In the wake of the attempt on the life of Senator Gbemi Saraki, we look at an emerging heated political environment ahead of next year’s election. Gbenga Olawepo, the former Deputy Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP is lucky to still be alive. Just after the 2007 governorship elections in Kwara State, Olawepo went to the tribunal seeking to upturn the result of the governorship elections. He lost.

First came a general applause, a resounding one, to greet the nomination of Professor Attahiru Jega as INEC chairman. But by the time a full assessment of some other nominees for INEC appointments were made, it was clear, they came short of expectation. A torrent of condemnation soon follows but President Goodluck Jonathan would not allow that to linger. There was a mistake, he said. And go the affected persons must. This report raises the hullabaloo that greeted the INEC appointments.

A reports of how radical university teacher and activist, Professor Attahiru Muhammadu Jega, finally emerged as national chairman designate of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC; and how Buhkari Bello, another feisty member of the human rights community lost out.

These generals caused all the problems we have in the country. Why should we fight for democracy, why should we fight for civilian rule and yet, the civilians are not the ones who are ruling us. None of these generals deserve the peoples’ mandate and nobody in his right sense should vote for them. After all that the people have suffered under the military regimes, we don’t need them again in any form.

The annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election remains one of the ghosts that will continue to haunt him. Don’t you think that Nigerians would want him to atone for the June 12 annulment and the Okigbo report on the Gulf-war oil windfall for which he has not offered any explanation?