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The wife of the
Nigerian president, Patience Jonathan, on Wednesday night, played host
to female candidates totaling 809, who made the Independent Electoral
Commission’s (INEC) list for the 2011 general elections at the banquet
hall of the presidential villa, Abuja.

In what was
described as unprecedented by her aides, Mrs. Jonathan held a dialogue
session with the female candidates who have won party primaries across
all the parties, the first by any First Lady in Nigeria.

Candidates from
PDP, CPC, APGA, ACN and other parties were present at the event. An
elated Mrs. Jonathan urged the female governorship aspirants to forge
close alliances with their deputies, either male or female, adding that
they must begin to understand that they are running as a team.

“Because I
understand the seed of cooperation, I never had problem with my
governor’s wife as a deputy governor’s wife, nor with the wife of the
president as the vice president’s wife. You have to be patient to get
to where you want in life,” Mrs. Jonathan said.

“I am pleased to
see that compared to years before now, many women have taken the bold
steps to contest. This is as a result of our campaign on the Women for
Change and Development,”she added.

She further
admitted that politics is still dominated by men, adding that “we need
to encourage our men to encourage gender balance.”

She also noted that
many bills sponsored by women in the National Assembly were thrown out
in the past because few supported it, saying her prayer was that there
should be more women lawmakers after the April polls.

“Women are the
largest voters in elections. It is, therefore, important that we use
our large numbers to our advantage in the forthcoming elections,” she
said.

Mrs. Jonathan said
it is regretable that Nigerian women currently occupy only 8.3 per cent
elective positions, though she admitted this figure is still an
improvement from previous years where women were not even considered.

“Since the campaign
started nine months ago, four states have approved 35 per cent
affirmative action, while one has approved 30 per cent and you are all
aware President Jonathan has promised 35 per cent if voted in,” she
said.

“I am aware you
will face many challenges like striking a balance between family and
politics, resistance from menfolk, and dominance of men in the
political sphere. I urge you to remain strong and focused,” she
appealed.

She then, through
her group, the Women for Change and Development Initiative, handed out
an undisclosed amount to the five female governorship aspirants, 88
women contesting for senatorial seats, 218 House of Representatives
aspirants, and 493 state Houses of Assembly.

“I will give you my
widow’s mite, no matter how small. Take it from me and my twin sister,
the wife of the vice president, Mrs. Sambo. It is not much, but it is
to encourage you. The little we have, take it with love and I wish you
success,” she said.

Standing with you

The wife of the vice president, Mrs. Sambo, congratulated the women.

“Women should not
forget where they come from when they win elections,” she said,
assuring the men that “our desire to contribute our quota is not to
compete with you, neither to take your positions and therefore, we urge
you to provide a level playing field for all.”

The national
coordinator of Women for Change and Development Initiative, Chidinma
Uwajumogu, described the women as fighters who succeeded where angels
failed to tread. She said the goal of the initiative is to empower
women politically and economically.

“(Mrs Jonathan) did say those who succeeded at the primaries would
have funds available to them to ensure they can fund their campaign
expenses. She believes her support and the fact that she is standing
behind you will move your vision forward. Today, the president has
promised us 35 per cent representation,” Ms. Uwajumogu said.

Leaving the Iddo
train station in Lagos at 9.35 a.m. and over seven hours later, a train
arrived at Ibadan, Oyo State, for the first time in three years. The
journey is a test run and the Nigerian Railway Corporation says that
the speed will improve in the coming days.

Cheering crowds
lined the route applauding, saying “welcome back’ and asking “is it for
the people?,” wondering whether it has come to stay.

David Ndanusa,
assistant director, public relations, for the corporation, said the
full commercialisation of rail transportation will begin in the next
three months.

Mr. Ndanusa added
that the free test ride will continue for the next one week, thereby
putting rail transportation on the path to becoming the biggest means
of transportation in the country.

He said the trip
was initially planned to span between Lagos and Ilorin because the rail
tracks have been fully fixed between the two ends, but it was cut short
to Ibadan due to faults discovered on some parts of the rail tracks.

The corporation has
been rendering services to companies like Lafarge Cement Company,
Oando, and others, adding, “We are ready to start giving good services
to Nigerians. This government has been very supportive and we are also
ready to live up to expectation. The track from Lagos to Jebba is ready
and very soon the link to Kano will be ready for commercial use too.

“It is cheaper and
more accessible and as you can see, we have security outfits and there
is a police command headed by a commissioner of police.

