Politics

Nigerians go to poll to vote for new President, National Assembly members

Published

1 year ago

February 25, 2023

Eligible voters in Nigeria, on Saturday, February 25, have gone to the polls to elect a new president who will pilot the affairs of the nation for the next four years, as well as members of the two chambers of the National Assembly.

The presidential election will remain, perhaps, the most significant election in the history of the country as voters decide who, among the 18 presidential candidates, will succeed the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.

Nigerians across the 774 local government areas in the 36 states of the country, plus the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), will have the task of electing the country’s leaders in the elections.

This election will, for many Nigerians, either put an end to Buhari’s eight years of rudderless leadership, unemployment, poverty, economic woes, insecurity, banditry, criminality, fear and terrorism, or become a continuum of the same old pot.

Though the electioneering campaigns have largely been narrowed down to four main contestants in the persons of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and to some extent, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), there a plethora of other candidates to choose from.

Other presidential candidates, as released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to battle for the pie include Imumolen Christopher of Accord Party (AP), Al-Mustapha Hamza, Action Alliance (AA), Sowore Omoyele, African Action Congress (AAC), Kachikwu Dumebi, African Democratic Congress (ADC), and Sani Yabagi Yusuf of the Action Democratic Party (ADP).

Others are Umeadi Peter Nnanna, of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Princess Ojei Chichi, Allied People’s Movement (APM), Nnamdi Charles Osita, Action Peoples Party (APP), Adenuga Sunday Oluwafemi, Boot Party (BP), Osakwe Felix Johnson, National Rescue Movement (NRM).

Others contestants are Abiola Latifu Kolawole of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Adebayo Adewole Ebenezer, Social Democratic Party (SDP), Ado-Ibrahim Abdumalik, Young Progressives Party (YPP) as well as Nwanyanwu Daniel Daberechukwu of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).

The stakes are quite higher than any previous election in Nigeria’s recent democratic history with a record number of registered voters put at 93.5 million. The awareness has been massive as a dominant demographic has shown that put of the registered voters, a whopping 48 million of them are the youths.

The intensity of the campaigns have also not been lost as the dominant candidates have been up and doing, trying to see who will play a better game of putting down the other all in a bid to woo the electorates.

President Buhari had, in many of his address to the nation, insisted on creating a level playing field for this election and one of his leveller was the much criticised Naira redesigned policy which, according to him, was to take away the vexatious burden of vote buying by politicians.

“This is a positive departure from the past and represents a bold legacy step by this administration, towards laying a strong foundation for free and fair elections,” Buhari had said in one of his broadcasts.

He had also sounded it clear that Nigerians should feel free to vote for any candidate of their choice.

Indeed, the 2023 general elections will either make or mar the existential of the nation, Nigeria.

Related Topics:Featured Nigeria Polls Presidential Election

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Politics

S’Africa lengthens troop deployment in Mozambique, Congo DR

Published

2 days ago

April 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a speech that South Africa’s military would keep sending troops to Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which are both in the middle of wars.

The extension will leave 1,198 members of the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) in eastern Congo for an unknown amount of time. They are there as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force helping Congo fight rebel groups.

The statement also said that 1,495 members of the SANDF would keep working in Mozambique, where they have been since 2021 helping the government fight dangerous extremism in the north.

After two SANDF troops were killed and three were hurt by a mortar bomb in Congo in February, South Africa’s military operations abroad have been looked at more closely at home this year.

Meanwhile, the major opposition party in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance, said that Ramaphosa sent troops into a war zone without being ready.
Under the supervision of the UN, the SANDF has taken on many dangerous and difficult peacekeeping tasks over the years to help war-torn African countries stay stable and peaceful.

In 2003, South Africa was one of the first countries to send troops to Burundi to help the peace process. During the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) peacekeeping mission in 2000, the SANDF led attempts to stabilize the country’s politics, rebuild and improve infrastructure, and train DRC troops.

Politics

Digital Rights: Policy enthusiast, Jere, advocates self-regulation as alternative to govt regulations

Published

4 days ago

April 24, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Copperbelt businessman and mining policy advocate, George Jere, has highlighted the importance of self-regulation in the expanding digital media landscape, countering arguments against freedom of speech.

In an exclusive discussion with Zambia Monitor, Jere challenged notions surrounding media freedom and digital rights, emphasizing the indispensable role of effective media instruments in national progress.

“Digital media’s unrestricted nature facilitates publishing, although tracking those behind it poses challenges for government intervention,” Jere remarked, advocating for self-regulation as a preferable alternative to government restrictions.

He stressed the need for a balanced approach between private and public media operations, criticizing the high level of censorship in public media channels.

“While cyber security laws fall short, self-regulation offers a more effective solution for managing digital platforms,” Jere asserted, expressing disappointment in the government’s failure to enact comprehensive media reforms.

Jere cautioned against subjective regulations aimed at suppressing dissenting voices, urging authorities to reconsider laws through inclusive consultations.

“Media freedom should extend to all, including rural communities, chiefs, and church leaders, across traditional, social, and digital platforms,” he emphasized.

Reflecting on public media governance, Jere noted its tendency to align with ruling interests, calling for fairer recruitment processes for media executives to ensure unbiased coverage.

Regarding proposed taxes on online livestream programmes, Jere questioned the necessity of double taxation, suggesting negotiation of percentage-based levies to support domestic resource mobilization without unfairly targeting individuals.

As debates on freedom of speech and media regulation continue, Jere remained steadfast in advocating for inclusive, balanced media practices to foster national development.

This story is sponsored content from Zambia Monitor’s Project Aliyense.