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Ahead of the 2012
gubernatorial election in Edo State, a faction of the Labour Party (LP)
has entered into a coalition with the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP)
and other political parties in order to challenge the Action Congress
of Nigeria (ACN)-led government at the polls.

A national leader
of the PPP, Solomon Edebiri, who disclosed this in Benin City over the
weekend shortly after a meeting with leaders of Congress for
Progressive Change (CPC), ANPP and a faction of Labour Party in the
state, described both the ACN-led government and the PDP in the state
as “birds of the same feather.” “Our people have seen that while the
PDP ruined this state for over ten years which our people are still
suffering, the ACN government has become a military regime where only
one person dictates to all,” he said. “We are working on aligning with
all political parties to ensure that PDP and ACN do not come back to
power in Edo State. That is the idea. We want to be sure that the
people have a true progressive party.

He further
described PDP and ACN as ‘the same kind of wine in different bottles’,
saying politicians in both parties are the same. “You know they have
been decamping from PDP to ACN and from ACN to PDP. So, certainly our
people cannot take them very serious,” he said.

Not strong enough

Mr Edebiri said
opposition parties in the state have come to realise that none of them
can singly take on the ruling party because the resources cannot be
enough.

“So, we are therefore putting together a team of political groups to
form a very strong coalition to ensure that these people do not come
back in 2012,” he said. “We have to start it now by ensuring that we
have enough candidates from other political parties in the House of
Assembly in Edo State. And that is the essence of the various alliances
that we are putting together.” Mr Edebiri explained

The Resident
Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Ekiti State, Isyaku Maigoro, has
identified intimidation of opponents by political office holders as
being responsible for the violence experienced during elections. The
electoral officer, who is retiring from the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) today after the expiration of his tenure,
said Nigeria will continue to witness a flawed election as long as the
doctrine of win at all cost remains. Speaking in Ado Ekiti on Saturday,
Mr Maigoro called for attitudinal change among all those involved in
the electoral system for Nigeria to join the league of advanced
democracies in the world. “A situation whereby a governor or any other
political office holder goes to the polling unit with thugs to cast
their votes always resorted to intimidation of opponents and had always
been causing serious problems among politicians,” he said. “But a
situation whereby a politician goes to cast his vote solely without
anybody escorting him will enhance peaceful conduct of election and I
am convinced that Nigeria will start to get it right the day this habit
is embraced.”

Afraid of losing

He said politicians
always create situations to either mar the electoral process or ignite
crisis when they realise that they are losing. Mr Maigoro expressed
confidence in the ability of the leadership of the electoral Commission
to conduct a free, fair and credible election in 2011.

The REC also warned against taking politics as a business by
Nigerian politicians, saying this is the only anti-dote to winning at
all costs attitude of politicians.

Electoral reforms,
the consolidation of the Amnesty programme, increase in power supply
are some of the achievements of the administration of Goodluck Jonathan
and his deputy, Namadi Sambo in the few months they have been in charge
of affairs in Aso Rock. The National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples
Democratic Party, (PDP), Rufa’i Alkali said this at the weekend in
Benin. Mr Alkali, who addressed journalists during a brief stopover of
the presidential trail in Benin City on a campaign trip to Delta State,
said this makes it obvious why Nigerians must return Messrs Jonathan
and Sambo back to office through their votes come April 2011. He said:
“What we are saying is that if we know that we have won the elections,
we would have gone home and stop campaigning, why should we waste time
resources and energy and carry our president around the country at high
risk to campaign? No, we believe we can win but we cannot win without
reaching the people. That is why you must reach them, talk to them and
also promise them things they will understand. So, we are prepared to
go extra mile to reach the people, and that is what we are doing, that
is why we are not sleeping.”

Promoting peace

Mr Alkali said one
area of interest to the government is to ensure that the nation
continues to live in peace and harmony, as against insinuations that
the PDP-led government has failed in tackling the incessant security
breaches across the federation.

