NEWS: Buhari, APC Under Fire For 'Plagiarising' 'Next Level' Logo

• Less than 24 hours after the unveiling of the logo, it appears internet surfing rather than creativity is the anchor on which the logo rests.

President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the All progressives Congress (APC), are under fire on social media for what appears to be the passing off of a foreign logo as theirs.

Buhari launched his 2019 presidential campaign on Sunday, titling it ‘Next Level’ on the argument that “the past few years have put us in good stead to trudge on the Next Level of building an even stronger nation for our people”.

It is not the President’s words that are currently attracting public opprobrium, though, but the ‘Next level’ logo, a striking feature of which is the creative elongation of the ‘x’ in ‘next’ in a manner as to give the pass mark to a candidate.

Less than 24 hours after the unveiling of the logo, it appears internet surfing rather than creativity is the anchor on which the logo rests.

A quick search of ‘Next Level’ will show, among others, a project of the Winthrop University-School Partnership Network in collaboration with Fort Mill School District (York 4), Lancaster County School District, and Rock Hill School District (York 3). It is a Professional Development Program grant funded by the US Department of Education and administered through the Office of English Learner Aquisition (OELA), PR/Award # T365Z160278.

‘Next Level’, in this case, means NETwork for Leading Education that Values English Learners. In recognition of students’ right to a high quality education, Project NExT LEVEL “provides professional learning opportunities for educators from pre-service to in-service to district and higher education faculty aimed at meeting the unique needs of English Learners and their families”.

One look at this logo and its similarity with Buhari’s ‘next Level’ is easy to see. The two pictures have been circulating on social media, and the comments are far from palatable.

It is not the first time Buhari and his handlers have been enmeshed in a plagiarism scandal.

In September 2016, his ‘Change Begins With Me’ speech contained several sentences that were identical to some in Barack Obama’s 2008 victory speech.

For instance, Buhari had said: “We must resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship, pettiness and immaturity that have poisoned our country for so long.”

Meanwhile, eight years ago, after his victory over Republican John McCain in the race for the White House, Obama had said: “Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.”

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ELECTIONS: 'Go And Get Your PVC Is Buhari’s Opponent In 2019' — Segun Adeniyi Bemused By Lack Of Formidable Election Challenger

• “What I think basically is that Buhari's biggest challenger today, is ‘go and get your PVC.’ That is not a candidate," Adeniyi said. "Yes. People will get their PVCs but it also matters who they are voting for and the platform and what those people are bringing to the table. I know that in 2015, there are people who voted, not for Buhari but just against Jonathan. We may end up with the same situation.”

Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, former Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, says the only challenger of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 is “go and get your PVC’, which is not a candidate.

He held that there is yet no formidable candidate capable of defeating the President come 2019.

Mr. Adeniyi said this in Ibadan on Thursday during the review of his book, ‘Against the Run of Play’.

“What I think basically is that Buhari's biggest challenger today, is ‘go and get your PVC.’ That is not a candidate," Adeniyi said.

"Yes. People will get their PVCs but it also matters who they are voting for and the platform and what those people are bringing to the table. I know that in 2015, there are people who voted, not for Buhari but just against Jonathan. We may end up with the same situation.”

He said it would be impossible for the fragmented opposition to unseat Buhari, noting that the President's victory In 2015 was because the opposition came together. 

“I don't expect anything different in the 2019 elections. “ he said. “I expect that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will perform better than it did in 2015. I also expect that whoever wants to be president, either the incumbent or challenger, should challenge the process and at the end of the day, we'll see what happens."

In his book, Adeniyi chronicled the powerplay during the administration oof Ex-president Yar’Adua, who died of a terminal illness in 2012.

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ELECTION: INEC May Stop Voter Registration Exercise To Satisfy Political Interests

• INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, is said to be buckling under the pressure despite various assurances by the commission that the electoral law stipulates that such an exercise can only be stopped not less than 60 days to elections.

The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) is being pressured to prematurely halt the ongoing continuous voter registration exercise by powerful political interests, SaharaReporters has gathered.

INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, is said to be buckling under the pressure despite various assurances by the commission that the electoral law stipulates that such an exercise can only be stopped not less than 60 days to elections.

This implies that the appropriate terminal date of the exercise is December, not June 2018. The calendar for the general elections issued by INEC indicates that the next year's will take place from February.

A fortnight ago on a live Channels Television programme monitored by SaharaReporters, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, spokesperson to the INEC Chairman, said the exercise will end in December and resume on a continuous basis after the elections to accommodate other people of voting age.

Mr. Oyekanmi was responding directly to a question by Maupe Ogun, the programme anchor, on when the programme would end.

At different times also, the INEC Chairman has been by the media as assuring Nigerians that in view of the challenges being experienced by prospective registrants, the exercise will be decentralised in the future to make things easy.

Should INEC give in to the pressure, it will deny many unregistered voters across the country the chance to be part of next year's electoral process.

Observers are already questioning INEC's capacity to conduct credible polls, given its pattern of not keeping to promises made.

The looming stoppage of voter registration exercise has coincided with the refusal of INEC to take responsibility for the underage voter-strewn election register used by the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC) in the recent council polls in the state.

The allegation of underage voting assumed a life of its own when images and videos of primary school-age kids surfaced on the social and traditional media respectively.

SaharaReporters, on 13 March, had exclusively reported an attempt to cover up the scandal or a rejection of the report of the investigative panel established by INEC to ascertain the veracity of the allegation.

INEC kept denying responsibility until 25 March when the panel submitted its report, a document that has not been made public since then.

There has been clamour by the media for the release of the full report, which would confirm or repudiate allegations that the election register has underage voters instead of claims by INEC that it did not conduct the council.

In a statement signed by him, Professor Mahmood stripped the Kano council polls of credibility by saying KANSIEC  did not use the register provided by INEC in many instances, adding that  INEC was not responsible for any underage voting.

Observers are wondering why INEC is unwilling to declare number of underage voters on its register and what it plans to do to eliminate the errors to restore its credibility.    

Observers also stated that the partial reporting by the INEC Chairman has been accompanied by huge political costs, as there are indications that some political groups in Kano State may have obtained copies of the investigative report in the hope of interpreting it to suit their respective agenda, while others are planning to use it as a gauge of where the commission will lean next year so as to make contingency plans.

Analysts have warned that INEC needs to abide by high administrative standards by posting the reports of its findings on the Internet to restore public confidence.

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Pastor Adeboye: In 2019, Nigerians Must Vote Out Politicians Who Do Not Serve The National Interest

• The clergyman said this while speaking with journalists after a thanksgiving service held at the RCCG headquarters in Ebute Metta, Lagos.

Pastor E. A. Adeboye

Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, has asked Nigerians to use their voting power to send out political leaders who are not serving in national interest from power in the 2019 general elections.

The clergyman said this while speaking with journalists after a thanksgiving service held at the RCCG headquarters in Ebute Metta, Lagos.

Adeboye, who was represented by Pastor Johnson Odesola, said: “There is hope with God on our side, let’s be hopeful. Nigerians should look out for credible people, God-fearing people.

“Everyone should get their Permanent Voter Card; that’s our power. Every Christian should exercise their civic right of voting for the right person of their choice because the Bible says give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and the word of God enjoins us to pray for kings and those who are in authority.”

Adeboye also urged lawmakers in the National Assembly to pass the 2018 Appropriation Bill, warning that the year is already running out.

 “They should serve the national interest and not their interest even if they have issues, they should pass it while they are working on the issue," he said. "That’s why they are there; that’s why we talk about next year’s elections. Those who will not serve national interest should be shown the way out."

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