Review Stand On Electronic Transmission Of Election Results, ADP To National Assembly.

By Helen Udoh-Abuja

Action Democratic Party(ADP) has appealed to the National Assembly to reverse its stand on the issue of electronic transmission of election results, also
asked the federal government to disclose the identities of the alleged financiers of separatist movements.” The NEC of ADP calls on the National Assembly to discontinue its stand on the issue of electronic transmission of election results which portrays a devious hidden agenda of rigging the elections thereby raping once again, the peoples’ desires and clamour to democratically and peacefully elect their representatives in the nation’s political.

The National Chairman,Action Democratic Party,Engineer Yabagi Sani made this known to newsmen at a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja.

“The NEC of ADP calls on the National Assembly to discontinue its stand on the issue of electronic transmission of election results which portrays a devious hidden agenda of rigging the elections thereby raping once again, the peoples’ desires and clamour to democratically and peacefully elect their representatives in the nation’s political leadership, He said.

“To the NEC of ADP, the unpopular and questionable objection to this strategy of INEC in the enthronement of the conduct of credible and transparent elections tantamount to efforts at reversing the nation’s progress on the path of democracy, He stressed.

ADP NEC however “advises” NASS to first of all, amend the constitution of the country in which it will be clearly written that INEC is no longer an independent electoral umpire because, the present constitution as it stands, is unequivocal, unambiguous in its provision that INEC is an autonomous body with the statutory responsibility to conduct election in ways and modalities that engender free, transparent and credible elections.

He said “To the NEC of ADP, the unpopular and questionable objection to this strategy of INEC in the enthronement of the conduct of credible and transparent elections tantamount to efforts at reversing the nation’s progress on the path of democracy.

During the press conference the party talked about some issues including the proposed Funds for COVID development intervention scheme, insecurity, and the unity of the country.
“We are not of course surprised because such is merely a reflection of the trend of his spin-doctors who have perfected the art of barefaced falsifications and propaganda in their narratives of the records of this administration, He said.

“ADP NEC believes that the Covid-19 pandemic has had and still having, negative and disruptive impacts on the global economies and that Nigeria has been so adversely affected, He Noted.

“He noted that the ADP does not agree with the omnibus explanation of Covid-19 scourge for reasons of the horrific, unprecedented economic doldrums that have plagued the country with the advent of this administration in the last six years.

“Beside the havocs of the Covid-19, there is so much attributable to the incompetence, fantastic, breath-taking corruption that have been ruining and driving down the nation’s economic growth and progress beyond the havoc of the pandemic, He stated.

The Speech Read In Part:

TEXT OF ADDRESS TO THE PRESS BY THE NATIONAL CHAIRMAN OF THE ACTION DEMOCRATIC PARTY, ADP, ENGINEER YUSUF YABAGI SANI ON THE RESOLUTIONS OF THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, NEC AT ITS 10TH MEETING HELD ON 6TH OCTOBER 2021 AT THE NATIONAL SECRETARIAT OF THE PARTY IN ABUJA

COURTESIES:
At its 10th meeting held today 6th October 2021 at the national secretariat of our great party, the National Executive Committee, NEC of the ADP exhaustively deliberated on issues relating to the party and its advancement in the light of the 2023 general elections and prevailing political happenings on the national political landscape. Following are highlights of the NEC Resolutions:
The ADP NEC mapped out strategies to reinvigorate the party’s membership structures at all levels from the ward and Local Governments through to the national level.
In pursuant to the one above, NEC called on state and local government leaderships of the party to ensure regular meetings of their respective officials as stipulated in the party’s constitution.
The NEC also directed the party’s leaderships at all levels to ensure that henceforth, the ADP participates in all elections by featuring candidates or, the party flag bearers.

The NEC recommended the constitution of a committee to establish and oversee modalities and strategies on an aggressive membership drive to boost the present figure of two million card-carrying members of the party.

Executives, especially the Chairmen at states and local government levels are henceforth to actively monitor and comment by making enlightened and courageous statements to the mass media within the framework of the philosophy of the party on developments in their respective areas.

The ADP NEC recognizes the over-arching influence of dichotomies along religious, regional and other sectional divides with the consequent result on the nation’s political leadership, especially at the highest level of governance. While the ADP upholds the dictum of equity as a yard stick in political appointments or elections of leaders for good governance, however our party does not believe that commitment to the principle of equity and balancing of power should becloud the superior requirements of merit in 2023.
NEC of the ADP commends the leadership of the National Electoral Commission, INEC for its manifest honesty and commitment to conduct credible elections in the country through the introduction of innovations and use of technological devises in tune with global best practices.