“This party, this government initiated and then encouraged and
supported the movement of the electoral reforms that today Nigerians
are celebrating, so the issue of security is also being looked at very
seriously,” he said. “The issue of security of lives and property is
the fundamental requirement of the government. Government is busy
tackling these issues of security breaches as we observed in Jos,
Bauchi. But remember that most of these issues were inherited by this
government. Most of what this party has been doing is to address these
problems.”

President Goodluck
Jonathan has urged Nigerians to place national building above personal
interest. Mr. Jonathan, who is the presidential flagbearer for the
People’s Democratic Party (PDP), also urged all political parties and
candidates to elective offices to steer clear of false, malicious,
spiteful, malevolent and wicked campaigns against their opponents. He
spoke in reference to a publication in a national daily, which reported
that the PDP voted N2.9billion to capture the southwest. The PDP had
lost some states in the zone to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)
which now controls three states to PDP’s two, while the labour party
controls one. The presidential spokesman, Ima Niboro, said the
president “noted with regret and sadness the totally false, malicious
and repugnant lead report.

“The entire report
has no factual basis and its contents are a product of the
mischief-driven imagination of its authors,” he said. “President
Goodluck Jonathan who has been busy touring all the states of the
federation, including the southwest, in an all-out effort to win the
hearts and minds of Nigerians in the traditional and
politically-correct manner, has absolutely no need to resort to any
underhand tactics to win the coming presidential elections.” He also
stated that the president and his supporters across the country are
working extremely hard to achieve success in the elections in an
indisputable and transparent manner.

Rule of law

Mr. Niboro said the
tumultuous crowds that have attended the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign
rallies across the country and the increasing endorsements of the
ticket by other political parties, royal fathers and interest groups
clearly point to the success of the president’s untiring campaign to
convince Nigerians to give him a fresh mandate for four years.

“As he continues to
show by word and action, President Jonathan remains fully committed to
free, fair and credible elections in April. His being a candidate in
the elections has not affected this commitment in any way,” he said.

The statement also
explained that Mr. Jonathan is also a firm believer in the doctrine of
separation of powers and the rule of law.

“He is fully committed to upholding the independence of the
judiciary at all times and will never be part of any conspiracy to
misuse security agencies for partisan political purposes or impugn the
integrity of the judiciary for private ends,” Mr. Niboro said.

A Federal High Court in Abuja at the weekend warned
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to stop delaying
the prosecution of Bayelsa State government officials facing charges of
money laundering and diversion of public funds.

The commission had, on March 23, charged four top
officials of the state government, namely: Francis Okoruko, Abbot
Clinton, Ikhobo Anthony Howells, and Sylva Opuala – Charles. But since
their arraignment, trial until now was yet to commence.

Presiding Judge, Donatus Okorowo told the EFCC that
the several adjournments made in the trial have been at their instance
and warned that it will not fail to strike out the charge against the
accused persons if the prosecution fails to come up with its witness on
March 11, 2011, the adjourned date to conclude his evidence .

Mr Okorowo issued this warning following a request
for adjournment made by Ugochukwu Ezekiel on behalf of EFCC’s
prosecutor, Festus Keyamo, who was not in court. Mr Ezekiel requested
for the adjournment on the ground that the prosecution witness is
absent.

But counsels to the accused persons, Chris Uche and
Sunday Ibrahim Ameh, called on the judge to take note of the lack of
diligence on the part of the prosecution. They further argued that the
absence of Mr Keyamo at the trial underscored the lack of commitment
and diligence to dispose off the matter, noting that Mr Keyamo was in
error to direct another lawyer to represent him.

The lawyers said their clients were eager to conclude
trial so as to get the criminal charge hanging on their necks
discharged as they were sure of their innocence.

The judge agreed with the defence counsel that the
prosecution was responsible for the series of adjournments and was not
happy with Mr Keyamo for sending another counsel.

Not so speedy

At the last hearing, both defence counsels, on the
basis of wanting a speedy trial, had withdrawn their objection to the
admissibility of a document sought to be tendered in evidence by Mr
Keyamo.

