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Nigeria has become the 53rd country to sign the UN agreement on the International Anti-Corruption Academy.

IACA is an
UN-related body set up as the focal point for international
co-operation and co-ordination in the fight against corruption.

The Europe
correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Attorney
General and the Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, signed the
agreement on behalf of the Federal Government in Vienna.

A statement from
the Nigeria’s permanent mission in Vienna and made available to NAN in
London, quoted Mr. Adoke as saying that the agreement was an evidence
of Nigeria’s commitment to the attainment of zero tolerance for
corruption.

“Although Nigeria
had established an effective institution such as the EFCC in the fight
against corruption, Nigeria will take advantage of the opportunities
presented by the Academy as a centre of training and academic
research,” the minister said.

Also, the chairman
of IACA International Steering Committee, Martin Kreutner, who signed
on behalf of the Academy, said he was delighted with Nigeria’s
membership. He said the Academy would support Nigeria in its fight
against corruption.

NAN reports that
the mandate of IACA includes anti-corruption research, education and
training, and provision of relevant technical assistance in the fight
against corruption.

The IACA has its headquarters in Vienna, Austria.

The signing is
coming few days after the country witnessed series of bomb blasts in
both Jos and Abuja, its Federal Capital Territory.

On Christmas eve,
December 24, 2010 in Jos, the Plateau State capital, about seven bombs
exploded and killed over 80 people and injured about 150.

On New Year eve, a
bomb exploded in an army barracks in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city,
killing and injuring many, including women and children. The bomb is
reported to have gone off at around 7.00pm in the area of the barracks
locally known as mammy market.

NAN

The Chief of Army
Staff, Azubuike Ihejirika, on Tuesday in Abuja said the Mogadishu Mammy
Market is to be re-opened soon for business.

An explosion rocked the market located at the Mogadishu Cantonment in Abuja on Dec. 31, 2010.

Speaking to
journalists in Abuja yesterday, Mr Ihejirika said the market would be
opened once the place was cleaned up and data needed for the
investigation compiled and that “the closing time has been nine o clock
and this will be maintained but security will be beefed up.

“Life will continue but security will be beefed up that is all,” he said.

The Army Chief said
the army was prepared to tackle any security challenge, adding that
training was also on-going as there was no amount of preparation that
was enough.

Mr Ihejirika explained that training directives have been issued for the 2011 training programme.

“It also embodies the forecast of events for the year and is a
detailed programme giving directives to commanders in the field on
where to focus their training,” he stated.

The Nigeria Police have deployed 22,600 conventional
and 2,835 mobile policemen to monitor the re-run election slated for
January 6 in Delta State.

Also, no fewer than 6,500 officers of the Nigeria
Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) will be deployed to work with
other security agencies to ensure that the re-run election succeeds.

Audu Abubakar, the Deputy Inspector General of
Police, “B” Department (Operations), said no fewer than six officers
would be deployed to man each of the polling centres in the state to
forestall violence.

“The Federal Government is determined, INEC is ready
and we are given a matching order to be here and ensure that the
election is not only credible but free and fair,” Mr Abubakar said. “We
have deployed 22,600 officers and men of conventional police and 45 PMF
units of 63 officers per unit from various squadrons. My call to all
the non-governmental organisations, foreign and local election
observers and good spirited individuals is for them to collaborate with
INEC officials and the security agents.” The police boss, who had a
closed door meeting with the 14 gubernatorial candidates contesting in
the re-run election, said it is in the interest of all the candidates
to shun violence.

Great Ogboru, the Democratic People’s Party candidate told reporters that the DIG underscored the seriousness of the election.

“The meeting with the DIG was quite instructive; he
made us to understand that there was a national seriousness attached to
the elections and that it was a litmus test. We were reminded that
thuggery and violations of the Election Act will not be tolerated,” Mr
Ogboru said.

The state PDP Chairman, Peter Nwaoboshi, also said the party was satisfied with the security arrangement.

