Presidential Poll and Voodoo Figures

Presidential Poll and Voodoo Figures

Ring True

By Yemi Adebowale; yemi.adebowale@thisdaylive.com; 07013940521 (text only)

It was an unprecedented sham. This is how best to describe the voodoo figures, mainly from the North-west and North-east, which INEC affirmed and used as the basis for declaring incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari winner of the February 23 poll. The figures were simply concocted by the ruling party to turn the tide in an election they obviously did not win. The voodoo figures, mainly from Katsina, Kaduna, Zamfara, Jigawa, Borno, Yobe, Kano, Benue, Bauchi and Niger states did not tally with the realities on ground. The fraud perpetrated in this 2019 Presidential election is unprecedented.

Katsina and Kano states witnessed the most impudent allocation of figures. Just as it happened in 2015, the two states produced the vote-changing numbers for our fantastically brilliant President Buhari. He was allocated 1,232,133 votes in Katsina, his home state. In Kano State, Buhari was allotted 1,464,768. Not even Lagos State, with close to six million registered voters could produce this kind of figures. What a country!

In Kaduna State, 993,445 votes were invented for Buhari. This state has been under the throes of bandits and killer herders in the last 45 months, with hundreds of people sent to early graves. Suddenly, these people got up and gave almost a million votes to a man under whose tenure they have been in anguish. This is irreconcilable.

In Borno State, Buhari was allocated 836,496 votes. This same state gave Buhari 473,543 votes in 2015.  What has changed in Borno State within four years that resulted in over 80% increase in vote cast for the President? Are there more people coming into the state? Obviously, this can’t be the case, as hundreds of thousands of the indigenes of this state have fled to Cameroon and Chad to escape Boko Haram assault. The massive vote allocated to Buhari in Borno State is also illogical. This is a state with 33 IDP camps, up from just 11 in 2015. Terrorists now control virtually the whole state.

I can clearly remember the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Garbai El-Kanemi, telling Buhari that “we, the people of Borno State, are still under Boko Haram siege. Nobody can dare move out of Maiduguri by 10 kilometres without being confronted, attacked by Boko Haram.” Yes, Millions of people can’t return to their homes because the federal government has failed to secure them. What those who allocated these massive votes are simply saying is that the traumatised people of Borno State voted for a man who has failed them, so as to continue wallowing in trauma. This is what I call illogicality of voters’ lucidity.

Buhari was also allocated 497,914 votes in another Boko Haram-ravaged state, Yobe. 497,914 people voted for Buhari in Yobe State? Haba! Where did the voters come from?

Those who engineered the vote distribution were also very sloppy in their allocation in some states. A good example here is Benue State where PDP won all Senatorial and House of Representatives seats. But in the Presidential election, 355,255 votes were allocated to Atiku while Buhari, whose party was massively voted against in the election to the legislature, got 347,668 votes, a difference of 7,587. This is laughable. Again, it cannot happen in a state in which Buhari has failed to protect the masses of the people against killer herders. How can a people, still seething over the mass killing of their loved ones, go out and vote massively for the man that failed to protect them? It can only happen in Nigeria.

Other Voodoo allocations to Buhari were 1,464,768 votes in Kano State, 150,710 votes in Rivers State, 118,082 votes in Bayelsa State,794, 738 votes in Jigawa State; 798,428 votes in Bauchi State, 612,371 votes in Niger State and 581,552 votes in Kebbi State.

Aside from concocting figures, there was also massive intimidation of the opposition followed by illegal mass thumb-printing of ballot papers.A good example here is the account of an NYSC member, Ashimom Msuguhter, who served as an INEC ad hoc official at a unit in Nasarawa State. Msuguhter, a Doctor at Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia, Nasarawa State, said he was forced to hand over ballot papers to persons who thumb-printed them for a particular party, as his life was in danger.

Buhari’s so-called victory is evidently tainted. This is an illusory triumph. Our President is still celebrating the bogus conquest. Well, let him continue to wallow in self-deceit. He simply conquered Nigerians, albeit, for the moment.

On the flip side, this country must also end this analog system of having Resident Electoral Commissioners coming to Abuja to physically announce results of their states. That was why our ludicrous INEC spent five days announcing results. We are no longer in the Stone Age. These results can be announced by the RECs in their offices and projected on the big screen at the National Collation Centre in Abuja for all to see.

The February 23 elections were bloody. The desperation by the ruling party to retain power at all cost fueled the killings. The killings in Bayelsa, Rivers, Lagos and Delta states were horrendous. I can never forget the murder of Ms. Ibisiki Amachree in Rivers State.

The Situation Room, an umbrella group of more than 70 civil society groups that monitored the election said 39 people were killed in violence linked to the vote. 16 people were killed in Rivers State alone. Bayelsa saw four deaths, and Delta, two fatalities. Eight other states accounted for the remaining fatalities. “Situation Room notes that INEC has not managed the election efficiently and significant shortcomings have been recorded. The election has been a step back from the 2015 general election and actions should be taken to identify what has gone wrong and what can be corrected,” notes Situation Room.

Godswill Akpabio Saw War in Akwa Ibom

Former governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State became extremely high on something after he defected to the ruling APC from PDP. He openly boasted that the takeover of the state in 2019 would be as total as the 1940 invasion of Poland by the late German mass killer, Adolf Hitler. Senator Akpabio, who spoke in Aguobu-Owa, Ezeagu Local Government area of Enugu State, added that the 2019 general election in Akwa Ibom State would be a full scale war.

