Egypt has a presidential election in March but it won’t be a contest. Weeks to the poll, every credible candidate against the country pharaonic president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has either been imprisoned or forced out of the race.

Sisi’s main challenger was Sami Anan, a former member of the Supreme Military Council for the Armed Forces (SCAF).

He was first barred from running, then arrested and imprisoned along with his principal aide and 30 of his campaign staff. He faces charges of incitement against the military, because he failed to quit his commission properly when he joined the race.

Sisi has banned the media from covering the investigation, blanketing an already opaque affair.

Another candidate, former prime minister, Ahmed Shafik withdrew after rumours spread that he was under arrest in a Cairo hotel.

A nephew of the late Anwar al-Sadat, Mohamed Anwar al-Sadat, mulled whether to run but demurred in January, saying that the climate of fear doesn’t allow a proper election.

Only Mussa Mustapha Mussa, a known Sisi supporter and candidate of the Ghad party is still in the race. The opposition is thinking about a boycott.

Egypt has a structural democratic deficit and it won’t be making a transition soon. At every election, Egypt faces two tests: Voter apathy and meddling by the armed forces.

Since the Free Officers deposed King Farouk in 1952, all but one — Mohammed Morsi — of Egypt’s six presidents have been military men. They invariably win with large margins but voter turnout is rarely above 50 per cent.

In 2014, Sisi won 97 per cent of the vote with a turnout of 47.5 per cent. Though Mohammed Morsi won the 2012 re-run with 51 per cent of the vote, his first round vote was 24.8 per cent against a turnout of 46.4 per cent. In 2005, Mubarak won 88.6 per cent of the vote with a turnout of 22.9 per cent.

Sisi’s actions are a sign that the military doesn’t want to risk another unpredictable civilian like Mohammed Morsi.

The Armed Forces are businessmen: The military runs a commercial empire that straddles every important economic sector, including pasta making.

That the economy is not doing well is a serious worry to them. Fortunately for Sisi, he has successfully deflected attention to security, which, for the armed forces, is an even bigger worry.

A stubborn Islamic State insurgency in the Sinai has also helped. In November 2017, an attack on a Sufi mosque in Sinai killed 311 people and injured 122 others. A December 2017 attack on a Coptic church near Cairo killed 10 more. A further 75 were killed in attacks in April and May.

The government’s response has been brutal. The UK daily, The Independent, estimates that 60,000 people - many of them jobless youths- are in jail for ‘terrorism’.

Sisi’s anti-terrorism credentials sell well in the West. US President Donald Trump thinks Sisi has “done a tremendous job under trying circumstances.” France has concluded major arms deals with Egypt.

Meanwhile, a “grateful” Sisi has been busy bursting Western sanctions. Last year, a shipload of 30,000 North Korean rocket-propelled grenades was seized off the Egyptian Coast.

According to the Washington Post, quoting the UN, this was the “largest seizure of ammunition in the history of sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”

So Sisi runs with the hares and hunts with the hounds: An ally of the West against Islamic State and a friend of North Korea when he needs contraband materiel.

The alliances of convenience in Egypt do not portend well for democracy. Sisi will be a shoo-in for president in March but the Egyptian state’s legitimacy crisis will not go away. One day it will bite.

The East African

President Muhammadu Buhari has sacked Brigadier-General Paul Boroh (Rtd) of his appointment as the Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme for former Niger Delta militants.

According to a statement issued by Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity) in Abuja on Tuesday, the President has also directed the National Security Adviser (NSA) to carry out a full investigation into the activities of the Amnesty Programme from 2015 to date, especially allegations of financial impropriety and other acts that are allegedly detrimental to the objectives of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

Prof Dokubo is currently Director of Research and Studies at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs. He holds a PhD in Strategic Studies from the University of Bradford, United Kingdom, and hails from Abonema, Akuku-Toru Local Government of Rivers State.

Boroh who was at the presidential villa, Abuja last Friday, told State House correspondents that some people who called for his sack wanted business as usual.

Boroh said: “I want to let you know that what is happening in the Amnesty Programme is no more business as usual that is the bottom line of all that is happening.

“The programme actually is a security programme that has to do with critical stakeholders who drive the process in the programme.

“I’m only there to supervise what they are doing so that we can achieve the aim for which the programme was established, to ensure youth restiveness is not allowed and ensure peace and stability of the Niger Delta region.”

Boroh was appointed as Special Adviser and Coordinator for the programme in July 2015.

Tribune

At least 40 people have been killed in the last 48 hours in ethnic violence in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo between Hema cattle herders and Lendu farmers, local civil society leader Jean Bosco Lalu told Reuters on Tuesday.

Fighting between the two groups instigated by Lendu-dominated militia has killed dozens since December. Conflict between Hema and Lendu around the turn of the century killed tens of thousands of people.

Reuters

The Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) has so far received 2,000 Ethiopian asylum seekers in the northern border town of Moyale following their displacement in a shootout at the common frontier.