Mr Keyamo had sought to tender the statement made to
the EFCC by the 2nd accused person, Clinton Abbot, through his
prosecution witness 1, Adebayo Adeniyi Oluwasegun, but Messrs. Uche and
Ameh objected to the procedure on the premise that it would offend
Section 36 [a] of the Evidence Act since he (Oluwasegun) was not
incidental to the statement being made. After a spell of arguments, the
Judge was to adjourn the matter to enable him rule. But Counsel to the
accused persons, eager to make progress with the trial, agreed to
withdraw the objection after Mr Keyamo had entered an undertaking that
he will not rely on any other Investigating Police Officer (IPO) to
tender any further evidence.

Consequently, the statement sought to be tendered was
later admitted in evidence after which the police officer recounted
steps he took in the course of investigating the case.

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he Nigerian Civil
Aviation Authority (NCAA) has mandated airlines, agencies, and the
various parastatals in the sector to train their employees in the
efficient delivery of customer services to travelers.

The directive, a
fallout of the incessant complaints from both domestic and
international air travelers, is aimed at eliminating the occasional
fighting encountered at the various airport terminals between ticketing
and reservation officers of airlines and air passengers.

The civil aviation
regulatory agency said the training will enable airlines and industry
stakeholders to know their rights as well as intimate them on the
rights of travelers.

“We strongly
recommend that your organisations embrace the training programme being
offered by the consultant in order to raise customer service delivery
standards in the industry through nominating members of your staff to
participate in the programme,” said Adamu Abdullahi, director, consumer
protection unit, NCAA, in a message to airlines.

Mr. Abdullahi said
the mandatory training will uphold the International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO) standards and recommend practices that apply
globally in the industry, adding that the authority has given the
consulting firm the power to make sure that the key players in the
sector abide by the training.

Passengers’ rights

Daniel Young,
managing director of Karamba Consulting Limited, the company expected
to conduct the exercise, disclosed that the training, which commences
from next month, will also focus on the rights of passengers, noting
that travelers will be made to know what is expected of them and how
they are to go about their grievances when disappointed by an airline.

“We are going to
mount posters at strategic locations belonging to airlines and various
agencies, notifying them of their rights and those things expected of
them whenever they are on a journey and at the airport,” he said.

Mr. Young disclosed
that at the end of the training, employees of various airlines and
agencies in the sector will be able to “satisfactorily relate” with
their customers, and the issue of disagreements and fighting at the
airports will be reduced to the barest minimum.

“The training will
enable us cut down on check-in time and procedures, decongest the
airport should there be need, help airlines make more money, help
revenue agencies generate adequate funds, and make passengers
appreciate travelling experience when at our airports,” he said.

There have been series of reports of passengers battling with
ticketing and reservation officers at terminals over issues ranging
from unexplainable flight delays, cancellations, and rescheduling, a
situation viewed by experts as poor customer delivery services on the
side of airlines and other service providers at the airport.</

Acceptance of the party

Well, it is the
fastest growing political party in Akwa Ibom state. I can tell you with
all amount of certainty that while other parties are going down in
terms of membership, we are increasing every other day, with more
members coming to join us. Nigerians are almost imbibing the culture of
one-man-one-vote and the era of vote stuffing and extreme rigging is
all gone for good and with that, the vote of the people will count. So
whoever the electorate wants are the people that will represent them,
so it won’t be all business as usual.

The electorate will
decide on who and which party they want to govern them. And if you
follow the event, if you walk the streets in Akwa Ibom, you will be
able to know that Peoples Democratic Party only exists in paper and as
the election days approach, it becomes clearer that the Action Congress
Nigeria are coasting home victorious. So, we will win the election.

Challenging party primaries

There hasn’t been
any problem per se, but we only had a challenge. You know our party
stands for internal democracy and preaches it all over. But in one
federal constituency, Itu/Ibiono Federal Constituency to be precise, we
have four aspirants. One scored 363, the other a little over 100,
another one 14, and the last scored a little over that. But we don’t
know how the third placed man made the list. However, we have made
representation and I think the party is looking at that.

