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Few days to the
rescheduled National Assembly election, Police in Osun State have
recovered arms and ammunition from hoodlums suspected to be political
thugs in the state.

The arms recovered include 19 pomp Italian guns, one cutlass, eight live cartridges and one automatic pistol.

Parading the 11
suspects at the headquarters of the state police command, the state
Commissioner of Police, Peter Gana said the suspects were arrested
after a tip off.

The leader of the
gang who identified himself as Sheu Olawumi said when interrogated by
journalists that all the 11 members of the gang paraded were card
carrying members of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) from Lagos
State.

Mr Olawumi could not however produce his membership card as he alleged that the Police confiscated it when he was arrested.

He said he is a
driver at Ojota Motor Park in Lagos and claimed that the items were
given to them at a meeting of the ACN in a part of Lagos State by a
chieftain of the party who they always refer to as “Jeje”.

Police is committed

The Commissioner of
Police, however, reiterated the commitment of the state command of the
police to ensure a peaceful conduct of the Saturday election, even as
he promised to investigate the matter. He said “the state police
command will not regard anybody as a sacred cow in the present events
as any person indicted would be brought to book not minding whose ox is
gored.” The command, he said is prepared to curtail and contain any
attempt by any group, sector or individual to thwart the relative peace
the state is experiencing now.

“This is also a
warning signal to political parties and their thugs to ensure that they
maintain absolute decorum during their party’s rallies as the police
are prepared to deal decisively with any untoward situation,” he added.

The police in
Kaduna yesterday recovered the sum of N250,000 from two men who
allegedly snatched the money from a woman coming out of a new
generation bank on Ahmadu Bello Way in the Kaduna State capital.

An eye witness
confirmed that the two suspects who came with a motorcycle waylaid
their victim at the bank gate, and as the woman was coming out of the
bank, they snatched her purse containing the money and sped off.

According to the
eye witness, it was the woman’s shouting of “Barawo” (thief in Hausa)
which attracted the police stationed at the NEPA Roundabout very close
to the bank, that led to their arrests.

The arrest of the
two suspects, however, attracted the presence of many commercial
motorcyclists popularly known as “Achaba” riders who demanded that the
Policed should hand over the suspects to them so that they could burn
them to death for using a motorcycle in the robbery.

Their threat to
burn down the bank if the two suspects were not released to them was
resisted by the combined team of the “Operation Yaki” outfit who used
force to disperse them around the bank premises.

Meanwhile, the suspects have been remanded in Police custody for further investigation.

Workers in Ogun
State have called on the state governor, Gbenga Daniel to pay their
Cooperative Union dues allegedly deducted from their salaries before he
leaves office.

The appeal was
made at the 2011 Delegate Conference l of the Nigeria Labour Union
(NLC), Ogun State Chapter held at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto,
Abeokuta. Clement Adeniyi, Chairman of the Congress in his welcome
speech said: “We shall be grateful to your Excellency Sir, if the rest
of our cooperative union dues, pension deductions from our salaries
could be settled before the expiration of your administration.”

Mr Adeniyi used
the occasion to appeal to Mr Daniel to quickly accede to the new
N18,000 minimum wage. “We still have much belief in your saying that no
kobo would be left unpaid on money deducted on workers’ salaries and
allowances. Our prayer is that the resources by which all these will be
settled shall be provided by God in Jesus name.” Mr Adeniyi said.
However, in his speech, the governor represented by his consultant on
labour matters, Wale Oduntan, said: “Eight years into our stewardship
and casting the relationship between our administration and organised
labour into retrospect, I can confidently affirm that this has been a
most rewarding partnership. For this reason, I express sincere
appreciation to the entire labour community of Ogun State for their
support.”

On the new
N18,000.00 minimum wage, Mr Daniel said, “I therefore avail myself of
this golden opportunity to allay your fears over the fate of the new
N18,000 minimum wage in Ogun State. It is a decision that will not be
delayed for the next administration to handle.”

Ahead of the
National Assembly elections re-scheduled for Saturday, tension is
mounting across Oyo, self-acclaimed Pacesetter State, as the state
governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala, has reportedly given a standing directive
to all the acting chairmen of the 33 local governments in the state to
deliver their territories or face sack.

