Nigeria Content Online

Governor Adebayo
Alao-Akala of Oyo State has called for mutual cooperation among all
Nigerians in the effort to nip the raging sectarian crises in some
parts of the country in the bud.

The governor made
this call in Ibadan on Tuesday while delivering his address at the
quarterly meeting of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC)
meeting, held at Mapo Hall, Ibadan.

Mr Akala warned
against allowing the effect of the crises to truncate the new
democratic session and diminish the reputation the country has built
for itself over the last few years.

“By slowing
religious and communal strives to scuttle democracy and good
governance, our avowed commitment to freedom at all levels will be a
fluke,” he said.

Muhammad Sa’ad
Abubarkar, Sultan of Sokoto and Ayo Oritsejafor, President, Christian
Association of Nigeria ( CAN), both co-chairmen of NIREC, have, in
their separate speeches, condemned the recent crises in Jos and
Maiduguri, calling on Christian and Muslim leaders to encourage their
followers to ensure peaceful co-existence with their neighbours,
irrespective of their faith.

Mr Oritsejafor
expressed worries that crises in the country have assumed a new
dimension as attackers now throw bombs to maim and kill innocent souls
in the name of religion.

He called on
leaders of the two major religions to always speak the truth to their
subjects and let them know that God and the constitution of the country
forbid killing of fellow human beings unjustifiably.

The Sultan called
on Nigerians to fully participate in the current political process to
ensure that the nation has free, fair and credible elections in April,
this year.

At an open session held to discuss the effect of religion on the
daily lives in Nigeria, speakers stressed the need to tolerate one
another and ensure that the two religions are practiced as stipulated
in the respective holy books.

President Goodluck Jonathan has
forwarded a bill seeking to increase the number of justices of the
Appeal Court from 70 to 90 to the National Assembly. The bill to amend
the Court of Appeal Act 2005 to increase the number of justices from 70
to 90 and other related matters was forwarded to the National Assembly
on January 7, while the lawmakers were still on vacation.
The increment of the number of justices
of the Appeal Court is in line with the ongoing reform of the judiciary
by the executive. The bill was forwarded alongside the bill for an act
to amend the National Minimum Wage Act, 2004 to provide for the new
national minimum wage. The Minimum Wage Amendment Act is meant to
accommodate the negotiated N18,500 minimum wage agreement reached
between the Nigeria Labour Congress and the presidency following
protests by Labour for an increase.
“It is my hope that the distinguished senate of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria will consider and pass these amendment bills in your usual
expeditious manner,” the president said in his letters to the Senate,
with duplicate copies to the House of Representatives. Also, the
president requested the Senate to confirm the appointment of Austen
A.T. Pabor (Bayelsa State) and Timothy T. Sule (Benue State) as members
of the National Population Commission. Mr. Sule, if confirmed, would be
going into his second term on the board of the NPC while Mr. Pabor will
replace P.K.C Atuwo who passed away in 2010.

An ECOWAS
delegation is expected to meet with U.S. President Barrack Obama and UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this week on the political situation in
Cote d’Ivoire. The delegation is expected in Washington on Wednesday
and in New York on Thursday, a senior diplomatic source told the UN
Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in New
York. President Goodluck Jonathan who is ECOWAS’ chairman, nominated
the team which includes President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone,
President of ECOWAS Commission, Victor Gbeho and the Nigeria Minister
of Foreign Affairs, Odein Ajumogobia. Nigeria’s Ambassador to the U.S.,
Ade Adefuye, is also part of the team.

According to the
source, they are expected to meet with U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary
Clinton, on Wednesday after which they will proceed to the White House
for a meeting with Obama.

The delegation will
also on Thursday meet with Security Council members in New York to
update them on ECOWAS’ position and plans for Cote d‘Ivoire.

The UN, the AU and ECOWAS have, so far, failed in their efforts to
persuade Laurent Gbagbo to vacate the presidential palace for Alassane
Ouattara, the internationally-recognised winner of the Nov. 28
presidential run-off election. Four AU delegations have visited Abidjan
since Dec. 1, but failed to prevail on Mr. Gbagbo to step down. Mr.
Gbagbo has not only refused to step down, but has also demanded the
withdrawal of the nearly 9,000-strong UN Operation in Cote d’Ivoire.
The UN rejected the demand for the withdrawal of the Force which has
been supporting the stabilisation and reunification efforts in the
country in the past seven years. Last week, the Security Council
authorised the deployment of 2,000 additional troops for the mission in
Cote d’Ivoire, while ECOWAS has also threatened to use legitimate force
to get Mr. Gbagbo out.

Ahmed Mahuta, Sokoto State Resident Electoral
Commissioner (REC) said on Tuesday that the office was ready for the
PDP senatorial re-run primary for Sokoto East Senatorial district “once
we receive the go ahead.”

