2019: Major political events in Nigeria

The year 2019 was characterised by some major events that shaped the nation’s political landscape. Our correspondent presents a chronicle of some of the events and how they happened.

President Muhammadu Buhari re-elected

President Buhari , the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was re-elected in the February 23, 2019 polls.

Buhari got a total of 15,191, 847 votes, giving him another term of four years. His main challenger and candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar scored 11, 262, 978 votes in the polls which had 71 other candidates on the ballot.

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, declared President Buhari winner of the election having scored the highest number of votes.

Yakubu, who was the national returning officer for the presidential election, put the number of valid votes at 29, 364, 209.

Buhari won a total of 19 states, while Atiku won in 17 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

The states won by Buhari were Ekiti, Osun, Kwara, Nasarawa, Kogi, Gombe, Yobe, Niger, Jigawa, Kaduna, Bauchi, Lagos, Ogun, Kano, Katsina, Borno, Sokoto, Kebbi, and Zamfara.

On the other hand, Atiku won Ondo, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra, Oyo, Adamawa, Edo, Benue, Imo, Plateau, Taraba, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and the FCT.

Atiku and his party, the PDP proceeded to the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal to challenge Buhari’s emergence as President for a second term but their suit was struck out for lacking in merit.

The five-member panel of the tribunal held that Atiku and the PDP failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt, allegations of corruption and non-compliance with the Electoral Act against Buhari and the APC.

Atiku and the PDP had alleged that security agencies and agents of the APC committed acts of violence, vote-buying, manipulation of ballot papers, stuffing of ballot boxes, massive thumb-print of ballot papers, deflation and inflation of votes, among others in states such as Borno, Yobe, Niger, Katsina, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Gombe and Kebbi.

But in the lead judgment delivered by the chairman of the tribunal, Justice Mohammed Garba held that the failure of Atiku and the PDP to call among their 62 witnesses those from the 11 focal states, mainly in the North, affected by the allegations contained in paragraph 15 of their petition polling-unit-by-polling-unit as required by law, was detrimental to their case.

“The burden of proof in sections 131 and 136 of the Evidence Act was not discharged on any of the grounds for the petition. The petitioners have not proved any of the grounds of their petition in Paragraph 15. The petition is liable to be dismissed and is hereby dismissed in its entirety,” Justice Garba said.

The PDP and Atiku were not satisfied with the judgement and filed an appeal at the Supreme Court. The apex court equally struck out the appeal and upheld the September 11 judgment of the Justice Garba-led Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal which affirmed President Buhari’s victory at the polls.

The seven-man panel of the apex court led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Mohammed said the panel agreed that there was no merit in the appeal filed by Atiku and his party, the PDP.

APC, PDP count losses, gains

The APC went into the March 2019 governorship elections with the full control of Kebbi, Jigawa, Zamfara, Kano, Adamawa, Katsina, Bauchi, Kaduna, Borno, Yobe, Niger, Ogun, Plateau, Lagos, Nasarawa, Oyo and Imo. But the party lost four states of Bauchi, Oyo, Adamawa and Imo to the PDP at the polls.

The PDP on the other hand went into the elections with Gombe, Enugu, Abia, Kwara, Cross River, Delta, Sokoto, Akwa-Ibom, Ebonyi, Benue, Rivers and Taraba states. The party, however, lost Gombe and Kwara  to the APC.

In the November 16 governorship election which was held in Bayelsa and Kogi states, the APC cleared the two states. The APC took Nigerians by surprised when it won Bayelsa State, one of the strongholds of the PDP in the country.

However, the governorship elections were not held in some states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in 2019.

For instance, Anambra, Edo, Ekiti, Ondo and Osun states did not participate in the elections because their governorship elections held at different times (off season).

This was mainly due to court judgments that nullified the election of their governors at different times in the past.

Buhari signs 2020 budget

President Buhari on December 17 signed the 2020 spending plan into law.

The budget tagged “Budget of Sustaining Growth and Job Creation” is Nigeria’s biggest budget ever, totalling N10.59 trillion.

