Nigeria Content Online

The Economic
Community of West African States Commission president, Victor Gbeho,
yesterday expressed his frustration with the negative role certain
African countries have taken which is fueling the crisis in Cote
D’Ivoire. Mr. Gbeho was speaking at the presentation ceremony of the
final report by the European Union Electoral Observation Mission on the
presidential elections in Cote D’Ivoire in Abuja.

“The concern we
(ECOWAS) have is that apart from some geo-political interests by some
countries, there are others that are encouraging Gbagbo not to leave,”
he said. “Because of certain individual interests, some countries have
decided to break the tradition of solidarity in ECOWAS. What is
happening is a matter of serious concern to ECOWAS and the
international community, as certain countries have taken sides.

“As we talk now,
there is a South African war ship docked in Cote D’Ivoire coastal
waters, apparently in anticipation of any military action. Actions such
as this can only complicate the matter. One is surprised that a
distinguished country like South Africa would decide to send such a
support at this at this time.

“ECOWAS has never
been afraid of dialogue, but it has made it clear that any dialogue
that is not based on the wishes of the Ivorien people, as expressed
through the result of the last presidential election, would not work,”
Mr. Gbeho said.

The Ivorien crisis
followed the refusal of the former president of Cote d’Ivoire, Laurent
Gbagbo, to accept the result of the November 28, 2010 presidential
run-off, which saw opposition leader, Alassane Ouattara, emerging as
winner. Though ECOWAS heads of governments have since recognized Mr.
Ouattara as president-elect of Cote d’Ivoire, and consequently urged
Mr. Gbagbo to vacate power, or be forced out, cracks in the ranks of
the regional group appear to have thrown a spanner in the works for an
early resolution of the crisis.

In the report
presented by the chief observer of the 120-member EU Observation
Mission, Christian Preda, he expressed disappointment that the
presidential election, which was being awaited by the Ivorien citizens,
Africans and the international community as a signal of reconciliation
and return of democracy in the country has ended in crisis. He said the
mission, made up of representatives of the 23 EU members states as well
as Norway and Switzerland, closely monitored the process prior to the
elections, analyzed the campaigns, media coverage, Ivorien legislation
and its implementation against established international standards for
democratic elections.

According to the EU
team, though the first round of the elections went on normally, with a
record participation rate, the campaign for the second round was marked
by an upsurge of violence coming mainly from the incumbent president’s
camp. Though the report said EUEOM observed irregularities in the
conduct of the polls, it however pointed out that its evaluation
indicated that these irregularities affected the final results.

“The constitutional council’s decision taken upon the request by
candidate Laurent Gbagbo is considered by the EUEOM as a violation of
the Ivorien legislation and an abuse of power,” the report stated.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola, of Osun
State, yesterday expressed satisfaction with officials of the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the success of
the just concluded voter registration exercise in the state.

Speaking with journalists at the
presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, Mr Aregbesola
said that his administration worked closely with the INEC officers to
ensure that citizens of the state are registered en-mass for the forth
coming general elections in the country. “The registration exercise
went well in my state from all indications, but I cannot talk about
other states,” he said. “We worked very very cooperatively with INEC
officers in the state and the reports reaching me from them today are
quite favourable in terms of response of the people, cooperation with
INEC, and the general attitude of the electorate in Osun State. In fact
it went well.”

The governor, while exhibiting
confidence following the turnout of voters that registered in the
state, said that the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) will continue in
its drive to conquering more states across the federation, adding that
after the general elections, the party will become the ruling political
platform in Nigeria. “I think every human being would be happy to have
an increase either in its fortune or corporation; and as for a
political party, to have an increase or strengthening of its support
base,” he said. “So I pray that we keep increasing in our hold and
reach and development such that by the end of April we would be the
party that would have the mandate to rule Nigeria.”