Mr Mahuta, said that “I am still waiting for
directive from the INEC headquarters on weather to conduct the election
or not. We don’t have any issue regarding that as far as the commission
is concerned in Sokoto.” The People’s Democratic Party (PDP)
headquarters had ordered for a re-run primary for Sokoto East
Senatorial district on January 26, 2011.

According to Mr Mahuta, the commission is determined
to conduct a hitch free voter registration in Sokoto, but however said
that ink is not available in must registration centres and added that
some of the materials needed were not available in the Sokoto central
market. “We have already made effort to source the materials from
outside the state capital.” He said. He expressed satisfaction with the
large turnout of eligible voters in the state and called for more
support from all Nigerians to ensure smooth conduct of the exercise.

Meanwhile, INEC has condemned plans by the PDP to run new primaries in some states, saying such moves are illegal.

The PDP at the weekend cancelled the governorship
primaries in Kano and Kogi states. It ordered fresh senatorial
primaries in some districts in Oyo, Sokoto, Bauchi,

Taraba and Adamawa states.

Protests have continued in many states, with aspirants pushing for fresh primaries.

Former Defence Minister Rabiu Musa Kwankwanso had won
the PDP primaries in Kano whlie Jibril Isah won in Kogi. Supporters of
both men kicked against the decision to cancel the elections and run
fresh primaries.

The rerun polls were billed for today before INEC declared the plans illegal.

The commissions’ Director of Information, Emmanuel
Umengor said: “We have written a letter to the party and we have drawn
their attention to the fact that the time for primary elections has
lapsed. They are supposed to have finished the primaries on January 15.

“It is important to draw their attention to the
timetable and we drew the party’s attention to the (INEC) timetable and
schedule of activities for the 2011 elections. These were issued by
INEC pursuant to the powers vested in it by the provisions of Section
153 of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended.

“If the reports of PDP’s plans for fresh primary
elections are true, we are reminding them that the time for the conduct
of such elections has since elapsed on January 15, 2011. It has not
been extended by the commission.” He said.

The police in Borno
State have appealed to Igbo traders doing business in Maiduguri, to
rescind their decision to close shops over an alleged serial killing of
their members, claiming that investigations indicated that the attacks
on them were carried out by robbers.

The Police Public
Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Borno State Police Command, Lawal
Abdullahi, in Maiduguri on Tuesday, advised the traders to remain calm,
and promised that the police will strive to ensure maximum protection
of lives and property of all residents of the state.

According to Mr
Abdullahi, the Igbos were not targeted in the killings in the state as
the victims cut across tribes and religions.

“We are
investigating all the cases involving attacks on Igbo traders, our
investigations indicated that the attacks were carried out by robbers
because large sums of money were always taken away in the process of
such attacks. I want to assure them that we will get at the robbers
sooner or later.” He said.

The Igbo Welfare
Association had on Monday directed all traders to close their shops and
proceed on an indefinite fasting and prayer session to protest the
serial killing of their members in the state.

However, the police
spokesman assured them that the police is on top of the situation in
Maiduguri. “We are trying our best to ensure the protection of lives in
the state. The traders should be rest assured of maximum security by
our men.” He urged the traders to go about their normal businesses as
security has been beefed up in the state and also to utilise the police
distress call numbers which have been supplied to the public.

More than 50
persons, mostly security officers, had been killed by suspected Boko
Haram militants since July 2010 when the group launched deadly attacks
on individuals.

Meanwhile, the
Borno State Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) also
on Tuesday, called on the state government to address the killing of
innocent people in the state urgently.

The Chairman of the
chapter, Yuguda Mdurvwa, made the call while addressing the media in
Maiduguri, saying that the Christian community in the state has
suffered great losses in recent times, following attacks by
unidentified gunmen.

“A number of churches, clergymen and other Christians have been killed in recent times in cold blood in Maiduguri.

“We are surprised
that the attacks were carried out, in spite of measures taken to
protect lives and property by the state government which we commend.

“We fail to
understand the failure of security agencies, in spite of the enormous
resources by government to make sure that lives and property of
citizens are protected,” he said.

Mr Mdurvwa called on the State Government to put pressure on
security agents to ensure that they live up to expectations of
protecting lives and property of innocent and law-abiding citizens of
the state.

Two employees of
the Veterinary Council of Nigeria who were allegedly sacked by the
management for exposing corrupt activities in the council have taken
its registrar and chief executive officer of the council, Daniel Maddo,
along with the council, before a Federal High Court in Abuja. Abiakwe
Darlington and Ehirim Comfort are alleging that they were victimized
for testifying and giving evidence which exposed fraud in the council
in their testimonies before the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission and an investigative panel set up by the board of the
council to probe a series of allegations of fraud and abuse of office
against the registrar of the council and other management staff. In the
originating summons, the plaintiffs alleged that following the exposure
of the financial scam in the council which led to the sack of the
council’s accountant, Hilary Ibe, the registrar who aided and abetted
the former accountant, had not hidden his disdain for them because of
the evidence they produced before the anti-graft agency and the
investigative panel. Noting that since the exposure of the fraud, they
have both been inundated with queries and interdictions, all in an
attempt to relieve them of their appointments without recourse to due
process.

