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The eight ICT
companies shortlisted by the Independent National Electoral Commission
for the purchase of equipment for the voters’ registration exercise may
know the outcome of their security screening today.

The names of the
companies were submitted to the State Security Service for screening on
Monday amidst criticism that not enough Nigerian companies were
enlisted. An INEC source close to the procurement process revealed last
night that only Google and Zinox Technologies had passed initial
clearing for the supply of software and hardware respectively.

Google is the
world’s leading internet-based services provider and is being
considered for the supply of the software that will power the data
capture machines. Zinox Technologies is a Nigerian company whose
chairman, Leo-Stan Ekeh, recently pledged his company’s capacity to
deliver the 120,000 direct data capture machines within eight weeks.

The other six
companies being considered are Dimension Data, Image Technology,
Resourcery ltd, Basmak, Pacific Millenium and Joint Komputer Company.

According to the
source there were two companies in particular that faced some
challenges because of a poor supply record particularly in regards to
the last general election.

“There are two companies on that list who were not first choice to deal with,” the source said.

“It would be unfair
of me to name them in the media but they may face some challenges with
the SS because they did not supply on time before.”

The N74bn contract
for the acquisition of the direct capture machines has been split into
three key components namely, the supply of the hardware consisting of a
laptop, a web cam and a finger printing device; supply of the software
needed to drive the entire process and lastly the expertise to
integrate the various components into one functional unit.

In sending the
shortlist to the SSS, the chairman, Attahiru Jega, is aiming for
transparency and credibility according to the source. With four
indigenous companies out of the total eight, the source said that Mr.
Jega was also aiming to aid the local economy.

“There were hundreds of companies bidding and we have gone for a
blend of both local and international skill sets,” the source said.

The southwest
leadership of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), has cautioned
governors of Osun and Oyo States, Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Adebayo
Alao-Akala, against further delay in resolving the crisis between the
governments of the two states over Ladoke Akintola University of
Technology (LAUTECH) to avoid the hammer of the National University
Commission (NUC) on the institution.

Ayo Afolabi, the
party’s director of publicity in the region, in a press release in
Ibadan on Tuesday, also called on elders of the two owner-states of the
university to prevail on the two governors on the crisis, for the sake
of posterity.

He said if the
governors fail to resolve the crisis now, and allow their ego to
eventually push the NUC to withdraw the university’s licence as earlier
threatened, posterity will not be kind to them.

“Throwing away the
LAUTECH licence deliberately on the altar of irresponsible fight by
these spoilt-brat governors, who obviously have no iota of respect for
education, as they do not have the benefit of it, will amount to the
greatest disservice to the institution,” the release stated.

Mr. Afolabi
wondered what could be the crux of the fight “that it could not be
amicably resolved in the corporate interest of the institution and the
owner states, as had been the case with matured and reasonable chief
executives who had managed the destiny of LAUTECH since 1991 when Osun
State was carved out of Oyo State.”

According to him,
educational activities in the two states have been in limbo for some
months, and students and staff in the educational sector have continued
to bear the brunt.

Destruction of university

“It is on record
that teachers in all secondary schools in Oyo State have been on strike
for well over three months now, while Osun State government had just
coned the lecturers of the four higher institutions it owned, to
suspend its four month old strike, which they called for legitimate
demands.”

He further noted
that the two states possess weak educational policies, as the incumbent
governors display little respect for the sector.

Suggesting a due
process if the owner-states desires halt the joint ownership of the
university, Mr. Afolabi accused Messrs Alao-Akala and Oyinlola of
working towards the destruction of the university “founded and nurtured
on the strength of integrity of reputable elderly and selfless
indigenes with great foresight for the future.

“Our party is of
the view that if it becomes inevitable that joint ownership of LAUTECH
will come to a halt, it should pass through due process and laid down
procedures, with the concerned parties taking their dues, the interest
of the students adequately protected, the staff taken in to due
consideration, while the institution’s future and destiny is not
disrupted.

“The ACN is calling
on the elders of the two owner’s states to come together NOW to rescue
the institution. The earlier the elders act, the better for the
institution that had been officially rated as the best state owned
university in Nigeria,” the release concluded.

The Chief Justice
of Nigeria (CJN), Aloysius Katsina-Alu, has ordered an Abuja High Court
judge, Othman Musa, to explain why he evicted the legal resident of an
Abuja house during a custody dispute. Mr. Musa has two weeks to explain
why he should not be sacked for his decision.