State finances

While appraising his performance since
the resumption of office, the governor said that his administration is
working towards increasing the state’s revenue to N1billion before the
end of 2011. “What I said was that I have concluded in terms of
checking what went wrong with the finances of the state, and I told
some journalists of my expectations about the revenue of the state that
hopefully by the end of this year I think I should have increased the
revenue generation capacity of the state to about a billion naira,” he
said. “With the new revenue, the state would have been able to position
itself to move actively in the direction of ensuring freedom for all
with lot more abundance for the citizens. As to how I want to make up
for the depletion in the general resources base of the state,
particularly the suffocating loan obtained by my predecessor, I am
looking at several options and we are still on it.”

Tension mounted in
Nasarawa State as supporters of the gubernatorial candidate of the
Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Umaru Tanko al-Makura,
threatened to protest his arrest by the state government. The
commissioner of police for the state command, Wilfred Ebute, had
ordered the arrests following the stoning of the incumbent governor
Aliyu Akwe Domad’s convoy with President Goodluck Jonathan and his vice
as they were on their way to visit the Emir of Lafia, Isah Mustapha
Agwai during the flag-off of its campaign yesterday.

Addressing
journalists at an emergency press conference at the CPC campaign
office, the director-general of the campaign party, Musa Illu said that
early on Tuesday morning, Mr. Al-Makura was invited by the
inspector-general of police, Hafis Rimgim, through the commissioner of
police to his office in order to discuss the stoning incident.

According to Mr.
Illu, the opposition party had deliberately shut down its party office
for the day out of respect for Mr. Jonathan. He expressed his dismay
over the attitude of the state government, accusing the governorship
candidate of the CPC of instigating his supporters to destroy
billboards with images of the incumbent governor as well as stoning the
presidential convoy,

“As far as I am
concerned, those are things that anybody can do, it is not necessarily
somebody from CPC,” he said. “We know what CPC is, we came from there,
we know the incidents that are happening in PDP.”

Next reports that the Tanko Al-Makura has also invited to Abuja by
the inspector general of police Mr. Hafis Rimgim through the
commissioner of police for investigations in connection with the
incident that took placed yesterday in Lafia the state capital.

The Minister of
Aviation, Fidelia Njeze has disclosed that the Ministry plans to build
a new airport in Bayelsa State, the home state of the President,
Goodluck Jonathan.

The Bayelsa State
airport is an addition to the previously planned new international wing
at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport Abuja and seven others to be remodelled
across the country. Mrs Njeze stated this on Tuesday when the ministry
defended its 2011 budget before the senate committee on aviation headed
by Sylvester Anyanwu.

In her argument,
the Minister said, “the airport network in Nigeria was built in the
1970s and early 1980s. Since then, there has been no major investment
by the federal government in upgrading, renewing or replacing airport
terminals,” she said. “The terminal buildings have become obsolete in
design and functionality, are in various stages of decay and are not
reflective of modern airports in emerging markets.” The minister,
however, did not disclose the cost of the new airports and those to be
remodelled, neither did she respond to Umaru Dahiru’s (PDP Sokoto)
probe on why there should be a new airport in Bayelsa State.

The ministry’s
total budget proposal for 2011 is pegged at N27.156 billion. A larger
chunk of the fund, N20.741 billion will be spent on capital projects
while Personnel and overhead will cost N3.972 billion and N2.441
billion respectively.

The minister,
however, stated that in order to achieve their vision, the ministry is
considering other funding options beside the budget. These options will
include: special intervention fund by the federal government, Public
Private Partnership/ concessioning of some of the airports, and the
Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) Fund which currently hold $76
million.

2010 budget review

A review of the
ministry’s 2010 budget performance indicates that only N27.9 billion of
the ministry’s total allocation of N45 billion in the 2010 budget has
so far been released to the ministry. The minister cited uncertainty of
the budget, unexpected and multiple budget reviews, ageing workforce,
and cumbersome process of obtaining Letters of Credit for off shore
procurements through the statutory financial institutions as the
challenges the ministry is facing with the implementation of the 2010
budget.

