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The African Union
said on Thursday it had suspended Ivory Coast until presidential poll
challenger Alassane Ouattara takes over from Laurent Gbagbo.

“The council
decided to suspend Cote d’Ivoire until such time when Mr Ouattara, a
democratically elected president, takes over effectively,” peace and
security commissioner Ramtane Lamamra said.

This is coming just
as the United States is ready to impose sanctions on incumbent Laurent
Gbagbo and his family if he fails to accept defeat in Ivory Coast’s
presidential election, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday.

“The U.S. is
willing to take further steps and declare sanctions against President
Gbagbo, his family, his wife and those that are supporting his illegal
position,” Johnnie Carson, the State Department’s assistant secretary
for African Affairs, said in conference call with African journalists.
Carson did not give further details on the sanctions or whether the
United States would also impose travel ban. The U.N. Security Council
on Wednesday backed Ouattara as winner, following the lead of West
African regional bloc ECOWAS and also repeated a previous threat to
impose “targeted measures” — code for sanctions — against anyone
attempting to threaten the peace process or obstruct U.N. operations in
Ivory Coast.

U.S. President Barack Obama has backed Ouattara, leading calls from
the United Nations, France, the European Union, the African Union and
ECOWAS on Gbagbo to accept the election commission ruling.

Forty two political
parties in the country yesterday expressed doubt about the capacity of
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct
successful polls next year.

The parties made
this known in a letter addressed to the chairman of INEC, Attahiru
Jega, after waiting in vain for officials of the commission to attend a
consultative forum it organised for them.

The letter, which
listed the aggrieved parties, was signed on their behalf by the
national chairman of the Nigerian Peoples Congress (NPC), Ngozi Emioma.

According to the
parties, which national chairmen and secretaries were invited, the
meeting was scheduled to hold within 48 hours of the receipt of the
INEC’s invitation, but that despite the short notice, they honoured the
invitation only to find out that the commission was not in attendance.

“This is
particularly unnerving when it is recognised that the main purpose of
the meeting was to consult with political parties on the issue of voter
education and voters registration, precedent to the 2011 general
elections,” the letter said.

They also noted
that by the timetable of the commission, voters registration will
commence next month, “which makes it wonder if INEC is serious in its
public statement to partner with political parties to reach voters of
all demographics across the country for registration exercise.”

The parties said
that by failing to attend the meeting, the commission has created a
crisis of confidence in the face of the timetable challenges
confronting them in next year’s elections.

“In fact, we get
the impression that the commission and its chairman, Attahiru Jega, are
planning to fail. We wonder at the motive of such callousness. The
commission may well find out that when it calls for similar meetings in
the future, the political parties may not take it seriously,” the
parties said.

“INEC must provide
a written apology to the political parties for the body to be taken
seriously going forward,” the statement said.

The parties also
objected to the manner they were invited to the meeting, saying that
the culture of issuing invitation via SMS or text messages is
belittling and insulting to the political parties. They demanded for
the courtesy of formal invitation.

In addition, they frowned at INEC’s culture of summoning meetings with them in hotels.

According to the parties, the main conference centre in the premises of INEC is large enough to accommodate such meetings.

“Concluding, we no
longer have the patience to continue to suffer the inhumanity and
disrespect that is ever so present in the dealings of INEC towards the
political parties.

“We expect simple
courtesy in our relationship with INEC, except of course, the
commission wishes to head into the 2011 elections entirely on its own
without the support of the political parties. A word is enough for the
wise,” the parties said.

No forwarding address

But responding to
the allegations in a telephone interview, Kayode Idowu, the media aide
to the INEC chairman, explained that the meeting was called off and
that the parties were notified via text messages by the director of
political parties, Regina Omo-Agege.

Mr. Idowu said that
the commission uses text messages because many of the parties have no
functional offices where letters of invitation could be sent to.

On the use of hotels to hold meetings with the parties, he explained
that INEC conference room is not big enough to accommodate all the
chairmen and secretaries.

The House of Representatives on Thursday recalled two
apologetic members who were once members of the minority group known as
Progressives.

The House adopted the recommendation of its ethics
and privileges committee which advised that Austin Nwachukwu (PDP Imo
state) and Gbenga Oduwaye (PDP Ogun state) be recalled at the mercy of
the House. While Mr. Nwachukwu took a newspaper advert to apologise to
the House and its leadership for his involvement in the group, Mr.
Oduwaye petitioned the committee denying membership of the anti-speaker
group.

The deputy speaker, Usman Nafada, who presided the
plenary on Thursday, argued that Mr. Oduwaye acted like a gentleman on
June 9 when eleven of the lawmakers were forcefully evicted from the
chambers and subsequently suspended indefinitely. ‘‘He was here but he
was not forced out’’Mr.Nafada said.

On the other hand, Mr Nwachukwu was involved in a
fight in the chamber and was responsible for dislocating Ms Chinyere
Igwe’s shoulder. Both members were ordered to resume plenary Tuesday
next week. Their recall brings the number of recalled members in that
group four.

Notwithstanding a court judgement nullifying the
suspension of the lawmakers, the House leadership sustained a high
level of security surveillance aimed at preventing unyielding members
of the Progressives .

