Eyes Shift to Nigeria as the General Election Approaches.
Prof Mahmood Yakubu, the head of Nigeria’s electoral Commission, said the Commission would not postpone the February 25th presidential vote despite concerns over widespread insecurity comprising invasions on election officials.
Yakubu said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was well set to facilitate voting in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation.
“The Commission is not contemplating, let alone planning, to postpone the 2023 general election. We are going ahead to conduct the election as scheduled,” he said.
Nigerians are set to choose a new president on February 25. The incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari, is not contesting to defend his seat because his two terms, a maximum as per the constitution, have elapsed.
Current fears of an election postponement stem from a 2019 incident when INEC postponed the election for a week, in an overnight action just 5 hours before polls opened.
The world is watching whether Nigeria will conduct a successful election and have a smooth transition of power.
Nigeria is especially under pressure to follow the Kenyan example. A peaceful transition was achieved in the last general election despite a contentious election in which the establishment’s favored candidate lost.
The three top contenders are Bola Tinubu from the governing All Progressives Congress, Atiku Abubakar from the People’s Democratic Party, and Peter Obi from the Labour Party.
All three top candidates are facing corruption accusations but none has every been indicted of charged with a crime.
A total of 18 candidates have declared interest in the presidential race.
KENYA
All IEBC Commissioners’ Term in Office End
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Commissioners Wafula Chebukati, Boya Molu, and Abdi Guliye’s terms in office ended on January 17, having served a six-year non-renewable term.
Chebukati, the Commission’s chair for the last six years, was appointed head of the (IEBC) on January 18, 2017.
Chebukati said he served the country according to the law and described his colleagues as true heroes.
“It was undoubtedly a challenging assignment, but I served my country to the best of my ability and in accordance with the oath of office I took,” he said.
To the incoming Commission’s new staff, he said: “fidelity to the law is the key to success at IEBC.”
Boya said it was a privilege to serve Kenyans at the Commission.
“To the people of Kenya, We thank you for the privilege to serve you in this Commission. We leave content that we gave it our best shot under the circumstances,” he said.
Guliye said he leaves the Commission satisfied and with no apologies to anybody.
“We upheld our oath of office and the rule of law at all times. As I leave office, I am satisfied that I did my best for my country and my people,” he said.
The other former commissioners: Juliana Cherera, Justus Nyang’aya, and Francis Wanderi, resigned in December 2022 after President William Ruto suspended them from office after they were accused of favoring Azimio La Umoja candidate Raila Odinga.
The four commissioners objected to Ruto’s election accusing Chebukati of running an opaque process where the numbers were cooked up. Upon ascending to office, Ruto suspended the dissenting commissioners, dubbed the “Opaque 4,” for their conduct during the August 2022 election. Out of the 4, only Irene Masit chose to fight the suspension. But she remains suspended.
President Ruto Announces Murder Plot against Chebukati
Tuesday, President William Ruto said he knew of plans to murder former IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati to subvert his victory.
“We know that there was a direct attempt to abduct Wafula Chebukati and murder him so that the commission would be paralyzed, or a compliant commissioner take over and subvert the people’s sovereignty,” Ruto said.
“It was a hard, cold and lonely time, the threats were dire, the promised rewards lavish and the pressure relentless.”
The statements from Ruto have been met with criticism. Eric Theuri, the president of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), said such utterances risk jeopardizing independent investigations into the claims.
“You are left disturbed by such a message from the president, especially when the action he intends to take with regards to the information he is giving has not come out. So what are we supposed to do with that revelation?” Theuri queried.
Opposition Leader Raila Odinga’s party, ODM, called the remarks by Ruto a “well-choreographed chorus.”
Jeremiah Kioni, the secretary general for the Jubilee Party, laughed off the remarks, saying Ruto was using the claims to distract Kenyans from holding him to account over the many “false” promises he gave during the campaigns.
“This president was also in power (as a deputy president) when Chris Musando was murdered, and that just disappeared,” Kioni said.
“Chebukati was supposed to have left office on November 17 2022. But he was in the office until yesterday morning. What is this that he was hiding?” he added.
2022 KCSE Results Released
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu, Friday, January 20, released the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results.
A total of 271 female candidates scored mean grade A while 875 male candidates attained the top grade. The number of candidates with a C+, the minimum university admission grade, was 173,345.
