IT’S 61 DAYS TO THE GENERAL ELECTIONS
And the vice-presidential candidates still don’t know enough about Nigeria’s foreign policy.

BON/NEDG, YOU MAY HAVE FORGOTTEN A CANDIDATE, OR 73

On December 11th, the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria and the National Elections Debate Group announced the 5 parties partaking in the presidential and vice-presidential debates slated for the 19th of January 2019 and December 14th, 2018 respectively. There was just one catch, 78 parties are contesting for the number one seat.

Who did the other parties offend? 

Nobody (that we know of). In a statement released by the organising bodies, they claimed to have selected the candidates using an “independently administered multi-stage process”. The first stage being an online poll. Second — a survey distributed countrywide to citizens of voting age, across all boards. The third stage being an aggregation of the first two, where only parties showing the most reach and diversity in the nation were selected.

Now, while these sound very plausible, I have to ask — did the survey reach your side? Who exactly took the poll? How did no one know about this “country-wide” selection process until they released a statement about it? Questions, questions.

Are candidates usually given the debates cold-shoulder?

Hardly. Seeing as Nigeria is fairly new to this ‘democracy’ business, our first presidential debates held in 1983 with 6 candidates. Since then, the highest number of presidential candidates on record was back in 2007, where 23 candidates contested. Their number notwithstanding, the NEDG divided the presidential debates into 12 sessions, and the VP debates into 1 session with 2 candidates.

A similar method could have been adopted for the 2019 election debates. Denying the lesser known candidates the opportunity to appeal to a wider audience (via the debates), for not being cool enough to party with the popular kids was not the smartest idea. Somebody tell the debate organising bodies to fix up!

THE VICE-PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES.

The Good

Short of complimenting their choice of attire, here are the straws I’ll be grasping at:
Osibanjo — Elocution was A1. Had a great ‘gotcha’ moment when he re-buffed Peter Obi’s claim that Nigeria was destroyed, citing the PDP supervision of said destruction.
Peter Obi: Had thought out solutions to Nigeria’s economic challenges and spiced things up with ‘interesting’ statistics and figures.
Khadijah Abdullahi-iya (ANN): had a decent opening speech. Recognized the merit in local governments controlling their resources and paying tax to the center.
Ganiyu Galadima(ACPN): His agbada was nice.
Umma Getso (YPP): decent go on fiscal restructuring and YPP’s plans to stimulate innovation.

The Bad

Osinbajo: blurred fact and fiction. Made some bold, but false assertions throughout the night.
Peter Obi: said China so many times, I made a drinking game out of it. Also, false figures.
Ganiyu Galadima: when asked about the Ajaokuta steel mills, he said it was a “very important something” for our nation.
Umma Getso: actually used Moghalu’s credentials to answer questions when she drew a blank.
Khadijah Abdullahi-iya: stuttered through very vaguely answered questions.

The “I can’t Believe They Got So Many Facts Wrong”
Obi claimed subsidy was a waste as Nigeria had only 2 million vehicles, we actually have about 11.7million. Also claimed our global competitive index had fallen, it’s actually higher.
Osibajo claimed Nigeria produces 90% of the rice it consumes, and just LOL. Also claimed the PDP practically abandoned the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, when efforts were made to rehabilitate it in 2013.
Ganiyu Galadimaclaimed none of the Nigerian refineries worked. According to the NNPC, 3 of them are.

To participate in the China drinking game, you can watch the whole debate here.

IS THE DONALD DONE?

Our Donald, not that other guy.
Donald Duke- the former governor of Cross River state — who until recently, was the candidate of the Social Democratic Party — may be saying a hard goodbye to the 2019 presidential election.

So what’s the tea?

On December 14th, Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuff of the High Court of the FCT, pretty much told Duke he had wasted all his billboard money and sacked him as the candidate for the SDP.

Back in October 2018, Duke (57) won the presidential primary election of the SDP, beating Prof Jerry Gana (74 years young, come 2019) — 812 to 611 votes. However, Gana contested this victory on the grounds of the party’s zoning and rotation formula, contained in its constitution. The formula stipulates that the party’s chairman and flag bearer not be from the same zone, and as the chairman- Olu Falae (south) and Duke (south) are zone buddies, his election is officially null and void.

Here’s Where It Gets A Little Interesting.

Article 15(3) of the SDP constitution provides for the zoning formula. If you go on the INEC website looking to see for yourself, you’ll turn up a blank. This is because INEC’s copy is redundant (fix up), as the SDP adopted a new constitution in May of 2018 to accommodate needed reform. This amendment was confirmed by no other than Gana to This Day reporters. As for Donald, don’t cry for him just yet, he has appealed the court judgement and is optimistic of a decision confirming his candidacy, plus he just got a new running mate.

They Said What?

There was a bad case of verbal diarrhoea going around in Nigerian politics last week. We’re still a little shook.

Case Number 1

Lauretta “IDG2F” Onochie
With aides like Mrs Onochie, who needs enemies? Currently the PA on social media to Bubucakes, I’m convinced she’s on a recon mission to scatter Buhari’s administration, one reckless tweet at a time. How else do you explain this, this and let’s not forget this?

Bringing her one step closer to her ultimate goal of Buhari’s ruination- Mrs Onochie, on December 15th — tweeted a tastelessly headlined article saying: “Nigerians won’t be raped again by the same set of incompetent and selfish lootocrats”- which was in reference to the many ills of the PDP. Disappointed, but not surprised.

Case Number 2

Sanwo for sho
The APC gubernatorial candidate of Lagos state — Mr Babatunde Sanwo-Olu, laid out his campaign plans while speaking at Channels’ Sunrise Daily on December 12th. Speaking on live TV, he wanted the citizens of Lagos, whose votes he needs to become governor — to get it out of their blocked brains, that he was an imposed candidate. He seems nice.

Wetin Government Dey Do?

In the spirit of the vice-presidential debates, here are 5 roles the VP is expected to play, and why you better come correct if you’re looking to be elected:

1. Chair of the National Economic Council.
2. Chairman of the National Council of Privatisation.
3. Deputy chairman of the Council of State, the National Defence Council and National Security Council.
4. Acting-president, as Pastor O has shown us from time to time.
5. Adviser to the president.

We’ll be examining these roles in the coming weeks. See you then!

You made it to the end!