Eleven lawmakers who were believed to be members of
the Progressives group were forcefully evicted from the chamber and
their offices and subsequently suspended indefinitely, in June, after
they accused the Speaker of allegedly misappropriating N9 billion out
of the capital vote of the House. Five of them challenged their
suspension, as a group, in an Abuja High Court, while Doris Uboh
challenged her suspension alone. The court sitting on the
group-of-five’s case ruled last week that the suspension of the
lawmakers was null and void describing the process of their removal
“tyranny of the majority.”

The same court, on Wednesday, while ruling on Doris
Uboh’s case ordered the speaker, Dimeji Bankole, to pay the suspended
lawmakers their emoluments and declared their suspension null and void.
The House leadership, however, appears resolute to keep the lawmakers
who challenged their suspension in court out of the House chambers
arguing that they have appealed the ruling and also filed a motion for
the stay of execution of the last week ruling.

Eseme Eyibo, the House spokesman argued that there is a ‘locus
clasicus’meaning that when a case is on appeal, nobody is supposed to
take further steps to actualize the contended ruling.

President Goodluck
Jonathan will, Tuesday next week, present the 2011 budget estimate of
N4.56 trillion to a joint session of the National Assembly.

In a letter to
leaders of both chambers, dated December 8 2010, the president asked
the Speaker and the Senate President to let him address a joint session
of the national assembly at noon on Tuesday next week.

At the Federal
Executive Council meeting last Wednesday, the government approved a
budgetary proposal of N4.56 trillion for the 2011 fiscal year. The
figure is 10.27% less than that of 2010, but fits into the 2011-2013
Medium Term Fiscal Frame.

Wednesday’s
approval signifies the commencement of the implementation of the
2011-2013 Medium Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF) and Fiscal Strategy Pare
(FSP), the revenue and expenditure frameworks of the government as
agreed to by FEC.

According to the
these documents, the 2011 budget will have an increased non-debt
recurrent expenditure compared to the 2010 budget. The recurrent
non-debt expenditure increased by 6.77% to N2.849 trillion with major
increase in personnel cost and lower overheads.

Recurrent
expenditure has been on the increase in recent years and this trend
might persist in the medium term as the wage increase for civil
servants, medical personnel, university lecturers etc. is fully
implemented.

“To manage this,
the Government is to set up a Committee to rationalise recurrent
expenditure.” Notwithstanding complaints by policy makers, the capital
expenditure decreased by 38.6% to N1.083 trillion. Statutory transfer
is lower at N179.78 billion, while debt service recurrent is also lower
at N517.07 billion.

Return of joint sessions

In addition to the
budget, the president also forwarded a bill to establish the Nigeria
Sovereign Investment Authority which he said will “build a savings base
for the future generations, enhance development of the infrastructure
sector in Nigeria, assist fiscal stability in certain circumstances and
for related matters.” The budget presentation is coming late, but if
successfully presented to a joint session of the national assembly, it
will mark a return to the traditional method of budget presentation
which was discarded last year following the inability of both chambers
of the Assembly to agree on a venue.

Since 1999, the president had always addressed a joint session of
the legislators in the larger House of Reps chambers but last year the
Senate insisted that the address take place in its chambers.

The Ondo State
Police Command, yesterday, arrested two civil servants with the State
Property and Development Corporation for allegedly demanding N480, 000
ransom from their boss in the same office.

They allegedly
ordered their boss to pay the ransom or have his children kidnapped.
Chintua Amajor-Onu, the state Commissioner of Police, who addressed
journalists over the incident, said the two suspects, Adedayo Olupona
and Idonuagbe Raymond, in collaboration with one Olumide Olorunnisola,
pretended to be kidnappers to demand the money from Anthony Akinrotoye.
“When Akinrotoye reported that a GSM phone number,

0816475934, was
used to send message to him demanding the sum of N480, 000 and that
they threatened to go to his school and kidnap two of his children if
he fails to give them the money, a team of detectives led by Sikiru
Lawal was dispatched to lay ambush against the hoodlums in a spot where
the victim was directed to place the money, and one Olorunnisola
Olumide appeared to receive the ransom and was arrested,” she said.

According to the
police boss, Mr Olorunnisola confessed during interrogation that he was
sent to collect the money by Messrs Raymond and Olupona. She said the
phone and the SIM card the suspects used had been recovered from them
as exhibits, adding that they would be charged to court soon. Mr
Olorunisola confessed to journalists that the team wanted to give the
money to a friend who had accommodation problems.

Meanwhile, the police boss also announced that a gang of armed
robbers which attacked and robbed a retired Deputy Superintendent of
Police, Adelakun Akinsuyi, of N500, 000 at Ore, had been arrested.
According to her, the gang followed the victim to his house from the
First Bank, Ore Branch, and attacked him.

Mohammed Adoke, Nigeria’s attorney
general, says that Nigeria currently has challenges in the area of
mutual legal assistance because a number of countries have not adopted
international anti-corruption instruments, making the process of assets
recovery tedious. Speaking at a meeting in Abuja on Thursday where key
players in the anti-graft fight gathered to mark the International
Anti-Corruption day, most speakers took turns to speak about Nigeria’s
anti-corruption stance.