Akpabio said: “When they asked Hitler’s minister for information how was the war in Poland? He said Warsaw saw war and war saw Warsaw… We can’t talk politics in the church but in 2019, Warsaw shall see war and war shall see Warsaw. The return will be victory.”

Remember that the sadist called Hitler killed millions in Poland while capturing and asserting his control over the country. That was what Akpabio promised his people in his quest to deliver Akwa Ibom to the APC.

Well, it was Akpabio that saw war last Saturday in Akwa Ibom and he was thoroughly thrashed. His people did not wait for him to attack. They massively and proactively disarmed Akpabio and his soldiers. The good people of Akwa Ibom came out enormously and protected their votes. Across all the voting units, the invading soldiers were too scared to manipulate votes or snatch ballots boxes when they saw the people standing alert. By the time they finished with Akpabio, he lost his Senatorial seat and returned to Abuja empty-handed. Akpabio ran back with his tail between his legs. The garrulous Akpabio disappointed his pay masters. What a pity.

The Butcher of Oyo State, Ajimobi, Finally Butchered

Another man that was deservedly trashed last Saturday was Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State. He wanted to retire to the Senate after a disastrous eight years as governor. Voters in Oyo South rejected this. Ajimobi was trumped in the poll by Dr. Kola Balogun of the PDP. This governor was clearly told that he had no business running for any elective post again in the state. This is because he has been inflicting pain on his people for almost eight years now. Oyo State has never had it so bad. Virtually all the gains of the state since creation were wiped out by Ajimobi. This once peaceful and lovely state has degenerated significantly, with decaying infrastructure. Public utilities are in a mess. Just visit any public hospital or school owned by the state government and you will be shocked at the state of these facilities. While Oyo State bleeds, Ajimobi and his cronies live big.

Ajimobi has failed to rise above pettiness. He concentrated on destroying lives and property while the progress of the state suffers. A good example here was his ruthless and unlawful demolition of Fresh FM’s building owned by popular musician, Yinka Ayefele. He pulled down the building despite a restraining court order. This was a clear case of executive rascality. It was stomach-turning watching this governor on television celebrating the impunity. Coldblooded Ajimobi arbitrarily destroyed a building which Ayefele spent almost his entire life constructing. I watched the musician weeping during a press conference after the demolition and I also broke down in tears; tears for a country where many get away with impunity. After much pressure, Ajimobi went back to reconstruct the building. It was medicine after death.

His defeat last Saturday was good riddance to bad rubbish.

Unending killings in Kajuru

Just as I predicted last Saturday, the killings in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State continued this week. Early on Tuesday morning, 29 people were killed by gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen in Karmai Village, (Maro Ward) in  Kajuru LGA. It was a reprisal by Fulani herders in the area. The gunmen said to be in hundreds, invaded the community, shooting at people and burning houses.

A source from the area who witnessed the attack, said: “The gunmen were dressed in military uniforms.

The villagers attempted to repel the attackers, but could not withstand their superior fire power.

Our people have been killed and our houses have been burnt. For now, it is difficult to say how many people have been killed until the situation is calm. Many are on the run from the village.”

Because Governor Nasir El-rufai and security agents in this state have compromised, these killings and reprisals in Kajuru may go on for a long time.  If President Buhari is genuinely interested in ending the killings, he has to urgently reconfigure the security architecture of Kaduna State. The leadership of all security agencies in the state must also be replaced with apolitical officers. The current heads of security agencies in Kaduna State have compromised. This is the truth that must be told.

Memo to Police Boss, Mohammed Adamu

Dear IG Adamu, I hope you have been properly briefed on the violence on Election Day in Oshodi/Isolo Constituency 1 of Lagos State? The political thugs that caused the mayhem last Saturday are still intimidating non-indigenes in this area. You have to act fast, to protect these Nigerians. As you know very well, the constitution of this country allows all of us to live anywhere we chose in this country.  A formal petition has been submitted to the Lagos State Police Command by the aggrieved party. But I need to draw your attention to a section of the petition signed by the PDP Chairman in Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area, Sunday Olaifa, so that you can peruse and swiftly arrest the brigands who are still on the rampage.

It reads:  “The hoodlums and miscreants, with their co-cohorts, threatened violence in the face of security personnel and also threatened the non-indigenes, particularly the Igbo, Ijaw, Itsekiri.  A pathetic situation was foisted upon our members and leaders, particularly the candidates of the party during and after the election, before the results were imputed into the result sheets, when the hoodlums and miscreants led by Musliu Akinsanya a.k.a. MC Oluoma, Jamiu Adedumoye a.k.a. Desokan, Ijebeta, Kadiri Jamba, Olojo, Ahmed Killer, Sikiru Salawu a.k.a. Youngest, Sunday Oseni a.k.a. Stainless, Ganiu a.k.a. Koko Zaria and others, took over the conduct of the election at the polling units stated above, with arms and ammunition. Dangerous weapons such as machetes, charms and amulets were not left out in the presence of the security agents, who made no effort to arrest the culprits. They rather supported the sinister motive and aided them to perpetrate their unlawful acts.”

Dear IGP, a strong team of policemen must move into Oshodi/ Isolo, to enforce the laws of our country and tame these gangsters.

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