After the first
reading of the National Minimum Wage amendment bill yesterday, the
House of Representatives pledged a rapid delivery of the new law that
will enforce the N10,500 pay rise announced by the government last year.

With two more
readings, that will include committee considerations and plenary
approvals, the proposal sent in by President Goodluck Jonathan after
tense negotiation with the Labour, will soon be law, allowing civil
servants to be paid N18,000 minimum.

The Deputy
Speaker, Usman Nafada, said the processes, normally stretching through
24 weeks at the least, will be finalised “soon enough” to allow for
presidential assent before current legislative session ends in May. “We
have done it before and we will do it again,” Mr. Nafada revealed this
at a meeting he had with the leaders of Labour Congress and other
affiliate groups , shortly after the bill’s first reading on Tuesday.
“It will be passed before the end of their tenure, not on the day of
their leaving, but about one or two months away to allow the president
enough time sign it,” he said. The Labour officials said they came to
appreciate the legislators for giving attention to the bill and to
lobby for more commitment.

The new wage
benchmark has formed a significant rallying point for Mr. Jonathan’s
administration as the president presses for wide political support from
public and private sector workers alike, ahead of April general
elections. A prolonged negotiation that forced the amount down from the
N52,000, NLC insisted on before.

Addressing the
lawmakers yesterday, NLC, led by its president, Omar Abdulwaheed, said
workers are a “patient” bulk, and are thankful to the lawmakers for
their expeditious attention to the bill. “We want to thank the House
very much for the commitment it has shown so far to get this bill
passed,” he said. He however tasked the members to accelerate the
passage of the bill, well awaited by workers.

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood said on Monday it could pull out of talks with the government if opposition demands were not met, including the immediate exit of President Hosni Mubarak who on Monday chaired a cabinet meeting.

Mubarak, 82, who refused calls to end his 30-year-old rule before September polls, saying his resignation would cause chaos in the Arab world’s most populous nation, has tried to focus on restoring order and his government seems to be buying time. Protesters, barricaded in a tent camp in Tahrir Square in the heart of Cairo, have vowed to stay until Mubarak quits and hope to take their campaign to the streets with more mass demonstrations on Tuesday and Friday. Keen to get traffic moving around Tahrir Square, the army tried early on Monday to squeeze the area the protesters have occupied. Overnight campers rushed out of their tents to surround soldiers attempting to corral them into a smaller area. The powerful army’s role in the next weeks is considered critical to the future of Egypt.

“The army is getting restless and so are the protesters. The army wants to squeeze us into a small circle in the middle of the square to get the traffic moving again,” protester Mohamed Shalaby, 27, told Reuters by telephone.

The uprising, which some activists have called the “Nile Revolution”, may have cost 300 lives so far, according to the United Nations. The opposition has been calling for the constitution to be rewritten to allow free and fair presidential elections, a limit on presidential terms, the dissolution of parliament, the release of political detainees and lifting of emergency law.

“We are assessing the situation. We are going to reconsider the whole question of dialogue,” the Brotherhood’s Essam el-Erian told Reuters on Monday. “We will reconsider according to the results. Some of our demands have been met but there has been no response to our principal demands that Mubarak leave”.

The Muslim Brotherhood movement was among the groups that met Egyptian government officials at the weekend, a sign of how much has already changed in an uprising that has rocked the Arab world and alarmed Western powers.

The presence at the weekend talks of the banned movement,

whose members have for years been repressed by Mubarak’s feared security forces, was a significant development that would have been unthinkable before the uprising.

The Brotherhood is seen as by far the best organised opposition group, whose potential rise to power troubles Egypt’s Western allies.

Opposition figures reported little progress in the talks.

While protesters worry that when Mubarak does leave, he will be replaced not with the democracy they seek but with another authoritarian ruler.

Cabinet meets

The government issued a statement after a first round of talks on Sunday and said there was agreement on a road map for talks, which gave little ground on many opposition demands.

It suggested reforms would be implemented with Mubarak staying in power until September. It also put conditions on lifting emergency law, which the opposition says has been used to stifle dissent and should end immediately.

