A top consultant of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Olatubosun Adeniyi Kuku, has been caught on tape revealing that Bola Tinubu, the flag bearer of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), would offer $170 million to the commission’s officials to manipulate the results of the presidential elections across Nigeria.

“Asiwaju is giving INEC $170 million,” Mr Kuku, who described himself as the number one consultant for the commission, told an official in the audio obtained by Peoples Gazette this week. “We will share it around; everybody will do the bidding.”

Among several other midsize businesses, Mr Kuku was identified by The Gazette as the owner of Winning Keys Consult Ltd., located at 9, Usan Street, Durumi, Abuja, which claimed to have helped candidates win elective positions.

Mr Kuku, who said he visited Mr Tinubu when the former Lagos governor promised to bribe the electoral officials, disclosed that he had received N8 billion worth of election-related contracts from the commission.

“Last 2019, it is N7.8 billion the contract they gave me. Ask him who I am. They call me the Hembe Lembe of INEC. That’s what I do,” the consultant said.

In interviews, Mr Kuku repeatedly said he was not the one on the tape.

“It is not me,” the said by telephone on Friday morning. However, after The Gazette told him the voice was authenticated to be his, Mr Kuku abruptly hung up.

When The Gazette made another attempt to reach Mr Kuku shortly after his initial denial, he quickly said in Yoruba that the audio was recorded long ago and wondered why it could cause any troubles now. He failed to elaborate when pressed.

Whereas it could not be ascertained when or where the meeting Mr Kuku said he had with Mr Tinubu took place, his position as one of INEC’s biggest consultants was confirmed by The Gazette. INEC consultants have long been known to exploit their access to the electrical office towards personal inurement.

Yet, the electoral office strongly pushed back and summarily disowned Mr Kuku when asked for comments about the tape, which a pro-democracy activist described as “beyond disturbing.”

“The INEC chairman and national commissioners I know cannot accept money from any contestants,” spokesperson Rotimi Oyekanmi told The Gazette Friday afternoon.

“The processes that have been put in place have assured that no single person or any group of persons at all can influence the outcome of the presidential election in Nigeria,” the INEC spokesman added.

An INEC official said Mr Kuku’s status as a consultant with the agency would be placed under immediate review.

Bayo Onanuga, the APC Presidential Campaign Council spokesman, did not immediately respond to The Gazette’s request seeking his comments on the audio.

But Mr Tinubu has strongly denied all charges of corrupt practices or any attempts to compromise existing democratic processes. He was among the presidential candidates who signed a peace and fair pact in the weeks and days leading to today’s presidential election, saying it was only a continuation of his pro-democracy activity that peaked during the 1990s military junta.

Still, the candidacy of Mr Tinubu, a top contender in the presidential race being a choice of the ruling party and a key ally of President Muhammdu Buhari, has over time been tainted with age falsification, ill health, corruption and drug dealing allegations.

Ahead of the party’s presidential primary elections in June 2022, sources told this outlet that Mr Tinubu offered delegates bribes to secure their votes as the APC flag bearer.

The delegates confirmed to The Gazette that the APC flagbearer induced Ogun delegates with $25,000 and Adamawa $10,000.

Voting rights activist Greg Adesuwa said Mr Kuku’s disclosure about what he did with Mr Tinubu was not entirely new to Nigerian elections, which have for decades been characterised by violence, ballot box stuffing and outright rigging often linked to candidates and their political agents.

“This INEC contractor said Tiinubu was looking to bribe officials to the humongous amount mentioned, that is beyond disturbing,” Mr Adesuwa told The Gazette. “I hope the security agencies will work to investigate the man’s claim and hold all his co-conspirators to justice in this country.”

Mr Adesuwa said Nigerian politicians should move beyond seeing election as a violent and corrupt process and instead focus on polishing their ideas to make them sellable to the masses.

aydelicious:
Looking ahead

The coast is now clear for Honourable Barrister Aida Nath Ogwuche to emerge as a Member of the House of Representatives after the Supreme Court of Nigeria, affirmed her candidacy for the Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo Federal Constituency in Saturdays elections.

