BlackBox Nigeria

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No fewer than 56 million Nigerians will file out today to elect the next president in an election believed to be the keenest in the history of the country.‎
The figure represents 81.9 per cent of the total number of 70,383,427 voters that registered for the election.

The ruling Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and the opposition All Progressives Congress candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) are once again asking for Nigerians' votes in this year's general elections to enable them to lead the country.

The two political gladiators contested in the 2011 general elections won by Jonathan. But this year's election has generated much tension across the country following the near equal strength of the two major presidential candidates in the poll.

The Independent National Electoral Commission had in February shifted the general elections as a result of insecurity in the North-East and poor distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards.

The INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, had said that the commission was empowered by Section 26 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) to shift national elections due to some factors.

He explained that the postponement followed reports by the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.) and other service chiefs that their agencies would not be able to guarantee security of the commission's personnel in some parts of the country. Jega had denied that INEC was forced to shift the polls, adding that the electoral body took the best decision under the prevailing circumstances.
"Nobody has forced us to take this decision; it is a very weighty decision, but under the present circumstances, we have taken the best decision and we stand by it," he had said.

The postponement of the elections was said to have given security agencies the opportunity to reduce the insecurity posed by the Boko Haram terrorist group in the three North-Eastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe as well as to allow the electoral body to improve in its distribution of the PVCs.

INEC, in its bid to ensure credible conduct of the elections, introduced a lot of innovations, including the PVCs and the smart card readers to prevent rigging.

The electoral body also increased existing polling units by 30,000. By this addition, the total number of polling units across the country's 774 local government areas is now 150,000 from the initial 119,973.

The creation of the additional units was contained in an INEC bulletin signed by the Director in charge of the commission's secretariat, Ishiaku Gali.

Gali had said the decision to create the additional polling units was taken at the commission's meeting on August 12, 2014 so as to decongest polling units across the country.

As Nigerians elect the new president today, however, the electoral body has put the current total number of registered voters at 70,383,427 of which Lagos State with 5,426,391 has the highest number of registered voters. Nigeria's commercial capital is followed by Kano with the second highest number of registered voters of 4,751,818.

Meanwhile, INEC has warned the electorate to shun activities that could trigger off breakdown of law and order as they vote for the candidates of their choice.

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The Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari on Friday reiterated his commitment to the Abuja peace Accord.

He said himself and President Goodluck Jonathan signed a new accord reinforcing their commitment to violent-free elections.‎
This, he said, was a follow- up to the Abuja Accord which they both signed, along with nine other party leaders, on January 14, 2015, to show "our commitment to free, fair and credible elections in our dear country."

In a statement he signed in Abuja barely 24 hours to the presidential elections, Buhari said, "I take these accords very seriously, and this has reflected in the issues-based campaign which I ran all through the period of electioneering campaign, despite the provocative and sleazy campaign directed at my person and my party."

He, however, expressed disappointment that certain happenings within the polity across the country, ahead of Saturday's elections, run against the contents and spirit of the peace accords.

He said, for example, the ink with which the new peace accord was signed had barely dried when he started hearing reports of violence directed against members of the All Progressives Congress, as well as glaring acts of harassment and intimidation being carried out against the opposition by security agents across the country.

He said, "Shots were fired at the convoy of the Director General of my Campaign Organisation, His Excellency Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, in Rumuolumeni, Obio Akpor area of Port Harcourt, a few hours after the second peace accord was signed, leaving two persons injured.
"I do hope this is not a confirmation of the information reaching my party that some notorious security agents have been deployed to Port Harcourt to restrict the movement of Gov. Amaechi."

Buhari also observed that in Ondo State, a serving APC member of the House of Representatives, Eniolorunda Omosule, was arrested and detained by the police for no reason other than to keep him away until after elections.

He also said there were reports of an alleged meeting in Ibadan between the Commissioners of Police in the South-west and PDP officials.

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The Nigerian constitution does not recognise the office of the First Lady which is a title for the spouse of the head of state or president of Nigeria. However, the office has remained one of the most funded and staffed since independence and the First Lady is addressed by the title Her Excellency.

Nigeria has had several first ladies since independence but the late Maryam Babangida, wife of Nigeria's military president from 1985 to 1993, General Ibrahim Babagida, began the trend.

As first lady, she launched many programmes to improve the lives of women. The "Maryam Phenomenon" became a celebrity and "an icon of beauty, fashion and style," a position she retained after her husband's fall from power.

