Pro-Jonathan groups up spending for 2015

Groups campaigning for President Jonathan’s re-election have upped the ante in their spending on promoting the president’s candidature, several months away from the time allowed by law for electioneering.Questions had been raised previously on the source of funding for the groups, as well as the legality of their actions, with the Presidency saying it was […]

Groups campaigning for President Jonathan’s re-election have upped the ante in their spending on promoting the president’s candidature, several months away from the time allowed by law for electioneering.
Questions had been raised previously on the source of funding for the groups, as well as the legality of their actions, with the Presidency saying it was not footing the bills.
Daily Trust reported in April that these groups were sponsoring expensive television jingles, newspaper advertisements and billboards in strategic locations, with messages on the need to re-elect the president in 2015.
Investigations show that the spending has increased tremendously since then, with many more billboards erected, especially in Abuja, and advertisements placed.
Other expenditures include on booking of rally venues, mobilisation of supporters, hotel accommodation, transportation andother logistics for supporters.
More groups have also sprouted over the past months, joining the league of others in trying to sell Jonathan’s candidature.
Estimates show that the amounts spent so far could run into billions of naira.
Presidential Political Adviser Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali had last week announced taking control of the pro-Jonathan campaign outfits, which he said were up to 3,000.
He said with the takeover, their activities are going to be coordinated by his office.
But Alkali declined further comments on the issue when contacted yesterday, saying he was indisposed.
Over the past months some of the supporter groups that earlier started Jonathan campaigns have disappeared, while others have grown stronger.
Among the groups which were hitherto at the forefront of the campaign but whose activities have waned are the Neighbour to Neighbour (N2N), while others like Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAM), Goodluck Jonathan Leadership Center (GJLC), Jonathan Actualisation Movement (JAM), Community Awareness Development Network (CAWAN), and GEJites seem to be gathering more steam.
In July alone, TAM spent dozens of millions on electronic and print media advertisements.
The group has been buying prime-time spots to promote the president on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Africa Independent Television (AIT) and Channels Television.
In June-July, TAM also bought very expensive slots on DSTV Super Sports channels during World Cup football matches.
In the print media, TAM spent at least N7 million on advert placement in various newspapers last month alone, according to an analysis by Daily Trust. JAM and GJLC were not left behind, as they also bought several advert spaces.
One of the directors of TAM, Barrister Ben Chuks, when contacted, said the group is not sponsored by the Presidency.
“We are not sponsored by the Presidency. If the presidency had a hand in it we would have been under some form of control because who pays the piper dictates the tune. We are doing it on our own,” Chuks said.
“The person behind it is a private person who is not even a beneficiary of appointments or contracts by the government. The person is blessed to be using his resources to support the president and if at the end of the day it succeeds we will be happy that Nigeria has the opportunity of having another tenure under President Jonathan.”
For its part, the House to House Network for Goodluck 2015 has been erecting billboards in choice locations of Abuja. Another group, GEJites, has many wheel-driven posters campaigning for Jonathan stationed at the Unity Fountain, Maitama, Abuja.
One campaign outfit employs a different style—by engaging in charity work. The Grassroot Campaign for Goodluck last month visited an orphanage in Abuja where it distributed some items. Its coordinator Mohammed Lawal Rabana said the group believed that President Jonathan has performed well to deserve a second term.
Legal or not?
Political campaign is supposed to start not earlier than 90 days to an election, according to the electoral laws. The presidential election is scheduled for February next year.
Two senior politicians yesterday expressed different opinions on the legality or otherwise of the campaigns for President Jonathan.
National chairman of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie, condemned the tendency, saying INEC should take action.
“Honestly, I expect INEC to rise to the occasion because it is the regulatory authority. INEC turns the other eye as if it is not seeing what is going on but that is very worrisome because it then means that the electoral act can be flouted with INEC being unconcerned,” Okorie told Daily Trust.
“We expect INEC to make a definite statement and warn against what is turning out to be a deliberate flouting of the electoral law. They have been using the name of the number one citizen of the country….
“They should have waited until the President had made a pronouncement but it appears that they have started campaign for 2015 indirectly, in fact, almost directly so it is not a healthy development and INEC is not doing anything; it is quite ominous.”
But national chairman of Labour Party (LP), Mr Dan Nwanyanwu, expressed a different opinion, saying what is going on now is different from a campaign.
He said, “This is not the real campaign, the real campaign is when you are talking about a political party, talking about its candidate and campaigning publicly but what these hungry people are doing doesn’t bother us. There is no political party that is being mentioned in their adverts.”
When contacted yesterday, spokesman for INEC chairman Attahiru Jega, Mr. Kayode Idowu, told Daily Trust that the commission and the political parties were consulting to have a consensus on what exactly constitutes a political campaign.
“The political parties have agreed that INEC should draw up guidelines of what exactly constitutes a campaign. We did that and we have given the draft to them to make their inputs,” he said.
On the ongoing campaigns by pro-Jonathan groups, he simply said: “I can’t talk about specific groups because the procedure is ongoing.”