“When I first
joined Nigeria Railway Corporation, we were almost 37,000 passengers’
capacity, but we are now 6,000,” Mr. Ndanusa said.

Most of the
passengers were, however, happy for the return of the train, calling on
the government to do more and not only limit it to just refurbishing
the old coaches and throw them at the public.

“Actually, it is an
experience, but it is not a good one in that the system is still as bad
as I used to hear about the rail system. It (the coach) is not a good
one. They should take all these old ones out and bring in new ones,
that is what I can tell them,” says Ahmed Usman, a University of Lagos
student who was on the ride.

Timothy Oluwole,
who has been working with NRC since 1999, was the train driver. Mr.
Oluwole said, “Rail system is coming back in the country. What is left
to be worked on is just the rail tracks. The engine is new, it was
brought in from Brazil, every other thing is perfect, but the trip was
slow because we wanted to be careful with the track. You know, it is
not easy jumping into a place afresh and just move at the high speed.”

He expressed
happiness that he was chosen to drive the train, adding that the
federal government’s continuous investment into the system will bring
it back to stay.

Disappointment too

Eniola Rowland saw
the train at Abeokuta and his excitement was palpable. “I am happy that
this is happening now. We are getting there. People can now bring their
load and send it through the train instead of using the trailers,” Mr.
Rowland said.

But there was
disappointment too. Babatunde Rasheed, a student of Kwara Polytechnic,
said he was excited when he saw the advert and looked forward to riding
the train back to school.

Mr. Rasheed was,
however, disappointed when he knew that the train will not be getting
to Ilorin again, but expressed willingness that he will be lucky next
time.

Also expressing his
displeasure, another passenger to Ilorin, Suraj Kazeem, said,
“Initially, they told us Jebba, later they said Ilorin, and now they
will just get to Ibadan and turn back. I just hope this will not be
their style of operation. They will have to sit tight and plan well
before telling the public,” Mr. Kazeem said.

The Akwa Ibom State
government yesterday said it has filed an application for the review of
the recent Supreme Court judgment asking it to cede 86 oil wells to
neighbouring Rivers State.

The state’s
governor, Godswill Akpabio, said yesterday in a broadcast to the people
that a careful and exhaustive study of the apex court’s verdict has
convinced his government that the judgment was given in error, and
should be reviewed.

According to Mr.
Akpabio, at the inception of his administration, the state had written
to late President Umaru Yar’Adua to protest the injustice in a
controversial political solution transferring some oil wells belonging
to the Akwa Ibom to Rivers. As a way out, President Yar’Adua reportedly
referred the petition to a committee of government agencies, consisting
of the National Boundary Commission (NBC), Office of the Surveyor
General of the Federation, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR)
and the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC),
which recommended that the affected oil wells be returned to Akwa Ibom,
the original owners.

NEXT gathered that
the recommendation attracted a legal challenge by the Rivers State
government, which took the matter before the Supreme Court to protest
the return of the oil wells to Akwa Ibom.

Mr. Akpabio, who
expressed dismay at some sections of the judgment he described as
“deeply troubling to Akwa Ibom people,” saying the terms of the
judgment asking the state to pay Rivers State about N350 billion
(interests inclusive) was “outrageous, regrettable and totally false”
since the state hardly earned up to N350 billion from over 980 oil
wells attributed to Akwa Ibom State since April 2009.

Mr. Akpabio pointed
out that what the state is owing is for revenues collected from the
exploitation of the 86 oil wells for 22 months between April 2009 and
February 2011, against what the Rivers government’s is owing for
revenue collected for over 40 months between January, 2005 and March,
2009.

“Even if this
judgment were to subsist, it is Rivers State government, which would be
obligated to make refunds to Akwa Ibom State after the reconciliation
of accounts. This is because when the political solution referred to by
the eminent judges of the Supreme Court was brokered in 2006 by the
then President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, revenue from the 172 oil wells
earlier arbitrarily taken from Akwa Ibom State by Rivers State were to
be shared on a fifty-fifty basis between both states as from 2005.
However, Rivers State kept the 172 oil wells and collected all the
revenue there-from and all the revenue that accrued from the 172 oil
wells from January, 2005 to March, 2009,” the governor argued.

Solomon Lar, the
first chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, on Wednesday, joined
the struggle for the political front of northern Nigeria and declared
the entire region was “solidly” behind the incumbent.

