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The Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) has accredited the National
Assembly to monitor the forthcoming general elections.

The National
Assembly is listed as number 162 in a list of 313 domestic observer
groups approved by the electoral commission to monitor the polls
published on INEC’s website.

Most members of
the National Assembly are contestants in the first in the series of
elections scheduled for this Saturday. It is not clear how they will
double as monitors especially as INEC guidelines forbid candidates from
moving around polling units.

An INEC staff, who
did not want his name mentioned because he has no authority to speak
for the commission, said incumbent lawmakers might hide under NASS
accredition units to roam polling stations, and possibly commit
electoral fraud.

But David Asemo of
INEC’s Election Monitoring and Observation Unit, in a telephone
interview, said it was members of the National Assembly’s Research and
Documentation Department that were approved as observers, and not the
legislators vying for election.

“It is not the
National Assembly legislators. It is the management headed by the Clerk
of the National Assembly who is the administrative head of the National
Assembly that applied, and they met all the criteria. You can go and
verify,” Mr. Asemo said.

Mr. Asemo however
refused disclosing which criteria were used in accrediting the National
Assembly members, stating “those are administrative details, which I
can’t tell you.”

When contacted,
INEC’s spokesperson, Kayode Idowu, requested some time to confirm the
commission had indeed accredited the National Assembly as an observer.
In a subsequent conversation, he also said only National Assembly staff
were accredited.

“It is the staff
and not the legislators. Different groups applied, just like we have
journalist groups who also applied to be observers. It does not mean
the legislators themselves are the observers,” Mr Idowu said.

He however could
not state which criteria were used in selecting the National Assembly
staff, as he said he was unable to locate the document having the
details.

But a human rights
activist, Bamidele Aturu, says it is “an affront on democratic
principles” for the National Assembly to be given observation rights
considering many of the legislative members have vested interest in the
elections.

“It is funny and
strange because these members are politicians either contesting
directly or supporting one candidate or the other in the elections. It
makes a mockery of election monitoring and observation,” Mr. Aturu said.

He added that such
an “undue privilege” might allow the National Assembly staff to move
around freely on election days to the advantage of select politicians,
and the detriment of other Nigerians.

“This same staff of the National Assembly have close contact with
these politicians. I think it is undue privilege because other
Nigerians can’t move around on election day. How do we know they won’t
act in favour of them? I think it is strange this is happening. It
should be left with civil society organisations to handle and not the
National Assembly which is a government institution,” Mr. Aturu said.

A Federal High
Court in Abuja yesterday, dismissed an application for stay of
execution of judgment by former Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Mr. Aminu Bello Masari seeking to halt the judgement
of the court which stopped him from contesting the governorship
position of Katsina State under the Congress for Progressive Change
(CPC) in the April election.

Presiding judge
Abdul Kafarati also affirmed its earlier judgement that Senator Yakubu
Garba Lado is the authentic candidate of the CPC in Katsina State as
well as the candidature of 43 other candidates contesting for the
Senate, Federal and State Houses of Assembly in the state.

Mr. Kafarati had,
on February 25, 2011 ordered the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) not to recognize any other candidate for the Katsina
state governorship position under the CPC other than Lado.

Senator Lado and
his running mate, Abdulaziz Yar’adua had gone to court seeking an order
to restrain INEC from accepting Mr. Masari; the senator claimed that he
won the primary election and should have been presented instead of Mr.
Masari.

Mr. Lado wants the
court to mandate the submission of no other candidate except him to
INEC as the party’s governorship candidate for the state for the April
2011 election.

Specifically, he
wants the court to mandate the electoral body to accept only him as the
candidate of the party at the 2011 general elections for which they won
their party primaries.

The aggrieved
Senator who led 44 other members of the party told the court to
restrain the electoral body from accepting any other candidates apart
from them as the candidates of the party for the April governorship
election in Katsina state.

Kafarati, in his
judgment held that CPC has no option than to submit Senator Lado’s name
to INEC as its authentic governorship candidate for the Katsina State
governorship election in April.

He dismissed the
defendants’ preliminary objection, said Lado’s action was properly
brought before the court, that the plaintiffs have reasonable cause of
action as they are the authentic candidate of the party in Katsina
State.

The former speaker
and the CPC had filed an objection to Lado’s suit on the ground that
the way and manner a party elects or nominates its candidate for any
elective position is an internal affair of the party and that the court
lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

But, Kafarati, in
his judgement said with the 1999 constitution of the federal republic
of Nigeria as amended, the election or nomination of party’s candidate
ceases to be solely an internal affairs of the party because the
amended constitution provides that any aggrieved member of the party
can sue if the process for electing or nominating the party’s candidate
violate the party guidelines and the Electoral Act which are tailored
in line with the constitution of the country.