The Justice was
acting on a dispute between Mr Eyiboh and Hassan Muhammed Gusau, a
senator from Zamfara State. The two have been locked in a contentious
legal battle since 2008 over the land on which Mr. Eyiboh erected his
house.

On May 28, Justice
Musa granted an ex-pate motion evicting Eseme Eyiboh, a House of
Representatives member from Akwa Ibom State, from his private residence
in Area 11, Garki. Mr. Gusau had a writ of possession from a Sharia
court in Jigawa State and a letter from an Abuja Upper Area Court
judge, directing the police to aid the enforcement of the eviction.

On June 3, a team
of officers, led by a bailiff and Mr. Gusau’s relatives, arrived at the
house early in the morning and threw out Mr Eyiboh’s belongings. The
representative said that it took the intervention of his lawyers to
dissuade the team from carrying out the eviction.

The lawyers
questioned why Justice Musa had approved such an action when Mr. Eyiboh
had not been joined in the Jigawa suit, nor was his name mentioned in
the Abuja court order.

On June 30, the
judge reversed his order, saying that it was given in error. He ordered
Mr. Eyiboh to take back possession of the home.

However, not satisfied with the new order, Mr Eyiboh petitioned the
CJN, who is also the chairman of the National Judicial Council. “I
believe sincerely that Musa colluded with my adversary, Hassan Muhammed
Gusau, to forcefully evict me from my property and hand over possession
to the said Gusau,” said Mr. Eyiboh, in the petition.

The Oyo State
chapter of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday promised to
give more slots to women in the next political dispensation.

The state secretary
of the party, Bashiru Akanbi, disclosed this at the party secretariat,
Ibadan, on Tuesday, while receiving party members from Ona-Ara local
government of the state, who came to present Jumoke Akinjide, a
senatorial candidate from the council, for the Oyo central senatorial
district.

“Oyo State will be
gender sensitive. We are committed to the Beijing, China declaration
that gave women participation in politics 35 percent,” he said.

Mr. Akanbi also
said, in line with Goodluck Jonathan’s commitment to credible elections
in 2011, the party will ensure a level-playing ground for all aspirants
in the party during their primaries.

According to him,
since the president, as the leader of the party, has made the
commitment at every opportunity he had to speak within and outside the
country, it is expected that the local units of the party should
express its seriousness through internal democracy.

“Ensuring credible
election must start from home. The PDP executive in the state will
remain an unbiased umpire for the primaries.

“By being fair to
all, candidates would avail anybody that eventually grabs the ticket
the confidence of every member, including those who lost the ticket to
him,” Mr. Akanbi stated.

The party scribe urged all members of the party to participate fully in the proposed review of voters’ register.

Game of number

He explained that
since the president and the chairman of Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega, have assured Nigerians of free, fair,
and credible elections in 2011, the coming elections will be games of
number.

He asked them to go out and register, and mobilise their supporters to also do so, saying it is their civic responsibility.

Commending members
of the party in the senatorial district over their conduct during
campaigns and political rallies, Mr. Akanbi urged members from other
districts in the state to do the same.

“Oyo Central
senatorial district is the only place in the state where aspirants and
their supporters relate peacefully at rallies. In all their programmes
I have attended, there were never booming of guns and use of any
weapon. They have been peaceful,” he said.

The aspirant, in her speech, promised to give the district
responsible representation if elected to the upper chamber of the
National Assembly, saying she would not disappoint the party either.

Nasarawa State
joined other states in promising to support Goodluck Jonathan should he
decide to run for president in the 2011 elections after a 30-man
delegation led by the state’s governor, Aliyu Akwe Doma, and the
minister of state for information, Labaran Maku, visited the president
yesterday to convey the message.

“We wish to state
that should you decide to answer the clarion calls on you from
different parts of the country to contest the 2011 Presidential
Election, we, the people of Nasarawa State are resolved to give you our
total support and commitment,” Mr Doma, said.

The governor, who
spoke with journalists after meeting with the president, said the
decision was taken “because I am confident and believe in his capacity
to lead this country”.

Welcoming the
promise of support, Mr. Jonathan said he was greatly encouraged by the
delegation’s visit and its appreciation of his administration’s
achievements in the time it has had in office.

Mr. Jonathan said he will draw on the pledged support should he decide to contest next year.