He said the talks
of an impending northern alliance against President Goodluck Jonathan
only exists in the imagination of its protagonists and has no relevance
within the northern electorate.

Mr Lar made these
claims while briefing reporters in Abuja. He alleged the Action
Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC)
have bandied about the idea of a northern consensus candidate amongst
them ahead of the Presidential election.

Opposition’s
tactics “I consider this defeatist attitude as a sign of surrender and
admitting that Nigerians have rejected their politics of ethnic and
religious bigotry,” Mr Lar said. “These same parties are behind the
often repeated insinuation that President Jonathan may not win the
presidential election on the first run and may be forced to a re-run.”
Ahead of the presidential elections, all the top contenders have
fruitlessly worked hard to get a united endorsement from the northern
region which is contributing three frontline contenders in the race.

The Northern
Elders’ Forum which had put up a failed support for a consensus
candidate at the PDP presidential primaries has since the January
primaries remained silent on further endorsements, even for the
incumbent who is a member of their party.

Mr Lar, a strong
supporter of the incumbent said the scenario that played out during the
primaries – where the incumbent won without the endorsement of the
northern elders – will be repeated at the April polls.

“I wish to state
unequivocally and to reassure Nigerians that all region including the
North are solidly behind President Jonathan and will massively vote for
him in April polls.

“For the avoidance
of doubt, we the founding fathers of our new democracy and leaders who
fought for the country’s independence will not allow our cherish unity
to be compromised for personal or selfish ends.

“I therefore, call
on Nigerians to disregard any resort to ethnic coordinates as an act of
political anachronism designed to halt our political progress and march
to the promised land,” Mr Lar added.

An aide to Chris
Ngige, a former governor of Anambra State, was yesterday arrested by
the police in the state over the illegal possession of election
materials belonging to the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC).

Kingsley Ezenwenyi
was arrested in his hotel room in Awka shortly after he visited the
commission’s office to copy the deployment list of electoral officers
released last Monday.

His activities drew
the attention of State Security Services officers attached to the
commission. He was trailed to his hotel in the outskirts of Awka where
he was discovered to be in possession of materials including election
result sheets and was promptly arrested.

A police source
said only three people were in the hotel – two males and one female –
and all were said to be members of the Action Congress of Nigeria.

The materials said
to be in his possession, according to the publicity secretary of INEC,
Frank Egbo include: Form EC8 A with serial number 01008997 (original
and duplicate copies), sixty copies of original Form EC8(R) which are
for publication of results of poll, 56 copies of Form EC8(B) which are
summaries of results from polling stations and collation of
Registration Area Level.

Illegal possession

The source said
when the suspect was asked to explain how he came to possess the
materials, he claimed he was working for INEC as a consultant to train
members of the ACN for the election.

But Mr Egbo said Mr Ezenwenyi was not working for the commission.

“He already has
result sheets for pasting results and it means his own results would
have been ready for publication before the conclusion of voting on
election day and if he does that, you know the kind of confusion that
would cause,” Mr Egbo said.

The spokesperson for the police, Emeka Chukwuemeka confirmed Mr. Ezenwenyi’s arrest.

“He was illegally
in possession of election materials,” Mr Chukwuemeka said, adding that
an investigation has been launched into the matter.

The spokesperson
for the ACN, Okelo Madukife, claimed ignorance of the development,
saying he would investigate the matter before talking further on it.

“How can I talk about what I don’t know? Let me ask a few questions. I don’t know what to say,” Mr Madukife said.

Members of the Trovan Victims Forum in Kano State have finally resolved to submit themselves to a Pfizer-sponsored DNA test.

The resolution by
the Mustapha Maisikeli-led forum, that was initially opposed to the DNA
test, came after the withdrawal of a suit they instituted against
Pfizer last year. The Executive Secretary of the trust fund, David
Odiwo, made this known at a press conference in Kano yesterday, after a
meeting with Pfizer representatives and officials of the Kano State
government.

Aliyu Umar, the Kano State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, stood in for the the state government.

Mr Odiwo said that
the victims are now ready to subject themselves to due process. He said
that in the next two weeks a team of experts from America will arrive
to resume the DNA exercise aborted due to court injunction engendered
by litigation. According to him, there are well over 600 people who
collected forms, but in reality the victims are 200, hence the conduct
of DNA test to ascertain true claimants.