“Experience has shown that the
procedure for obtaining mutual legal assistance to seize, confiscate
and repatriate proceeds of corruption is often complex, expensive and
time consuming,” Mr. Adoke said.

While speaking at the event, Mr. Adoke
reiterated that asset recovery is the pivot of the anti-corruption war
and called for other countries to implement the asset recovery
provisions of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

“We believe that these provisions, if
diligently implemented by the state parties, will go a long way in
redressing the injustice associated with a system that allows a few
corrupt persons to enjoy the proceeds of their crime to the detriment
of the majority especially in developing countries,” Mr. Adoke said.

Speaking at the event also, Farida
Waziri, the head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,
complained that the staff strength of her commission is not sufficient
to fight corruption.

“Corruption has eaten deep into this
society and can no longer be the job of only one agency,” she said.
“The EFCC is 1,700 in strength and the country is 150 million. How can
we cover that? We can only work with the support of the people.”

Blame it on Nigerians

The president-general of the Trade
Union Congress, Peter Esele, said that Nigerians are to blame for the
growth of corruption in the country.

“Nigerians are docile and the members
of the National Assembly are no longer public servants but our masters
because of this,” he said. “Nigeria is the only country where corrupt
politicians can go to court to prevent the EFCC from investigating
them. Nigerians must say enough is enough.”

Dagmar Thomas, country representative
for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, who also spoke at the
event, said that Nigeria is far from winning the fight against
corruption.

“Corruption impedes Nigeria’s
development,” she said. “Since Independence, successive administrations
of Nigeria have acknowledged the need to combat corruption. While these
efforts have recorded some successes, numerous legal and institutional
challenges persist,”

Ms. Thomas added that Nigeria is yet to create an enabling
environment to fight corruption, thus making the work of agencies like
the EFCC more difficult.

As part of its intervention strategies
aimed at mitigating the adverse effects of climate change in the
northern part of Nigeria, the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, in
partnership with the Canadian International Development Agency, has
commenced activities towards the implementation of Reducing Emissions
through Reduction in Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) in Taraba
State.

The activities, which contain different
steps, involve the use of tools that are capable of receding the
current rate of forest loss in Nigeria and at the same time provide
financial incentives for forest-based communities in Taraba. The
foundation said it had secured support from CIDA in the form of a
contribution grant towards biodiversity conservation and natural
resources management programme in the state.

Sensitising the people

According to them,
the two-day workshop organised last week was aimed at sensitising
stakeholders towards the preparation for the full implementation of the
project. “The workshop provided the stakeholders (a platform) to
discuss the role of forest degradation in carbon emission and the
efforts of REDD as a tool for reducing deforestation while providing
financial incentives to communities through carbon credits,” said
Tirimisiyu Ashimi, the foundation’s Taraba Project Manager. He added
that the sensitisation workshop was necessary given the low level
awareness on the climate change in the state despite the state’s
strategic position on the delivery of the UN-REDD programme in Nigeria
and the potential opportunities available to forest-based communities
in the state. “It also analysed Nigeria’s current efforts on REDD and
what the Taraba State government and people need to do as preparatory
efforts towards REDD implementation in the state,” he said.

As part of her direct intervention, the foundation has identified
and participated in the development of principles and guidelines for
REDD and took part in various fora to develop the REDD strategy for
Nigeria. Speaking at the workshop in Jalingo, the Director of Technical
Programmes, Alade Adeleke, said that though Nigeria may not have the
financial resources or sophisticated technology to mitigate climate
change, the country is endowed with a mosaic of natural ecosystems that
have the capacity for carbon sequestration. “Ecosystem services
produced by ecosystems and biodiversity such as food, water, timber,
fuel and fibre, particularly food are one of the key drivers of
inflation rate,” he said. “NCF climate change adaptation initiative,
therefore, seeks to assist communities especially those around our
intervention sites to increase their resilience to climate change
induced challenges such as food security, agriculture, watershed
management, and natural systems conservation.”

The Commissioner of
Police for the Federal Capital Territory, John Haruna, and his Lagos
State counterpart, Marvel Akpoyibo, have been transferred on the orders
of the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim.

The development
followed the disappearance of some of the Direct Data Capture machines
imported into the country for the registration of voters for the 2011
elections, on Wednesday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
Mr Haruna has been redeployed to Lagos State to take over from Mr
Akpoyibo, who has been asked to report at the Force Headquarters for
further directives.

However,
spokesperson for the Nigerian Police, Emmanuel Omore, has denied
knowledge of the redeployment. “I am not aware of the transfer and I am
yet to see any signal to that effect,” he said. A senior police source,
who did not wish to be named, confirmed that “the signal for the
movement has been signed and will soon be served administratively.” The
source further said that the two commissioners already aware and have
even started networking in their new stations. According to him, Mr
Akpoyibo may likely proceed to the National Policy and Strategic
Studies, Jos, for a course.

The DDC machines were brought into the country via cargo aircraft
early in the week and kept in a store before the disappearance on
Wednesday morning.