Saturday Magazine

THE long awaited elections are finally here, despite postponements and general apprehension and tension that blanketed it. In the weeks leading up to the elections, many Nigerians have given in to their fears and unfounded theories of probable post-election violence by traveling en-masse to their various villages. For those who can afford it, they have left the country in a bid for ‘safety.’

AS public cemeteries across the country have become a haven for ritualists and other diabolical characters who would not allow the dead to rest in peace, a number of private cemeteries are springing up.

HEAD or tail, Jonathan or Buhari, in another 24 hours, the 2015 Presidential elections would be over but the whooping amount spent on the campaign by political parties would remain in the history of time.

AS Nigerians go to the polls today to elect their president and members of the National Assembly for the next four years, certain variables may make or mar the elections, considering the tensed political atmosphere in the country.

In less than six weeks, buyers and exhibitors are gearing up for Indaba 2015 with more than 900 meetings already fixed.

THE new Minister of State for Defence, Col. Austin Akobundu  (rtd.) has urged the electorates in Abia State and Nigerians to massively participate in today’s elections.

THE Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in Nigeria, a non-profit, world-wide women advocacy group, has called on all Nigerians to shun violence as they exercise their civic right in casting their votes for candidates of their choice in the 2015 general elections.

AHEAD of today’s and April 11 polls, the newly posted Imo State Commissioner of Police, Mr Austin Evbakhavbokun, has said his command would not recognise all Imo State sponsored quasi-security operatives during the elections.

THERE is imminent danger across various states of the Nigerian federation. It started like the usual bickering between the governments in power and those opposing them. As Nigerians crave a deepening of democracy, the performance of governments is being x-rayed more than in the first eight years of the present fourth republic. Suddenly, it has dawned on state governors that fiscal responsibility, prudential budgeting and radical planning are about the critical prerequisites to stability and responsible performance. But stability has become a very scarce commodity in the country, following the tight financial situation of state governments.

The good of communication is to understand each other for a more profitable relationship, with less conflict. Let it be done in such a way that you will end with a hug or handshake or even love making.

An unconfirmed report has it that the Acting Governor mobilised a huge sum of money for the presidential candidate during his campaign visit to the state. Unlike Dankwambo whose position has been defended by the state chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Shuaibu Sabulu, none of the party member in Taraba state has deemed it fit to clear the name of the Acting Governor.

Critics of the current system of campaign financing argue that the high cost of office-seeking and current ways of meeting those costs not only distract elected officials from their primary task of governance, but leave the door open to the influence of special interests. When a politician is influenced by either the need to solicit contributions from special interests to finance a costly election campaign, or by a sense of obligation to benefactors, these critics argued that the politician might no longer represent the interests of his or her entire constituency.