Furthermore he held
that the defendants failed woefully to bring any documentary evidence
before the court to show that there was another governorship primary
election held by the party where Masari was elected.

Masari has gone
before the Abuja Court of Appeal challenging Kafarati’s judgment which
held in his judgment delivered on February 25, 2011 that Lado is the
authentic gubernatorial candidate of the CPC in Katsina State.

In a motion on
notice filed through his counsel, John Baiyeshea , Masari is seeking an
order of injunction restraining Lado and the 44 others who filed the
initial suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja, their agents or
privies from giving effect to the Judgment delivered by Justice Abdul
Kafarati pending the hearing and determination of his appeal before the
Appeal Court.

In an affidavit in
support of the motion, Masari said he, the party and its Chairman,
Prince Tony Momoh are dissatisfied with the judgment, as a result of
which thousands of supporters and sympathizers have resolved not to
vote for the party in the forthcoming general election in Katsina.

He also said he won the primary election which held on January 13,
2011 and it was duly declared by the relevant committee which conducted
the election.

Jonathan Shakarho,
a Justice of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, has awarded N10 million
damages against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for
attempting to forcefully seal off the private residence of former Ekiti
State governor, Ayodele Fayose.

Men of the
commission had created a scene at the former governor’s house on
September 29, 2010 when they were mobilised to forcefully eject the
occupants and seal it off.

It took the
resistance of some of Mr Fayose’s family members, who also reside in
the house located within the Government’s Reservation Area (GRA),
Iyaganku Quarters, Ibadan, to save the day.

The former Ekiti
State governor thereafter approached the court to seek redress and
enforcement of his fundamental human rights. He prayed the court for an
order confirming and enforcing his fundamental rights to fair hearing,
dignity of human person, liberty, private and family life and to own
immovable property; an order restraining the respondent from issuing
misleading press statements or publishing the picture of the house in
the media; N50 million damages and any other order the court may deem
fit.

EFCC was obeying orders

In an 18-paragraph
affidavit in support of the prayers, the applicant alleged that the
EFCC officials intruded in his family’s privacy and also published the
picture of the building in print media.

He also averred
that the EFCC’s attempt to seal off the building claiming it was an
order of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi was a lie. Mr Fayose said the
EFCC was acting the political vendetta script authored from the Ekiti
State government house through a letter dated September 20, 2010.

But the
commission, in a 16-paragraph counter affidavit, said it only acted on
the order given by Tijani Abubakar of Federal High Court, Ikoyi which
empowered it to seal off the premises.

According to the
EFCC, its office had been inundated with several petitions on Mr
Fayose’s alleged misdemeanour while still serving as the governor in
2005.

The allegations, it
added, have to do with abuse of office, money laundering, corrupt
practices and stealing of government funds especially money obtained
through Biological Concept Nigeria Limited.

The EFCC said it
was short of prosecuting the former governor because of the immunity he
enjoyed then as one Gbenga James and some other persons arraigned in
2006 over similar offences mentioned his name as accomplice, adding
that it later amended the charges to include his name after his
impeachment by the Ekiti State House of Assembly.

It further stated
that it had pasted the said order on Mr Fayose’s house immediately
after its issuance in 2006, together with the sealing notice, only for
the former governor to go behind and “unseal the properties, removed
the order and moved into them without the permission or authorisation
of the respondent of the Federal Government of Nigeria.”

The Judge’s verdict

In his judgement
delivered on Wednesday, Mr Shakarho posited that the commission must
take full responsibility of the wrongful act carried out by his men on
the day in question and ordered it to pay N10 million for damages.

According to him,
the act is tantamount to “malicious embarrassment” to the former
governor since there was no order of the court to forfeit his property
to the Federal Government.

He also gave an
order to restrain the commission, his agents, privies or anyone or
organisation acting on its behalf from further issuing “misleading
press statements, publishing pictures of the applicant’s residence and
or procuring the release of any misleading information in the print
media, in any manner.” The presiding judge equally restrained the EFCC
from sealing off the said property or from engaging in any manner of
infringement Mr Fayose’s fundamental and constitutional rights.

The Federal High
Court in Abuja has cleared the governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime,
as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the
state.

The court dismissed
a suit filed by governorship candidate of the Platform Party, Anayo
Onwuegbu, on the ground that it constitutes an abuse of court process.

Judge Abdul
Kafarati ruled that the PDP has already submitted the name of Mr Chime
as its candidate for the election contrary to the claim of the
plaintiff, Mr Onwuegbu.