The Ethiopian government forces on Saturday “mistakenly” killed nine civilians near the Kenyan border town of Moyale after mistaking the Ethiopians for members of the banned Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) who were attempting to sneak into the country, reported Daily Nation, Kenya’s highest circulation newspaper.

The KRCS said the displaced persons are hosted in four centres.

“The KRCS immediately released family kits (tarpaulins, kitchen sets, Mosquito nets, bar soaps, thermal blankets and jerrycans), which were distributed among the displaced families,” the agency said in a statement.

The society said the asylum seekers began streaming in on Saturday night, most of whom were women and children.

Kenya’s Eastern Region police commander Moses Ombati said on Monday that security has been beefed up in the area with other government agencies being involved in screening the arriving Ethiopians.

“We are on the ground to ensure things are okay,” Ombati said.

Ombati noted that security has been reinforced on the side of Kenya in Moyale town to deal with the arriving refugees.

He said that they were accommodated at local schools with hopes that the situation will calm down.

They were provided with food and other services at local centres.

“We hope things can cool down before the situation worsens. Many people have arrived but we have sought help from other agencies to deal with it,” said Ombati.

The report said the five Ethiopian soldiers involved in the shootout have been arrested.

According to Daily Nation, the Ethiopian military mistakenly opened fire and killed civilians, which prompted the exodus from the Ethiopian side.

Those who crossed the border to Kenya told Kenyan security agents that electricity had been cut off in the town which forced the residents to flee into Kenya in fear of more attacks.

Ethiopia is currently under a state of emergency due to protests after the resignation of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

Daily Nation

President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected the proposed amendments to Nigeria’s Electoral Act.

In a letter addressed to Speaker of House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, the president stated amongst other reasons that the amendments infringes on the rights of INEC.

A similar letter was sent to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

The amendments proposed by the National Assembly sought to make some changes in Nigeria’s electoral act including changing the sequence of the 2019 election.

The federal lawmakers want their election to come up first, followed by that of state lawmakers and governors, and lastly the presidential election.

Some All Progressives Congress senators had kicked against the adoption of the report, accusing the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, of influencing it.

The letter to the Senate reads, “Pursuant to Section 58(4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), I hereby convey to the Senate, my decision, on 3rd March 2018, to decline Presidential Assent to the Electoral Amendment Bill 2018 recently passed by the National Assembly.

“Some of my reasons include the following:
“The amendment to the sequence of elections in Section 25 of the principal act, may infringe upon the constitutionally guaranteed discretion of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to organise, undertake and supervise elections provided in Section 15(A) of the third statue to the Constitution;

“The amendment to Section 138 of the principal act to delete two crucial grounds upon which an election may be challenged by candidates, unduly limits the rights of candidates in elections to a free and fair electoral review process;

“The amendment to Section 152 Subsection 325 of the Principal Act may raise Constitutional issues over the competence of the National Assembly to legislate over local government elections.

With the rejection of amendments by the president, the next option left for the National Assembly is to override the president’s veto or let the act remain as it is.

P/T

Hillary Clinton told an audience in India that the United States did not "deserve" Donald Trump's presidency and these are "perilous times."

The 2016 Democratic presidential candidate spoke over the weekend at a conference in Mumbai.

Clinton said the Republican president has "quite an affinity for dictators" and said Trump "really likes their authoritarian posturing and behavior." But she said she thinks it's "more than that" with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia.

Clinton was critical of the reality campaign tactics of her opponent and questioned whether she should have provided more entertainment to voters who responded to Trump's brash style.

The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

AP

The Suspended former Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin has sent in a letter apologizing to the House of Representatives for his numerous allegations that put the Green Chamber into disrepute.

The Speaker of the House Yakubu Dogara, who showed the letter on the floor today at plenary, said Jibrin has fulfilled all the conditions that he was given by the House ” and can resume legislative duties if he so wishes.”

Recall that Jibrin was suspended for 180 days on September 16th 2016 after the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges considered his case and made recommendations to the House which were adopted.

Jibrin was also barred from occupying any position of authority in the Green Chamber till the 8th assembly ends.

To be forgiven, the suspended lawmaker must tender a formal written apology to the House, which must be advertised in a number of daily newspapers amongst other requirements.

Jibrin had incurred the wrath of the House with his numerous allegations against the Speaker Yakubu Dogara and three other principal officers.

He claimed the 2016 budget was padded the 2016 budget to the tune of billions of Naira by the quartet and referred to the Speaker as “corrupt” and a “shameless thief”

Jibrin also alleged that members of the House received hundreds of millions as running cost, a claim which annoyed most members.

The Nation

Alleged kidnap kingpin, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, popularly known as Evans, on Tuesday, filed a fresh suit at a Federal High Court in Lagos, seeking N1 billion damages against the Police over alleged unlawful sealing of his property in Lagos.

The suit, filed by his lawyer, Mr. Olukoya Ogungbeje, has sued the Inspector General of Police, Nigeria Police, Inspector General of Police, Intelligence Response Team, (IRT), ACP Abba Kyari and DSP Phillip Rieninwa as respondents.