Mr Odiwo assured that immediately after the DNA test, results will
be announced and payment of compensation will commence, explaining that
the healthcare centre located at Dawakin-Kudu area is expected to
operate autonomous, just like the one in Uganda is being run. He
explained that the essence of running the health care centre was aimed
at attracting funds and sponsorship from foreign donors.

The Resident
Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission
in Oyo State, Ayo Adakeja, on Wednesday, ruled out the possibility of
displaying the of names of eligible voters in the state for a second
time.

Opposition parties,
particularly the Action Congress of Nigeria and Accord Party, have
called for a fresh display of the register to ascertain whether last
Saturday’s recovery of three Direct Data Capturing (DDC) machines of
the commission in an hotel in the state capital has affected the
integrity of the register.

A senior staff of
the commission and three members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
were, on Saturday, caught with the election materials.

Both the state’s
chapter of the ACN and Rashidi Ladoja, governorship candidate of the
Accord Party, have since called for fresh public display of the
register. They alleged that the incident showed the registers of 27
local governments out of the 33 in the state have been tampered with.

Olufemi Lanlehim,
the senatorial candidate of the ACN for Oyo Central, also condemned the
development, describing it as an attempt by the commission to
compromise the elections.

No breach in register

However, the
elections boss in the state, Mr. Adakeja, during a press briefing in
Ibadan yesterday, allayed the fears of the politicians, saying the
incident did not affect the register.

“On the issue of
tampering with voters’ register of 27 local government areas, I want to
state unequivocally that nothing of such happened,” he said.

“This allegation is
nothing but a figment of the imagination of the authors. Electronic
copies of the registration conducted here in Oyo State are already
deposited with the national headquarters of the commission. No name can
be added and none can be subtracted. We are not nursing fear of data
loss due to tampering. The officer involved in this unfortunate
incident is still with the police for necessary investigations.”

He, however,
assured that the commission will make the copies of the final register
available to political parties in Abuja before the elections, adding
that the party leaderships will make them available to states chapters.

He also spoke on the readiness of the commission for the polls.

“INEC is fully
prepared for the elections as it has already taken the delivery of some
of the materials to be used for the polls,” he said.

“Some of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to be used as ad-hoc staff are currently undergoing training.”

Commenting on the
allegation that he had collected N20 million bribe from the state’s
governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala, to influence the election, the state INEC
boss, said ‘My clear response to this is the saying that comments are
free while facts are sacred”.

“The commission has
the mandate to conduct free, fair and credible elections,” he said. “We
are assuring the people of the state that it will do exactly that.”

The national
headquarters of INEC, on Tuesday seconded a director from Ibadan to
take over the ICT department of the state office following the arrest
of the INEC staff over the incident.

The Director
General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Maharazu Tsiga has
cautioned corps members not to get involved in the protection of ballot
boxes. Mr Tsiga, who visited corps members at the Wailo NYSC
Orientation Camp in Bauchi State, said: “It is not your duty to protect
ballot boxes, it is the duty of the security agents around. So, please
do not try to protect any ballot box in order not to endanger your
lives. Do what you are asked to based on the schedules given to you and
leave the rest to the people saddled with such responsibilities.” The
NYSC boss added that all steps have been taken to ensure that lives and
property of corps members are protected. “Specifically, all the
Commissioners of Police in the country have been directed to provide
adequate security cover to all the corps members that will be used for
the conduct of the general elections. All you need to do is to
cooperate with them and follow all security tips given to you.” He
emphasised. He added that special mobile numbers of people to be
contacted in times of emergency or security threats will be made
available to the corps members as they leave the camp. He advised them
to be security conscious.

Government’s resolve

Mr Tsiga also said
government has decided that corps members will not be posted to
communities that are known to be hostile to them. He said such
communities must sign undertakings with the security agents before the
government will reconsider them.

On their welfare,
Mr Tsiga announced that the allowance of the corps members has been
increased. He however, did not disclose the new allowance. He said
allowance is fairly reasonable, considering the present economic
situation in the country and urged them to be prudent in their
spending. “You are Nigeria, the future of this country rests on your
shoulders, so please do your best and leave the rest for God so that
your enemies will be put to shame, I can see a bright future for you
all as the sky will be your starting point and not your limit,” he said.

Journalists in Osun
State, yesterday, suspended coverage of the activities of the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state following
the assault on the state correspondent of the Leadership Newspaper,
Sefiu Ayanbimpe, by the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner, Rufus
Akeju, at the premises of the commission in Osogbo.