Joining forces

The NSCDC Commandant in Delta State, Amos Andekin, said the command would deploy 3, 500 of its officers,

while 1,000 officers each from Edo, Anambra and Bayelsa States would join his men.

He explained that two officers would be assigned to
each perceived quiet polling units, while more than two officers would
be deployed in volatile units located in areas such as Warri and Asaba.

The commandant explained further that he had appealed
to the Bayelsa State command of NSCDC to place 300 officers on
stand-by, and another 50 each from Edo and Anambra.

Mr Andekin, however, said that the deployment of the
officers would be a challenge, claiming that though the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Delta State had said it would
not provide any other logistic support apart from feeding the officers,
mobility will be one of the major challenges because the corps does not
have vehicles with which to transport the officers to the units they
are deployed to.

Luka Ikpi, Sector Commander of the Federal Road
Safety Corps (FRSC), also said that 130 officers of the command would
be on ground to guarantee smooth flow of traffic. He said that the
officers would also ensure that the movement of vehicles was restricted
until after the re-run election.

The Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) has acknowledged posting
non-existent polling units ahead of elections this year, but said weeks
of verification of the widely-questioned 120,000 units it claimed
earlier, produced only a “minimal discrepancy”.

The commission’s
Chairman, Attahiru Jega, said yesterday that the screening unearthed 28
fake polling units-a far cry from the 28,000 analysed for NEXT in a
October, 2010 report, by WangoNet, an advocacy group.

Tracking the huge
number of Polling Units on the commission’s website, WangoNet said its
examinations showed that the electoral body had extra 28,000 Units than
it claimed, with the disparity forming a significant portion of INEC’s
N87 billion budget last year.

Details of the
analysis showed many polling stations were enumerated multiple times,
officials having possibly upped the figures in manner that appeared to
be outright falsification.

Nearly 8,000 units
were counted twice, thrice, or substantially more, before INEC arrived
at the round figure of 120,000, the report pointed out.

Some of the worst
cases noticed were two schools in Edo State- Ivbiyeneva Primary School
in St. Saviour ward and Ologbosere Primary School in Ugbekun ward, both
counted 40 times.

The listings
predate Mr Jega’s tenure. While reacting to the errors before the
report was published by NEXT, his Media Aide, Kayodu Idowu, denied any
fraudulent intent, saying the commission was pressed for time and as
such, based its projections on unverified available records.

He said the site
was being upgraded and promised that the accurate number of polling
booths will be ascertained during the deployment of the Direct Data
Capture machines.

Addressing the 36
Resident Electoral Commissioners yesterday in Abuja two days away from
a crucial Delta State governorship rerun, Mr Jega admitted the fake
posts existed but noted that the verification exercise turned up only
28 phony voting posts across the country.

“I thank you all
for the time and dedication you invested in that process,” he told his
commissioners. “It shows clearly in the outstanding outcome of the
process. Currently, the discrepancy is minimal; in fact 28 to be
precise.” He said the new figures will be promptly updated in the DDC
machines and on the mapping of the polling units on the Google maps.

Delta’s re-run as litmus test

The meeting on
Tuesday is the last for the commission’s highest echelon as officials
rally final preparations for the Delta State rerun on Thursday-seen as
a litmus test for the Mr Jega led INEC, and national voters’
registration on a week away. Mr Jega listed fresh steps adopted by the
electoral body as it races to preserve a national goodwill for his
administration, and to disperse lingering doubts whether the commission
can be different from its well discredited past.

“Nigerians see the
Delta rerun as a barometer for gauging how things have either changed
or remained unchanged in INEC’s conduct of elections,” he told the
commissioners.

Part of the plans,
he said, prominent Nigerians may be appointed as returning officers to
help “shield officials of the commission from unwarranted accusation of
bias.”

New security features too have been introduced on the ballot papers
while the existing voters’ register have been “cleaned up”, he added.
Further, the number of corp members to be drafted as Assistant
Registration Officers have been pruned from 360,000 to 240,000.

