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The National
Chairman, Freedom Party of Nigeria (FPN) Frank Ohwofa, said in Abuja
that the party would adopt option A4 during its primaries.

Option A4 entails voters queuing to be counted physically while the result is announced after counting at the venue.

Mr Ohwofa, who made
this known on Thursday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) said the party had the principle of transparency and fairness
while ensuring that the processes of selection were credible.

“Our process is
option A4, and that will engender a transparent process that will
produce candidates through credible means.” He said.

Mr Ohwofa said that
Freedom Party was the only party with the agenda to emancipate the
youth from poverty and unemployment, adding that the party would
declare free education from primary to the tertiary level.

He decried the loss
of some Direct Data Capture Machines (DDCM) adding that the hope of the
common man for credible elections has been dashed due to insecurity.

He said the action
has shown that the process of rigging the 2011 elections has started,
warning that the crime should not be attributed to the “road side
thieves” only.

NAN

Nigeria’s ambition
to rank amongst the top 20 economies of the world come year 2020,
depends heavily on the ability of the country to harness the huge
potentials of Information Technology in all sectors of the economy. The
Minister of Education, Ruquyyatu Ahmed Rufa’i said this yesterday Abuja.

Mrs Rufa’i, who
spoke at a meeting on review of curricular for all levels of education
in the country, said Information Technology has been the key driver of
sustainable national developments globally. “The realisation of the
national vision, the vision of being one of the top 20 economies come
year 2020 leans heavily on the ability of the country to harness the
huge potentials of IT in all sectors of the Economy,” she said.

The minister
revealed that the Ministry of Education recognises the critical role of
IT and has made it a priority as evidenced in the recently released
road map for the education sector.

The minister
pointed out the achievement recorded so far in the area to include
capacity building for teachers and education administrators through
internationally recognised certificates as the basic minimum
certificate for literacy; the development of the National International
Educational Framework (NITEF) for the structuring and the regulation of
IT education in the country; the establishment of Innovation Enterprise
Institutions (IEIs) to address skill gaps in such areas, as well as
articulation of the policy that makes computer education compulsory for
all levels of education in Nigeria.

She urged various members of the committee mandated to design and
review IT curricular to collaborate with other agencies of government,
as well as ensuring that the curricular addresses the technical
realities of the country even as they harmonise with global paradigms.

The Federal High Court in Jos on Thursday sentenced each of the 15
persons who participated in the violent crisis in Jos on March 8 to 15
years in prison.

The convicts, all from Kadunung in Mangu Local
Government Area, were found guilty on three counts of conspiracy,
possession of fire arms and acts of terrorism.

The convicts were
arrested with dangerous weapons on March 8. Delivering judgment,
Justice A. L. Allagoa, said the prosecution counsel, Charles Maduenyi,
proved beyond reasonable doubt that the suspects were guilty of the offences.

“Considering
the evidence before this honourable court, the accused are guilty as
charged. Jos crisis has left several people maimed and killed and
several others wounded while property worth millions of naira were
destroyed. It has caused Nigeria a lot of embarrassment before the
international community.

“These perpetrators of the crisis,
which the hands of the law have now caught up with, are guilty of the
crime levelled against them,” Mr. Allagoa said.

He sentenced each of the people to two years on the first charge, one year on the second and 10 years each for the third count charge. The sentences are to run concurrently.

The prosecution counsel, Mr. Maduenyi, said after the judgment that he was satisfied with the decision.

“I
believe this judgment will serve as a deterrent to those who think that
Jos is an environment of lawlessness. Our criminal laws and justice
will catch up with anyone who thinks he can disrupt the peace of the
state at will.

“I also hope that this judgment will help to
restore peace on the Plateau,” Mr. Maduenyi said. Ahmed Gabba, the
defence counsel, said “we feel that sentencing the accused to 10 years
imprisonment in a situation that could be life imprisonment was okay.

“We
are not thinking of appeal now but we will study the judgment and see
whether there is a possibility. But as of now, we are satisfied.” He
said.

Disagreement over
leadership has engulfed the Igbo community in Adamawa State, putting
Godwin Omenaka, the Onyendu Ndi Igbo of Adamawa, against Samuel O.
Ebis, Eze Ndi Igbo II of Adamawa, in a battle of supremacy.

Briefing
journalists on the stand-off within the Igbo socio-cultural group, the
President General of the Igbo Cultural Association, Ofor Eze Nwachukwu,
said on the matter of the Eze Ndigbo tussle in Adamawa, the association
recognised Godwin Omenaka as the Onyendu Ndi Igbo of Adamawa State.

The group premised
its decision on a recent court ruling that neither the plaintiff, G. N.
Obutech, nor the defendant, S. O. Ebis, has validly been appointed or
installed as the Nze Ndi Igbo II of the state.