In a press release signed by the Director General of the Aida Nath Campaign Organization (ANCO), RT. Hon. Chief James Oche, the seasoned legal practitioner declared that wednesdays victory at the Supreme Court was a triumph for the People's Democratic Party and the great people of Enone, as there is no victor or vanquish. The press release is reproduced below:


PRESS RELEASE

AIDA NATH OGWUCHE'S VICTORY AT THE SUPREME COURT IS VICTORY FOR ALL

NO VICTOR, NO VANQUISH - ANCO

The Aida Nath Campaign Organization (ANCO) has received with elation the judgement of the Supreme Court of Nigeria upholding its Principal, Honourable Barrister Aida Nath Ogwuche as the Candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) for the Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo Federal Constituency in the forthcoming General Elections.

ANCO is excited to note that once again, the Supreme Court has affirmed itself as the last hope of the common man. ANCO notes the judgement to be based on acceptable legal standards. ANCO reaffirms its optimism all through the course of litigation that its principal being guided by the tenets of electoral laws would emerge victorious in the end, giving to her professional background as a lawyer and surrounded by a team of sound legal minds.

ANCO appreciates its team of legal experts led by Chief Adegboyega Awomolo SAN, Yunuz Ustaz SAN, Paul Erokoro SAN, Victoria Awomolo SAN, Keneth Ikonne ESQ, Joseph Oche ESQ, Raphael Ashwe ESQ, Johnson Pius Agbo, ESQ and the other members of the outer bar for their selfless commitment to ensuring that justice was achieved.

ANCO states that, the outcome of the judgment is a victory for the People's Democratic Party and the great people of Enone, as there is no victor or vanquish. ANCO appreciates the efforts of Mr. Francis Ottah Agbo who though lost at the party primary pursued his convictions for justice to end. ANCO enjoins him to remain faithful in working for the PDP in the hope of victory.

ANCO salutes all stakeholders, elder statesmen, supporters and the great people of ENONE who have kept faith and supported the cause of its principal, the Hon. Barr. Aida Nath Ogwuche to this good end. ANCO is grateful and looks forward to victory at the polls.

ANCO returns all glory to God and enjoins its supporters to sustain the campaign and work hard to achieve victory at the polls.

Signed:

RT. HON. CHIEF JAMES OCHE
DIRECTOR-GENERAL, AIDA NATH CAMPAIGN ORGANIZATION (ANCO)
22ND FEBRUARY, 2023

I just finished a meeting with the Commonwealth Observer Group to Nigeria, led by His Excellency Thabo Mbeki, former President of South Africa. We had rich diplomatic conversations, and it was a good opportunity to keep up with President Mbeki. -AA

The Deputy Director, Online Media for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council, Dr. Oche Otorkpa (FRSPH–UK) has said that PDP’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar is the best choice Nigerians will make in the February 25th general election because Atiku will bring more development and unify the country including using sports.

According to him, Nigeria’s population is largely made up of youths between the ages of 18 and 35 and as such, the country needs a leader like Atiku who understands young people and has the ability to harness the energy in them through sports for greater development of the country.

Dr. Otorkpa said this in a statement to newsmen on Friday.

According to the Deputy Director, Atiku is a sports enthusiast whose manifesto also clearly contains concrete plans to revive the country’s sports sector which has been in failed state for decades.

He said with the support of his running mate, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa who is also a sports enthusiast, Atiku’s government, if elected, would reset the fortunes of the sector and “rekindle the hopes and aspirations of our people.”

His statement reads thus:

Nigerians agree that sports especially football is a major unifying factor in the country. When it comes to sports, Ahmed Musa, Nwankwo Kanu, and Rashidi Yekini belong to all irrespective of tribe, religion, or the part of the country they come from. The passion for sports here is deep and the commitment is total.

Young people constitute the bulk of sports enthusiasts on the planet and available data indicates that Nigeria has the largest population of youth globally, with a median age of 18.1 years. In Nigeria, about 70% of our population falls under the age of 30, and 42% are under the age of 15. The size and youthfulness of our population should naturally give us an edge in the global sporting arena.

However, despite the sea of talented young lads in our country and the inextinguishable passion of our people for sports, our nation continues to trail behind in major sporting events both on the African continent and the international scene.

Apart from serving as a unifying factor, sports in Nigeria is a huge goldmine whose economic potential has remained untapped by businesses and investors. Nigeria needs a leader who understands young people, a leader with good business acumen, and the ability to harness the energy of young people using sports as a tool to significantly boost government revenues and concurrently serve as a catalyst for reviving our dying economy.