When her husband became Head of State in 1985, Maryam Babangida moved into Dodan Barracks in Lagos. She was said to have arranged for considerable renovations to make the rooms more suitable for formal receptions. As First Lady of Nigeria between 1985 and 1993, she turned the ceremonial post into a champion for women's rural development. She founded the Better Life Programme for Rural Women in 1987, which launched co-operatives, cottage industries, farms and gardens, shops and markets, women's centres and social welfare programmes. The Maryam Babangida National Centre for Women Development was established in 1993 for research, training, and to mobilise women towards self-emancipation.

She also established a glamorous persona. Talking about the opening of the seven-day Better Life Fair in 1990, one journalist said "She was like a Roman empress on a throne, regal and resplendent in a stone-studded flowing outfit that defied description…" Women responded to her as a role model, and her appeal lasted long after her husband fell from power.

But the current First Lady in the person of Dame Patience Faka Jonathan is one woman who shares the political space equally with her husband, regardless of what the constitution says about her office.

If her husband is re-elected, Nigerians may not see much difference from what Mrs. Jonathan has done as their First Lady for the past six years. But if General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress gains the upper hand, then Nigerians would then have a new experience with Mrs. Aisha Buhari as the First Lady.

Dame Jonathan is reputed as a woman who holds court, summoning ministers, even governors for meetings. Dame Jonathan is not your regular first lady that is content with the glamour of office; she is as active, if not more, than her husband in the politics and politicking of the Peoples Democratic Party of Nigeria.

With her influence, so many people have been appointed ministers, permanent secretaries, ambassadors, name it. In fact, through her, many governorship candidates have received endorsement to contest in their home states.

Mr. Evans Bipi, a member representing Ogu Bolo State Constituency in the Rivers State House of Assembly, described the first lady as his Jesus Christ. When he was asked why he calls her mummy even when he was no way related to her nor come from her local government, he said, "Have you forgotten that she is from Okrika? So, whoever attains the position of the First Lady, what would you call the person? You call her mummy. She is the mother of the nation and she is the mouthpiece of Okrika people. She is the mother of Okrika people. So, every Okrika person calls her mummy. Ogu Bolo is Okrika. They are all Okrika people. It is like Ikwerre and Obio/Akpor; they are all Ikwerre. It is only the local government area that split them. So, as an Okrika woman, who has risen up to that position, everybody calls her mummy."

He also justified why he called her his Jesus Christ on earth, "Let me say this. Man is God to man; it is in the Bible. You must not see God; you will see God through somebody. God said, see me through Jesus Christ. That is why we are seeing God through Jesus Christ. This woman (Patience Jonathan) is everything in my life. She made me what I am today. Politically and otherwise; I can say it anywhere. I can say she is my Jesus Christ because she has made me who I am today. That is the truth and I can defend that anywhere.

"Babangida's wife was from Delta State. Her people called her mummy. Yar'Adua's wife is from Katsina, all the people from Katsina call her mummy. Even Governor Rotimi Amaechi's wife, the people call her mummy. When a woman attains such level, everybody calls her mummy. It is a form of respect. But to me, my mummy (Patience Jonathan) is special because she brought me up to this level."

His testimony is not different from that of her other beneficiaries and she wields enormous power.

On her own, she anointed Nyeson Wike, the present governorship candidate of the PDP in her home state, Rivers, to dislodge Rotimi Amaechi, after falling out with the governor. Because of the respect the Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Henry Seriake Dickson had for her, he made her a permanent secretary in July 2012 even after a long time absence from work. But when she fell out with the governor, she resigned from the office to show her annoyance. She then handpicked the Special Assistant to the President on Domestic Matters, Mr. Waripamowei Dudafa to take over from Dickson in 2016 irrespective of the governor's aspiration for a re-election.

The likes of Chief Christopher Alao-Akala, a former governor and deputy governor of Oyo State, would not forget in a hurry the role Dame Jonathan played in the politics of the PDP in Oyo State when she summoned their leaders and advised them to make the former governor of the state, Chief Rashidi Ladoja, the PDP flag bearer, even after the latter had since left the party and become the founder of Accord Party. Akala is today the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Oyo State.

She is a woman who makes no pretence about her views. After a long absence from the country amidst speculations that she was down at a German hospital, the presidency and her office kept on assuring the citizens that she had merely travelled to rest after the rigours of the 2011 elections and hosting of the African First Ladies Summit.

But on February 17, 2013, she came out to tell the stunning story of how she rose from death after being dead for a week during a thanksgiving service in Abuja. She debunked the stories dished out from her husband's office completely without scruples.

Punctuating her testimony with praise songs, Patience, who refused to read from a speech prepared for her, narrated to the congregation how she underwent nine surgeries within one month in London.