Making votes count

During the visit,
the President reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring that every vote
counts in next year’s general elections, saying he will not compromise
his commitment to credible elections.

“We will not shift
an inch away from it. Public office holders must truly enter office
with the mandate of the people. If votes do not count, then public
office holders cannot be compelled to do the right thing. Ensuring that
all votes count is therefore the best way of ensuring that our
democracy stabilizes and our people reap its positive dividends,” Mr
Jonathan told the delegation.

Plea for better roads

The Nasarawa
delegation requested that the dualisation of the Abuja -Keffi road be
extended to Akwanga and Lafia, and onward to Makurdi and Enugu.

To this Mr Jonathan
said it was his belief that all the arterial roads into Federal Capital
should be expressways to facilitate easy movement in and out of the
city.

“We must factor it
into our long-term national planning,” he said, adding that his
administration is committed to strengthening institutional structures
to enhance proper long-term planning and continuity in project delivery.

The delegation
included the Nasarawa State Deputy Governor, Michael Abdul; former
governor Abdullahi Adamu; the Speaker of the State House of Assembly,
Musa Mohammed; the Emir of Lafia and Chairman of the State Council of
Chiefs, Mustapha Agwai; senators, Abubakar Sodangi and Walid Jibrin and
Yunana Iliya .

Others in the delegation were Yusuf Agade Ayitogo; PDP National Vice
Chairman, North Central Zone, Hussaini Akwanga; Joseph Umaru, Hassan
Mohammed Agwai; the Emir of Nasarawa, Hassan Ahmed; the Andoma of Doma,
Ahmadu Onawo; the Eus Karu, Luka Panya Baba and several community
leaders.

Enugu lawmakers, on
Tuesday, attended the plenary session of the state House of Assembly in
an all-black attire as a mark of respect to their colleague, Emma
Maduabu (PDP-Awgu South), who died earlier in the month. The late
lawmaker had been in coma for two weeks due to injuries sustained in an
auto crash in which his wife and five others died.

Before the session,
a minute silence was observed for the deceased and the others who died
in the auto crash. A condolence register has also been opened at the
entrance of the Assembly and at the legislators’ quarters. The Clerk of
the House, Ifeoma Okereke, described the death of the lawmaker as
unfortunate, because “he died without a word to anybody.” “There will
be a valedictory session for him on September 8 and a wake at his
residence in the evening same day,” she said.

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas
Workers (NUPENG) says it has stopped the supply of petroleum products
to Lagos State to enable it get to the source of adulterated products
in the state.

Igwe Achese, the National President of NUPENG,
told journalists in Abuja on Monday that there was a claim from
government that union members were involved in the supply of the
products.

“We are workers in the sector and if there is any
problem of product adulteration we want to be involved and we want to
trace those who are involved in this and we are going to join
government to fight this.

“We want to fight the issue of product
adulteration whereby some individuals are adulterating products that
are causing fire incidents in various forms and posing danger to life
and property,’’ he said.

Mr. Achese disclosed that last weekend, the union
discovered about 20 trucks loaded with adulterated products at one
location in the state.

He said that the union informed the Lagos State
commissioner of police who deployed officers to guard the location till
Monday when the trucks would be handed over to the appropriate
authorities for investigation.

“Surprisingly, the same police DPO who sent his
people to come and join our members to protect the environment, came
back and ordered that the trucks should be released and also asked our
members to leave that place,’’ he added.

“So this morning our members who were asked to go and inspect the
area found that the number plates of the trucks had been removed. All
we want to do is to let government know that we are fighting a just
cause, so we decided not to supply petroleum products until this issue
is settled.

Hundreds of youth under the aegis of
the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), on Monday, staged a protest
at the Ministry of Justice, Abuja, calling for the release of Hamza
Al-Mustapha, former chief security officer to the late head of state,
Sani Abacha, and three others.

The others are former Lagos
commissioner of police, James Danbaba, former Zamfara State military
administrator, Jubrin Bala Yakubu, and former chief superintendent of
police, Mohammed Rabo Lawal. The youth carried various placards with
pictures of Mr Al-Mustapha, with various inscriptions calling for their
immediate release.

Some placards read: ‘President Goodluck
Jonathan, free Al-Mustapha and others for democracy’, ‘The youths want
Al-Mustapha released’, ‘Justice delayed amounts to justice denied’,
among others.

Let justice reign

However, another human rights group,
Education Right Campaign, called on Goodluck Jonathan to ignore the
calls for the release of the four who are currently standing trial in a
Lagos court.