The governor had appointed all the caretaker chairmen after the expiration of term of the elected ones last year.

A source said the
governor gave the directive at a stakeholder meeting of the People’s
Democratic Party (PDP) held at Government House, Agodi, Ibadan, on
Tuesday, after assessing the near failure of the party at the botched
election of last Saturday.

Already, the
alleged order has started generating tension in the state as charges of
threats, violent clashes, and arms buildup are becoming the order of
the day.

Speaking through
Adeolu Adeleke, his campaign director, a former governor of Oyo State,
Rashidi Ladoja, described the alleged directive as an invitation to
anarchy.

Mr. Ladoja’s
observation came a day after his predecessor, Lam Adesina, raised a
similar alarm. The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) leader in Oyo State
had alleged that the governor was desperate about winning for the PDP
at all costs.

According to him,
Mr. Alao-Akala had set aside N1billion for use by the acting local
government bosses to buy people’s votes, and to resort to the use of
violence, “if the carrot option fails”.

Mr. Adesina warned
against the alleged plan, and said members of his party are equally
ready to match them strength for strength.

Already, the much
dreaded anarchy has started rearing its head as scores of people were
said to have been injured at a violent clash between suspected PDP
thugs and traders at Araromi/Gate Motor Dealers Market, Ibadan, on
Wednesday, when the former were said to have swooped on the market to
destroy a wooden rostrum built to host Ladoja’s campaign team.

The Accord Party,
on whose platform Mr. Ladoja is contesting the governorship seat of the
state, is said to enjoy the sympathy of the majority of traders in the
market. It was reported that the attack was led by a local government
caretaker committee chairman, but was effectively rebuffed by the
traders, who were said to have been prepared for such possibilities.
Following the attack and subsequent security reports, the Accord Party
governorship candidate called off the rally.

While the incident
was going on, a member of the House of Representatives, Lanre Agoro, in
a press chat at the ACN state office, in Ibadan, alleged that Mr.
Alao-Akala wanted to get him out of circulation before the next
Saturday elections at any cost.

Victory is certain

The lawmaker, who
defected from the PDP and is now re-contesting his seat in the National
Assembly under the banner of the ACN, said he has been under incessant
attacks from the ruling party, particularly the state governor, since
his exit from the party.

Mr. Agoro, who said
he was sure of winning the ticket to represent Irepo/Orelope/Olorunsogo
Constituency at the lower chambers of the National Assembly on
Saturday, said the governor pushed him out of the PDP, after feeling
uncomfortable with his comments on what he calls the governor’s
mis-governance of the state.

He explained that
his rising popularity has become his undoing and the ruling party has
resolved to get him out of the way, so that he would not be able to
mobilise people for the election.

The plot, he added,
included his recent quiz by the State Security Service (SSS) over an
unsubstantiated allegation. He said three of his men are still being
held by the organisation over the allegation, adding that when the PDP
saw that the SSS were not really acting to their expectation, the party
then wanted to involve the police.

The plot, he claimed, does not end with getting him into custody till the end of the elections, but his possible extermination.

The police, however, have denied the allegation.

The Expenditure
Review Committee (ERC) inaugurated last September to look at ways to
help government reduce the country’s spiralling recurrent costs and
overheads yesterday called for a radical amendment of constitutional
provisions that promote unrealistic budgetary provisions and processes.

Presenting the
report yesterday in Abuja, the Chairman of the 23-member committee,
Anya O. Anya, said a situation where successive governments since 2003
continue to devote 80 percent of the country’s financial resources to
recurrent expenditures “tends to portray governance as irresponsible,
unresponsive, self-centred and clueless pretenders to leadership.” Mr
Anya, who is also the former Chairman, Nigeria Economic Summit Group
(NESG), said as of last year, two-thirds of the country’s resources
were allocated to recurrent and overhead expenditures, pointing out
that the 2011 budget hardly showed any marked departure from the trend,
despite the pledge by the National Assembly for a 30 percent reduction.

Spending binge

Indicting the
leadership at the various levels of government, Mr Anya noted that “the
mission of a responsible political leadership surely includes
maximising the quality of life of the citizens, while making provisions
for and enhancing the opportunities of future generations.