The court
consequently ordered the post of Eze Ndi Igbo vacant and “requested the
conduct of a fresh fair, free, and credible election to fill the vacant
post.” Mr. Ebis, who was aggrieved with the judgement, appealed to the
Court of Appeal, Jos.

“The main issue in
the crisis that engulfed the entire Igbo community in Adamawa State in
respect of the chieftaincy is the way and manner Mr Ebis procured the
late Dan Amar Jimeta (District Head of Jimeta) to turban him as the Eze
Ndi Igbo II of Adamawa State, after his attempt to get the blessing of
the Igbo council of elders under the Igbo Cultural Association (ICA) of
Adamawa State failed,” Mr. Nwachukwu said.

While the
chieftaincy tussle dragged on, one of its principal actors, Igwe G.N.
Obuteh died, and the ICA of the state invited nominations for screening
and election of a new chief for the community. Mr. Ebis allegedly
refused to participate in the process.

Recognised by all

The association
said it was forced to carry out the exercise and, “in accordance with
Igbo customs, as enshrined in the ICA constitution of Adamawa State,
Igwe Godwin Omenaka, emerged as the duly elected Onyendu Ndi Igbo of
Adamawa State.” Mr. Ebis, however, debunked claims that he is acting
against constituted authority. He said it was Mr. Nwachukwu who is
rather seeking to stir confusion among the Igbos by the introduction of
new dimension to the title of Eze Ndi Igbo II of Adamawa State after
the death of Mr Obuteh. He said this was contrary to the position of
the Adamawa Emirate Council and Ohaneze Ndigbo.

The students of
tertiary institutions in Nasarawa State have been put in suspense as
the ongoing strike by the lecturers enter the third week with neither
the state government nor the lecturers reaching an agreement .

Lecturers at
College of Education, Akwanga, College of Agriculture, Lafia and
Nasarawa Polytechnic, Lafia have been on strike, on and off, since
April 1 to press for implementation of the federal government approved
salary scales CONPCASS, CONHESS and CONTEDISS.

The last strike,
which started three weeks ago, is going on simultaneously with
inter-faith prayers and fasting by the lecturers who are praying to God
to intervene in their plight in order to stop the decay in the
education sector in the state. They called off the last strike on
October 28 after a written appeal by three traditional rulers serving
as chairmen of the councils of the three schools .

However the state
government refused to fulfil its promises , hence another strike
started.A joint staff union of the three institutions , held an
inter-faith session yesterday, spearheaded by Mr. Kpanja, head of the
unions and the Akwanga chairman, Michael Anzaku.

“We are seeking
God’s intervention in the poor condition of service, and the decay in
the education sector,” Mr Anzaku said. The inter-faith session was led
by Gudi Kreni for the Christians, and Suleiman Abdulsalam for the
Muslims.

Head of Service in Nasarawa State, Usman Dubagari said government
was not aware of the lecturers’ strike. He also stated that the
lecturers did not inform government of their resolution.

Nigeria has generated about £175,000 (N44 million) as
satellite monitoring royalties from the Nigeria Sat-1in the orbit,
through the supply of imagery capturing and analysing of imagery to
other countries.

Seidu Mohammed, director general of Space Research
and Development Agency (NASRDA), disclosed this yesterday in Abuja
during the 2010 ministerial press briefing of the ministry of science
and technology.

“Our international collaborators worldwide have sent
us a cheque of 175,000 pounds for sales imageries from Nigeria Sat-1,”
he said.

Mr. Mohammed also hinted that Nigeria, being a member
of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC), a global association of
satellite owners, has begun to reap the proceeds of its satellite in
the orbit.

The said revenue generated has been remitted to the federal government treasuries, according to him.

Another N600 million, which would have been spent on
land use mapping, has also been saved as SAT-1 has been used to
successfully complete the land use mapping project of the country.

The director general stated that when a similar
project was carried out in 1996, the sum of N600 million was spent and
foreign consultants were hired, “but with Nigeria Sat-1, we have
completed the mapping at no cost. Experts from our agency and the
universities were used and this has saved us N500 million,” Mr.
Mohammed said.

Mohammed Abubakar, minister of science and
technology, while corroborating the claim of the NARSDA boss, said that
space programme is no longer an exclusive venture reserved for certain
nations, but has now become an open playing field with opportunities
for all nations of the world to explore and to exploit, stressing that
“space industry in the world constitutes one of the major economic
sectors contributing substantially to income and employment.”

Moving up to Sat 2

The minister said the huge gains and advantages from
space exploration, including its spin-off benefits, have so deeply
integrated space technology into everyday life that modern society
cannot function efficiently without it.