The applicant is seeking a declaration that the forceful seizure, confiscation, and sealing of his property by the respondents without any court order is illegal, wrongful and unconstitutional.

In addition, he is asking the court for an order compelling the respondents to immediately and unconditionally unseal and vacate the applicants two residential houses located in a highbrow area of Magodo in Lagos.

Other reliefs are an order compelling the respondents to severally and jointly tender an apology to the applicant and to pay him the sum of N1 billion being general and exemplary damages for the alleged forceful seizure and confiscation of the applicant’s property without the court order.

A perpetual injunction restraining the respondents from tampering or taking any action against the applicant or any of his properties in relation to this case.

Some of the properties listed in the application include N50 million cash, two residential duplexes, brigade wrist-watch worth 170,000 dollars, a phone worth 30,000 dollars and five pieces of Saphono Rucci Diamond rings worth 100,000 dollars.

Others are three Italian travel bags worth 55,000 dollars, 10 Spanish shoes each worth N2.5 million, 20 KVA inverter set worth N10 million, two sets of dinning table worth N8 million.

The applicant also wants N4 million as the cost of action against the respondents.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Evans was arraigned by the police before a Lagos High Court in October 2017 on a 40-count bordering on kidnapping, robbery among other offences.

NAN

Less than a day after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Rex Tillerson has been fired as the U.S. Secretary of State.

President Donald Trump fired Mr. Tillerson on Tuesday.

“Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State,” the U.S. President announced on Twitter. He will do a fantastic job!

“Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!”

Mr. Tillerson was in Nigeria as part of his first official visit to Africa.

During the visit, he spoke about the U.S. assistance to Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram and the possibility of Nigeria securing loans from the U.S.

Reports in the U.S. media say Mr. Tillerson and Mr. Trump have had a bumpy relationship to the extent that the American President agreed to meet with North Korean leader without the knowledge of his administration’s chief diplomat.

Mr. Trump later addressed journalists on Tuesday saying he made the decision to sack Mr. Tillerson alone.

He, however, said he and Mr. Tillerson shared different views on some key global issues such as the Iran nuclear deal.

Mr. Trump wants to cancel the Iran deal which saw Iran abandon its nuclear ambition so as to get several sanctions lifted. Other partners to deal, such as the EU, however, want the Iran deal to remain.

P/T

The senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Shehu Sani, recently revealed in an interview that he and his colleagues in the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly receive N13.5 million as monthly running cost. This, of course, is without prejudice to their consolidated regular monthly salary of N700,000 each. Sani further explained that even though there is no specification on what the funds are meant for, each lawmaker is mandated to provide receipts to back up the expenses.

Although he is a beneficiary of the official largesse, Senator Sani’s candour was voluntary and may have been borne out of the realisation of the stark oddity of a democracy whose legislature is far removed and alienated from the experiences of the people it purports to represent. In theory, the sovereignty of the people resides in the legislature. But to what extent do the legislatures in Nigeria represent the people in terms of real life experiences? Since the minimum wage in the country is N18,000 monthly, how are the people’s representatives in good conscience sitting in such a cosy and lavish comfort? As expected, the revelation made by Senator Sani has generated outrage across the polity. Many people, incensed by the revelation, have been crying foul.

With this revelation from Senator Sani, it is no longer surprising that the cost of governance in Nigeria is unduly high, with a large chunk of the country’s resources ending up in the private pockets of political actors, especially the legislators. Politics in Nigeria is peculiarly lucrative, in fact to such a disconcerting extent that a former Senate President claimed that he had to invest heavily in order to secure his seat. This was the argument he conveniently deployed in explaining the eventual graft and sleaze in the Senate. Against the backdrop of the official admission of the plight of 82 million Nigerians living in abject poverty, Senator Sani’s revelation should call national attention to the unconscionable reward system in the country that is skewed in favour of the legislature and other political actors. Is it not odd that these wealthy political actors claim to be the representatives of the more than 82 million poverty-stricken Nigerians?

It is no wonder that election in Nigeria is warfare. The beneficiaries have become used to opulence and vacating their seats through electoral loss is often desperately and violently resisted. The truth is that democracy in Nigeria is essentially a travesty. There is then an urgent and desperate need to review the country’s democratic experience to bridge the gap of alienation between the people and their representatives in the National Assembly and the respective state Houses of Assembly. The irony, however, is that only the various legislatures can constitutionally effect any change through reforms and it will be a tall order to expect a reform that will rob them of their perquisites.

It is difficult, not to say hopeless, to expect such qualms from the former governors in the Senate who are still enjoying the perks of their former office along with the official heist. If the sense of propriety eludes them and they have not noticed the grave implications of such obscene and predatory acquisition, how can they be expected to embark on any reforms that will end up as self-immolation? Yet there must be reform. For a start, the receipts tendered by each senator for the current regime of “running costs” must be scrutinized to determine their authenticity. Then, pressure must be mounted on the legislature and the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to review the remuneration package of office-holders to reflect the country’s economic realities.

Tribune