air on the issue.
The working relationship between Bankulli Entertainment and Wande Coal has been officially terminated, with this we officially announce the departure of recording artiste Ojosipe Wande popularly known as Wande Coal from our management outfit due to change of focus and direction of career from the artiste's end.

The initial plan and strategy when we brought him on board from ground zero 2 years ago was to attain the highest level of positive career change and to be a force to reckon with in the music industry, but all these was scuttled at every point in time due to the mind focus of the artiste and other human vices and this tend to put a wrong impression about the company."

No official statement from Wande or his people yet…

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The Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, on Saturday presented the staff of office to the 14th Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II.

The News Agency of Nigeria report that among dignitaries who attended the ceremony were the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar III and the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Umar El-kanemi.

Others were Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

Also in attendance were the governors of Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara, Yobe, Niger, Edo, Kwara and Borno, members of the diplomatic corps and members of the business community.

President Goodluck Jonathan was, however, absent.

Sanusi was appointed the 14th Emir of Kano on June 8, 2014 after the death of Alhaji Ado Bayero, on June 6, 2014.

At the ceremony held at the newly constructed Coronation Hall at the Government House, Kwankwaso described the Emir as a knowledgeable person who acquired both the Islamic and western education."

He said the appointment of Sanusi was based on his personal track record of service and education, which are important prerequisites.

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The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Muhammadu Buhari, has reacted to the postponement of the general election.

When asked by a foreign journalist of his opinion on the polls being pushed forward, Buhari said: "No I will not support a postponement of election. Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria were fighting wars and they conducted elections. What is Boko Haram?."

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‎In a bid to get support from Lagosians, the two main contending parties have been trying to outwit themselves and it was not surprising when the PDP Lagos Guber candidate, Jimi Agabje took out time to meet his supporters on saturday.

However in a rather new twist to the now popular stomach infrastructure, Agbaje decided to share Kerosene to his supporters who trooped out in their large numbers to meet with him.

This happened in the Amuwo-Odofin area of Lagos.

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The national leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has described the postponement of the February general elections as democracy at gun point, adding that Nigeria's democracy is now at the mercy of the gun.

The former governor of Lagos State who tweeted this while reacting to the poll shift via his twitter handle @AsiwajuTinubu, added that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega caved in to pressure and blackmail.


Asiwaju Bola Tinubu , National Leader All Progressives Congress: Poll shift is democracy at gunpoint

According to him,"The postponement of the Feb. 14 elections is a mere pretext by the PDP to gain time to perfect their rigging machine. Nigerians are unhappy.

"This is democracy at gun point. Our democracy is now at the mercy of the gun. Jega caved in to pressure and blackmail.

"What is new about the security situation in the last one week that has not been there in the past 3 years to warrant this postponement?

"The service chiefs are being clever by half By playing the script of the ruling party. They do their profession great harm and Nigeria damage.

"Nigerians are not ignorant of the plots/sub plots for postponement. An incumbent that pulls all the stops to postpone elections is a loser.

"For the ambition of one man and his partying cronies, the rights and interest of 68 million voters is violated There is a dictator in charge

"The APC will counsel its members and Nigerians to be calm as the party processes this. We know there is no stopping the wind of change.

"Let's dissect carefully what was said. Postponed not because of security situation per se but because army decided to go on a belated offensive," he tweets.

The INEC boss, Professor Jega, while speaking at a delayed press conference at about 11pm on Saturday, 7th February, 2015, said that the presidential and National Assembly polls will now hold on Saturday, 28th March, 2015 while the governorship and state assembly elections will now hold on Saturday, 11th April, 2015.

It was a late press conference Jega addressed yet he met a full house of journalists, both foreign and local, who have been keeping vigil at the INEC headquarters since 10am Saturday, 7th Febrruary, 2015.

The press briefing was postponed severally. It was fixed for 5:00 p.m., later postponed to 6:00 p.m. then to 9:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m. and finally before it held at 11:00 p.m.

Jega told the packed press briefing that while INEC was prepared to hold the eelction, the security report did not favour holding the election.

According to him, the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki wrote to the electoral body that security report did not favour the election taking place in February.

He stated further that the NSA also sent similar report to the Council of State meeting noting further that with the need to protect the lives of workers for the election, observers, voters and even electoral materials, there is need to postpone the elections.

According to him, as at Friday, 6th February, 2015, 48, 829, 808 permanent voters' cards (PVCs) have been collected by prospective voters which represented 66.58 percent of the total registered voters.

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The opposition, All Progressives Congress is not happy with the Postponement of Nigeria's elections initially slated for February 14th and 28th. In a statement by the party chairman, the party expressed reservations about the postponement. Read the Chairman's statement below...

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has just heard over the news media that The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has decided to postpone the elections by six weeks on the strength of a letter by the security chiefs that they cannot provide security for the elections nationwide because of the commitment of its resources to fight insurgency in the north eastern part of the country.