The court also ordered the defendants to file their counter affidavit against the plaintiff’s claim within the next two days.

Mr Kafarati also
resolved the issue of jurisdiction in favour of the plaintiff, saying
that the court has jurisdiction to hear his case and adjourned the
matter till February 23 for hearing.

The commission had
on February 14, told the court to vacate the interim order restraining
it from giving recognition to Mr Chime as the governorship candidate of
PDP in Enugu State.

INEC told the
court through its lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu, that if the interim order
was not vacated, it may affect the chances of the party fielding a
gubernatorial candidate for the scheduled April general elections in
Enugu State.

The order of the
court, handed down on January 31, had also stopped PDP from submitting
Mr Chime’s name to the INEC as its candidate for the said poll pending
the hearing and determination of the suit filed by the plaintiff and 38
other contestants challenging Mr Chime’s candidacy.

Even though the
court ordered the PDP not to submit the list of its candidates for
Enugu State to INEC, the party had last Monday informed the court that
it had already sent Mr Chime’s name to INEC before the order was made.

The party, which
was represented in court by its national legal adviser, Olusola Oke,
equally urged the judge to set aside the restraining order, contending
that the high court lacks the jurisdiction to stop an already perfected
act.

It argued that it
forwarded the name of Mr Chime alongside other candidates vying for
various positions in the state to INEC on January 17, for publication
before the restraining order was made.

In dismissing the
suit filed by the Onwuegbu and his running mate, Ogbu, Mr Kafarati
noted that the issue in question is subject matter of litigation in
another court.

Mr. Kafarati said the suit lacks merit and accordingly dismissed it.

As the 2011 elections draw nearer, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has directed that none of its technical and search and rescue officers would go on leave during the period just as 12 states have been identified by the agency as flashpoints that require more public consciousness and awareness against untoward attitudes during the elections.
The Director-General of NEMA, Muhammad Sani-Sidi, gave the directive today while receiving members of Media and Information Committee on Emergency Management (MICEM) which comprises spokespersons of response agencies in Nigeria.
While calling on emergency spokespersons to cooperate with the press in providing timely, accurate and truthful information at all times to minimise speculations, Mr Sani-Sidi said they should be alert on their responsibility.
He, however, urged the electorate not to allow themselves to be used to disrupt the electoral processes, adding that the country would soon have dedicated hotlines that could be accessible to the public in reaching response agencies during emergencies.
He said just as the agency enjoyed massive support and cooperation of other agencies in all its activities, members of MICEM should also extend similar goodwill towards adequate information dissemination.
Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of MICEM who is also Director of Defence Information, Colonel Mohammed Yerima, commended NEMA for the success of its evacuation of Nigerians from Egypt and Libya and for timely response to distressed and displaced victims of natural disasters and communal clashes in recent times.
The chairman, Media and Information Committee on Emergency Management (MICEM) in Nigeria comprising members from NEMA, Defence, Police, Federal Road Safety, Civil Defence Corps, Federal Fire Service and other security outfits, said the association has identified major flashpoints that have witnessed heated and tensed political environment.
“The states have attracted more headlines and public attention to acrimonious activities among the political actors and parties. Two states were identified by MICEM from each geopolitical zone that required more public consciousness and awareness for orderliness during forthcoming elections. They are Katsina and Kano States in the North-West, Bayelsa and Akwa-Ibom States in South-South, Oyo and Ogun States in South-west, Nasarawa and Benue States in North-Central, Borno and Gombe in the North-East and Ebonyi and Anambra in the South-East,” he said.

The Chief of Army
Staff, Azubuike Ihejirika, has expressed joy over the cordial
relationship between the army and members of the public.

The army chief, who
was in Ibadan yesterday to assess the level of preparedness of the 2
Mechanized Division for the forthcoming elections, visited Governor
Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo State. He noted that he was particularly
happy that the visit is coinciding with the time the army was being
drafted to monitor the elections to ensure that it is not marred by
violence.

He urged the people
of the state to be peaceful and law abiding during the elections,
adding that the involvement of the army was to ensure that the exercise
is conducted under peaceful atmosphere. Commenting on the level of
preparedness of the 2 Mechanised Division, which has its headquarters
in Ibadan, the army chief said all the activities in all the formations
under the division confirmed to him that the men are more than ready
for the exercise.

He pledged total
commitment of the army to democratic governance, saying the force will
do its best to make the elections free, fair, credible and
violence-free. He said his visit to the governor was to express his
gratitude for the cordial relationship between the army and the people
of the state.