Mubarak’s new cabinet pledged on Monday to keep subsidies and draw in foreign investment in its first meeting since the uprising against poverty, high prices and an end to Mubarak’s rule.

With a government pledging to reform, an opposition with limited political experience, a constitutional process that mitigates against haste, and a key strategic role, Egypt’s next steps must be considered carefully, U.S. officials say.

The opposition has made big gains in the past two weeks.

Mubarak has said he will not run again for president, his son has been ruled out as next in line, a vice president has been appointed for the first time in 30 years, the ruling party leadership has quit and the old cabinet was sacked.

Perhaps more important, protesters now take to the streets almost with impunity in their hundreds of thousands. Before January 25, a few hundred would have met a crushing police response in this U.S. ally whose army receives $1.3 billon in aid annually.

Over the horizon

Appearing to soften her position for Mubarak to step down, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said her policy on Egypt looks “over the horizon” to its possible democratic future — a future that must be carefully planned. The cautious U.S. approach to the unrest shaking its strategic Middle East partner has come at a cost, putting the Obama administration out of step with the protesters who say Mubarak must quit now for serious political talks to take place. As allies coalesced around the U.S. position, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said it was clear that the Mubarak era was in its final phase and there would be other leaders.

“That is what’s important for us, that this new direction is clear and irreversible,” he said, adding: “It’s not so important that individual people resign or whether there is a competition to have the quickest possible election.” Egypt’s government tried to get the country back to normal when the working week began on Sunday. Banks reopened after a week-long closure with lines of customers accessing accounts but hours, and withdrawals, were limited. Schools remained shut.

Several major Egyptian business concerns resumed business. In another move to restore normality, authorities shortened the curfew, largely ignored by the hard-core protesters, to start at 8 p.m. and end at 6 a.m..

Many Egyptians, including those who took part in nationwide demonstrations last week against Mubarak, are keen to get back to work and are worried about the effects of the crisis on stability, the economy and the important tourism sector.

Egypt’s pound weakened to a six-year low on the second day of trade after a week-long closure. State-controlled banks seemed to be selling dollars to support the pound.

“Things are stable. I can’t say they’re good, but they’re not collapsing,” said a trader at a Cairo-based bank.

Indigenous airline operators in Nigeria, yesterday, accused regulatory bodies in the country of charging exorbitant fees.

Describing the charges from the aviation authorities
as “uncoordinated, indiscriminate and illegal,” the airlines, under
their umbrella association, the Airline Operators of Nigeria, argued
that without their operations, there would be no aviation industry in
Nigeria. “If we don’t take active parts in the resolving of this issue,
there will be no NCAA (Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority), FAAN
(Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria), NAMA (Nigeria Airspace
Management Agency), AIB (Accident Investigation Bureau), and others,”
said Steve Mahonwu, the President of the airline operators.

The airline operators called on the minister of
aviation and the respective agencies in the sector to avoid any
development that will drag the industry backwards, adding that a
meaningful resolution on the issue of charges in aviation should be
reached. “This paper on the many charges in this industry that we are
considering today, which is partly put together by me, should be
treated amicably in order to move this sector of our economy forward,
otherwise we will have ourselves to blame if this industry fails,” said
Mr Mahonwu.

Divergent opinion

Faulting the arguments of the airline operators,
Nnamdi Udoh, a director with the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency,
said that the airlines came forward with points which support them as
operators, without considering the service providers in the sector.
“AON has come up with what favours them and not what favours other
stakeholders in the industry,” he said. “How do you expect me to buy
UPS, pay workers’ salaries, and undertake the numerous operational
costs of the agency without collecting stipulated charges from the
airlines?”

Turning to Harold Demuren, the Director General of
the civil aviation authority, Mr Udoh said: “So DG, in my opinion we
should go into the details that will give all parties a level playing
ground to address these issues for the paper presented before us is
totally in favour of AON.”