This is clearly a major setback for Nigerian democracy, and our Party is meeting in emergency session to study its implications and will inform Nigerians of its decisions in the next few days.

In the meantime, though what has happened is highly provocative, I strongly appeal to all Nigerians to remain calm and desist from violence and any activity which will compound this unfortunate development. We must not fall into this obvious trap. Change we must. They can only delay it; No one can stop it.

I want to assure all Nigerians that the All Progressives Congress will not abandon its commitment to change and will sustain the struggle to establish a new Nigeria.
‎
John E. K. Odigie-Oyegun. CON.
National Chairman, APC

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Below is the full text of the statement on the timetable for the 2015 general elections by the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Atahiru M. Jega at a press conference on the 7th pf February, 2015.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Introduction

We invited you here today to make known the position of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the timetable for the 2015 general elections. Let me state from the outset that the Commission's position was reached after carefully weighing the suggestions from briefings held with different stakeholders in the electoral process.

The conduct of elections in a country like Nigeria is invariably a collective venture that involves not just the Election Management Body (EMB), but also a diverse range of stakeholders, notably security agencies, political parties and their candidates, voters, as well as interest groups, such as the civil society organizations and the media. To guarantee successful conduct of elections, there are things that are wholly the responsibility of the EMB. But there are other things critical for the success of elections, which fall outside the control of the EMB.

In other words, while INEC must work hard to perfect its systems and processes for conducting elections, and take responsibility for any imperfections thereof, whatever the Commission does may not by itself be sufficient to guarantee the success of elections. There are a number of issues in the preparation and conduct of an election, the most critical of which is security, which is not under the control of INEC.

Current State of INEC's Preparedness

On Thursday, February 5, 2015, I was invited to brief the National Council of State, which is the highest advisory to the President comprising past and present leaders in Nigeria, on the level of preparedness of INEC to conduct the 2015 general elections. I made a presentation to the Council titled 'Preparations for the 2015 General Elections: Progress Report,' in which I gave a detailed account of what the Commission has been doing in readiness for the national elections (National Assembly and Presidential) scheduled for February 14th, and the state elections (Governorship and State Assembly) scheduled for February 28th, 2015.

The summary of my presentation to the National Council of State meeting is that, for matters under its control, INEC is substantially ready for the general elections as scheduled, despite discernible challenges being encountered with some of its processes like the collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) by registered members of the public.

In addition, INEC has been doing everything it can to facilitate the collection of the PVCs by registered members of the public. As at 5th February 2015, the total number of PVCs collected was 45, 829, 808, representing 66.58% of the total number of registered voters.

In the delivery and deployment of electoral materials, INEC is also at a comfort level in its readiness for the general elections as scheduled (see the presentation to the Council of State). The Commission's preparations are not yet perfect or fully accomplished. But our level of preparedness, despite a few challenges, is sufficient to conduct free, fair and credible elections as scheduled on February 14th and February 28th. Compared with 2011 when, within a short time, we conducted general elections that were universally adjudged free, fair and credible and the best in Nigeria's recent electoral history, our processes are today better refined, more robust and therefore capable of delivering even better elections.

Other Variables

But as I mentioned earlier, there are some other variables equally crucial for successful conduct of the 2015 general elections that are outside the control of INEC. One important variable is security for the elections.

While the Commission has a very good working relationship with all security agencies, especially on the platform of the Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) since its inception in 2010, it has become pertinent for it to seriously consider the security advisory presented to it by the Security and Intelligence Services. I would like to reiterate here that INEC is an EMB and not a security agency. It relies on the security services to provide a safe environment for personnel, voters, election observers and election materials to conduct elections wherever it deploys. Where the security services strongly advise otherwise, it would be unconscionable of the Commission to deploy personnel and call voters out in such a situation.

Last Wednesday, which was a day before the Council of State meeting, the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) wrote a letter to the Commission, drawing attention to recent developments in four Northeast states of Borno, Yobe, Adamawa and Gombe currently experiencing the challenge of insurgency. The letter stated that security could not be guaranteed during the proposed period in February for the general elections.

This advisory was reinforced at the Council of State meeting on Thursday where the NSA and all the Armed Services and Intelligence Chiefs unanimously reiterated that the safety and security of our operations cannot be guaranteed, and that the Security Services needed at least six weeks within which to conclude a major military operation against the insurgency in the Northeast; and that during this operation, the military will be concentrating its attention in the theatre of operations such that they may not be able to provide the traditional support they render to the Police and other agencies during elections.

INEC's Decision

We have done wide ranging consultation to enable us have as much input as is necessary before taking an informed decision. In the series of consultations that we held with stakeholders, the questions consistently posed to them for consideration are:

(i) In view of the latest development, should INEC proceed with the conduct of the general elections as scheduled in spite of this strong advice; and if so, what alternative security arrangements are available to be put in place?