Failure of the state government

You know we are
almost receiving the largest chunk of revenue, in terms of derivation
and funds from Federation Account and most Akwa Ibom people have not
seen projects on ground. There is no transparency and openness in
governance. Besides, if you came to Akwa Ibom, the greatest problem we
are now having is the level of insecurity. People are asking why this
event is almost paralysing activities in the state. There is no social
life in Akwa Ibom at the moment, basically because the government has
failed to provide security and has failed to protect lives and property.

You know there is
an adage that says, “Show me your friend and I will tell you who you
are?” Basically, the people that make up the PDP-led government in the
state, their integrity are questionable and it is almost an established
fact that the state government is almost making it an acceptable norm
that if you don’t belong to a cult, you cannot be part of the
government. There was an amalgamation of cult groups and the state
governor, in the guise of youth organisation and all that, was there in
person and inaugurated that body. So, when these hoodlums unleash their
havoc on the people, people tended to ask why do we have government?
And these people are walking the streets and are being patronised by
government.

State of insecurity

Things are bad in
terms of kidnapping and this has almost turned into a political way of
caging people that have opposite views. Just a few days ago, a
prominent paramount ruler, James Robert Obot of Nsitubman Local
Government, was murdered in cold blood. So, cases of serial killing and
kidnapping abound in the state and most of the people that have been
kidnapped have come back to say if you hold divergent views, they will
kidnap you, extort money from you so that you don’t have the fund to
muscle up any opinion.

I am sure the DG
(Director-General) of SSS (State Security Services) does not know about
this and I want to believe that the Director of SSS in Akwa Ibom does
not know what the governor is doing. He has applied for so many SSS
personnel and when they are now posted to the state, he off-loaded them
to persons who do not have business to be attached with these personnel.

Now, the objective
of keeping these personnel is that on Election Day, they will use them
as if they are on official duty. This could have an over-bearing
influence on the voting populace. They can use them to scare the
electorate. They can use them to commit all kinds of havoc and you know
without these personnel, they themselves cannot come out on Election
Day to commit the crime by themselves. My call to the DG of SSS is that
he should ensure that these personnel should be withdrawn. If they have
excess SSS personnel in Akwa Ibom State, they should be withdrawn and
deployed to the states where they are needed.

Political credential of ACN governorship candidate

John James
Akpanudoedehe had been a chairman of Uyo Local Government. It was the
largest Uyo Local Government before the military now decided to split
them. When the 4th republic came alive, he was elected into the Senate
in 1999 to 2003. Soon after that, he was appointed by the late
president, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as Minister of State for FCT and you
know FCT is a mini-state. I think he has a good pedigree in governance.
The support is massive for ACN has been massive. The only thing PDP
have that we don’t is they have been utilising the state media very
well. They have propaganda, you know they are in power. They will
normally have more resources than we have.

Call for fairness

We made
representation to National Broadcasting Corporation for access to the
media and since we have made representation, they’ve started to cave in
a little. However, we don’t know how the events in the next few weeks
will be like and if will start be able to sell our programmes on the
state media. My call to INEC (Independent National Electoral
Commission) is to remain the unbiased umpire which we expect them to
be. They should allow the votes of the people to count rather than
allow themselves to be used by the government for purposes other than
overseeing the elections fairly.

It was like a drama
on Sunday morning, February 27,An Abuja bus driver yesterday
confiscated the shoe of a passenger at the Wuse Zone 4 Bus Stop.

The passenger, who
simply called himself Joshua, had boarded a Nyanya bus at Sky Memorial
Bus Stop, Wuse Zone 5 at about 9:15am yesterday.

According to Ralph
Okechukwu, who was one of the passengers in the bus, trouble started
when Joshua had insisted on paying N30 instead of the usual N40 for the
service rendered by the bus operator.

“To be sincere, the
driver is not to blame because the conductor called the fare for each
destination. The man did not approach either of them to tell them the
amount he has but he entered thinking that he can pay any amount.
However, when the passenger and the conductor began to exchange verbal
words, the driver came down from his seat, advanced to the passenger
and pulled off the right-leg shoe,” he said.