Today, the products and services of space technology
are employed in virtually every facet of our day-to-day living such as
weather monitoring, telecommunications, environmental and water
resources management, search and rescue disaster management, national
security, medicine, etc.

Mr. Abubakar noted that the development, building,
and launch of the Nigeria’ second earth observation satellite
(NIGERIASAT-2), Niger-Sat 2, to be launched in the first quarter of
2011, will bring about the revolution of high resolution data in
Nigeria and the rest of Africa.

He stated that when Nigeria Sat-2 becomes functional,
it will also provide valuable data for the realisation of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDG), the Seven Point Agenda, and the
Vision 2020 in the key sector of the nation’s economy.

On the level of work on the new satellite, he said
“the development and construction of high resolution earth observation
satellite Nigeria Sat-2 has reached an advanced stage.”

The components are presently being transported to the launching site in Yansy, Russia.

Soldiers loyal to
Cote d’Ivoire rival presidential claimants, Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane
Ouattara, waged a gun battle in Abidjan on Thursday, and witnesses said
at least four people had been killed in street protests.

Separately
pro-Ouattara rebels and government army forces exchanged fire across
the north-south line of a country split in two by a 2002-2003 civil
war, and whose divisions a November 28 presidential election was
intended to heal.

A spokesman for the
pro-Ouattara New Forces rebels said there had been two deaths on their
side in the gun battle near the Golf Hotel, where Ouattara is under
protection of U.N. peacekeepers, while the army has confirmed only two
wounded.

The incidents
marked a sharp escalation in violence between the two camps since the
incumbent Gbagbo claimed victory in the election the United Nations and
others say Ouattara won. They came as Ouattara supporters marched
through the country’s main city to try and seize the premises of the
state broadcaster.

“I saw four killed
and many wounded. They fired guns to push us back when we tried to
march down the street,” one protester said of live rounds fired by the
military at a crowd marching near a military police school on their way
to the state TV building.

Telephone
interviews conducted by Amnesty International with people at the scene
of the march indicated there were nine dead, the rights group said. It
said the interviews were with five pro-Ouattara protesters and two
local human rights workers.

Guillaume Soro,
Gbagbo’s ex-premier who has defected to Ouattara’s camp, said 14
demonstrators had been killed during the protests. An army spokesman
declined to comment on the reports.

Across town, bursts
of heavy fire rang out around the lagoon-side hotel where Ouattara and
his allies have set up a parallel administration as a tense days-long
stand-off with pro-Gbagbo forces deployed outside turned into a gun
battle.

“There is shooting
all over the place. There is artillery. There are explosions. It is all
coming from the direction of the Golf Hotel,” said one witness.

The U.S. Embassy in
Abidjan was hit by an errant rocket-propelled grenade during the
protests, a State Department spokesman said in Washington.

Fear of a
disruption to supplies in the world’s top cocoa grower pushed futures
prices close to four-month highs reached last week. May cocoa on Liffe
stood 11 pounds or 0.55 percent higher at 2,023 pounds a tonne at 1600
GMT.

The fighting in
Abidjan was mirrored elsewhere as New Forces troops and government
troops exchanged heavy arms fire for some three hours in Tiebissou, the
central town that marks the line between the rebel-held north and
government-held south.

Along with the
United Nations, the United States, African states, and France recognise
Ouattara as the winner of the election but Gbagbo, backed by the
nation’s top legal body, has held on to the presidency, alleging mass
vote-rigging.

U.N. helicopters
flew over the city as the shooting erupted. The United Nations has
about 10,000 soldiers and police in the country. The force has a
mandate to protect civilians, but said its job was not to protect the
march.

In the Nigerian
capital, Abuja, a top-level African Union delegation met Nigerian
President, Goodluck Jonathan, current chief of the West African bloc
ECOWAS, to discuss the crisis.

A statement issued
afterwards reaffirmed the backing of both bodies for Ouattara and said
the AU had agreed with the ECOWAS view that a power-sharing deal
similar that reached by Kenya after disputed 2007 elections would not
be acceptable.

Election commission
results showed Ouattara won last month’s election. But the pro-Gbagbo
Constitutional Council scrapped nearly half a million votes in Ouattara
bastions to hand victory to Gbagbo on grounds of fraud, causing
international outrage.

Ouattara’s allies
have called on Ivorians to come out onto the streets again on Friday to
help them occupy other key government buildings, raising the risk of
further unrest.

“Some of this might
be sending messages,” one Abidjan-based diplomat said. “The key will be
whether they call off tomorrow’s demonstration. It is not tenable.”

The chairman of the
Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega, has announced
the distribution of the direct data capture machines it has received,
to all its offices nationwide.