Mr Alao-Akala, in his response, said he would not shirk from his
responsibility as the chief security officer of the state. Insisting
that security is everybody’s business, he thanked the army for giving
his government necessary supports since its inception. The governor
also praised the federal government for mobilizing all the security
agencies to monitor the elections.

The amount to be
paid each of the hundreds of thousands of corps members who will
administer nationwide polls beginning Saturday remains unknown as the
two organisations responsible for their deployment passed the buck
yesterday, two days to the elections.

The Independent
National Electoral Commission and the National Youth Service Corps
declined to disclose the figures on Wednesday, putting the
responsibility for doing so on each other, as the bulk of the
participating corps members -2011 batch ‘A’- seem increasingly
impatient.

The corps members
passing out from the three-week orientation programme across the
country, said unlike the voters’ registration where the amount due for
participating corps members was announced weeks ahead, the NYSC
officials is keeping the information away from them this time claiming
INEC had not briefed them.

“We have not been
told till now; they said INEC has not told them how much,” a member who
gave his name as Tajudeen Usman said, irritably in Abuja yesterday. The
claim was corroborated by some members speaking on phone from some
states.

Yet, the
potentially explosive subject – as shown during last voters
registration where some corps members threatened to down tools midway
into the exercise – remained surprisingly a top secret between both
commissions as of yesterday, with each blaming the other for
withholding the figure corps member will be entitled as ad hoc staff
during the elections.

Officials of INEC,
who spoke to NEXT, said the figures had been released to the NYSC and
it was now their duty to make them public while the NYSC officials
argued that the elections are regarded as the electoral body’s
programme, requiring the commission to make every announcement as it
did during the voter’s registration.

Nick Dazang, the
Deputy Director, Public Affairs of INEC said officials of the NYSC were
familiar with the figures but declined to name the amount each ad hoc
official will be entitled to for either a single election, or for the
three comprising the National Assembly, presidential and governorship
elections.

“The NYSC officials
know what will be paid to them. I don’t have the figures but I know
there is an improvement on what they had before.

“And this time, it
is done in a way that there will be no delay like that of last time,”
hinting that the required sum had “already been paid into NYSC account
for their officials to disburse since they have the details and account
information of the corps members.”

Corroborating that
position, Kayode Idowu, Chief Press Secretary to the chairman of the
commission, said the corps members would have been informed of the
figures and how they will be paid, as of yesterday. He too, declined to
name the amount.

“It is not true that they don’t know the figure. Ask any corps member and they will tell you,” he said.

Corps members who
spoke to NEXT insisted the figures were unknown to them, against what
obtained in January when INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega, repeatedly
stated that each member will earn N30,000 for the registration.

The Director for
Public Relations of the NYSC, Foluso Kolajo, said the figures should be
made available in a day or two, saying the state offices of the NYSC
had just been directed to inform the corps members.

“You know they are
just coming out of camp, so just give them like a day or two, the
figures will be made known. Every corps member will know how much they
will be paid,” she said. She too, declined to mention the figures.

A top official of
the NYSC’s Welfare and Inspection Department, which oversees the
organisation’s collaboration with INEC, dismissed the request for the
information, blaming the electoral commission for withholding the
amount.

The official who refused to be named, said only INEC can announce
the amount although she acknowledged the money had been remitted to the
NYSC.

President Goodluck
Jonathan has ordered all Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to
henceforth give priority to locally assembled cars and machineries
during procurement.

The President gave this order during the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting yesterday which lasted for about an hour.

Briefing
journalists after the meeting, the minister of Information and
Communication, Labaran Maku, said the directive was given in order to
boost employment and promote the locally made goods.

“Today in council
Mr President in continuation of his promise and his determination to
promote made in Nigeria goods directed all the MDA’s henceforth to
ensure that every procurement relating to vehicles, attention must
first be given to locally assembled plants in all public procurement
“This decision by Mr President was first issued in Lagos State when he
met with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria. Today in council he
emphasised the need for the federal government to promote made in
Nigeria goods. He said in terms of procurement it was necessary for the
federal government especially at this time that we are talking about
boosting employment and local production to patronise those goods and
services that are made in the country. So today, MDAs were given
directives to ensure that in all future contracts especially when we
need supplies of machineries efforts must be made to give priority to
locally assembled or produced machines or vehicles” the minister said.
This is, however, not the first time the Nigerian government has
decided to make moves to fully patronise made-in-Nigeria goods.

New tariff regime

Mr Maku also said
the President has directed the office of the National Economic Adviser
to undertake a comprehensive review of tariffs to ensure that a new
tariff regime that will protect local industries and promote locally
made goods in Nigeria is developed.