“The prominent
political actors must know that we are at a historical conjuncture
where demography, economics and social dynamics suggest that unless
there is a drastic redirection of our fiscal operations, the judgment
of history will be harsh,” he warned.

Underscoring the
need to create the environment to attract foreign and local investments
to the economy, the committee declared that it is practically
impossible for the country to achieve the development aspirations of
Vision 20:2020 if the current mix of recurrent and capital expenditure
and high level of fiscal indiscipline are maintained.

“The major drivers
of the high level, but low value recurrent expenditure include
unbridled multiplication of structures and process; overloading of
recurrent items, especially through overheads, and pervasive defiance
of the extant rules and regulations on government’s fiscal operations,”
the committee noted.

While urging
government to identify opportunities for reduction of recurrent
expenditure as well as for switching to making capital expenditure more
important in the fiscal mix, the committee suggested that the ratio of
recurrent expenditure to gross domestic product (GDP) be pegged at 6
percent, and not more than 100 percent of non-oil revenue.

Minister of
Finance, Segun Aganga, while receiving the report, said the committee
was part of the effort by government to review the legacy issues to lay
a solid foundation for the building of the country, adding that this
would not be achieved without resolving the issues about how the
country’s resources are allocated.

The Minister
promised that government would review the committee’s recommendations
and ensure that they are effectively implemented, pointing out that the
present administration has already taken a number of measures to
enhance the quality and efficiency of government budgetary spending to
add value to the quality life of the people.

The Labour Party in
Plateau State has dismissed as “cheap blackmail” allegations that the
campaign of its governorship candidates is being funded by Islamist
groups in Saudi Arabia and Libya.

Speaking at a
world press conference called by the party in Jos, yesterday, Pam Dung
Gyang, who is the running mate to the party’s governorship candidate,
Pauline Tallen, said those spreading false stories that the party in
Plateau State is being funded by some groups in the Arab world, are
merely trying to tap into the existing frosty relations between
Christians and Moslems in the state to shore up sentiments against the
party.

He said the state
government, headed by Jonah Jang, has been encouraging division among
the people of the state for the last four years.

“This being an era
of e-business, e-banking and e-commerce, if indeed the opposition is
sure of our dealings with any group anywhere, they should produce
proofs of transactions by way of computer print outs or any other
vouchers,” Mr Gyang said.

The candidate said
the Labour Party and its 2011 campaigns in Plateau State are funded by
contributions from its members and supporters, whom he said are
stopping at nothing within the law to ensure that political change is
effected in the political leadership of the state come May 29, 2011.

He said his party
is working hard “towards a state where all shall cohabit without the
fear and uncertainty that has engulfed the state under the Jang
administration.”

Mr Gyang also said the botched elections of last Saturday has thrown up a lot of lessons.

“The rigging
machinery of the so-called ruling party in the state has been exposed.
It is unacceptable that in areas where the Labour Party is strong, such
areas, as we pointed out before last Saturday, were starved of election
materials,” he said. “For instance, had the elections been allowed to
proceed, a lot of the electorate would have been disenfranchised. In
some polling units where about 2000 voters were registered, only the
names of fewer than 1000 were available for accreditation. The number
of ballot papers for the House of Representatives election which went
to the polling units equally fell far short of the required number. The
same was the case with other materials like result sheets,” the
statement added.Party to beat

Jimmy Chetto,
chairman of the party’s gubernatorial campaign organisation, also said
the party has uncovered plans by the ruling People’s Democractic Party
to circumvent the process of the re-scheduled elections.

“In areas where
they consider their party to be weak, they are working earnestly
towards ensuring that the process does not enjoy a smooth sailing,” Mr
Chetto claimed.

He said the ruling
party olan to do this by “intimidating civil servants and harassing
traditional rulers from such areas to do its bidding.”

Mr Chetto said whatever the quality of security provided, the Labour
Party is determined to participate and go fully into the elections
“because it remains the party to beat in Plateau State in the 2011
elections.”

Sensitive election
materials, including ballot papers and result sheets to be used in the
National Assembly election will be delivered to polling centres by
commercial transporters, NEXT has learnt.

The materials will be deployed to respective areas at least 24 hours before the hugely-anticipated elections on Saturday.

