That President Muhammadu Buhari declared his interest to run for second term in office is neither accidental nor a response to any pressure for continuity. It has been a grand plan from his first day in office. His health challenges and age, however, are signals to him that he should consider stepping down in 2019. The appointment of Prof. Mahmud Yakubu as chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, lends credence to the opinion in some quarters that Yakubu’s appointment is tied to an agenda of perpetuating the Buhari administration in office. More so, some high-ranking chieftains of the ruling All Progressives Party, APC, at an informal parley averred that Yakubu’s appointment was in response to a colossal error by former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan who, despite indications that Prof. Attahiru Jega had been compromised against his aspiration in 2015, kept him in office. His attempts to remove Jega much later became an issue of blackmail as the opposition portrayed it as part of desperate moves to manipulate the outcome of the elections to achieve a sit-tight-in-office plan. Thus, Jonathan backed off and he was cheaply eased out of power. Read more
Ekiti: INEC’s Acid Test for 2019 (ThisDay)