“This is important
because if indeed our industries are to produce again and if we are to
encourage employment within Nigeria it has become necessary to
emphasise a change of attitude in preference for those business men and
women that have taken their time and resources to invest in the
Nigerian economy,” he explained.

The information
minister told journalists that the minister of Finance Olusegun Aganga
also announced that the ministry is presently working in conjunction
with insurance bodies and banks to develop a consumer credit facility
that will be limited to made-in-Nigeria products. This, he said, is to
ensure that consumers are encouraged to buy made in Nigeria goods. “As
we all know the economy has been picking up at a rate of about 8.5
percent and if we are to promote economic growth and development and
increase the pace of GDP, then emphasis really must be brought back to
locally produced goods and services within the Nigerian economy,” Mr
Maku said.

President Goodluck
Jonathan has urged Nigerians to be vigilant and report suspicious
characters in their areas who may want to cause violence to appropriate
security agencies.

He stated this
yesterday while inaugurating two committees at the presidential villa,
Abuja. The committees include: the Presidential Awareness Committee on
Security and Civic Responsibility which is headed by Lateef Adegbite,
Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, and
Presidential Committee on the Review of the Reform Processes in the
Nigerian Public Service, headed by Adamu Waziri Fika.

The President
stated that the constitution of the Presidential Awareness Committee on
Security and Civic Responsibility was necessitated by the acts of
violence plaguing the nation adding that security and stability are
essential ingredients for a virile democracy.

“It is disturbing
to note that security breaches as well as violence across the country
are assuming a serious dimension. Some of these major security
challenges which are capable of subverting the process include intra
and inter political party conflicts, socio-economic agitations,
ethno-religious crises, civil and organised rebellions and outright
criminality”.

Mr. Jonathan who
noted that Chapter two section 14 of the Constitution clearly places
security and welfare of the people as the primary purpose of
government, vowed that he will do all necessary to ensure that security
is maintained.

“Cognisance of our
administration’s responsibility to ensure that these challenges do not
degenerate into unmanageable proportions, we have taken a number of
measures not only to contain them but to check them before they even
emerge,” he said.

He also declared
that one of the measures is to effectively sensitise the people on
security issues and the civic responsibility of citizens especially as
it affects security.

“The establishment
of the committee on public awareness, security and civic responsibility
is, therefore, a decisive attempt to engender communal commitments from
patriotic response by all in the interest of our collective security,”
he said.

Terms of reference

The committee is
expected to embark on “the reappraisal of the potential security
threats in the country; mapping out strategies on regular basis and
creating structures at the three tiers of government on how members of
the society including civil society organisations can identify and deal
with suspicious movements as well as potential threats to security
through effective communication, planning and public awareness”.

Others include
development of curricula incorporating information, security awareness,
session to deal with issues of safety and security awareness in
national institutions in the country as well as take further necessary
action that will strengthen the security agencies and empower them to
effectively tackle security breaches in any parts of the country.

“The challenges
inherent in this assignment are enormous, but with the caliber of the
membership of the committee I am convinced that you have the capacity
to carry out this task” the President said.

Reviewing the reforms

The President,
while inaugurating the committee on the review of the reform processes
in the Nigerian Public Service, stated the constitution of the
Committee provides the government with an opportunity “to assess where
we are coming from and where we want to be including the critical steps
in actualising the Vision 202020 agenda”.

He also stated that
the inauguration of the committee is particularly symbolic because the
nation is poised to implement good governance in the country, saying
that it will guarantee a high standard of living and quality of life to
Nigerians.

“We are currently
implementing two complimentary strategies, for sustainable development.
The first is the national economic transformation strategy as
enunciated in the Vision 202020 document which is an articulation of
the long term intent to launch Nigeria on a part of sustained social
and economic progress and accelerate the emergence of a truly
prosperous Nigeria”.

He, therefore,
urged civil servants to begin to think of themselves as world class
service provider that can function as a veritable engine of growth and
development. This national strategy for public service reform is aimed
at developing and deepening stability in governance.

“The developmental
challenges the nation is facing is tied to the ability of the public
service to deliver public goods that Nigeria needs for evidenced
accelerated development”.

The committee apart
from undertaking a detailed study of previous public service reforms
and assessing their impact, will also examine the structure of the
MDAs, manpower utilisation as well as review core values of ethics,
integrity, discipline, efficiency to reposition it for effective
service delivery.

It will also
examine the need for strategic medium and long term plans, staff
exchange programme between the public service, private sector,
international organisations and academia as well as the relationship
between the federal civil serve commission and Office of the Head of
Service of the federation in areas of recruitment, promotion and
discipline with a view of promoting harmony between them.