The 2023 Presidential election offers our country and its young people the opportunity to elect such a leader, one with the capacity to RESET the fortunes of sports in our country and rekindle the hopes and aspirations of our people.

That leader is His Excellency Alhaji Atiku Abubakar the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party. Lovers of the English Premier League as well as sports enthusiasts in Nigeria describe him as the undisputable champion of sports development in our country. When it comes to sports and youth development, Atiku towers above all other presidential candidates with none coming close.

A passionate Arsenal fan and follower of both local and major football leagues around the world, Atiku has never hidden his passion for the development of sports in Nigeria. As Vice President of Nigeria from 1999-2007, Atiku and President Obasanjo superintended over some of Nigeria's greatest moments in sports development. During that period they built the Abuja National Stadium, the Games Village, as well as the neighboring infrastructures which hosted the All Africa Games in October of 2003. The main structures used for that event are still being used today to host major sporting and non-sporting events in Nigeria.

Under the PDP Led administration of Obasanjo and Atiku, sports associations and federations no matter how small were rejigged while facilities at major stadiums in the country were also upgraded which enabled Nigeria and Ghana to jointly host the African Cup Of Nations (AFCON) in the year 2000, exactly twenty years after the nation first hosted the 12th edition of the prestigious African football competition in 1980.

Beyond the passion for sports, electing H.E Atiku Abubakar and Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa a first-class medical doctor and a star table tennis player will redefine sports as we know it in Nigeria because at the core of Atiku’s policy document is a national plan that seats well with sports in view of the fact that it seeks to restore Nigeria’s unity through equality, social justice, and cooperation, among various people which epitomizes what sports and sporting events stand for.

This Presidential election is a battle between a PDP candidate who fully understands a league table and the intricacies of sports and a confused APC candidate who dances reggae when the national anthem of his country is being played. May God Help Us To Help Ourselves on the 25th of February, 2023.

Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Waziri Atiku Abubakar, says the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, plans to acquire Federal Government properties across the country if he becomes President.

Atiku’s Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said this in a statement while reacting to Tinubu’s claim that Atiku sold off government properties and diverted the proceeds.

Shaibu stated that Lagos State where Tinubu has been ruling directly and indirectly since 1999 has become his personal property.

He noted that Tinubu in an interview with The News Magazine some 10 years ago, said he returned to Nigeria after the June 12 struggle with nothing.

Tinubu stated that “They dispossessed me of the house, as well as my office on Saka Tinubu Street. My vehicles and everything else I owned. They claimed they found bombs in it and dispossessed me of it. I was totally cleaned out. I had only five shirts, £2000 pounds and jackets”.

He said Tinubu became the first governor in history to sign an obnoxious pension law that guaranteed lifetime benefits for himself and his family.

The obnoxious pension law provides that a former governor of Lagos gets a residential house at any location of his choice in Lagos State and one residential house in the Federal Capital Territory for the governor on two consecutive terms.

Tinubu’s law also stated that he will get six brand new cars every three years, 100 per cent of the basic salary of the serving governor, free health care for himself and members of his family; furniture allowance, which is 300 percent of their annual basic salary house maintenance allowance, which is 10 per cent of basic salary utility allowance, which is 20 percent of the salary and car maintenance allowance, which is 30 per cent of the annual basic salary.

Other benefits include entertainment allowance, which is 10 percent of the basic salary and a personal assistant, who will earn 25 percent of the governor’s annual basic salary. Even former Presidents of Nigeria do not enjoy such largesse.

This is the state-sanctioned profligacy that Tinubu entrenched as a former governor.

He added, “Tinubu’s residence at 26 Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi was initially falsely presented as the Guest House of an oil company. Later, he purportedly bought and used public funds to rebuild and renovate it. The Lagos State Government bought the property and paid an undisclosed sum to him and thereafter gave the property back to him under the bogus Pension Bill he signed into law shortly before he left office in 2007.

“The annex of the Lagos State Guest House in Asokoro, Abuja was bought by the State Government in 2006 for N450 million, purportedly to protect the main house from security breach.”

Shaibu alleged that the tollgates along the Lekki-Epe Expressway, the Alpha Beta Consulting which has exclusive rights to collect taxes on behalf of the Lagos State Government as well as many other revenue generating firms in Lagos are under the control of Tinubu.