He said the
commission is mindful of the errors of the past and will set up a call
centre wherein aggrieved people can call in to get rapid response
during the coming 2011 general elections.

Describing the theft of some of the imported equipment for the election at the Murtala Muhammed Airport,

Lagos as a symbol
of systemic failure in governance, Mr. Jega said however that it cannot
affect the activities of the commission as the machines cannot be
useful outside the commission.

Speaking at a round
table talk on “Free and Fair Elections: Citizens Or INEC’s
Responsibility?”, organised by the National Economic Summit Group in
Lagos yesterday, Mr. Jega said that the commission has concluded the
training of trainers. According to him, the machines are carrying INEC
logos and cannot be used by just anybody since each machine, before it
is actually deployed, will be programmed to ensure that it can only be
used by a particular polling unit.

He said that there
are a lot of deficiencies in the system, especially in the logistic of
moving officials and materials to the places of demand during
elections, noting that “Things have been so bad for so long in our
electoral and political processes that we should not be totally
disappointed if we do not attain perfection in the current endeavour.”
He regretted that officers of the commission had to rely on politicians
and political parties to move materials during elections.

We will do better

He said it has
been difficult planning a way out of the challenges, with the
commission still not having enough vehicles to cover the entire routes,
“So what we are trying to do now is to ensure that there is enough
logistic as needed to reduce the incentives or excuses that people will
have to be source of such needs, because we will just start going down.
As time goes on we will do better.” Also, describing the 2011 election
as a period that Nigeria must work hard to get it right, he said that
“Nigerians have aspired and struggled for democracy and have been
continuously frustrated,’’ and that yet, “there is a clear national
consensus in Nigeria today for free, fair and credible elections in
2011 and beyond.”

Stating that the
only concern to the entire country has been how to address the crisis
of leadership and governance, which has be-devilled the country, he
said getting elections right and making votes to count is a major step
in addressing the crisis of governance.

Mr. Jega said that
the challenges towards achieving a credible election is very enormous
for the commission, and wished that it was established at least
eighteen months before the election.

Limited period

According to Mr.
Jega, “INEC was reconstituted in the last week of June and began work
in earnest to actualize the aspiration of Nigerians for free, fair and
credible elections. As a political scientist what I have done is to
look at other countries where election management bodies have been
constituted and I have discovered that on average it takes about
eighteen month for a new commission to be in place before it conducts a
national election.”

Mr. Jega who said
what people call him on the streets now is ‘‘N78.8 billion’’ promised
not to break the law and also to account for every kobo given to the
commission.

The Director
General of the Group, Frank Nweke however applauded the commission’s
chairman for a job well done so far, but urged him to ensure that all
logistical faults that could hinder progress are tackled. He also said
the presidential aspirants would also be brought together soon for a
debate by the group.

A fog of uneasy
calm is building at local government secretariats across Oyo State as
pockets of protests greet the state government’s announcement of names
of those to oversee the affairs of the local governments.

Following the
expiration of the three-year terms of the state’s local government
chairmen on December 16, the state government, on Thursday, forwarded
names of some party members to the state’s House of Assembly to seek
its approval for their appointment as caretaker committee chairmen.

The letter, signed
by Olayiwola Olakojo, secretary to the state government, argued that
the appointments were necessary ‘in order not to allow any vacuum in
the local government administration’ in the state.

But, just before
the names were approved, some aggrieved members of some of the local
governments were already protesting the appointment of their new
caretaker committee chairmen.

A group of people
from Iseyin local government besieged the entrance of the governor’s
office on Thursday, carrying placards to protest the appointment of
Olayinka Taiwo, who was returned after the expiration of his tenure.

Most of the names
approved by the state government on Thursday were those of the council
bosses whose tenure expired on Thursday, but were returned as caretaker
committee heads.

Apart from the
people who mobilized from the constituencies of the newly appointed
caretakers, two members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had gone
to court to stop the appointment.

Gbenga Bamidele and
Ismail Adepoju, in a suit number I/1180/2010, on Thursday, prayed the
court to restrain the state government and its legislative arm from
appointing caretaker committees to replace the former chairmen.

Abuse of office

The claimants, in
the interlocutory injunction, said the governor lacked the power to do
so, adding that such action would amount to abuse of office and
outright illegality.

Until yesterday
when the names of the new interim local government bosses were approved
and announced, the state government had denied ever contemplating
setting up any caretaker heads to take over from the outgoing chairmen.

Among the 33 local
government in the state, the government provided names for 30, while it
offered to name heads for Ibadan SouthWest, Ibarapa East and Ibarapa
North local governments later. While seeking approval for a special
adviser for each of the wards in the local government, the state
government announced that the government of the new interim chairmen
will be assisted by six members each.