Although the
passenger did not make attempt to fight back, Mr Okechukwu said the bus
driver, in anger, threw the shoe into his vehicle and zoomed off.

Off with shoe

Mr Joshua however
said he was not aware of the said transport fare named by the
conductor. “The conductor did not tell me anything when I was entering
the bus. He was only lying,” he said.

Effort by the
passers-by to get the shoe recovered from the bus operator were
unsuccessful. Bewildered by the attitude of the bus operator, some of
them who spoke to NEXT said “To me, it is inhuman for the bus driver to
have exhibited such attitude. Maybe the man has no other money with
him. The driver and the conductor should have forgiven him because no
one is perfect,” one of the passers by, Deborah Suleiman said.

About 258 inmates of Gusau Medium Prison in Zamfara State have
completed studies in the recitation of the Holy Qur’an. Speaking at the
graduation ceremony on Sunday, the state’s prison controller, Abubakar
Falke, said most of the inmates spent between 9 and 12 years in the
prison. He said they were also trained in different trades, for them to
become self reliant after their jail terms. The controller, who said
that the Qur’anic recitation study was introduced to inculcate moral
behaviour in the inmates, added that 50 of them had indicated interest
to register with the National Open University.

He urged the state
government to pardon them because they had been rehabilitated and
acquired some skills to take care of themselves and urged the inmates
to be of good behaviour after serving their jail terms. In his remarks,
the state governor, Mahmud Shinkafi, directed the state attorney
general to review their files and advise the government accordingly.
Mr. Shinkafi commended the prison warders for introducing the
programme, which he said would go a long way in reducing the social
vices in the society. The wife of the state governor, Aisha Shinkafi,
donated some clothes and copies of the Holy Qur’an to each inmate. She
also gave N10,000 each to the 50 inmates who recorded outstanding
performance

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is the strangest head of state I’ve ever met.

When I asked him about democracy he threatened to sue.

“If you or someone
else says that Libya is not a democracy then it would be considered an
insult,” he said. “We could go to court to redeem honour from that
insult.”

The conversation
was back in 2005 at his tent in Tripoli, a single-room structure made
of colourful textiles in the middle of a heavily guarded compound.

We sat on plastic
garden furniture that had been carefully hand-cleaned by a man in an
orderly’s uniform, while a small goat picked at patchy grass outside.

Gadhafi is famous
for his odd behaviour, female bodyguards and bizarre ideas such as his
plan to abolish Switzerland. We only saw very conventional male
bodyguards. But even with their protection, Gadhafi’s manner made it
hard to understand how he managed to stay in power for more than four
decades.

He didn’t seem up to it.

He appeared
lethargic and his eyes, even behind sunglasses, seemed unfocused. He
used an elaborate fly whisk to wave away insects that weren’t actually
there. His answers, through a translator, seemed rambling.

Author Kenneth
Timmerman, who has also met him, says Gadhafi has kept power through
cunning. “He’s a very very skilled player,” Timmerman said.

“He divides the
country. He conquers the small groups. He’s kept the tribes squabbling
amongst themselves and up until relatively recently he has distributed
some of the oil wealth to the people.”

Human rights groups
also say that Gadhafi’s regime has killed, jailed and tortured its
opponents. Libya today is in turmoil. Back then, it was in transition,
a rogue state trying to redeem itself.

Pressed by
international sanctions, it had abandoned support for terrorist
organisations, surrendered its weapons of mass destruction to the West
and was trying to open-up its economy.

Gadhafi told me he was angry that Libya never got the pay-off it expected: American esteem and investment.

In part, it was because Washington’s attention had turned to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But it was also, no
doubt, because no American president or politician would be eager to
embrace the man Ronald Reagan once called a “mad dog.”

In any country or company’s plans for Libya, Moammar Gadhafi was the wildcard, the unpredictable element. He still is.

Jonathan Mann presents Political Mann on CNN International each
Friday at 18:30 (CAT), Saturday at 3pm and 9pm (CAT), and Sunday at
10am (CAT).