The April 9
rescheduled parliamentary elections is deemed critical to the
credibility of subsequent elections, as well as the well-battered image
of the commission which plunged further after Saturday’s cancellation
of the national assembly election. It will expectably also shape the
future of the Attahiru Jega’s leadership of the electoral body.

“If he fails this
time, there will be no other option for him than to leave; it is make
or mar,” said Victor Umeh, who chairs the All Progressive Grand
Alliance (APGA).

Though much of last
week’s failure had been blamed on late arrival of the materials from
foreign vendors, the commission yesterday acknowledged that part of its
troubles – though it said this was to a lesser extent – was scarcity of
vehicles that could convey materials and officials to voting spots.

In areas where
accreditation and voting took place across the country, officials
arrived aboard city buses and cars; while in some places, materials
were reportedly transported with personal cars.

Yet, a N600million
contract for the purchase of more than 500 Hilux pickup vans, meant to
deal with the situation, was awarded months ago. The delivery had also
been delayed, along with the election materials.

Mr. Jega’s
spokesperson, Kayode Idowu, said yesterday that 530 vans finally
arrived in Nigeria this week. This highlighted the tenuous planning
structure the commission maintained in the weeks ahead of the botched
election, while it sustained assurances of normalcy in the open.

The vehicles, some
of which were sighted around the commission’s headquarters in Abuja,
are being dispatched to the states ahead of the elections on Saturday
and the final ones will arrive the various states latest Thursday, he
said.

Vet the transporters

But to pick up the
slack, the commission formally sanctioned the use of “screened and
vetted” transporters to augment its vehicles in delivering the
materials and staff.

“Last week,
adequate transportation arrangement may not have been made, but now I
believe Saturday will be different,” Mr. Idowu said.

“It cannot be
possible for INEC alone to have vehicles that will cover the 120,000
polling units. The RECs have directives to engage transporters, but
they should be vetted and well screened.”

Part of decisions
reached with the Resident Electoral Commissioners on Tuesday, NEXT was
informed yesterday, was that the ballot papers and the result sheets
are to be moved to their respective areas at least 24 hours before
elections. This is a measure which the commission hopes will almost
completely eradicate incidence of late arrival of materials for
accreditation, which is due to commence by 8am.

“The commission is taking adequate measures to contain the hitches
that arose from transportation and logistics deficiencies on Saturday,”
Mr Idowu said.

President Goodluck
Jonathan has appealed to religious leaders in the country to pray for a
successful conduct of the forthcoming general elections, in view of the
activities of “desperate politicians” who are ready to kill for
political gains.

He made this call
yesterday when he received the 2010 Hajj operations report presented to
him by the head of the federal government delegation and Amirul Hajj,
the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, at the Council Chamber
of the State House, Abuja.

“This is a period
that we require your prayers more because we have individuals sometimes
that are quite desperate and who want to kill, who want to maim people
because of political office,” Mr. Jonathan said.

“There is nothing
Allah can’t do. Your prayers will help to reduce these excesses of some
of us who are politicians. I believe that the religious leaders have
roles to play in shaping our polity and you can admonish us to keep
away from politics of tribalism, politics of ethnicity, and of course,
the issue of religious intolerance that are somehow becoming a key
factor in our day-to-day activity,” he added.

The president said
the report is coming at a most auspicious time because of the political
activities going on in the states. He promised to study the report and
utilise the recommendations in order to properly regulate the Hajj
operations, stating that his administration decided to institutionalise
the office of the Amirul-Hajj in order to modify the Hajj operation in
line with exigencies of the period.

A smoother Hajj

The Sultan, who led
the delegation, thanked Mr. Jonathan for the opportunity given to them
to serve the country and recommended modalities on how to improve on
the exercise.

He also called on
government to examine the report of the committee which contained the
challenges faced, with a view to improving on subsequent Hajj
operations.

The Sultan said the
report is to also help the Federal Government commit less financial
resources in future, as well as strengthen the National Hajj Commission
of Nigeria to perform more effectively.

He said even though
the 2010 exercise was successful, the delegation faced many challenges
such as the new feeding arrangement at Muna and Arafat and the
transportation system newly introduced by the Saudi authorities.