Some of the concerns raised by the carriers include
terminal navigational charges, landing and parking charges, passenger
service charges, high cost of rent from the Federal Airports Authority
of Nigeria, as well as exorbitant rate of lease.

After hours of deliberations, Mr Demuren said the experts resolved
amicably after hours of deliberations. “We had a very good meeting for
the review of the charges and this is because airlines must survive,”
he said. “We are writing our reports to government and with time we
will come out with it and this is because we are not unaware that there
is a need to reduce the operating cost of running and airline.”

Cases of ghost
workers and delayed salaries will no longer occur after the completion
of the second phase of the Integrated payroll and personnel Information
System (IPPIS), The acting Accountant General of the Federation,
Aderemi Ogunsanya said this on Monday. IPPIS which is an ICT based
system is designed by the federal government to improve the
effectiveness and efficiency in the storage of personal records and
administration of monthly payroll in a way to enhance confidence in
staff emolument costs and budgeting.

Mr Ogunsanya had
said on Monday in Abuja at the flagging off of phase two Sensitisation
programme and Management Workshop of IPPIS that workers on the new
system will receive their salaries on or before 20th of every month
wherever they are located in the Country.

He also said that
out of the 55,000 licenses that were approved at the inception of the
project for the seven Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs); only
23,000 licenses were utilised leaving 22,000 licenses unused.

The project first came up in 2007 and was financed by a World Bank facility of 4.9 US million US dollars.

He called on those
MDAs that have not joined to do so as the government will now base its
budgeting on actual employees and not estimation any longer. The Head
of the Civil Service of the Federation, Afolabi Oladapo, also at the
event said that the IPPIS will provide for a better and well paid Civil
Service devoid of plenty paper work. He asked the Permanent Secretaries
to ensure that MDAs join the IPPIS project by driving it.

Former Head of
Service, Steve Oronsaye admitted the new technological means has been a
transformation in the Service and that the project will help ensure
that data is worked out to capture the real strength of the workforce
of the country.

He prays that the project turns successful describing it as a key
force in the reform agenda in the Civil Service. Out of the 426,000
estimated staff excluding the army, police and other paramilitary
organisations, only 14 percent, representing 58,000 are on IPPIS
project.

The executive director of National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Muhammad Ali Pate, has disclosed that Nigeria has had not less than 98% reduction in poliomyelitis in the last two years.

Mr. Pate, who made the remark in a recent interview with NEXT in Abuja, also said the country has witnessed a drastic reduction in measles, compared to where it was in the past.

“We have had more than 98% reduction in polio compared to where we were in 2008 when World Health Assembly passed a resolution condemning Nigeria. So you have renowned persons like Bill Gate and the DG of the World Health Organization, commending Nigeria, saying Nigeria has done very well.

“In the case of measles, we have seen drastic reduction compared to where we were in the past, but we need to maintain these gains; otherwise, these are infectious diseases that can come back again. We don’t want that to happen. So we are doing all that we can to ensure that they don’t come back again,” he said.

He maintained that the agency had made tremendous progress in its effort at controlling diseases that affect the children across the country.

“We have just completed the first phase of the campaign against measles, and routine immunisation coverage is going on between 2008 and 2010 based on the national immunisation coverage survey. We have seen the revitalisation of the primary health care system through the midwives service scheme and our effort at engaging the community health workers. So, that is an important beginning and we are very confident that if this country continues in this direction, overtime, we will see basic service becoming more available and people becoming more healthier,” Mr. Pate said.

On the just-concluded immunization programme, he said it was a successful one, pointing out that the End Process Data is being compiled.

He, however, said that more investment needs to be seen in prevention and guaranteeing immunisation, noting that financial support for the agency has always not been enough.

The executive director further said for the country to achieve its 20:20: goals in the health sector, everyone must be involved, as such demands a national effort.

More surprises
emerged from the official list of candidates released by the
Independent National Electoral Commission yesterday when the names of
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole and the
Ogun State governor, Gbenga Daniel were absent from the list.