Shaibu stated, “If Tinubu becomes President, he will take ownership of the federal secretariat, Ikoyi; the Tafawa Balewa Square and every other federal property in Ikoyi to the detriment of Nigeria.

“Already, his wife is a senator, his daughter is market woman leader. His sister-in-law is a commissioner; his son enjoys advertisement monopoly in Lagos. His godson, MC Oluomo. If Tinubu takes over as President, the entire country will become the property of his family. Nigerians will become second class citizens in their own country,” he added.

“The World Bank says 2 out of every 3 Lagosians live in a slum. But how can Lagos tackle its housing deficit? In just four years, Lateef Jakande built over 30,000 housing units. Jakande lived in Ilupeju all his life. Can the same be said of the self acclaimed architect of modern Lagos?” he asked.

The remarks credited to the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai concerning the crisis arising from the currency scarcity across the country comes across as a low point in the profile of the self-acclaimed Accidental Civil Servant governor.

At a point when the masses of Nigeria are groaning under the weight of the currency crunch, it remains inglorious that the Kaduna State governor would, rather than sympathize with the masses, prefer to go on political entanglement over the issue. For the avoidance of doubt, the currency crisis (and indeed all other crises), as it stands today, is a mess created by the APC and it will be imprudent of the Kaduna State governor or anyone else to associate the PDP or its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar with the crisis. Ads by It is curious why Governor el-Rufai and other elements of his ilk in the APC had to wait this long before they found it contingent to speak in disapproval of policies initiated by their own political party. Perhaps, it is because for them, self-interest in an election season is more important than public interest.

As a matter of fact, the lingering fuel scarcity and, indeed, the currency crisis of which el-Rufai so bitterly complained about did not just start today. In major cities across the country, Nigerians have been contending with the problem of fuel scarcity for almost two years in some places like the Federal Capital Territory, while el-Rufai and others crying foul in the APC turned blind eyes to the plight of Nigerians. On the contrary, Atiku Abubakar and the PDP have persistently brought the attention of the country to the sufferings of Nigerians by the APC administration in the past almost eight years.
Nigerians surely know better who loves them more between Atiku who has remained on the side of the masses and the presidential candidate of the APC, Bola Tinubu who has never come out in defense of the people against the hardship that the APC has subjected the country to since it took power in 2015.

If Mallam el-Rufai is interested in knowing who hates the people of Nigeria, he should look in the direction of his political master who drove two bullion vans into his residence on the eve of election day in 2019. The APC and their presidential candidate are crying foul to the currency change policy because they fear the policy will frustrate their plan to take advantage of the impoverishment of Nigerians by the APC through vote buying, a situation that has already commenced, in the 2023 election. Of course, the ordinary masses of Nigeria can not stand up to the evil plans of the APC, but that is where Atiku comes in as the bulwark of anti-democratic forces. Atiku loves the people of Nigeria, and he has sufficiently demonstrated his love even at times when it was risky to do so. What Atiku hates, on the other hand, are politicians whose only intention is to compromise the electoral process through monetary inducement.

We know those politicians who keep stacks of monies at home and in bullion vans to buy votes. They are the ones who, the once upright Mallam el-Rufai comes to the open to defend, and they are the ones who are afraid of the currency change policy.

A well-known tribal "warlord" on Twitter was last week quoted as saying "only Nigerians tired of bad governance will vote LP". Unfortunately, that statement was an attempt by that pseudo-nationalist to manipulate patriotic Nigerians into voting for a tribal candidate who stands no chance whatsoever in the 2023 Presidential election apart from acting as a spoiler hellbent on enhancing the fortunes of our oppressors.

The 2023 Presidential election must not be reduced to an ethnicity contest or a circus run by an emergency church attendee trying to manipulate churchgoers into thinking he has an overnight solution that could transform Nigeria into Dubai overnight. A magic wand he failed to use as Governor of Anambra state for 8 years where public hospitals and universities were closed for over a year and many people died.

Wisdom and foolishness are not the same. According to the Institute Of Security Studies, there have been more than 40 peaceful (post-election) leadership changes on the African continent since 1990. But only in 16 cases that involved 13 countries has the opposition triumphed. This clearly tells us that opposition wins on the African continent don't come cheap.

The padded results of the 2019 presidential elections indicated a difference of 3,928, 869 between the APC and the PDP. This figure included trees and ghosts counted by the APC and included in the final results. The actual figure was 1,615,302 votes in favor of the PDP.

