Transition Panel Members Unveiled

Vice President Namadi Sambo will lead the Federal Government transition team, as the Goodluck Jonathan administration begins to wind down, the Daily Times can authoritatively report.

Also on the list is the Managing Director of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Mr. Mustapha Chike Obi; the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr. Patrick Akpobolokemi; and the chairman of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Dr. Musa Babayo.

Also on the board are Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; the Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Benjamin Ezra Dikki; the Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Jelili Adesiyan.

The Head of Service of the Federation, Danladi Kifasi, is expected to be the secretary.

The spokesman of the Presidential Campaign Organisation of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Garba Shehu, told Daily Times on Thursday that the incoming party’s decision on the committee would not be considered until after the Governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections tomorrow.

Ahead of the governorship and state assembly polls, tension is reaching fever pitch between the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reaffirmed its earlier directive that only voters with genuine Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) will be allowed to vote on election days.

It also said that guidelines on the use of Smart Card Readers (SCR) for the April 11 elections, would be strictly enforced.

The commission made the clarification, in a press statement signed by Kayode Idowu, Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, in Abuja on Thursday.

It said the statement followed a deluge of reports received by the commission that some political leaders were asking the electorate to disregard INEC’s resolve to use the PVC and Smart Card Readers for the elections.

An unnamed state governor in the North Central geo-political zone, was alleged to have assured the electorate in his state that they could vote on Saturday with their Temporary Voter Cards (TVCs), if they did not have the PVC and that INEC would not be allowed to insist on the use of Card Readers for voter accreditation.

“Any action infringing these guidelines will be an electoral offence and security agents will apprehend such offenders”, the statement warned.

“Members of the public are strongly advised to disregard false assurances that contradict the regulations outlined by INEC for the governorship and State Assembly elections.

“The commission commends Nigerian voters for their peaceful conduct and exemplary resilience, even in the face of minor challenges, during the Presidential and National Assembly elections on March 28, 2015.

“It, however, considers it unfortunate that some leaders would misguide the public and, thereby, prepare the ground for needless disruptions of the polling process on April 11.

“INEC, hereby, warns that any obstruction to the processes it has put in place for the elections by any person, no matter how highly placed, will constitute an electoral offence punishable in law”, the statement said.

Already, INEC has reassigned the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Kogi State, Alhaji Hussaini Halilu Pai, to supervise the governorship and State Assembly elections in Kano State, following the death of Alhaji Minkala Abdullahi, last weekend.

Pai conducted the governorship election of June 21, 2014 in Ekiti State.

The development is coming as the Labour Party warned that with the way things are going, if care is not taken, the country may be heading towards a one-party state.

Since the APC won the Presidential election, the country has witnessed a lot of defections of leaders of other parties especially the PDP into the APC.

Indeed, no day has gone by without the announcement of one prominent member of another party to the APC, fuelling fears that the APC may be on its way to a landslide victory today on account of bandwagon effect from the presidential and national assembly elections.

But there is a growing fear that with the PDP trying to hold its own in the south south, south east and some parts of the south west, tension that is already reaching boiling point may snowball into real crisis as the electorate make the choice of their governors today.

Specifically, areas where tempers might rise and result to violence include Rivers, Lagos, Ekiti, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Oyo, Imo, Abia, Sokoto, Jigawa, Kaduna, Niger, Anambra.

Rivers was formerly a stronghold of the PDP before crisis erupted in the state and the state governor, Rotimi Amaechi defected to the APC with the entire machinery of the state government.

But a faction of the PDP led by former Minister of state for Education, Nyesom Wike remains a formidable force. The PDP in the state has its arrowhead in the first lady, Patience Jonathan who has been giving Amaechi sleepless nights.  Patience is from the state and had always wanted to dictate the running of the state but which Amaechi would not tolerate. She sees in Wike, who later emerged the governorship candidate of the PDP a willing tool to be used to deal with Amaechi and also have a foothold in the state.

Though, today’s encounter is actually between Wike and APC candidate, Dagugu Peterside, the dramatis personnel are Amaechi and Patience who have been engaged in supremacy war of sort for sometime now.

In the Presidential election, the PDP wangled its way to get 1.4 million votes while the APC could only get 40,000 votes. It kicked against the result insisting that no election took place because INEC did not bring election result sheets to the polling units on account of which APC refused to take part in the election. But INEC which dispatched a team to investigate the petition went on to announce the result.

Today’s election promises to be action packed and full of surprises.

Lagos is another state that a drama is unfolding. This is a state that has been in the firm grips of progressives and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu since 1999. But during last presidential election, the PDP exposed its underbelly by nearly running neck –to-neck with it.

For the first time in 16 years, the PDP made an inroad by destroying its invincibility. For the PDP, this was its best result so far. Even during the era of President Obasanjo when the PDP wanted to capture Lagos at all costs, it was an Herculean task.

This time around, the APC, in spite of the victory of the party at the presidential election is still being stretched to its limit as the PDP remained resolute in snatching the state.

What appears to have soared up its billing was an innocuous statement by the monarch of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu on the Igbos in the state. The Igbos who commands a large population in the state felt insulted by the Oba and are threatening to vote for the PDP. Indeed, it was on the strength of the Igbos that the PDP was able to make an inroad in the last Presidential and national assembly election by fielding Igbo candidates who won in their constituencies.

It was on the basis of this that Akiolu made the controversial statement of threatening the Igbos to vote Akinwumi Ambode which appears to have now boomeranged on the party. Thus, Igbos are not sufficiently pacified to vote APC today, Asiwaju might as well kiss his beloved state goodbye.

Besides, a lot of the people in Lagos are fed up with Tinubu’s overlordship in the state since 1999 and are calling for a change. Another factor appears to be in favour of PDP is the candidature Jimi Agbaje who is regarded as his own man unlike Akinbode whom many believes would be a lackey of Tinubu.

Perhaps it was on the basis of this that President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari had to flew to Lagos saying Lagos is too important to be lost by APC. For both parties, the stakes are so high in Lagos.

Another interesting state is Nasarawa where though the governor, Al Makura is of the APC, the PDP won in the last Presidential election. Today, the APC would want to redeem its image so as to make a clean sweep of the north while the PDP would also want to show the whole world that is victory was no fluke.

In the event of this, tension might flare up leading to skirmishes. On Tuesday, APC leaders from neighbouring Benue State led by Senate Minority leader, George Akume were in Lafia, capital of the state in solidarity with the governor and the people in order to shore up support ahead of today’s polls.

The tension in Ekiti is already at boiling point as the state assembly election holds today. Efforts by the 19 APC members in the assembly to impeach Gov. Ayodele Fayose almost led to a breakdown of law and order during the week. Fayose had been running the state with the 9 members of the PDP before the Presidential election, the result of which many people believed emboldened the APC members to head to the Assembly. They had initially fled the state for fear of their lives. For today’s election, crisis might erupt unless the security agents rise up to the occasion.