The state’s
Resident Electoral Commissioner, Martins Okunfolami who confirmed this
also announced that Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, daughter of the former
President, Olusegun Obasanjo has qualified to contest for a seat in the
Senate. Mr Obasanjo has thus confirmed his supremacy in the state’s
politics.

Mr. Bankole lost to
Olusegun Alawode who is now the Peoples Democratic Party candidate to
the lower house of the National Assembly, while Mr. Daniel lost the
slot to contest for Senate to Muhammed Adetunji Toheeb. Lola
Abiola-Edewor, daughter of the late politician, Moshood Abiola lost to
Mrs Obasanjo-Bello.

Bankole’s chance

However, Mr.
Bankole may still be accommodated in the list, as the Olurin camp has
engineered an internal arrangement in which the candidate in Abeokuta
South, where he(Bankole) comes from, can step down for the speaker.
This opportunity is said to be possible under the electoral provision
which states that the name of a candidate can still be substituted
between now and February 15.

Gaffe

A bizarre twist was
added to the drama when it was discovered that the list of Niger State
House of Assembly candidates has been sent to Ogun State by the
electoral commission. This mistake was found when the Ogun State office
of the commission was collating its list. Mr Okunfolami said, ‘‘The
State Assembly candidates for Niger State was sent to me here, I just
connected with my colleague, I was thinking of faxing it to him, when I
told him, he said I should DHL it to him.’’

Later, when the
state’s authentic list was sent, Tunji Olurin was listed as the
governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while his
running mate is Tunde Oladunjoye, a journalist and former local
government chairman in the state. Ibikunle Amosun is the governorship
candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria {CAN}, and his deputy is Segun
Adesegun, a former Commissioner in the state. Also, a former deputy
governor under the administration of Olusegun Osoba, Sefiu Adegbenga
Kaka, was announced as the Senatorial candidate for the ACN in Ogun
East.

Phillip Umeadi, the
commission’s national commissioner in charge of legal affairs, had at
the weekend explained that the current list of candidates is not final
as substitutions may occur due to court orders and other reasons.

He added: “ If you
look at Section 31 of the Electoral Act, it says political parties
would submit to the INEC the particulars of candidate they intend to
sponsor for the election. They are not sponsoring them yet; it is just
an expression of intent.’’

Abacha’s luck

In Kano State,
Mohammed Abacha, son of the late military dictator emerged the
governorship candidate of the Congress for progressive Change. In the
party’s governorship primary election held last month, Mr. Abacha had
led in 21 of the 44 councils of the state with over 144,000 votes as
against 78,000 scored by Lawal Jafaru Isa his opponent who was a former
military administrator of Kaduna State.

However, the
party’s board of trustees in Abuja had submitted Mr. Isa’s name to the
INEC. At the display of Mr. Abacha’s name yesterday hundreds of youth
took to the street of Kano in jubilation. Some of them shouted the
praise of Attahiru Jega saying that he is a man of integrity who has
just proved that by declaring Mr. Abacha the winner of the governorship
primaries.

The Ekiti State
list shows that former governor of the state, Ayodele Fayose is to
contest the Ekiti Central Senatorial District under the banner of
Labour Party, while Kayode Alufa is candidate of the PDP. However,
against all expectations, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)
presented Kolawole Olagunju as its candidate for Ekiti Central. The two
aspirants on the platform of the party, Babafemi Ojudu and Opeyemi
Bamidele, the two contenders were not listed.

The ACN had
witnessed protracted crisis over who to field among Mr. Ojudu, Dele
Alake former Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr
Bamidele and Bode Ola, who holds the post now. Mr. Ojudu in a telephone
interview claimed that Mr. Kolawole will fill a withdrawal form to
allow his (Ojudu) own name to be sent. A son-in-law to Bola Tinubu,
former governor of Lagos State, Mr Oye Ojo was listed as the candidate
for House of Representative in the Ekiti Central Federal Constituency 2.