Index to Nigerian Newspapers

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu's visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa last Monday caused a political earthquake in Nigeria, with the debate over which zone should fly the party's flag in the 2023 Presidential poll. Chief David Nweze Umahi, chairman of the Southeast Governors' Forum, announced his participation in the Presidential contest, raising the tempo of Southeast's clamour for a repeat of the 1999 zoning plan. Tinubu was seen as the prime mover of the merger arrangement among various former opposition parties into an amalgam mega party that ended up defeating PDP in the 2015 Presidential poll. Tinubu's presidential ambition was a source of unease within the governing APC due to his Muslim religious background, and former Sokoto State governor Dr. Attahiru Bafarawa regretted that Tinubu began making covert manoeuvres to ensure credible leaders were sidelined. However, Tinubu supported the admission of members of newPDP, led by Atiku Abubakar, to weaken the ruling party and boost his chances of winning.

ABUJA—National leader of the All Progressives Congress with the vision and ability to build upon the President's foundation. stating that he would rather talk about issues than specific people. APC opposes the consolidation of Atiku. And I'm willing to consult.Why do I anticipate hearing more from him than that?You are in charge of a democratic regime; continue Mr. President's work by paying the counterpart monies to begin our rail construction. You appreciate the convenience of using the rail from Lagos to Ibadan, and you observe first-rate infrastructure. The death toll from car accidents is declining, When I visited the President to discuss everything pertaining to Nigeria in general, including our political party.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has chosen February 26 for its national convention, but stakeholders have warned against forcing the party to hold an exercise that could further polarise members. Chairman of the CECPC and Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, acknowledged the roles played by women during electioneering process, but warned against using the convention as a ruse to create a parallel national executive. The CECPC is planning to have a successful convention, but it is impossible due to by-elections and the wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, has called for better political deals for women. The APC Rebirth Group has flayed the governors over the circumstances leading to the resignation of the Director-General of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Dr. Salihu Lukman.

Election malfeasance can take a variety of forms, such as intimidation of voters, violence against candidates and their supporters, and outright election fraud. It can distort and destabilize democracy, affect electoral outcomes, and shape the extent to which elections facilitate subsequent political and social stability. To mitigate election fraud and gain citizen's confidence, election forensics is paramount. The most important details in this text are that accurate information on electoral irregularities can help separate false accusations from true evidence of electoral malfeasance, provide election monitors with a better gauge of the quality of elections, and help bolster the activities of election monitors and pro-democracy organizations. Ideally, a method for detecting electoral fraud should meet each of the following criteria: it should be sensitive enough to detect anomalies, accurately detect anomalies, involve systematic observation, enable the identification of where anomalies have occurred, and produce estimates of uncertainty.

Prof. Attahiru Jega, former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has called on the National Assembly and President Muhammadu Buhari to pass the Electoral Bill so that INEC can prepare for the 2023 elections. He argued that there are many good things in the bill that will improve the integrity and conduct of elections, such as direct and indirect primaries, and the question of how many parties have a credible register of members. Yiaga Africa Executive Director, Samson Itodo, has called on the National Assembly to give INEC the law to begin preparations for the 2023 elections. He lamented that the commission has a short period to put a lot of its mechanisms together for the conduct of the elections, but NASS only approved 25 of the recommendations. The governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, has also said that the 36 governors are not afraid of direct primary as alleged by some Nigerians. The town hall meeting will discuss key provisions of the Electoral Bill and their implications for election management, election security, electoral integrity and voter participation.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that it will not release the 2023 general election timetable until the Electoral Act Amendment Bill is signed into law. President Muhammadu Buhari had withheld assent to the bill due to controversies surrounding the mode of primaries by parties. Yakubu also announced that 8,260,076 eligible Nigerians have commenced the online pre-registration, completed the registration physically or applied for a transfer to new voting locations, replacement of their Permanent Voters' Cards (PVCs) or updated their voter information records. He warned parties to ensure a transparent and rancour-free primary. The Ekiti governorship primaries have been held in the last four days, with seven political parties choosing the last day for their primaries. However, no party has submitted its list of aspirants, the composition of its electoral panel, or the register of members or list of delegates. The Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) and the Chairman of Action Democratic Party (ADP) have called on the National Assembly and the executive to quickly resolve the contentious issues and pass the new Electoral Act Amendment Bill, which should be signed into law by the President.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged Nigerians to disregard claims by National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Ahmed Bola Tinubu, that Permanent Voters' Cards (PVCs) have an expiry date. Chief Technical Adviser to the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Bolade Eyinla, said that the PVCs issued in recent years remain valid for all elections conducted by INEC, urging Nigerians not to attempt re-registration. Chief Press Secretary to INEC, Rotimi Oyekanmi, said that double registration is an offence under our laws, and that once a name appears on the National Register of Voters, it stays there permanently. The number of fresh names in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) is 5,027,204, and the commission is undertaking a comprehensive cleaning up of the voter register to remove underage persons who may attempt to vote during the 2023 elections.

Seven aspirants boycotted the APC primary in Ekiti, alleging fraud and manipulation. They demanded that the process be delayed for some days and that the local government election committee and ward election committee be disbanded and replaced with names that would reinforce internal democracy and uphold the aims and objectives of the party. The seven aspirants include Otunba 'Demola Popoola, Kayode Ojo, Senator Dayo Adeyeye, Oluwatoyin Afolabi Olufemi Bamishile and Bamidele Faparusi. The police in Ekiti State have intercepted an 18-seater bus conveying 12-armed men, suspected to be errand boys for politicians, a few hours to the primary. This comes barely 24-hours after the command announced the arrest of 105 suspected party thugs by soldiers. The seized weapons include four single-barrel guns, one cut-to-size locally-made pistol, seven cartridges and substances suspected to be drugs.

he cost of conducting the 2023 General Elections, put at N305 billion, has caused deep concern among the media and civil society. The Daily Trust has estimated that INEC could not have expended less than N1.24 trillion in the past ten years, and CISLAC has referred to the budget as "humongous". Given the dwindling revenues accruing to the Federal Government, most Nigerians would argue that this amount could be deployed to other areas of desperate need. Elections are essential precursors to democracy, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other Election Management Bodies (EMBs) in the West African sub region have been worried over the rising cost of elections. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) commissioned a study in 2011 to compare the cost of elections in West Africa. The study found that Benin Republic had the highest cost of election, while Burkina Faso had the least. To reduce these costs, Election Management Bodies (EMBs) in the West African sub region, and indeed the African continent, began to share experiences and offer technical assistance to each other. Nigeria's INEC assisted the National Elections Commission (NEC) of Liberia with the deployment of ICT experts to clean up its register of voters, while the Liberian NEC hosted DDCMs. INEC also shared experiences with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission of Kenya (IEBC) and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA).