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There are about 800,000 companies in Nigeria registered between June 2004 and 2010, the Corporate Affairs Commission says.
Garba Abubakar, the Special Adviser to the Registrar General of the commission, disclosed this at the weekend.
Mr. Abubakar attributed the growth in the registration of companies to the deployment of information and communications technologies registration.
“The total number of registered companies we have today is in the range of 800,000. There are 2.8million business names and about 38 000 cooperative groups,” he said. “Every month we register about 2000 companies, in a year we register between 25,000 to 30,000 companies. We have been doing that consistently since 2004.”
Mr. Abubakar further stated that the agency received an average of three thousand requests for name reservation per day, but some reserved names are often not registered.
“Before 2004 company registration was done manually,” he said. “Apart from checking for names, registration and generation of certificate was being done manually. Incorporation process was often duplicated, because of this and given the increasing number of companies being registered in the country from less a record of less than 200,000 when the company was created in 2001 to about 6 to 700,000 in 2004 when the online registration started, the Commission decided to deploy eRegistration.
“Management now adopted to design software for that purpose. From 2004 till date, registration of companies is done electronically through a workflow ranging from reservation of name up to generation of certificates.”
Moving into fibre optics
Mr Abubakar also noted that the commission had used Very Small Aperture Terminal, VSAT for its internet connection but that with the increased growth in business, the service is no longer adequate and that arrangements are in top gear to migrate to fibre optics platform.
“When we started, we were relying solely on VSAT to link all offices in the 36 states of the federation but it has its own challenges. Connectivity is a problem because unlike in advanced countries where ICT infrastructure is available, they have connected not to VSAT but fibre optics connection all over,” he said.
“So, because of the frequent occurrence of cyber downtime and the issues of connectivity, the commission decided that we should migrate from the VSAT platform to fibre optics. We have decided that five offices at the moment will be linked to the new service platform.” He said the contract has been awarded to Globacom to provide cyber optics to the company so that their offices in Lagos, Kaduna Port Harcourt, Enugu and Benin will soon be using fibre optics. It is expected the offices will be connected by December.
“We will discard VSAT because of inherent problems. That is the first stage and by next year all the other offices will be on fibre optics instead of VSAT,” he said.

Failure of the
federal government to pay the severance benefits of former staff of
Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) Plc may trigger another
industrial crisis in the area, as the affected people at the weekend
threatened to use any means available to them to get their allowances.

Kelechi Otuh, Akwa
Ibom State council chairman, Metal Products Senior Staff Association of
Nigeria, said in Abuja at the weekend that prior to the privatization
of the company in 2007, the workers were owed over N6 billion, a
development he said led to the death of many of their members.

The chairman
refused to mention the other means they plan to use to recover their
money. He said the company commenced production of aluminium ingots in
1997, but stopped in 1999 owing to financial and technical problems. He
said this led to the downsizing of staff without due process of
disengagement.

“Only part payments of our benefits were paid,” he said.

Mr Otuh said long
before the BPE decided to privatize ALSCON, the workers went to court
to plead that the management of ALSCON be compelled to renegotiate
their collective agreements, which had expired in 2001. Both the
Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP) and the National Industrial Court
(NIC) granted judgement in favour of ALSCON workers, by ordering that
ALSCON management should negotiate new conditions of service with the
workers. In their resolution of October 13, 2005, the National Assembly
upheld the IAP decision and ordered ALSCON management to comply without
further delay.

“We are calling on
the federal government and the Bureau of Public Enterprises, whose
responsibility it was to pay employees’ liabilities in privatized
enterprises, to urgently intervene in this protracted issue of unpaid
severance to former ALSCON employees so that the workers and the entire
community of Ikot Abasi will work and live in peace, especially now
that the amnesty programme is still on course,” he said.

Troubled privatisation

ALSCON began
operations in October 1997 and a few months later reached a production
capacity of 40 tonnes. The plant was designed to produce 193 000 tonnes
of aluminium annually. As at today, a tonne of aluminium costs about
3,000 USD. What this means is that at full capacity, ALSCON can
generate approximately $600 million every year.

The privatisation
of ALSCON was one of the most protracted in the annals of the Bureau of
Public Enterprises (BPE). The privatisation began in 2003 and lasted
till 2007, when ALSCON was handed over to DAYSEN Holdings, who invited
Russian Aluminium to manage the plant.

To date, some key
issues relating to the privatization have not been resolved, including
the unpaid severance benefits to former staff of ALSCON.

On June 3, 2007,
militants invaded ALSCON residential quarters and abducted six Russian
expatriates, including the Managing Director of the company. The
militants claimed that they had to strike in order to attract the
government’s attention to the plight of over 1800 former ALSCON staff,
whose severance benefits are being withheld by the BPE.

Most of these staff are still within Ikot Abasi, patiently waiting
for their entitlements, while over 20 of them have reportedly died.

The Action Congress
of Nigeria (ACN) has picked another issue with the Amended Electoral
Act 2010 and urged the National Assembly to stop the plan to use the
Court of Appeal as the court of first instance in presidential and
gubernatorial election petitions.

In a statement by
the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party
reminded the National Assembly that the Court of Appeal is not a trial
court, and must not be saddled with such a responsibility in the case
of election petitions. It noted that even if all the positions in the
Court of Appeal are filled, the court cannot have more than 70 judges.

Section 133(2) then
goes further to define the “tribunal or court” as “in the case of
Presidential or Governorship election, the Court of Appeal; and in the
case of any other elections under this Bill, the election tribunal
established under the Constitution or by this Bill.” Explaining the
problem this will create; ACN stated that “assuming all 70 judges are
in place, (which is not the case at present), the number can only
constitute election petition tribunals for only 14 states, going by the
constitutional stipulation of five members per panel.”

“Even if the number
is reduced to three per panel, as has been suggested in some circles,
we still won’t have enough judges to go round more than 23 states,” the
party stated. This call is coming after the Nigerian Bar Association,
in reviewing the amended Electoral Act, also warned of an “inherent
danger and risk” which can occur after the election, with a potential
overwhelming of the Appeal Court judges by the election petition as
prescribed by the Act.

Urgent review

Arguing further the
need for this urgent review, the ACN noted that another problem
limiting the petition to Appeal Courts will cause, is the time
constraint in hearing the petitions as stipulated by the Electoral Act.
“There is also the problem of time limitation (180 days) regarding when
petitions must be heard and judgements delivered. If the deluge of
election petitions that greeted the 2007 general elections is anything
to go by, there could be over a hundred petitions after the 2011
gubernatorial polls alone, and the Court of Appeal cannot possible cope
with this huge number of cases.

“Needless to say
that while the election petitions last, the over-burdened Court of
Appeal will not be able to carry out its statutory function of hearing
appeals from High Courts, and this will have unimaginable implications
for the country and her citizens.” The ACN, therefore, called on the
National Assembly to, as a matter of urgency, use the opportunity
provided by the call for another amendment to the Electoral Act in the
wake of Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) demand for
an extension of time for the 2011 elections, to take another look at
the Act to prevent the Court of Appeal from becoming the court of first
instance for gubernatorial election petitions.

The party said the old system of using judges from the High Courts
to constitute the gubernatorial election panels must be retained.

American politics
has a photogenic new face with a troubled past of bad finances,
potential fraud and a flirtation with witchcraft.

A previously
unknown conservative activist named Christine O’Donnell is a sudden
political sensation and Washington is trying to figure out what to make
of her.

“Certainly she has some explaining to do,” Republican Congressman Mike Pence said this week.

O’Donnell is a new
Republican Party nominee for November’s Senate election. She defeated a
better-known career politician for the nomination with support from the
Tea Party movement.

The Tea Party,
which draws its name from an 18th-century uprising which helped set off
the American revolution, isn’t really a political party. It’s a fast
growing insurgency within the Republican Party, pushing some lawmakers
further right and driving others from office.

As people learn more about O’Donnell, they’re wondering if she is the best kind of candidate to replace them.

For years, she led
a Christian campaign against sexual promiscuity and decried a diverse
range of evils from masturbation to shared bathrooms for male and
female students. Before that, she says she once “dabbled into
witchcraft.” She also reportedly dabbled into paying her taxes and home
loan late enough to face legal proceedings. She has very little
declared income and is facing a new complaint that she illegally spent
more than $20,000 of campaign donations on her own living expenses.

O’Donnell denied the allegations and denounced them as the work of her opponents.

“Will they lie
about us? Harass our families? Name call and try to intimidate us? They
will.” Many Republicans are nervous about candidates like O’Donnell, as
undeserving of the party’s nomination and unlikely to win.

George Bush’s
former campaign manager, Karl Rove, questioned her honesty and called
some of her remarks ‘nutty.’ But after a barrage of criticism from
party ranks, he endorsed her anyway.

That signals just
how popular the anti-tax, anti-incumbent Tea Party has become with
American voters and how powerful at the polls.

Tea Party
personalities are taking a growing role inside the Republican Party
despite opposition from many established Republican leaders.

The leadership may yet fight for control of the party. Or despite
their reservations, they can support newcomers like O’Donnell. The Tea
Party is winning a lot lately and the Republicans like to win.

Twenty-three of
the 120-man delegation that accompanied Goodluck Jonathan to New York
for the United Nations General Assembly were aides and friends of his
wife, Patience, presidency sources told NEXT yesterday.

Among aides of the
president’s wife on the trip were her steward, Benson Okpara; her
luggage officer, Geoffrey Obuofforibo and her special assistant in
charge of administration, Oroyemisi Ojewole.

In addition to the
five security operatives that accompanied her husband on the journey,
Mrs Jonathan flew her own separate security team to New York. There
were her aide-de-cap, Jacob Tamunoibuomi; her orderly, Abigail Jonah,
and Francis Ibiene, her chief security officer.

Although Mr
Jonathan’s chief physician, F. Fiberesima, was on the trip, Mrs
Jonathan reportedly insisted on taking her own personal physician,
Elizabeth Austin-Amadi, along with her. Also on the president wife’s
party were her director of protocol, Mfama Abam; her principal protocol
officer, Nuhu Kwache; her special assistant, domestic matters, Martha
Onwuzurumba; her special assistant, media, Aliagan Zubair and another
media assistant, Ayobami Adewuyi.

Four friends of Mrs Jonathan also made the trip. They were Bola Shagaya, Joyce Bozimo, Pelebo Banigo and Musa Ujah.

Helen Mark, wife
of the President of the Senate; Mariam Imoke, wife of Cross River State
governor; Fatima Shema, wife of the Katsina State governor; Oluwakemi
Alao-Akala, wife of the Oyo State governor and Clara Chime, wife of the
Enugu State chief executive, completed Mrs Jonathan’s party to New York.

Realm of absurdity

Mrs Mark also took two of her aides, Ogwuiji Clement and Omeche Omudu, along.

The vice
president’s wife, Amina Sambo, was accompanied on the journey by her
aide-de-camp, Abubakar Dauda; her principal protocol officer, Zayyad
Abdulsalam and her personal assistant, Dabo Suleiman.

The Nigerian Constitution does not recognise the offices of First Lady at the federal and state levels.

But wives of
presidents and governors, even local government chairpersons, have
continued to maintain huge offices, a retinue of aides and financial
allocations that are never retired. Over 30 aides are believed to work
for Mrs Jonathan alone.

Executive Director
of the Nigeria Liberty Democratic Forum, Bukola Oreofe, on Sunday
described Mrs Jonathan’s conduct as “obscene use of public funds”.
“What she did ranks very high in the realm of absurdity,” Mr Oreofe
said.

“I am not surprised that his wife, who has no constitutional duties,
would do that in the midst of the misery and poverty that the average
Nigerian is languishing.”

The last 50 years
of Nigeria’s independence have been that of waste and misgovernment,
and there is, therefore, no cause for celebration, speakers at the
third plenary session of the Nigeria’s Peoples’ Parliament in Diaspora
(NPPID) said at the weekend.

The parliament,
which met at the La Guardia Marriot Hotel in New York, said rather than
engage in any festivities, Nigerians should stand up to the ruling
elite in the country and seize the momentum of the coming elections to
throw out those holding down the nation’s progress.

The NPPID, an
initiative of the Nigeria Democratic Liberty Forum, a New-York based
pro-democracy group, is a platform for citizens in the Diaspora to
“cross fertilize ideas” and suggest solutions to the country’s myriad
problems. It’s first plenary was in March this year.

After an extensive
debate on the “Problems, Progress and Prospects” of Nigeria at 50,
participants at the session agreed that the country had not made any
significant progress in its five decades of existence as an independent
nation. The discussions culminated in a motion, which urged the masses
to rise up, confront the “greedy” ruling elite, and halt the plundering
of their country.

“The problem of
Nigeria emanates largely from the pathological greed, corruption and
lack of patriotism by the ruling elite, past and present, military and
civilian,” read the motion raised by Bukola Oreofe, executive director
of the NDLF.

“The masses should
demand ‘Enough is Enough’ and that the next 50 years should be
different from the last 50 years through citizen engagement and demand
for accountability.” Before Mr Oreofe raised his motion, which was
unanimously passed, speaker after speaker lamented the corruption, bad
governance and missed opportunities in the last 50 years.

Speaker of the
parliament, Okey Ndibe, described Nigeria as a country “conceived in
hope but nurtured by its leaders into hopelessness”.

Mr Ndibe, a
professor of literature at Trinity College, Connecticut, added, “Our
country faces momentous times in the coming months as the elections
approach. This is a make or mar situation for us. If we get it right,
we will begin to reclaim our country. If we don’t, we may lose Nigeria
as an idea and as a nation difficult to redeem.”

Back to the ditch

Chukwuma Okadigwe,
who said he was in the stadium in Lagos when the British Union Jack was
lowered and the green-white-green flag hoisted, lamented how “a country
that was supposed to fly like an eagle has gone back to the ditch.” For
Bolaji Aluko, a professor of chemical engineering at Howard University
in Washington, Nigeria’s problem started when “very uneducated people
started becoming the leaders of Nigeria”.

“The next election
is very important for us. We must have clean elections to elect the
right leaders,” Mr Aluko said. “If we get the right leaders, Nigeria
can take off. If not, it will just be business as usual.” As part of
its own contribution to a clean and credible elections, the parliament
resolved to dispatch a well-equipped team to Nigeria to monitor the
elections.

The leadership of the NPPID was mandated to engage with local and international organizations to raise funds for that purpose.

Chairman of the
group, Adegboyega Dada, alerted “parliamentarians” that the “military
gang and their civilian counterparts” who brought Nigeria to its knees
were at their game again.

“These are the same
people that brought Nigeria to a standstill years back. They looted and
continue to loot the treasury. They committed murder with impunity and
continue undermining the integrity of Nigerians beyond acceptable
thresholds.” Mr Dada, a medical doctor, therefore, urged Nigerians to
“unite in our resolve to rescue our nation from the hands of those who
think Nigeria is their personal estate and so could do whatever they
deem fit.” Speaker Okey Ndibe agreed.

“The buffoons who
run our country do not take us seriously. When we organize, they will.
What about forming a committee so that when a government official comes
to the US to buy a house with stolen funds, we take them to court?” Mr
Ndibe suggested.

“Even if we don’t win, we would have embarrassed them. We can,
through our vigilance, say they are stealing our resources and make it
impossible for them to bring their loot here.”

Ahead of the start
of the 2010/2011 football season, which gets underway this weekend, the
Nigerian Premier League (NPL) has announced that clubs whose fans
assault match officials will henceforth pay a fine of five million
naira.

Previously,
defaulting clubs were sanctioned one million naira by the NPL but it
obviously didn’t serve as a deterrent as fans and clubs continued to
flout the rules.

Last season
witnessed an upsurge in stadium violence, and it ranked as one of the
worst ever in the history of the league in Nigeria since it acquired
professional status in 1990.

But the NPL is keen
to minimise incidences of violence at match venues and has stated that
they have decided to amend some rules so that discipline can return to
the league.

Articles 3.7

The most notable rule amended is Articles 3.7(1), which now states that:

“Intimidation and
harassment of match officials by clubs supporter(s)/fans or club
officials before, during, or after pre-match meetings is strictly
prohibited and attracts a fine of N5 million payable before the club’s
next home match.”

Articles 3.7(2)
also states that: “Where the match officials are harassed or
intimidated, Match Commissioners are empowered to call off or
discontinue with the meetings and or the matches,” while Articles
3.7(3) states that: “Upon receipt of the Match Commissioner’s report, 3
points and 3 goals shall be deducted from the already accrued points of
the offending team, and their opponent shall be credited with 3 points
and 3 goals.”

Acting Executive
Secretary, Tunji Babalola said in Abuja that all the clubs will have
the rules which they will share to their players this week.

“We are ready for
the start of the league this week. But we are also ready to enforce the
rules so that we can turn the fortunes of the game around in the
country.

“We know that the clubs will study the amended rules and regulations so that they will not run foul of it,” he said.

Babalola, on behalf of the NPL, also called all clubs to strictly
adhere to the new rules so that Nigerians will enjoy the domestic game
in the country which kicks off this Saturday.

As politicians
jostle to secure their parties’ ticket for next year’s election, it is
not clear yet how the executives of the parties plan to deal with the
many tainted individuals who are currently jostling for elective
offices.

Despite the
threats made by the head of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), Farida Waziri, promising to stop corrupt politicians
from contesting in the coming elections, the political parties,
especially the PDP, are gearing up to field aspirants who have been
indicted by anti-corruption agencies, including some who are being
prosecuted in various courts.

Last month, Mrs.
Waziri said her agency would strive to prevent corrupt individuals from
contesting next year’s general elections.

“There is no way
that we will allow the political parties to field corrupt people.
Legally, we are empowered to look into some of these issues,” Mrs.
Waziri said.

“How do we allow
these people to come back and say that they are going to lead us? The
world will laugh at us. We see that some of them are already printing
posters and I will see how they are going to work that out. We are not
going to allow that. We want to ensure that only the proper persons
will represent us.” However indications are that Mrs Waziri’s threats
seemed of no consequence to the candidates and their parties.

Various newspapers
last week quoted a PDP source as saying the party would work with
security and anti -corruption agencies, in the screening of its
candidates. The party also submitted a list of some aspirants to the
EFCC for screening.

“The PDP has sent
us a list of some of its aspirants. We are presently going through it
and will advise them on the present corruption status of each of the
names,” a source at the EFCC stated.

Folu Olamiti, the
resident consultant on media to the ICPC however stated that the
commission was yet to be formally notified of the PDP’s intentions.

“We’ve not received any formal letter to that effect. So, we don’t know what they really want from us,” the ICPC spokesman said.

Mr. Olamiti
however stated that the ICPC would not do anything that was against the
law in order to help parties screen their candidates.

“There is a court judgement that only the court can disqualify a candidate,” he said.

When contacted for
clarification on the true position of the party as regards corrupt
political aspirants, Rufai Alkali, the PDP national publicity secretary
refused to pick our calls or respond to our text message.

Politicians at risk

Should the PDP
decide to go ahead with the planned use of anti-corruption agencies to
screen its candidates, some of its aspirants who may have trouble in
the screening include Jibrin Isah, a Kogi State gubernatorial aspirant;
Nicholas Ugbane, a serving senator and Kogi State gubernatorial
aspirant and Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, a serving senator and daughter of
former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Jibrin Isah

A former director
of AfriBank, Mr Isah alongside other directors of the Bank was indicted
by the EFCC for their involvement in the scandal that rocked the bank
which led to the removal of all the directors by the governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi.

The EFCC, on April
13, 2010 filed a 28-count charge against Mr. Isah and the other
directors of the bank. The charges include illegal approval of loans,
manipulation of bank balance sheet etc. He is currently vying for the
Kogi State governorship ticket on the platform of the PDP.

Nicholas Ugbane

Mr. Ugbane is the
chairman of the senate committee on power. He, alongside his former
counterpart in the house of representatives, Ndidi Elumelu are facing a
158-count charge by the EFCC for their alleged involvement in the
mismanagement of about N6billion meant for the Rural Electrification
Project. They were accused by the EFCC of using 21 companies to siphon
the funds. The ICPC says its investigation on the scandal is still
ongoing. He is currently vying for the governorship ticket of Kogi
State under the PDP.

Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello

The senator,
representing Ogun Central Senatorial district, has indicated interest
in running for her senatorial seat again. Mrs. Obasanjo-Bello, however,
is yet to clear her name with the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC).

She was named in
the popular N300 million unspent budget scandal which led to the
resignation of the then Minister of Health, Adenike Grange, in 2008.
Mrs. Obasanjo-Bello, who was the chairman of the senate committee on
Health at the time, and continues to head the committee, was allegedly
involved in spending N10 million out of the amount. Following her
arrest by the EFCC, she was released on bail. The case is still in
court.

Dimeji Bankole

Though Mr.
Bankole, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has been and is being
investigated by both anti-corruption agencies, EFCC and ICPC, over
different financial scandals, he is yet to be prosecuted for any.

An EFCC investigation report of the N2.8 billion Peugeot car scandal is still unaccounted for by the EFCC.

Though Mr. Bankole
has at press time not submitted his nomination form at the PDP
secretariat, he is believed to be running for the governorship of Ogun
State. However, a non-governmental organisation, the National Forum for
Transparency and Good Governance, has petitioned the PDP to bar Mr.
Bankole, and the deputy speaker, Bayero Nafada from contesting under
the party’s platform.

The directors and
management of 224 microfinance banks (MFBs) that failed a recent target
test are to be prosecuted, while those found culpable of abusing their
positions are to be blacklisted, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said
on Friday.

Kingsley Moghalu,
the bank’s deputy governor, Financial Systems Stability (FSS), who
announced the revocation of the operational licenses and closure of the
banks while presenting an update on the status of country’s MFBs in
Abuja, said the affected banks were either ‘terminally distressed’ or
‘technically insolvent’ or both.

Mr Moghalu put
total deposit of the 820 MFBs at about N18.2billion, total loans
exposure at over N19.6billion and shareholders’ funds of N6.1 billion,
explained that 178 of those classified as technically insolvent had
shareholders’ funds, capital adequacy ratio, and liquidity ratios that
were negative.

Besides, 46 others
under the terminally distressed category had either closed shop for
more than six months or failed to submit returns to the CBN as well as
response for requests for verification of their operational status.

He said that since
the launch of the Microfinance Policy Framework in December, 2005, the
industry encountered several challenges as a result of the operators’
lack of understanding of the microfinance concept and the methodology
for delivery of the services to the target beneficiaries.

“Many of them lost
focus and began to compete with deposit money banks for customers and
deposits, leaving their target market unattended, in spite of efforts
of the regulatory authorities to put them back on track,” he explained.

The situation, he
said became complicated by the impact of the global financial crisis,
resulting in credit lines drying up, competition becoming more intense
and credit risk increasing, while many customers were unable to pay
back their credit facilities owing to the hostile economic environment.

Special examination

To identify
factors that accounted for the failure of some MFBs to achieve the
policy objective of economic empowerment of people at the lower end of
the financial market, particularly their ability to meet matured
obligations to depositors, the CBN, in conjunction with the Nigeria
Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), conducted a special examination
for the 820 registered MFBs in the country.

The special
examination, which lasted between February and June, revealed that most
of the MFBs was affected by high level of non-performing loans,
resulting in high portfolio at risk (PAR), which impaired their
capital; gross undercapitalization in relation to the level of
operations; poor corporate governance and incompetent boards; high
level of non-performing insider-related credits, and other forms of
insider abuses.

The test also
revealed other problems, including heavy investments in the capital
market, with the resultant decline in the value of the investment after
the meltdown; poor asset-liability management owing to portfolio
mismatch; heavy investments in fixed assets beyond the maximum limit
prescribed; operating losses as a result of high expenditure on staff
and other overheads; weak management evidenced by poor asset quality,
poor credit administration, inadequate controls, high rate of fraud and
labour turnover.

Mr Moghalu, who
said the decision to wield the big stick against the erring banks was
pursuant to the provisions of section 12 of Banks and Other Financial
Institutions Act (BOFIA) of 1991 (as amended), said the NDIC would pay
a maximum of N100,000 as insurance coverage to each depositor in the
closed banks.

The action by the Bank, he said, sets the stage for the completion
of the ongoing comprehensive review of the microfinance policy
framework, which would soon be made public, warning that in line with
the reforms in the banking sector to ensure corporate governance and
prudent risk management, MFBs must henceforth operate as responsible
institutions by abiding with the regulatory guidelines.

Thelma Amata Iremiren

Mrs Iremiren was
appointed as one of the representatives of the south-south. Born in
Forcados, Delta State in 1946, she studied Sociology in the University
of Lagos before beginning an extensive federal civil service career
which started with the Ministry of Health in Lagos in December 1970, as
an Assistant Secretary 11.

She rose to the
position of permanent secretary in 2001, serving with the Ministries of
Finance, Works and Housing, Federal Civil Service Commission, National
Planning Commission and finally in the Federal Ministry of Internal
Affairs from where she retired in December 2005.

That career
deepened more at the Ministry of Finance, where she held key federal
positions stretching from representing Nigeria at major international
financial meetings, to managing Nigeria’s relations with the Paris and
London clubs.

Between 1995 and
1998, Mrs Iremiren was the Alternate Governor for Nigeria at the
African Development Bank Group. On the bilateral desk, she was
responsible for mutual financial relations between the federal
government and other nations and took part in preparing Nigeria‘s
external borrowing outline.

As a Permanent
Secretary, later at the National Planning Commission, she assisted the
Chief Economic Adviser, and was also the Secretary to the National
Economic Council. She received the national merit awards of Member of
the Federal Republic (MFR) in 2001 and Officer of the Order of the
Niger (OON) in 2005.

Mrs Iremiren is the chair of the staff establishment committee in charge of employment and posting.

Ishmael Jikiri Igbani

Mr Igbani was
appointed for a second term with INEC and became the first ever
re-appointed commissioner. Born in 1941 in Rivers State, he holds a PhD
in Agricultural Extension Education and Rural Sociology from the
University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA in 1971.

In 1979, he was
named the Minister of State for Industries and later Minister of Works
and Housing in 1983, after an early working career that spanned local
and foreign establishments. In 2003, Mr Igbani was appointed a national
Commissioner of the INEC and served out his tenure in 2008. While in
that capacity, he was a member and head of several committees and
chaired the Board of the Electoral Institute, and later the Political
Party Monitoring Committee.

He was the
Director and later Chairman of Board, Intercontinental Distillers
Limited, Ikeja, Lagos, a position held since 1997. Mr Igbani heads the
election monitoring committee charged with the selection and monitoring
of the observers.

Gladys Nne Nwafor

Mrs Nwafor is the
former Director of Abia State Universal Basic Education Board and a
former member of the governing council of Nnamdi Azikiwe University,
Awka. Until his death, she was married to Chima Ogbonna Nwafor, who was
deputy governor of Abia State under Orji Uzor Kalu between 1999 and
2007. Femi Falana accused her of being a PDP member at a rally in June
but she later denied it.

She was nominated
as a member of the Institute for Agricultural Research and Training,
Ile-Ife, by former president, Umar Yar’Adua, in June 2009.

Mrs Nwafor has a
degree in Political Science from the University of Port Harcourt, and
worked as a teacher and held several education administrative positions
in Abia State for 35 years. She was born in 1949 and was appointed as
one of the representatives from the south-east.

She will take charge of staff welfare and discipline.

Lai Olurode

Mr Olurode is the
INEC commissioner in charge of information. An academic from the
University of Lagos, he served as a professor of Sociology and the Dean
of Social Sciences Faculty. In 2003, he was a visiting professor to the
University of California, Irvine, USA.

He holds a
Doctoral Degree (D.Phil.) in Philosophy from the University of Sussex,
UK, and a Law degree from the University of Lagos. He was born in 1952
at Iwo in Osun State, and is credited with several publications. He is
one of the representatives from the south-west.

Philip Etomike Umeadi

Mr Umeadi is one
of the remaining two commissioners who served under the controversial
former chairman of the commission, Maurice Iwu. He is said to have been
third in command at the time of Mr Iwu’s exit. He is said to have
missed out on becoming the acting chairman after Iwu’s removal owing to
allegations that he was once involved in examination malpractice at
UNIBEN, and was suspended.