"It was not an easy experience for me. I actually died; I passed out for more than a week. My intestine and tummy were opened.

"I am not Lazarus but my experience was similar to his own. My doctors said all hope was lost.

"People are always afraid of operation (surgery) but in my own case, while my travail lasted, I was begging for it (surgery) after the third operation because I was going to the theatre every day.

"It was God who saw me through. I did eight or nine operations within one month. It was not an easy one."

When the Chibok girls were abducted by the dreaded Boko Haram terrorists, Dame Patience beat her husband to take action by summoning to Aso Rock those she believed could explain what happened.

The video recording of the meeting in Abuja went viral and trended so much, particularly the part where she discarded the English language for her preferred pidgin and launched into a tirade against the principal of the school and the Borno State governor and his wife.

That was where she asked the principal, 'Na only you waka come?' She broke down in tears and told the state governor and those who wanted to rubbish her husband's government that, 'There's God o.'

Dame Patience Jonathan is more at home in her native language and pidgin English, irrespective of the occasion.

Yet, the First Lady was sufficiently educated.

Born in Port Harcourt, she earned her school certificate in 1976, and passed the West African School Certificate Examination in 1980. In 1989, she obtained the National Certificate of Education in Mathematics and Biology from the Rivers State College of Arts and Science, Port Harcourt. She then proceeded to the University of Port Harcourt and studied for a B.Ed in Biology and Psychology.

For Mrs. Aishat Buhari, wife of the presidential candidate of the APC, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), the office of the First Lady could turn out to be a completely different experience if her husband wins the election and becomes the president.

When her husband became the head of state in the 80s, she had not yet appeared in the picture as she was said to have got married to the General in 1989. At a time during the electioneering, the ruling PDP made it an issue that Maj.-Gen.Buhari might not have a place for a woman in public life. As a former head of state, his then wife remained anonymous throughout.

And when he started the current campaign, there was no sign of a woman with him, creating the fear that he might not be women friendly. That was when the picture of his wife appeared on the social media and she turned out to be a stunning beauty.

The opposition was still not satisfied. In fact, critics concluded that the General must be less enamoured with women by refusing to pose for pictures with his family.

When Buhari's campaign train hit Abeokuta, Ogun State, early this year, the major highlight was the unveiling of his wife. In fact, both Buhari and his running mate, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, used the occasion to pose with their wives and with the way the pictures trended on the social media, many Nigerians were impressed by the images of the potential First Lady and her deputy.

Of course, all the major newspapers splashed the pictures on their front pages the following day.

Aishat Buhari was drawn out to the public glare and as such, observers are still trying to assess her to see the kind of First Lady she will turn out to be if her husband is victorious at the polls.

One thing is sure though, Maj.-Gen. Buhari has a softer side represented by his gorgeous wife, Aisha.

Mrs. Buhari obtained a diploma in Beauty Therapy at Carlton Institute of Beauty Therapy Windsor in United Kingdom; she also obtained a certificate course in French Beauty School, Esthetique Academie Dubai. She is also a member of UK's Vocational Training and Charitable Trust and the International Health and Beauty Council.

Aisha also holds National Certificate in Education, a Bachelor of Arts Degree at Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma and Masters in International Affairs and Strategic Studies from Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna. She is the founder/Managing Director of Hanzy Spa and Principal of Hanzy Beauty Institute.

Though Aisha has managed to limit her public gaffes, what she said about Edo women has drawn the wrath of the people of the area. Aisha had said that if her husband is elected, he would make sure that there were enough jobs so that young women from Edo State would no longer take to prostitution. The women group in the state took her up on this. She must have learnt some lessons from the criticisms that trailed her comments.
Nevertheless, she has said, "For me, I will perform my duties and role as the wife of the President of Nigeria traditionally."‎

Punch

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The Imo State Police Command has arrested a Senior Special Assistant to Governor Rochas Okorocha, Barrister Okechukwu Okorocha, for illegally being in possession of arms.

In a meeting with journalists at the Police headquarters in Owerri on Friday, the Police Public Relations Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Andrew Enwerem, said that Okorocha was arrested after operatives from the State Criminal Investigation Department, acting on a tip-off that some top government functionaries were stockpiling arms with the intention to disrupt the general elections in Imo State, conducted a cordon-and-search operation at his residence in the early hours of Friday and recovered three pump action automatic rifles with 24 live cartridges and a Kenwood walkie-talkie.