Azimio’s new claims of irregularities in the 2022 elections
Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Thursday said a new report from an IEBC insider shows that Raila Odinga and Martha Karua, the coalition’s presidential candidates won the 2022 August election.
They asked IEBC to open its servers for a forensic audit to get the truth on the actual votes garnered by both Odinga and President William Ruto.
“This is the data that we asked for in court but IEBC deliberately sat on it and they were supported by the courts, but finally the truth is out,” Karua said during the coalition’s press conference on Thursday in Nairobi.
“We have been saying that we won the August poll and now the figures from the whistleblower reinforce what we have been saying,” she added.
Jeremiah Kioni had on Wednesday said that from the report presented by the whistleblower, Odinga won the election with eight million votes.
“59% of the constituencies examined showed results that can’t be verified with absolute certainty but again, in the same document, what has been verified so far shows that Raila won with 8,170,355 votes (57.53%) of the votes cast. Ruto got 5,915,973 votes (41.66%),” Kioni said.
AFRICA
Gambia’s vice president dies.
The vice president of The Gambia, Badara Alieu Joof, died in India while seeking medical treatment.
Gambia’s President, Adama Barrow, confirmed Joof’s death on Wednesday.
“Fellow Gambians, it is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing away of my Vice President, His Excellency, Badara Alieu Joof. The sad event took place in India after a short illness. May Allah grant him Jannahtul Firdawsi,” the president tweeted.
Son of the Equatorial Guinea President arrested
Ruslan Obiang Nsue, son of the Equatorial Guinea president, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of selling a plane belonging to the national airline.
Nsue allegedly sold the 74-seater plane to a company in the Canary Islands. The authorities in Equatorial Guinea said Nsue sold the ATR72-500 plane without the approval of the company’s board to a Spanish company.
Ethiopia Supreme Court President resigns.
The head of Ethiopia’s Supreme Court, Meaza Ashenafi, and her deputy, Solomon Areda, resigned on Wednesday, without giving reasons. Meaza, a former women’s rights activist, was appointed SC president in 2018. She was replaced as Supreme Court president by Tewodros Mihret.
Somalia armed forces capture Haradhare from Shabaab
Somalia government forces on Monday captured Harardhere port town, an al Shabaab stronghold on the Indian Ocean coast. The victory is one of their most significant against the Islamist group.
“Haradhere and Galcad districts have been taken from the hands of the al-Shabaab terrorists. This means al-Shabab is overpowered and gone. The remaining towns will also be liberated soon, said Defence Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur.
Jihadists kidnap 50 women in Burkina Faso.
At least 50 women were kidnapped by suspected jihadists in Burkina Faso last Friday. Residents in Arbinda village said the women were taken as they were out gathering leaves and wild fruits because of a severe food shortage. A few managed to escape and raise the alarm.
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned the incident.
“The Secretary-General calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the abducted women and girls and for their safe return to their families,” the UN said in a statement.
Guterres urged the authorities to “spare no efforts in bringing those responsible for this crime to justice.”
WORLD
Jacinda Ardern To Resign As New Zealand’s Prime Minister
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who captured global attention for the decisive leadership of her Island nation during several crises, announced she’ll be stepping down from her role.
“I’m leaving, because with such a privileged role comes responsibility,” Ardern said. “The responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead and also when you are not. I know what this job takes. And I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It’s that simple.”
Ardern, 42, became one of the youngest leaders in the world when she became Prime Minister at 37.
She earned global admiration with her swift response to the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings, where 51 people were gunned down during prayer in two mosques.
Six days after the attacks, Ardern led New Zealand in banning assault-style weapons through a firearm buyback program that recovered 62,000 guns.
About the shooter, Ardern said this:
“He sought many things from his act of terror, but one was notoriety, and that is why you will never hear me mention his name. He is a terrorist. He is a criminal. He is an extremist. But he will, when I speak, be nameless, and to others I implore you to speak the names of those who were lost rather than the name of the man who took them,”
Her decisive actions in the fight against Covid-19 are credited for saving many New Zealanders’ lives but have also been a source of sharp criticism for her leadership.
Some have said Ardern’s burnout stems from the sharp criticism she has received over her handling of Covid-19, but she has denied the claims.