NEC of ADP therefore describes as unnecessary and retrogressive, the ongoing debacle over the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to transmit electronically, results of elections during the 2023 general elections in the country.
The NEC of ADP calls on the National Assembly to discontinue its stand on the issue of electronic transmission of election results which portrays a devious hidden agenda of rigging the elections thereby raping once again, the peoples’ desires and clamour to democratically and peacefully elect their representatives in the nation’s political leadership. To the NEC of ADP, the unpopular and questionable objection to this strategy of INEC in the enthronement of the conduct of credible and transparent elections tantamount to efforts at reversing the nation’s progress on the path of democracy.

ADP NEC however “advises” NASS to first of all, amend the constitution of the country in which it will be clearly written that INEC is no longer an independent electoral umpire because, the present constitution as it stands, is unequivocal, unambiguous in its provision that INEC is an autonomous body with the statutory responsibility to conduct election in ways and modalities that engender free, transparent and credible elections.

ADP NEC on President Muhammadu Buhari’s Address to the Nation During The 61st Independence Anniversary of the Country
The 10th meeting of the ADP NEC examined critically the text of the President, Muhammadu Buhari’s address to the nation on the occasion of the celebration of the 61st independence anniversary last Friday, 1st October, 2021.
Following are highlights of the position of the ADP on the Presidents claims as contained in that address:
The handlers of the President, Muhammadu Buhari have, through his address to the nation on the occasion of our 61st independence anniversary, succeeded in messing him up by scripting for him, a package of truths, half-truths and at many points, patent falsehood and distortions of the realities of the present conditions in the country. In the view of the Action Democratic Party, ADP, the speech at best, is a portrayal of a President that is distantly out of touch with the goings-on in the country.
“We are not of course surprised because such is merely a reflection of the trend of his spin-doctors who have perfected the art of barefaced falsifications and propaganda in their narratives of the records of this administration.
ADP NEC believes that the Covid-19 pandemic has had and still having, negative and disruptive impacts on the global economies and that Nigeria has been so adversely affected. However, the ADP does not agree with the omnibus explanation of Covid-19 scourge for reasons of the horrific, unprecedented economic doldrums that have plagued the country with the advent of this administration in the last six years. Beside the havocs of the Covid-19, there is so much attributable to the incompetence, fantastic, breath-taking corruption that have been ruining and driving down the nation’s economic growth and progress beyond the havoc of the pandemic.

While commending the government for realizing the need to, ‘support our pharmaceutical research agencies to come up with ideas for locally developed vaccines’, it is however the hope of the ADP NEC that the proposal of ‘raising a $200 million from the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority that would complement the Central Bank of Nigeria’s ongoing N85 Billion Healthcare Sector Research and Development Intervention Scheme to support local researchers in the development of vaccines and drugs to combat communicable and non-communicable diseases including Covid-19’ will go beyond mere proclamation and that the sums to be appropriated will NOT end up being drained into the pockets and accounts of officials.

Also, the ADP NEC appreciates the fact made by the President that our: ‘Gallant men and women of the military and other security agencies have made tremendous progress in addressing the new security challenges’. However, the ADP wishes to draw the attention of the President that the milestones being recorded against terrorism have come about under the leadership of the newly appointed Service Chiefs. This, in our view, goes to show that these great strides could have been achieved much earlier if the President had not so defiantly, refused to hearken to the calls by the ADP and other informed Nigerians for change of guards in the military hierarchy.

On the irredentists’ and centrifugal agitations in parts of the country PMB emphasised that ‘Nigeria’s ‘unity is not negotiable’. In pointed reference to Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Adeyemo, he stated that, ‘the ongoing investigations have revealed certain high-profile financiers behind these individuals.’ The ADP NEC wonders why the seeming reluctance and foot-dragging of the government to reveal the identities of the alleged ‘high-profile financiers’ and promptly get them arrested and bring them to book over what is clearly, a treasonable crime. And who, is the, ‘serving member of the National Assembly’ that has been ‘identified’ as one of the high-profile financiers?

While the ADP as a political party of patriots is committed to the unity and continuity of Nigeria as one indivisible entity, we are however not blinded to the brazen nepotistic, clannish and provincial policies and actions of this government that have in no small measures, triggered and heightened the embers, and indeed, the raging inferno of agitations along the nation’s latent fault lines. Also, the explosion of violence and criminalities under the cloak of separatism to us, is a dialectical outcome of the pervading hardships, excruciating poverty and a general atmosphere of insecurity that have enveloped the polity under this administration.