The Federal Executive Council yesterday urged Nigerians to give the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the benefit of the doubt and provide the body with all the support it needs to make the National Assembly election a success.
The Minister of Information and Communication, Labaran Maku, who briefed journalists after the weekly executive meeting which was chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan, said no sacrifice is too much to bear for the success of the elections.
He also said the federal government has not sought to have control over INEC’s budget and planning, but has provided everything the commission requires for a successful conduct of the elections.
“As you do know, INEC is independent of the executive arm of government, because INEC is an ombudsman,” he said. “We have done everything possible to remove the last vestiges of any control of the federal executive on INEC. So, INEC is an independent body, with its own budget, with its own planning. It deploys its own resources. What we have done, especially since last year, is to make available to INEC every requirement, every financial requirement that INEC has asked for the successful conduct of the general elections.”
The commission had postponed the National Assembly election, which was to take place last Saturday, by one week due, to logistic problems, including the late arrival of the ballot papers to be used for the elections.
Mr. Maku said although there were several concerns last weekend on the subsequently postponed election and the deployment of logistics in some places, he believes the electoral body will deliver.
“I believe that, with this postponement, INEC is handling all those issues that were raised by observers, politicians and actors concerning the level of preparations that we saw last week,” he said.
He also said the Presidency hopes that the postponement of the election will give the electoral body ample opportunity to address all the lapses which called for the postponement.
“It is our hope and belief that, come this week, INEC will now have the opportunity of using the postponement to address all the issues, especially the question of having adequate vehicles to transport materials from distribution centres to polling centres, and back to collation centres,” he said.
“It is very important because if those logistics arrangements are inadequate, then they create room for individuals to go in and help, and that help indeed can tamper with the security of materials and the outcome of elections. It is our belief that all of us as stakeholders, the media, the political class and members of the public, would be working along with INEC in terms of support, in terms of prayers, in terms of monitoring and indeed in suggestions, so that most of these problems would be addressed in the forthcoming rescheduled elections.”
Mr. Maku could, however, not confirm the possible postponement of the elections in some states as he said the only authority that can take decisions in terms of the postponement of elections is INEC.
“INEC has not informed the government and the public if there are some states where elections might not hold. So the only authority that can answer this question properly is INEC,” he said.

The Inter-Party
Advisory Council (IPAC), a coalition of political parties in the
country, yesterday warned party leaders against preaching violence and
making baseless allegations against the federal government and the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The chairman of
IPAC, Osita Okereke, who spoke on behalf of the group in Abuja, said it
remains opposed to violence by any political party before, during and
after the elections, which begin Saturday with the rescheduled National
Assembly elections.

IPAC, composed of
representatives of the nation’s political parties, had on March 8, this
year, signed up to a Code of Conduct to eschew violence and sanction
any breach of the code. Mr Okereke stated that IPAC would also not
condone a situation where parties level spurious and unfounded
allegations against the government and the electoral body, adding that
such was capable of undermining these institutions and precipitating
crises.

“IPAC, among
others, has the responsibility to observe and monitor the
implementation of the Code of Conduct, 2011 and shall identify,
investigate and sanction violation of the Code of Conduct by any
political party in accordance with existing laws,” he said.

“IPAC is committed
to ensure strict compliance with the Code of Conduct because we believe
it will conduce to peaceful electoral process. Violence will take us
nowhere. It will only cause hysteria in the polity and put the nation
on the edge. The nation can make progress peacefully and that is what
IPAC seeks to achieve in concert with the INEC.”

Mr Okereke, who is
also the national chairman of African Liberation Party (ALP), said IPAC
has already begun work on a profile on each party with a view to
detailing violent acts, tendencies and preachments as well as overall
compliance and non-compliance with the Code of Conduct.

He said that a report would be made to INEC and other relevant agencies for necessary actions.

In a veiled
reference to the allegation made by the Congress for Progressive Change
(CPC) against the federal government and INEC, Mr Okereke said that the
council is worried that some parties have resorted to making unfounded
allegations against the INEC and the federal government.

“This will not augur well for the process. There is need to
reinforce the integrity of the electoral process. This cannot be done
by making spurious and unfounded allegations as some parties and their
leaders are now wont to do.” Mr Okereke also appealed to Nigerians to
go out en masse on Saturday to cast their votes, saying free, fair and
credible elections would strengthen the nation’s democratic
institutions and bolster people’s believability in and respect for them.