The state council
of the Nigerian Union of Journalists has asked Mr Akeju to tender a
public apology to the victim and the union. The union also called for
the immediate removal of Mr Akeju and asked the police and other law
enforcement agents to investigate the physical attack on Mr Ayanbimpe
in the cause of his professional duty. The union, in a statement signed
by Gbenga Faturoti and Tunji Omofoye, Chairman and Secretary its
Correspondents Chapel respectively, described the action of Mr Akeju as
a gross violation of the codes of conduct and ethics of the commission.

The attack

Mr Ayanbimpe was
working on a petition sent by the state chapter of the Conference of
Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) to President Goodluck Jonathan,
alleging that Mr Akeju was close to the Action Congress of Nigeria
(ACN) leader, Bola Tinubu. The petition also alleged that Mr Akeju
collected the sum of N25 million from the state government during the
last voters registration exercise, saying that he may not be an
unbiased umpire in the conduct of the April elections.

When the Leadership
reporter sought his reaction on the said allegations on telephone, Mr
Akeju allegedly asked him to come directly to his office. On sighting
him, Mr Akeju was reported to have thrown decorum to the wind and
beaten the reporter to a state of coma before he handed him over to men
of the State Security Services (SSS) who later detained him for several
hours.

Barbaric act

Mr Akeju refused to
offer any explanation for his action when reporters went to his office
after the assault. The union said Mr Akeju was in the habit of
harassing journalists who were carrying out their duties, adding that
he did a similar thing to the state correspondent of Punch Newspaper,
Tunde Odesola, whom he threatened to chase out of the state.

“We wish to state
clearly that for beating a journalist in the cause of performing his
legitimate duty, the action of the Osun REC, Rufus Akeju, was nothing
short of barbaric and uncivilized,” stated the union. “Akeju has been
so reckless and he is not fit to hold a sensitive position of
authority. We hereby call on the Chairman of INEC, Attahiru Jega, to
immediately remove Akeju as Osun REC in order to give room for smooth
relationship between the press and the commission. Failure to remove
Akeju will certainly incur the wrath of all journalists in the state,
numbering over 500, on the commission.”

Mr Ayanbimpe, who was still on hospital bed at a private hospital in
Osogbo as at the time of this report, said he had petitioned the state
Commissioner of Police, Olusegun Solomon, on the matter.

The Independent
National Electoral Commission has announced that an undisclosed number
of key officials will be redeployed before elections, as political
parties mounted calls for the transfer of resident electoral
commissioners, repeatedly blamed for past electoral malpractices.

Attahiru Jega, the
chairman of the commission was literally pressed by many political
parties yesterday to give a definitive position on the matter which the
commission has evaded in the past. He said “necessary redeployments”
will be made before polls, a veiled remark believed to be a reference
to the resident electoral commissioners and the electoral officers at
the states and local government levels respectively, who have come
under fire for allegedly being the main force behind Nigeria’s past
woeful elections.

“We have serious
allegations,” he said. “We will do necessary redeployments before
elections. But we must do it in a way that will not be disruptive but
will restore public confidence.” Mr Jega’s comment came after political
parties, at a meeting yesterday, insisted that the officers be moved
from their current stations. “These are the people who don’t release
enough materials for a particular area and these are the same people
who release materials more than what is needed at a particular area,”
said Chudi Chukwuani, the chairman of the National Democratic Party.

Discretionary powers

Even with the new
measures taken by the commission ahead of the elections next week, many
of the parties say there were still discretions allowed the key
officials which could be easily abused. An example is the ballot
papers, which despite being customized to each voting center, will have
excess copies sent to the resident electoral commissioners and the
electoral officers. One fear was that such supplements are often sent
to specific areas, where they might be in excess and might lead to
multiple voting and ballot box stuffing. “The RECs and the Eos, you
have to do something about them,” said Victor Umeh, the chairman of the
All Progressive Grand Alliance.

Mr Jega said
initially that the comments may be mere allegations and that the
commission can only act where there are evidences. “The commission is
doing everything possible for the RECs to do their jobs without
partiality or partisanship,” he said. “We will deal with it on case by
case basis if there are evidences. Where it becomes necessary for us to
move the EOs or the RECs, we are very committed to doing that.”

But faced with several concerns on the redeployments, the chairman
said the officials will be moved were necessary before elections,
confirming speculations the transfers may be suspended for the final
days before elections.