(ii) Or, should INEC take the advice and adjust the schedules of the general elections within the framework of Constitutional provisions?

The Commission held a meeting after the consultations, and decided to take the advice of the Security Chiefs and adjust the dates of the elections. We have done this relying on Section 26(1) of the Electoral 2010 (As Amended), which states thus: "Where a date has been appointed for the holding of an election, and there is reason to believe that a serious breach of the peace is likely to occur if the election is proceeded with on that date or it is impossible to conduct the elections as a result of natural disasters or other emergencies, the Commission may postpone the election and shall in respect of the area, or areas concerned, appoint another date for the holding of the postponed election, provided that such reason for the postponement is cogent and verifiable".

INEC not being a security agency that could by itself guarantee protection for personnel and materials, as well as voters during elections, the Commission cannot lightly wave off the advice by the nation's Security Chiefs. The Commission is specifically concerned about the security of our ad hoc staff who constitute at least 600,000 young men and women, together with our regular staff, voters, election observers as well as election materials painstakingly acquired over the last one and half years. This concern is limited not just to the areas in the North-eastern part of Nigeria experiencing insurgency; the risk of deploying young men and women and calling people to exercise their democratic rights in a situation where their security cannot be guaranteed is a most onerous responsibility. Under such circumstances, few EMBs across the world, if any, would contemplate proceeding with the elections as proceeding with the elections as scheduled. No matter the extent of INEC's preparedness, therefore, if the security of personnel, voters, election observers and election materials cannot be guaranteed, the life of innocent young men and women as well the prospects of free, fair, credible and peaceful elections would be greatly jeopardised.

Consequently, the Commission has decided to reschedule the 2015 general elections thus: the national elections (i.e. Presidential and National Assembly) are now to hold on March 28th, 2015; while the state elections (Governorship and State Assembly) are to hold on April 11th, 2015. It should be noted that this rescheduling falls within the constitutional framework for the conduct of the elections, notably, Sections 76(2), 116(2), 132(2) and 178(2). See also Section 25 of the Electoral Act 2010 (As Amended).

For the avoidance of doubt, we will under no circumstances approve an arrangement that is not in line with the provisions of our laws. Our hope is that with this rescheduling, the security services will do their best to ensure that the security environment needed for safe and peaceful conduct of the 2015 elections is rapidly put in place.

We in INEC reassure all Nigerians and indeed the international community of our commitment to do everything within the law and to conduct free, fair, credible and peaceful elections. We call on the security agencies to honour their commitment to restore sufficient normalcy for elections to take place within the period of extension. We also call on Nigerians, political parties, candidates and all other stakeholders to accept this decision in good faith and ensure the maintenance of peace.

As for us in INEC we'll endeavour to use the period of the extension to keep on perfecting our systems and processes for conducting the best elections in Nigeria's history. In particular, we believe that we would resolve all outstanding issues related to non-collection of PVCs, which agitate the minds of many Nigerians.

Finally, we wish to call on all Nigerians to accept our decision, which is taken in good faith and the best interest of deepening democracy ion our country.

Thank you.

Professor Attahiru M. Jega, OFR


Chairman, INEC​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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Like the Biblical walking the wilderness, today marks 300 days over 276 teenagers from Government Girl's Secondary school in remote Chibok in Borno state, Northeast Nigeria were kidnapped. Nigerian school girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram on April 14, 2014

Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai on Sunday call for global support to help release the school girls who had been held hostages for close to a year now.

"As we mark this tragic 300th day of captivity for hundreds of kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls, I call on people everywhere to join me in demanding urgent action to free these heroic girls," the Nobel prize winner said.

Out of the 297, fifty-seven had so far escaped living 219 in the wilderness. Despite military claims that they have located the exact position of the girls, it was stated that proceeding to rescue the girls is too dangerous.

In the last one year, the girls' abduction had generated ‎social media buzz and saw prominent figures tweet under the #BringBackOurGirls in support of the campaign to rescue the girls.

Malala who herself at 17 was shot at by Pakistani Taliban for defying threats about her attending school visited Nigeria in July t‎o urge President Goodluck Jonathan to take action. The President has been widely criticised for his lacklustre response to Chibok crisis and insurgency in general in the country.

Malala said in her plea that the government in Abuja and the international community "can and must do much more to resolve the crisis‎.

"If these girls were the children of politically or‎ financially powerful parents, much more would be done to free them," the children's rights campaigner added in her statement.

"But they come from an impoverished are of northeast Nigeria and sadly, little has changed since they were kidnapped."

Yesterday, the electoral umpire in the country, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, postponed the elections scheduled for February 14 and 28 to March 28 and April 11 respective due to security reasons.

"Let's end this horrible saga now. Leaders must make sure the #BringBackOurGirls effort result in a real outcome: the return of the Chibok girls," she added.