By Mohammed Suleiman, Dutse

The Jigawa state Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) has responded to what it calls a misleading and fabricated fictions labelled against its leader and former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido by the State NNPC gubernatorial candidate in the 2023 Elections, Mal. Aminu Ringim.

A statement issued and signed by the party’s State Publicity Secretary, Mal. Kyari Jitau Madamuwa described the purported, and baseless critics as malicious, and unfounded lies against decent, patriotic and well grounded politician of a repute, the former governor of.jigawa state, saying “we won’t fold our arms watching and allowing unscrupulous claims coming from any angle without fighting or responding back.

The statement described Aminu Ringim as a “Mad Political dog, barking, and moving from one place to another for safe landing after severe defeat during the last general elections without Knowing that his anticedents were running out of time.

It contended that having realized that, he could never survive from the deep political grave he has dug for himself in Jigawa State, he has turned himself to be a parochial liar, spreading all sorts of baseless, malicious and unfounded lies against decent, patriotic and well-grounded politician of repute particularly the former PDP Governor of Jigawa state, Alh. Sule Lamido.

According to the statement, Alh. Aminu Ibrahim Ringim  has been in the Jigawa state’s political arena as far back since the creation of jigawa state about thirty three years now and hold several positions in governments of jigawa state but could not utilize his political postures, expertise and influence in winning the ticket in 2023 gubernatorial elections, only to score 37,156 votes as the gubernatorial candidate of his party, the NNPP.

This poor outing, according to PDP,  has clearly demonstrated that Ringim wasn’t a real grassroot politician with all the wizards and exposure as he claimed, in winning the hearts of his people at polls in realization of his set objectives, situation which affects his sense of political judgement.

It could be recalled that The NNPP Chieftain had condemned former Jigawa State Governor Alhaji Sule Lamido’s book, “Being True to My Self,” saying it is full of untruths.
Ringim specifically disputed Lamido’s claim that his parents were from Niger Republic, insisting that his father is an indigene of Ringim Local Government Area.

Replying, Ringim stated “I was born in a village called Bagon Maidawakai, and my father’s grave is in Ringim,” Ringim said, adding that Lamido’s claim was a deliberate attempt to dent his reputation and political career.

The  statement caution the NNPP candidate on the need to be politically educated that, “gone are the days of his kind of dark-age politics, to modern times of politics of Issues and Developments in moving with modern times globalization.

“We advised him to go back to the drawing board as the political atmosphere in Nigeria and Jigawa state in particular can accommodate yesteryears kind of the game.
PDP in Jigawa state therefore implored its teeming supporters and other well meaning people of the to ignore the already sinked Aminu Ringim as no effort could save him from from his Deep Political Grave.

PDP assured that, all necessary steps are being taken into account in seeing to the emancipation of both jigawa state and the country from tyrannical leadership to a purposeful governance under the ticket of the People’s Democratic Party, ( PDP) come 2027 general elections as the teeming Nigerian populace are fed up with the deceptive APC leadership in the country.

By Justina Auta

A new report on “Addressing Voter Apathy in Nigeria” has identified insecurity and socioeconomic challenges as key drivers of low voter turnout during elections.

Prof. Freedom Onouha, Department of Political Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, while presenting the report findings on Friday in Abuja, said the study aimed to address voters’ apathy in Nigeria.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that research was conducted by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) and Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR).

Onouha identified electoral violence, distrust in electoral process and voters suspicion as key drivers of apathy that stifle electoral process in Nigeria,

He called for the implementation of reforms to restore citizens’ trust in the electoral process.

“There are structural as well as systemic factors that are responsible for voter apathy, but the most important ones is the issue of growing distrust in the electoral system.

“People are beginning to feel that the electoral body is not conducting elections that enable their votes to count.

“The loss of faith in those electoral bodies and electoral process is the number one reason why we are having low voter turnout,” he said.

He said that insecurity was also a major cause of voters’ apathy.

“Increasingly, we are seeing our politicians mobilise violence in a large scale, on a disposed scale, in order to win an election.

“That, in itself, is causing a lot of discomfort. People are not really prepared to risk their lives to vote for election.

“There is always this conclusion that the outcome of the election tends not to reflect in terms of the outcome,” Onouha said.

According to him, there is also the issue of bad governance.

He said that those who eventually win election failed to run the kind of governance that delivered on basic services.

“These tend to make them lose hope or disengage from the electoral process and from the government of the nation, and that in itself, is a major problem for the country,” he said.

He said that addressing these challenges was crucial to restoring the integrity of the electoral system and ensuring that citizens’ voices were heard.

He said that meaningful reforms were essential to restoring public trust and ensuring the integrity of future elections.

“The current administration needs to raise the bar in terms of security, not just now, but also during the elections, because insecurity is the major disincentive why people do not vote.

“The second point is that we need to have a clear-eyed approach to reforming our electoral processes and our electoral institutions,” he said.

“In this regard, if we say we want to transition to electronic voting and we are going to transmit results, we need to do it in such a way that it is seamless, smooth so that people will have confidence on the government.

Also, Dr Fatima Adamu, Executive Director, Nana Girls and Women Empowermen Initiative, an NGO, stressed the need to tackle insecurity, which has affected women’s participation in electoral processes.

“Women really complain bitterly about the violence during campaigns, the same thing during election. So that needs to be addressed.

“Another issue that women raise is lack of voter education and representation of quality leaders, and especially women.

” They feel that they are not giving quality women to contest, and they want the political parties to do so,” she said.

Mr Lennart Oestergaard, Resident Representative of FES, said: “if people do not make use of their right to vote, then that is a challenge, and it has to be addressed.

“This research findings is open to everyone who is interested, civil society, actors, academia and also the government, to take a look at it, and maybe if it’s helpful, take some learnings.”

Dr Joseph Ochogwu, Director-General, IPCR, represented by Dr Ayuba Caleb, said that the institute remained committed to supporting efforts that deepen democratic values and foster a culture of active peaceful citizenship.” (NAN