According to Taiwo Soweto and Chinedu
Bosah, Mr Al-Mustapha and the others committed various nefarious
activities under the late Abacha, and must face justice rather than be
released.

But the leader of the AYCF, Shettima
Yerima, said that keeping Mr Al-Mustapha and others behind bars
contradicted Nigeria’s position as a signatory to UN and Commonwealth
Conventions and Resolutions on Human Rights, Torture, Detention and
Imprisonment.

According to him, all the witnesses
that the state has pushed forward in the court have, by and large,
debunked the allegations levelled against these gentlemen.

Neither the Attorney General of the
Federation, Mohammed Adoke, nor any official from the ministry,
addressed the protesting youth, while the two gates to the ministry
were locked, thereby preventing people from going in or coming out of
the building.

Nigeria has
officially received the exclusive United States of America Category 1
air safety rating which allows direct flight operations to the US.

Nigeria’s aviation
minister, Fidelia Njeze, received the certification from outgoing US
ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Sanders, yesterday at a brief ceremony in
Abuja, making Nigeria the sixth African nation after Cape Verde, Egypt,
Ethiopia, Morocco, and South Africa to receive the status.

The rating is
determined under the US Federal Aviation Administration’s assessment of
how countries meet the International Civil Aviation Organization safety
standards, and Nigeria’s certification is based on the results of July
2010 FAA review of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority.

The certification
means Nigeria has complied with the safety regulations set by the
international body, as assessed by the US aviation authorities, and
Nigerian-registered flights have direct permits to the US. Such flights
too would benefit from reduced premium charges and receive preference
for leasing.

Ms. Njeze said the
“covetous” status marks a “milestone” in the history of the nation’s
aviation. “By this certification, Nigeria has been put in the premier
league of aviation. We celebrate commitment today, we celebrate
dedication, and celebrate success,” she said.

Nigeria’s aviation
relations with the United States was seriously hurt after last
December’s failed terrorist attack on the US by a Nigerian, Umar
AbdulMutallab. In recent months, the NCAA director general, Harold
Demuren, has assured of efforts the agency has made to secure the
rating.

The US ambassador,
Ms. Sanders, said the recognition was “hard fought and well-deserved”
and praised Mr. Demuren, for the success.

“This achievement
is an important milestone for Nigeria and US bilateral relations. The
US Mission, NCAA, and FAA have worked together as a team in the true
spirit of bilateral partnership over the last two years to achieve this
goal,” she said.

The International
Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) carried out by the FAA, offers the
category 1 rating to countries with laws and regulations that can
oversee air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards
for technical expertise, trained personnel, record keeping, and
inspection procedures.

Ms. Njeze, becoming
the first aviation minister to achieve this, said “it was a long
journey that had ended well.” However, she said “the journey has just
started.”

“I thank the
American government for the confidence in Nigeria and assure them that
we will maintain that.” She said the government will continue to
upgrade the airports, personnel, and safety standards.

Farmers in Jigawa State have commended the state government for making fertiliser available and affordable to them.

Hashiru Umar, a
farmer in Auyo Local Government Area of the state, who spoke with the
News Agency of Nigeria, on Monday, in Dutse, said the gesture would
improve the state’s lot. “This singular gesture by Governor Sule Lamido
is one of the things that farmers in the state will not forget,” he
said. “You know Jigawa State is rated as one of the poorest states in
the country going by statistics released by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
However, with the provision of fertilisers, insecticides, and other
modern farming implements to farmers, the economy of the state will
improve.’’

Nasidi Ali, the
state’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, had told
announced that 14,463 tonnes of fertiliser, worth N1.5 billion, would be
distributed to farmers. Mr Ali said the gesture was meant to support
farmers who constitute the bulk of the state’s population and also to
boost food production. According to him, the fertiliser brands comprised
of NPK and Urea; and would be sold to farmers at a subsidised rate of
N2,000 as against the cost price of N4,600.

Giving a breakdown of how it will be distributed, the commissioner
said that 13,816 tonnes would be distributed to farmers across the 27
local government areas of the state, while 225 tonnes would be
allocated to the state’s Agricultural Development Programme. He also
reiterated the governor’s warning that anybody caught diverting the
commodity would face the wrath of the law. And to prevent diversion, Mr
Ali said fertiliser distribution committees had been constituted at the
state, local government and ward levels.

NAN