Buhari: The road to victory(HOW IT ALL STARTED)
General Muhammadu Buhari, 72, former Head of State, began his sojourn into politics in 2003 when he first contested for the exalted seat of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the platform of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
In the April 19, 2003 presidential election which recorded 69.1 % voter turnout, Buhari was defeated by the then incumbent president Olusegun Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), amidst claims of fraud and rigging allegedly perpetrated by the ruling PDP. Obasanjo scored 24, 456, 140 votes representing 61.94 % with Buhari clinching 12, 710, 022 representing 32.19 %.
Findings by Peoples Daily revealed that in the 2003 election, there were several cases of multiple voting with allegedly the police in Lagos uncovering electoral fraud involving some five million illegal votes.
International observers, including the European Union, discovered various irregularities in 11 of the 36 states, with many cases in which votes were pre-filled or results were later amended.
Of the 20 political parties that participated in that election, nearly all opposition parties refused to recognize the result. The electoral committee noted for example that in Warri in Delta State of the 135,739 voters, 133,529 voted for the parliamentary election. Observers reported, however, that up to the Saturday afternoon no elections and only some polling stations had opened. Also the counting time allegedly took very long compared with other countries pointing according to observers, on possible electoral fraud.
Based on the allegations of electoral manipulation, Buhari headed to court to challenge the result of the 2003 presidential election, with many Nigerians dismissing his effort since according to many, “Buhari does not have the financial wherewithal to purchase justice at the courts.” Eventually, the same court also decided that the level of proven electoral fraud was not sufficient to affect the outcome of the election and to warrant the cancellation of the whole presidential election.
On December 18, 2006, Buhari was nominated as the consensus candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). And this time his main challenger in the April polls was the late Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
As the results were released, Buhari officially took 18% of the votes against 70% for Yar’Adua. However, Buhari rejected these results. Yar’Adua took the office despite such a rejection. The ANPP agreed to join his government, but Buhari denounced this agreement.
Finally, in March 2010, Buhari left the ANPP and joined the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the party that he had helped to found. According to Buhari, he supported the foundation of the CPC as a solution to the debilitating ethical and ideological conflicts in the former party.
The Congress for Progressive Change originated in The Buhari Organization (TBO) formed in 2006 by Buhari and his associates. The first National Chairman was Kano Central senator, Rufai Hanga. After the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) nominated Buhari as its 2007 presidential candidate, TBO worked with the ANPP in the election campaign, but there was friction between the two groups. Following the April 2007 elections, in which President Umaru Yar’adua was elected; Buhari instituted a court appeal against the result. The ANPP decided to join Yar’Adua in his government of national unity, and attempted to persuade Buhari to withdraw the suit, indicating lack of full support for Buhari in the ANPP. Buhari decided that he needed a new platform to support his political ambitions.
The Congress for Progressive Change filed an application to register with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on 26 March 2009, and received official approval and registration on 28 December 2009. The majority of its initial members were formerly members of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). Buhari formally left the ANPP and joined the CPC in March 2010. He said that he had supported foundation of the CPC “as a solution to the debilitating, ethical and ideological conflicts in my former party the ANPP”.
Buhari was a presidential candidate on the Congress for Progressive Change platform in the April 16, 2011, general election. He ran against the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Ibrahim Shekarau of the ANPP.
On December 9, 2010, while formally declaring his intention to run for president in the 2011 election, the former Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari, said he would not contest the result of the election in court if he lost.
“Even though we disagreed with the rulings, we accepted them as a decision of the highest court of the land so that people do not lose faith in the overall democratic system. This time we are not going to court. Once bitten,.but in our own case twice bitten.....
SOURCE: http://www.ereporter.com.ng/index.php/political-news/item/4373-buhari-the-road-to-victory
In the April 19, 2003 presidential election which recorded 69.1 % voter turnout, Buhari was defeated by the then incumbent president Olusegun Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), amidst claims of fraud and rigging allegedly perpetrated by the ruling PDP. Obasanjo scored 24, 456, 140 votes representing 61.94 % with Buhari clinching 12, 710, 022 representing 32.19 %.
Findings by Peoples Daily revealed that in the 2003 election, there were several cases of multiple voting with allegedly the police in Lagos uncovering electoral fraud involving some five million illegal votes.
International observers, including the European Union, discovered various irregularities in 11 of the 36 states, with many cases in which votes were pre-filled or results were later amended.
Of the 20 political parties that participated in that election, nearly all opposition parties refused to recognize the result. The electoral committee noted for example that in Warri in Delta State of the 135,739 voters, 133,529 voted for the parliamentary election. Observers reported, however, that up to the Saturday afternoon no elections and only some polling stations had opened. Also the counting time allegedly took very long compared with other countries pointing according to observers, on possible electoral fraud.
Based on the allegations of electoral manipulation, Buhari headed to court to challenge the result of the 2003 presidential election, with many Nigerians dismissing his effort since according to many, “Buhari does not have the financial wherewithal to purchase justice at the courts.” Eventually, the same court also decided that the level of proven electoral fraud was not sufficient to affect the outcome of the election and to warrant the cancellation of the whole presidential election.
On December 18, 2006, Buhari was nominated as the consensus candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). And this time his main challenger in the April polls was the late Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
As the results were released, Buhari officially took 18% of the votes against 70% for Yar’Adua. However, Buhari rejected these results. Yar’Adua took the office despite such a rejection. The ANPP agreed to join his government, but Buhari denounced this agreement.
Finally, in March 2010, Buhari left the ANPP and joined the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the party that he had helped to found. According to Buhari, he supported the foundation of the CPC as a solution to the debilitating ethical and ideological conflicts in the former party.
The Congress for Progressive Change originated in The Buhari Organization (TBO) formed in 2006 by Buhari and his associates. The first National Chairman was Kano Central senator, Rufai Hanga. After the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) nominated Buhari as its 2007 presidential candidate, TBO worked with the ANPP in the election campaign, but there was friction between the two groups. Following the April 2007 elections, in which President Umaru Yar’adua was elected; Buhari instituted a court appeal against the result. The ANPP decided to join Yar’Adua in his government of national unity, and attempted to persuade Buhari to withdraw the suit, indicating lack of full support for Buhari in the ANPP. Buhari decided that he needed a new platform to support his political ambitions.
The Congress for Progressive Change filed an application to register with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on 26 March 2009, and received official approval and registration on 28 December 2009. The majority of its initial members were formerly members of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). Buhari formally left the ANPP and joined the CPC in March 2010. He said that he had supported foundation of the CPC “as a solution to the debilitating, ethical and ideological conflicts in my former party the ANPP”.
Buhari was a presidential candidate on the Congress for Progressive Change platform in the April 16, 2011, general election. He ran against the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Ibrahim Shekarau of the ANPP.
On December 9, 2010, while formally declaring his intention to run for president in the 2011 election, the former Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari, said he would not contest the result of the election in court if he lost.
“Even though we disagreed with the rulings, we accepted them as a decision of the highest court of the land so that people do not lose faith in the overall democratic system. This time we are not going to court. Once bitten,.but in our own case twice bitten.....
SOURCE: http://www.ereporter.com.ng/index.php/political-news/item/4373-buhari-the-road-to-victory
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