Before his
appointment as INEC National Commissioner, he worked as a Legal Officer
in Akure Local Government Council in Ondo State. He also worked as
Principal Solicitor & Counsel at Ezebuilo Umeadi & Co. He is
the Director of Philip Green Nigeria Limited and Mid-Runners Resources
limited.

Mr Umeadi holds a
Law degree from the University of Benin and was born 1963 in Onitsha,
Anambra State. He represents the south-east.

Mr Umeadi takes charge of legal matters.

Solomon Adedeji Soyebi

Mr Soyebi became
the most visible member of the old team that was led by Mr Iwu, and
became the commission’s acting Chairman after Mr Iwu’s removal. Under
his brief watch, the commission took a few controversial decisions,
including the release of the Certificates of Return for two House of
Representatives seats that dragged for more than three years.

Mr Iwu has been
accused of deliberately disobeying previous rulings of the courts on
the cases, allegedly on the instructions of former equally
controversial Attorney General, Michael Aondoakaa. Mr Soyebi served as
a principal in various schools for about 20 years before joining the
Commission in 2003, where he has served at various times as Resident
Electoral Commissioner in Osun, Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Cross River, Kano and
Lagos States. He was born on in 1955 in Ogun State, and holds a degree
in Chemistry from the University of Ibadan, obtained in 1978.

He is believed to
have a turbulent relationship with Mr Umeadi after they repeatedly
clashed over the INEC chairmanship. He is the INEC commissioner in
charge of publicity and information.

Amina Bala Zakari

Mrs Zakari is from
Jigawa State and represents the North Central. She was a Secretary in
the Federal Capital Administration between 2004 and 2007 under former
minister, Nasir El Rufai. A pharmacist and alumni of the Harvard
Business School, she has been the head of consultancy at the Songhai
Medical Centre, Abuja.

She has been handed the post of Chair of the Political Parties Monitoring Committee.

Nuru Yakubu

Mr Yakubu is the
former Executive Secretary of the Nation Board of Technical Education
(NBTE) and a former Rector of the Kaduna State Polytechnic. He
represents Yobe State. He was the National Project Coordinator of the
UNESCO-Nigeria Project for the Revitalization of Technical and
Vocational Education in Nigeria.

He was a member of
the committee on the Future of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education
in Nigeria in 1999 and under the administration of former president,
Olusegun Obasanjo, he served as board member of the National
Directorate of Employment (NDE) since 2001.

He was a member, National Implementation Committee on the Review of Higher Education in Nigeria between 1992 and 1993.

Mr Yakubu will head the operations committee and will oversee the conduct of the elections. He represents the north east.

Mohammed Kurmi Hammanga

Mr Hammanga is a retired Army Colonel and an Architect. He is from Adamawa State and represents the north-east.

Mr Hammanga takes
charge of the Logistics and Transport Committee which has the onerous
task of the acquisition of the sensitive (ballot paper and ballet
boxes) and non sensitive materials. He is also responsible for the
acquisition of all vehicles that will be used during the elections.

Abdulkadir Oniyangi

Mr Oniyangi
represents Kwara State where he was Secretary to the State Government
between 1983 and 1985. He holds a degree in Medicine and was the Chief
Medical Director and Consultant of Hassanah Memorial Hospital in Ilorin.

Born in 1935 in
Ilorin, Mr Oniyangi is by far the oldest appointed commissioner. He,
however, recently dismissed suggestions that age would be a deterrent
in carrying out his duties.

“At 75, I am very
fit,” he declared. “If there is any evidence to show that I am going
down, I will be the first to throw in the towel. As I am now, I think I
am going to stay till I’m 105.”

Mr Oniyangi heads
the BOSTEC committee in charge of the boarding and acquisition of
properties, assets, vehicles and other materials.

Ahmed Wali

Mr Wali was one of
the last nominated commissioners in the current dispensation. The
former Ambassador is from Sokoto and represents the north west.

Mr Wali is in charge of the procurement and tenders board committee.

Chris Iyimoga

Mr Iyimoga is from Nasarawa State and represents the north central region.

He heads the
estate and works committee. He will be responsible for buildings and
management for INEC as well as the erection of new structures.