Key assumptions and parameters upon which the 2020 budget was based include crude oil production of 2.18 mbpd while the benchmark oil price is $57.

The budget assumes a deficit of 1.52 percent of the estimated gross domestic product – representing around 2.18 trillion naira – to be financed through foreign and domestic borrowing.

The National Assembly had on December 5 passed and raised the total estimates from the proposed budget from N10.33tn to N10.59tn.

The spending plan includes a value-added tax increase from five percent to 7.5 percent.

A breakdown of the budget figure as approved by the Senate indicates N560. 4 billion for statutory transfers, N4.84 trillion for recurrent expenditure, capital expenditure provision of N2.46 trillion and N2.72 trillion for debt servicing.

In the approved budget, defence got the highest vote for recurrent expenditure with N784,589 billion. It also got the highest vote of N116.181 billion for capital expenditure. The education sector got the second highest recurrent expenditure of N490.303 billion as well as N84.728 billion for capital expenditure.

Works and housing sector got the highest capital expenditure vote of N315, 563 billion in addition to its N27.983 billion recurrent expenditure.

National Judicial Council N110billion Niger-Delta Development Commission (NDDC) N80.8billion and Universal Basic Education (UBE) N111.7billion, National Assembly N128billion, Public Complaints’ Commission N4.7billion, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) N40billion, National Human Rights Commission N2.5billion, North East Development Commission N38. 49 billion, and the Basic Health Care Fund N44. 49billion.

According to the budget document, the GDP growth rate is projected at 2.93 per cent while inflation rate is put at 10.81 per cent. The budget is also based on an exchange rate of N305 per US dollar.

Wike, Dickson fight dirty

Two governor from the South South geo-political zone; Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and his Bayelsa State counterpart, Seriake Dickson, had entangled in supremacy battle over oil wells and fields for their respective states.

Governor Wike had threatened to dethrone the Amayanabo of Kalabari Kingdom in Rivers, an Ijaw speaking tribe in the state for hosting Governor Dickson of Bayelsa State, who was in the state to show solidarity with Ijaw people.

Speaking during a solidarity visit by Kalabari people at the Government House, Port Harcourt, few weeks ago, Wike said,” You can see how people are trying to divide a state. A fellow governor would come from somewhere to create division.

“Dickson professed love for Ijaw people in Rivers state, but was busy working to take the state’s oil resources in Soku and Kula.

“Already, we have gone back to Court in relation to Soku oil wells. This is the man who is claiming Kula oil wells and Soku.

“I have gone back to court and we will reclaim the Soku Oil Wells for Rivers State. This is the same man, you claim, loves you and you roll out drums against protocol.”

But Dickson, in turn at a media chat in Yenagoa, accused Wike of playing a pivotal role that led to PDP’s defeat in Bayelsa State.

“You will recall that the governor of our neighbouring state, Governor Wike of Rivers State, is used to making careless and very childish remarks from time to time.

“Recently, he went on his usual habit. This is the first time I formally react to Wike’s childishness. I have ignored him with pains and redress, all his previous attempts to belittle Bayelsa state, and to intimidate our state and its leadership,” he said.

The move by the PDP national leadership to wade into the crisis did not yield any positive result as Wike vowed not to succumb and asked Governor Dickson to resign.

In a statement issued by the special assistant to the governor on electronic media, Simeon Nwakaudu, Wike argued that the PDP lacked powers to resolve the issue of oil wells.

The governor also explained that the Federal High Court had already determined the issue, adding that the party’s intervention was no longer profitable in view of the incalculable damage allegedly done by the Bayelsa governor.

“I don’t know why they are interceding. They have no power to resolve the issue of Oil Wells. Secondly, the matter has been determined by a court of competent jurisdiction.

“Anybody who is not satisfied should go on Appeal. Are they interceding on behalf of someone who betrayed the party?

“They know that Governor Dickson betrayed and sold out the party. During the 2019 election in Rivers State they know what happened in the state. That Dickson worked with my opponent,” Wike said.