In terms of restoring peace and tranquility, these are the issues that must be frontally and fundamentally addressed, even in the wee hours of his government. That is, if truly he believes in, ‘dialogue-based solutions to address legitimate grievances’ as projected in his address.

Even as the ADP NEC recognizes the importance of the Petroleum Industry Act as a potential game-changer in the management of the nation’s petroleum resources, we are however reluctant to share the grandeurs and enthusiasm of Mr. President that the Act, will automatically usher in an Eldorado such as the emergence of new refineries and an end to the perennial corruption in the sector.

The above reservation of the ADP NEC is in cognisance of the track record of this government in its handling of otherwise noble ideas and policies which consequently, do not inspire hope that the PIA will be managed effectively and efficiently to achieve its envisioned objectives under this administration. The critical role of foreign and local private sector investments into the industry, in spite of the PIA, will remain low and sluggish against the backdrop of the atmosphere of pervasive corruption and policy summersaults. The ADP NEC, in other words, is doubtful that like the leopard that cannot change its spots, this government is incapable of doing away with its characteristic trademarks that have deterred investments and stimulated capital flight in all sectors of the nation’s economy.

Perhaps most bizarre, almost whimsical of the chest-thumbing claims of the President was the one on agriculture and food security. According to him: ‘We have seen significant investments in almost all areas of the agricultural value chain’ which in his view has hugely enhanced, ‘our food production capacity.’ In a rare courageous admittance of failure of his government, he however said that ‘food prices have been going up’.

By the above paradoxical matrix, the President’s speech writers merely and unabashedly reverted to their well-worn antics of blame game and scapegoatism. We in the ADP believe that the reigning inhibiting prices of foodstuff cannot be explained simplistically as the outcome of the, ‘artificial shortages created by middlemen who have been buying and hoarding these essential commodities for profiteering’. To us, this is infantile logic and, nothing can be further from the truth. Hoarding going by elementary logic, is only possible in a situation of abundance but what we have is a situation of scarcity! What then are the alleged middle men buying and hoarding?

We believe that the most empirical explanation for the catastrophic food scarcity and the attendant high costs, are the inevitable and direct outcome of the atmosphere of a devastating and pervading insecurity engendered by insurgency, armed banditry and kidnapping that has drastically affected farming and food production in all parts of the country. Similarly, beside the scorched-earth warfare being waged by armed insurrectionists, the ADP NEC is also of the view that the ever-spiraling pump price of petroleum products, the astronomical rise in transportation as well as the devaluation of the nation’s currency under this administration, are other germane factors that have retarded food production and the phenomenal soaring prices of foodstuffs.

Relatedly, it is our view that the endemic corruption and incompetence of officials in charge of fiscal disbursement and management of appropriated funds supposedly, to the agricultural sector have in no small measures, affected Federal Government proclaimed policies and programmes in the guise of boosting local food production. A scrutiny of the disbursement of funds under the so-much orchestrated CBN’s Anchor-Borrowers’, fertilizer subsidy and the humungous funds said to have been channeled to enhance rice production will definitely reveal the larceny and sharp practices in that critical sector in recent times.

By the way, ADP NEC joins other concerned Nigerians in asking President Muhammadu Buhari to come out and tell Nigerians, his reasons behind the sacking of the immediate past Minister of Agriculture, Alhaji Muhammed Sabo Nanono?

Finally, the President’s admittance that in spite of the huge investments and various intervention actions of government, the ‘seaports however still remain problematic’. To us in the ADP, the solution to this puzzle is not difficult to sort out. Was PMB expecting a different result when for example, he appointed a Hajiya Hadiza Bala Usman, a young lady with no experience whatsoever in the maritime industry to the headship of a strategic industry for as long as she did? To us, baring crass show of cronyism, nepotism and impunity, the government should have ab initio, appreciated the fact that the NPA apex leadership is one that demands expertise, experience and diligence. Her belated sacking to us, was like medicine after death because, so much, almost irreversible havoc had been done for as long as it lasted.

Distinguished members of the press, ladies and gentlemen, from the foregone, the Action Democratic Party, ADP, remains the credible alternative when next, the opportunity comes the way of Nigerians to democratically elect their political leaders.

God bless our beloved country, Nigeria.

Engineer Yabagi Yusuf Sani,
National Chairman,
Action Democratic Party
SATURDAY, 2ND OCTOBER, 202