Accusations

The registrar and
the sacked accountant were accused of inflating the nominal roll of
employees in the Veterinary Council and systematically defrauding the
federal government of millions of naira for over a decade as salaries,
allowances and entitlements for the ghost workers who they placed on
high grade levels. The EFCC investigated the matter last year before
another panel was set up by the council’s board which recommended the
sack of the accountant and reprimanded the registrar.

Seeking an order

The plaintiffs are in court, seeking to stop the council from
relieving them of their appointments and their eviction from their
quarters in Abuja, where they reside. They are asking the court to make
an order vacating the interdiction of the first plaintiff, Mr. Abiakwe,
which was made by the respondents on the April 1, 2010, which was done
in disregard to the pending suit. They are also seeking an order
compelling the respondents to restore Mr. Abiakwe to his position as
confidential secretary 2 with all entitlements and benefits as well as
an order restraining the defendants from terminating their appointments
or harassing them and their families as a result of their roles as
witnesses at the investigation conducted at the Council by the EFCC.
Mr. Maddo who is due to retire from service this June is alleged to
have threatened that the duo will never return to office over their
conduct which led to the discovery of the scam. Donatus Okorowo, the
presiding judge adjourned the matter to February 24 to allow for the
service of the court processes on all parties.

Former Governor of
Plateau State, Joshua Dariye has said that the call for a state of
emergency in Jos will not solve the problems bedevilling the state, he
advocated for true dialogue among indigenes and non-indigenes of the
state. Stressing that the recent spate of crises is a new phenomenon in
the history of the state, the former governor said that prior to now,
most of the crises experienced in Jos centred around land disputes, but
the incidences where bomb explosives are used, is a new dimension that
cannot be comprehended.

“There is no sense
of respect for human lives, it calls for through examination by
government, at both the Federal and at the State level as well as
security operatives.” He said.

According to Mr
Dariye, dialogue will be the best option to solve the problem of the
state. “I believe dialogue will be the best way of quelling the
troubles in Jos, let’s get people who are non partisan, committed and
sincere and the issue can be resolved amicably.”

Calls for extension of voter registration

Mr Dariye however
called on the National Assembly to convene an emergency meeting to
amend the 2010 Electoral Act, and agree to extend the period of the
voter registration exercise beyond two weeks.

While speaking with
Journalists in Abuja yesterday, Mr Dariye said that in spite of the
huge sum of money spent in the purchase of the Direct Data Capture
(DDC) machines, majority of Nigerians still encounter problems at the
registration centres.

“My worry is that,
with the colossal sum of money, how many billions of naira approved and
yet people complain of shortage of ink in my area, that we have to deep
our hands in our pockets to buy ink. I don’t think it is right. There
is no reason for that,” he said.

Mr Dariye, said if the National Assembly amends that section of the
Electoral Act, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),
will have no option but to extend the voter registration exercise
billed to wind up on January 29.

The Independent
National Electoral Commission in Ondo State yesterday said that it has
registered over 600,000 voters since the exercise started on January
15. The commission also said that it has received an additional 527
Direct Data Capturing machines to address the hitches being recorded in
the exercise. The administrative secretary of the commission, Folarin
Awujoola, said this in a briefing with journalists yesterday in Akure,
adding that the commission had addressed the hitches experienced in the
first two days of the exercise.

Mr. Awujoola said
that the latest consignment of 527 DDC machines were in addition to 918
machines earlier received by the commission. He also promised that the
commission would fix the tardiness problem by officials in charge of
the registration exercise. However, despite the additional DDC
machines, some aggrieved communities in Akure South Local Government
Area of the state have staged a protest against what they described as
the non-availability of machines to register them in the exercise. The
communities — Esure, Ologede, Kajola and Ilula in the Oda area of Akure
— urged INEC to allocate more DDC machines to the area in order not to
disenfranchise thousands of voters. They noted that the lack of
registration centres and the absence of the machines had made it
difficult for them to participate in the ongoing registration exercise.
Their spokesman, Sunday Fakunle, expressed displeasure over the failure
of INEC to address the non-availability of registration centres in the
area. Mr. Fakunle added that despite the complaints made to INEC, the
lapses have not been corrected to ensure that people living in the area
are registered.

He said: “We have
done everything possible to get our people registered but the electoral
body has not responded to our plea. We are bonafide citizens of this
country, it is wrong for INEC to deny us of our fundamental right.

“We want the commission to create more registration centres and
provide all the necessary materials to enhance registration in our
areas, so that people can take the first step towards voting.”