The police spokesman noted that Okorocha had acted contrary to an instruction from the police to all residents, particularly members of the State Vigilante Service, to surrender all the arms and other dangerous weapons in their possession before the general elections.‎
"We have been announcing that the vigilante will not be part of the security beef up at the polling centres during the elections. As a result, we have been warning them to return the prohibited firearms in their possession to Divisional Police Officers nearest to them," Enwerem said.

In a similar operation by the State CID in Owerri, three automatic pump action rifles with 14 live cartridges were found in the security post of Ebuada Housing Estate in the city. In the process of recovering the weapons, Kelechi Onuoha, Chigozie Uzowuru, Osita Obiako and Linus Aka were also arrested.

In all, six automatic pump action rifles and 38 live cartridges were recovered from all the suspects who failed to conform to the directives of the police to surrender their arms.
"It is believed that these arms were going to be used to disrupt the coming elections. The arrested suspects are currently in the custody of the police and they are undergoing interrogation. This is what we have done in preparation to ensure that there is a peaceful, credible, free and fair elections in Imo State," the PPRO said.

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The Speaker, House of Representative and the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressive Congress, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has urged Nigerians to shun violence during Saturday's Presidential and National assembly elections.
While urging voters to go out en masse to cast their votes, Tambuwal said all supporters of the party should conduct themselves peacefully and resist any act of deliberate provocations during and after the election.
‎
Speaking with newsmen at his residence in Sokoto on Friday, Tambuwal asked the voters to monitor their votes, saying they can remain at the polling units where they are to vote to ensure their votes are counted.
Aminu Tambuwal promised to consolidate on the achievement of the present governor if he wins in the April 11, gubernatorial election in the state.
Meanwhile, the Sokoto state independent Electoral Commission (INEC) said it is set for tomorrow's presidential election as it has deployed all sensitive materials to all parts of the state.
The Head, Voters Education and publicity of the Commission, Muhammad Musa, confirmed that to Vanguard Friday night in Sokoto.
He disclosed that the commission actually deployed those sensitive materials on Thursday's night through the early hour of Friday morning.
Speaking on the Oat/ affirmation of neutrality forms given to the collation officers deployed in the state to sign, Musa said it is one of the requirements to be meant by the collation officers as well as INEC officials too.

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The Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, has said that troops of the Nigerian Army have captured Gwoza, the headquarters of the Islamic Caliphate declared by Boko Haram insurgents in North-Eastern Nigeria.

Olukolade said in a press statement in Abuja, that the city fell to a joint operation carried out by the ground forces and the fighter pilots of the Nigerian Air Force on Friday morning.

Several ground forces were deployed from Madagali in Adamawa State and Bama in Borno for the crucial operation to reclaim Gwoza which the insurgents had captured and renamed Darul Ikima, last year.

Olukolade said the troops had earlier sacked the terrorists from several communities around Gwoza before the final onslaught on the town reputed to be the strongest Boko Haram enclave in the country.

According to him, the troops killed several of the insurgents and captured many others.

The Defence Spokesman said the troops also seized several arms and ammunition from the insurgents.

He said the military had liberated all communities erstwhile occupied by the insurgents as of Thursday when the battle to reclaim Gwoza was raging.

He said, "Just this morning, the gallant troops of the Nigerian military in a concerted and well-coordinated land and air operations have liberated Gwoza, the headquarters of their so-called caliphate which they renamed Darul Ikima.

"This was preceded by successive sack of terrorists from towns and villages leading to Gwoza, the main objective. Several of the terrorists have died and many of them captured in the process. A lot of arms and ammunition have been recovered and the administrative headquarters completely destroyed.

"Massive searching has commenced to locate any of the fleeing terrorists or hostages in their custody."

He said that the military observed that some of the fleeing terrorists were heading to the borders where they might encounter troops of the Multi National Joint Task Force, who are under instruction to contain them.

He restated the commitment of the military to ensure that terrorism and insurgency were flushed out of the country.

He urged Nigerians to report suspicious movements to security operatives, stressing that the military and security agencies would never again allow 'the evil elements to regroup, terrorise and cause mayhem in our country.'

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The Independent National Electoral Commissions' statement is contrary to an advice by the Nigeria Police, which said voters should go home after voting.

Addressing reporters on Friday, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Attahiru Jega, said the commission believed that the electoral process would be more transparent if voters stayed behind after voting.

Professor Jega also said the commission had not received any indication that the security for the card readers had been compromised.

The Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, on Tuesday advised voters not to remain at the polling centers after casting their votes on Saturday.

Mr Abba told a gathering in Abuja, in very clear terms, that the security operatives expect everyone to vote and go.

The IGP made the pronouncement during the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC stakeholders' meeting.

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Vanguard