Perhaps
for the first time, President Muhammadu Buhari and the immediate past Chairman
of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Attahiru Jega, will meet
under one roof after the election midwife by Jega. The point of convergence of
the trio will be the annual Conference and Awards Ceremony of LEADERSHIP,
scheduled to hold on Thursday October 6, 2016, at the Abuja Transcorp Hilton
Hotel by 10am. The three important men, whose actions have shaped the Nigerian
political scene, according to a statement from the newspaper, have already
confirmed their participation in the annual awards event. Buhari, Jega and
Jonatrhan Buhari, Jega and Jonatrhan This year’s event is significant as it
will bring together a serving and two former presidents, governors,
legislators, members of the diplomatic corps and elder statesmen to discuss the
theme: ‘Democracy, Political Transition and the Challenge of Leadership in
Africa.’ The keynote address will be delivered by the Akwa Ibom State governor,
Udom Emmanuel. The Group Managing Director, Dr Cletus Akwaya, in a statement
yesterday, disclosed that former head of state and elder statesman, Gen.
Abdulsalami Abubakar, will be chairman of the occasion and is scheduled to
present the Persons of The Year awards to the winners. The trio of President
Muhammadu Buhari, former President Goodluck Jonathan and immediate past
chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru
Jega, are LEADERSHIP’s Persons of the Year 2015. The Etsu Nupe and Chairman,
Niger State Council of Chiefs, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, will be the royal father
of the day at the event, with Senate President, Bukola Saraki as guest of
honour while the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam
Muhammad Musa Bello is co-host. In a letter of confirmation signed by his chief
of protocol, Sani Musa Daura, the minister said he would personally grace the
event. “Their selection followed a critical review of their various
contributions to the growth and development of democracy in Nigeria and the
peaceful and seamless manner in which the three eminent Nigerians handled the
2015 democratic transition without derailing the country’s democracy to the
admiration and commendation of the global democratic community,” the statement
pointed out. It further stated that the LEADERSHIP Awards would be honouring
President Buhari “for making history by being the first opposition candidate to
defeat a sitting president after three attempts.” In the case of former
President Goodluck Jonathan, he would be recognised by the newspaper “for
achieving the improbable and for conceding defeat in an election in which he
was a contestant – a first for Nigeria.” The former INEC boss is to be honoured
“for his courage, doggedness and fairness even in the face of threats to his
life in the conduct of the 2015 elections,” to global acclaim. Explaining the
criteria employed by the newspaper’s Board of Editors in arriving at the choice
of the trio LEADERSHIP said: “It always seems improbable until it is done. We
may now take for granted the watershed of the 2015 presidential election but
who could have thought it would come to pass? It was far from being so before
it was done. When Nigeria held her presidential poll on March 28, 2015 – the
fifth since civilian rule was restored in 1999 – it had all the elements of a
do-or-die affair. “Providence and three key personalities – Jonathan, Jega and
Buhari, turned the tide. They jointly midwifed and protected the people’s
mandate and the nation’s democracy from the pernicious machinations of
contending interests. In choosing the LEADERSHIP Person of the Year, the Board
of Editors could not separate the three central characters who defined 2015. We
celebrate these icons of democracy for their role in the nation’s proper
initiation to true democracy.” According to the statement, Abdulsalami was
chosen to present the Persons of the Year awards because of his role before,
during and after the 2015 general elections, particularly in the National Peace
Committee, where he, together with other statesmen, got the presidential
candidates of the major political parties in the election to sign peace
accords. The management noted that Abdulsalami was largely instrumental to the
peaceful conduct of the candidates, a role he played using his experience in
1999, when he midwifed the peaceful transition of power from the military
regime to a democratically elected government. The board and management of
LEADERSHIP stated that the venue for the event was chosen in view of the
high-powered guests who would be attending it. The board assured that all
logistics had been put in place to accord the event deserving honour and
prestige. The Presidency had earlier confirmed that President Muhammudu Buhari
will personally attend the event. Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina,
confirmed to LEADERSHIP, that the president will grace the occasion as guest of
honour. Similarly, LEADERSHIP also confirmed that former president, Dr Goodluck
Ebele Jonathan, will be attending the annual awards. The former INEC chairman
currently based in the United States had also confirmed that he would attend
the event. Fifteen other individuals and organisations will also receive awards
at the event. They include the Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwabo,
House of Representatives Speaker, Hon Yakubu Dogara, former Managing
Director/CEO of Bank of Industry (BOI), Mr Rasheed Adejare Olaoluwa and
chairman of Honeywell Group, Oba Otudeko. Others are: Mr Boboye Oyeyemi, the
Corp Marshal/CEO of Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Managing Director of
Intelsat Nigeria Limited, Mr Simone Volpi, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the
Dangote Cement, Heritage Bank, Access Bank, SystemSpecs, Zenith Bank, Chibok
Girls, the Golden Eaglets and the rave of the moment artiste, Mr Korede Bello.
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