By Tony Nnadi
As decisive steps are being taken by the Constituent Component Nationalities of Nigeria to extricate themselves and their Territories from the entrapment of the Defunct Federation of Nigeria, the ousting of the Fraudulent Caliphate-Imposed 1999 Constitution, which constitutes the current Title Deed by which Nigeria is owned, operated and controlled, has become central to the matrix of Strategies being deployed towards that extrication.
For the sake of clarity, the LNC issued a Public Communication, July 19, 2018, titled “BETWEEN ELECTORAL SHUTDOWN AND ELECTORAL BOYCOTT: SIMILAR THEMES, RADICAL OUTCOMES” ( https://www.facebook.com/618603708275794/posts/1374641482672009/ ) to clearly distinguish “Election Boycott” from the “Election Shutdown” the LNC prescribes.
In summary, while “Election Boycott” simply refers to abstention from voting, “Election Shutdown” entails the stoppage of preparations for an Election before it gets to the Voting Stage, such that no Election takes place.
Though the two themes may seem similar to a casual observer, the dubious Provisions of the 1999 Constitution regarding what constitutes a valid Election to the Office of the President or Office a Governor, make their outcomes radically different and this is the reason the LNC settled for the Shutdown Option especially against the backdrop of the Countrywide Repudiation of the Rogue 1999 Constitution as basis of the Nigerian Union by the Constituent Component Blocs, with Formal Regional Repudiation Proclamations at the Solemn Assemblies of the Peoples of the Various Blocs.
Specifically, under the 1999 Constitution, for a person to declared Elected President, he/she only needs to :
(1) Score the highest number of the Total Valid Votes Cast in the Election amongst the Contending Candidates.
(2) Score no less than 25% of the Valid Votes Cast in Two-Thirds of the States of the Federation as well as the Federal Capital Territory (ie in no less than 24 of the 36 States and the FCT).
Since there is no minimum threshold prescribed by the so-called 1999 Constitution in terms of Voter Turnout to validate a Presidential Election, the implication of these Constitutional Provisions relating to Election into the the Office the President is that once a Presidential Election takes place in up to 24 States and the FCT, whichever of the Candidates, scores the highest number of the Total Valid Votes Cast, and also scores 25% of the Total Votes Cast in 24 States as well as the FCT, shall be declared winner, [Section 134(2) of 1999 Constitution] by the Electoral Umpire.
The further implication is that for any BOYCOTT to invalidate a Presidential Election, the Boycott must be such that prevents the Presidential Election from taking place AT ALL in at the least 13 States and the FCT, otherwise no matter how many Registered Voters Stay away or Abstain from Voting, the Electoral Umpire will declare as Winner and President-Elect, any of the Candidates that satisfies the aforementioned Conditions (1) & (2) as stipulated by the 1999 Constitution, no matter how abysmally low the Voter Turnout may be.
Similarly, to be Validly Elected Governor, the winning Candidate only needs to score the highest number of Valid Votes amongst other Candidates, as well as 25% of the Total Valid Votes Cast in at the least Two-Thirds of the Total numbers of the Local Government Areas of that State and so, any BOYCOTT that does not completely prevent the holding of Governorship Election in more than One-Third of the total number of Local Government Areas of that State, cannot invalidate the Election of a Governor, once the aforementioned Constitutional Provisions are satisfied, no matter how abysmally low the Voter Turnout is, [Section 179(2) of the 1999 Constitution].
Guided by these Constitutional Provisions; knowing the impracticability of mobilizing the level of Boycott sufficient to invalidate a Presidential Election and considering the fact that the said 1999 Constitution of Nigeria has been Repudiated and Rejected as the Basis of Nigeria by the Constituent Regional Constituent Components of Nigeria, the reasoning behind the choice of upfront ELECTORAL SHUTDOWN by the LNC and it’s MNN Alliance Partners, is that the next logical step pursuant to the aforementioned Multi-Region Repudiation of the 1999 Constitution, (spanning the whole of the South and the Middle Belt of Nigeria), is to also Reject the Conduct of any further National Elections, predicated upon, and Mandated by the Rogue 1999 Constitution.
This Consensual Multi-Regional Intervention Action, which for the maintenance of Societal Order retains existing Governance Structures (though in a Transitional Capacity), is Designed to peacefully precipitate a determinable Time-Frame within with the inevitable Constitutional Reconfiguration (Restructuring) of Nigeria would be undertaken (including a peaceful dissolution if common ground is not found).
The Question of the aforementioned Determinable Time-Frame is necessitated by the fact that the Restructuring Promise has in the last two decades, become merely an Electoral Gimmick employed by Politicians ahead of Elections to win power, but once in power, they toss that promise aside in feigned helplessness since the winner of any Presidential Election not only Governs with the said 1999 Constitution but also Swears to Defend and Uphold the Obnoxious 1999 Constitution as a Condition for assuming that Office. The Shutdown Option is meant to terminate this cycle of deceit within the 2019 Electoral Round.
The Distressed Nigerian Federation can at this historical juncture borrow a leaf from the Transitioning Mechanisms deployed by President Frederick De Klerk in 1990 to ease South Africa out the Obnoxious Apartheid Constitutional Order instead of plunging heedlessly to another Election in 2019 under the Rejected 1999 Constitution.
To follow the processes on these:
Visit http://www.lowernigercongress.org
http://www.lnc-usa.org (Diaspora)
+234-810-056-9448 (WhatsApp)
FB: Lower Niger Congress
YouTube: Lower Niger Congress
Tony Nnadi
LNC
October 6, 2018.