Presidential
aspirant, Atiku Abubakar yesterday criticised President Goodluck
Jonathan for being ashamed to defend the 2011 Budget proposal he
presented to the joint session of the National Assembly last month.

Mr Abubakar had, a
few days ago, written the president warning him that the proposal in
the budget could worsen the state of the nation’s economy. In a
statement by his campaign outfit, Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation
(ACO) in Abuja, the former vice president said the president has become
too ashamed to personally defend the budget, insisting that the budget
of a nation is too serious a matter to defend through anonymous person.

Mr Abubakar was
reacting to media reports that an anonymous presidency source had
questioned the rationale behind his widely-published critique of the
budget proposal.

“It is
inconceivable that a government that presented a budget that will
determine the lives of 150 million cannot rise in defence of such
budget,” Mr Abubakar said. “It is reprehensible that despite the army
of officials in government, there is no single volunteer who can take
the risk of being identified with the wishy-washy collection they call
the Budget 2011 proposal.

“A budget is a very
serious instrument that guides the conduct of government business. Its
formulation is supposed to be guided by the philosophy and the vision
of government. It is the appropriation of this vision with the
expectations and needs of the people that a budget is said to be
well-thought out.

“If the Budget 2011
proposal is well thought-out, everybody in government will not be too
ashamed to put a face to its defence.”

Faulting the budget

The presidential
aspirant of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) noted that the conduct
of government by anonymity is becoming the defining character of the
Jonathan administration.

“When the
presidency is accused of working on the 2011 elections with a rigging
manual, the initial response of government is through this now
notorious anonymous presidency sources,” Mr Abubakar said. “How can
anonymous source be the one defending government against serious
allegations of incompetence and malfeasance. Is it that no one is so
persuaded by the conduct of government that it can put his/her face in
its defence.” The former vice president restated his earlier position
that the Budget 2011 proposal, which guiding policy is predicated on
consumption is a recipe for economic disaster.

Jonathan campaign’s response

The spokesperson of
the Goodluck Sambo presidential campaign organisation, Sully Abu
however said it finds little to comment on in what Mr Abubakar said.

“As they stare
defeat in the face in what was once thought would be a contest, but
which is fast turning into a coronation for President Goodluck
Jonathan, the fretfulness of the Atiku Abubakar campaign is reaching
fever pitch,” Mr Abu said.

“Fresh from raising false alarms about their candidate being primed
for arrest following rather unguarded statements which predated the
recent acts of terrorism in Jos and Abuja about violent change, they
are now making a song and dance about being ignored over their comments
on the 2011 budget. Those comments follow a long litany of
prognostications on the economy which have been dismissed by economic
experts and by the facts on the ground. When the Atiku campaign has
something worthwhile to say that deserves a response, we would do so
and at a time of our own choosing.”

The National
Executive Committee of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday
in Abuja fixed January 14 for the party’s presidential national
convention. The NEC meeting only ratifies the submissions of the
National Working Committee (NWC) which met in Asokoro, Abuja on Monday.
The media had besieged the Zone 6, Abuja venue of yesterday’s NEC to
the surprise of party executives who did not respond to several
overtures to get an insight into the discussions and resolutions of the
five-hour-plus marathon meeting, including the much-publicised alliance
talks with the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

The source told our
reporter that all the state governors of ACN attended the expanded NWC
meeting, though only governors Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti and Rauf
Aregesola of Osun attended the NEC. But another party official, who
craved anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press,
said discussions are still ongoing and that the party has fixed its
national convention for January 14 where its presidential candidate
will be announced. The source refuted reports that the party has
adopted CPC leader, Muhammadu Buhari as its presidential flagbearer in
the talks.

Also at the FCT ACN
stakeholders interactive session, one of the party’s presidential
aspirants, and former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, said the planned alliance will not
affect his ambition of becoming president and called on Nigerians to
see him as a person they can trust.

He said: “I am ready to work with every progressive to salvage this
country from all this mess of insecurity. Give me a chance to bring
what Nigerians are looking for.”