The 2023 Presidential election is expected to be different with the introduction of the BVAS and increased voter awareness. The number of votes and margin of a win by any candidate is expected to be smaller and tighter.

There are 21 APC governors trying to shove Tinubu down our throats, this excludes the sea of other federal and state appointees hellbent of ensuring that the current disasters in government are sustained.

At the Republican State Convention in Springfield, Illinois on the 16th of June, 1858, Abraham Lincoln paraphrased Matthew 12:25, when he spoke of a house divided:

And Jesus knew their [the Pharisees'] thoughts, and said unto them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house.

To Judge APC for the calamity they brought upon us is up to God, but to ensure they never win the 2023 Presidential elections is a duty that requires the efforts of all patriotic Nigerians with the ability to see beyond their noses, tribes, or religion.

Nigeria's best chance of getting rid of the current cankerworms in government is to identify and queue behind the strongest opposition party and a candidate with the capacity to wrestle power from our oppressors. Dividing our votes among parties we know cannot win will only enthrone our oppressors.

As of today, that party is PDP with H.E. Atiku Abubakar as its Presidential candidate and Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate. A vote for LP or Peter Obi is an indirect vote for APC and Tinubu the Bulaba coroner, a mistake that comes with tragic consequences.

May God Help Us to Help Ourselves On the 25th of February 2023.

Dr. Oche Otorkpa (FRSPH-UK)

Festus Keyamo must explain why Tinubu’s Alpha Beta paid $4million to a company in cocaine infested, Baranquilla, Colombia in 2015. He must come clean why $1million was paid to Tinubu’s Union Bank Dom acct 0036620785 January 23, 2015 in Warri Branch, withdrawn January 26"

Between January 6, 2015 to January 28, 2015, Tinubu’s Union Bank Domiciliary account number 0036620785 received cash payments in dollars totaling over $4million from his various SPVs- Alpha Beta, Hallizview, Soft Alliance and Summit.

As Nigerians prepare to elect a new president on February 25, a straw poll has put Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as favourite to win the election ahead of other candidates.

Adamawa State-born Atiku, from the north east, is running with Ifeanyi Okowa, current governor of Delta State on what is known as Atiku-Okowa ticket.

The straw poll conducted by Guardians of Leadership and Democracy, GLD, a pro-democracy group with focus on leadership, good governance, sustainable democracy, innovation and human capital development, put Atiku in clear lead over three other top contenders for the job.

Straw poll, also known as straw ballot, is usually an ad hoc poll carried out to determine the slant of opinion on an issue or popularity of an individual or group of persons within a community.

In modern political communication and marketing, it has become an effective quickfire tool to gauge popularity of issues or suitability of persons for a position.

The group has in the past conducted straw poll (both online and offline) on several national issues and on popularity of categories of Nigerians for certain offices including whether Nigeria should adopt the Parliamentary system of government or continue with the extant Presidential system.

Many respondents to the poll conducted (online and offline) across diverse categories of Nigerians, according to GLD, projected Atiku to win the presidential election.

A press statement issued in Lagos yesterday by GLD Executive Secretary, Dr. Robert Ebelo, said the emergence of Atiku as presidential candidate of the PDP altered earlier projections of the possibility of the next president emerging from the southern part of the country.

The statement explained that most of the respondents from the north picked Atiku over other candidates.

In the North-West geopolitical zone, which comprises the seven states of Sokoto, Zamfara, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi and Jigawa, with a total of 22.67 million registered voters, most of the respondents picked Atiku over others.

However, in the South-south, which is traditionally a PDP stronghold and the zone of Atiku’s running mate, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, the Atiku-Okowa ticket was in clear lead; followed by Peter Obi and his Labour Party.

According to the statement, the 2023 Presidential election contrasts with the norm in the past where the race was always reduced to a two-horse race with one horse being the dominant one, making the contest too easy to call.

Some of the criteria considered by respondents, according to the statement, include ethnicity, fitness, ability to create job and wealth, experience, among other human development indices.

burp18:
It's okay for you to wish. LP can get at most 20% votes in Amy middle belt states. The rest 80% will be split between APC and PDP. Obi cannot win any state outside the south east and even in the South South, the votes will be split with PDP with PDP coming ahead of them. FYI I'm middle beltan.