Nigeria Content Online

Maltreated election observers threaten to go to court

Some election
observers have accused the special assistant to the Kwara State governor
on Electoral Matters, Musa Abdullahi, of maltreating them and have
resolved to go to court for justice.

According to the
leader of the Committee for Democracy and Right of the People, Abdul
Ganiyu Saheed Olaide, their attackers had approached them at the Ajikobi
Ward where the governor, Bukola Saraki, had also voted asking for their
identification and later ordered that they be beaten up.

Mr Abdullahi,
however, denied the allegation, saying “I cannot do such a thing. Not
me.” He refused to make comment further on the issue.

The President of
the Observer group claimed that four of them: Abdulsalam Abdulfatai,
Ibrahim Lukman Bukola, and Akaje Ibrahim were beaten up and had their
clothes torn. “All our cameras, laptops and money were also looted.”

Set for the court

“They should know
that this cannot be swept under the carpet. The commissioner of police
invited me this morning and was pleading with us to forget it. But, to
forget what? I was treated like an animal and treated like a thief. Even
if a thief had been caught, would they treat him like that?

“Someone came to
tell us that they were thumb printing for PDP and that we should come
and catch them. We told the person that we were just observers but that
we can see what the situation is. So we went there, only to be turned
into a fake observer, despite that ID cards on us and we were
mercilessly beaten up,” Mr Abdullahi said.

According to Mr
Abdulfatai, who is also a student leader in a university, “We are
talking with our lawyers and we are going to see to the end of this. We
are just observers and do not have anything to do with any of the
political parties. So we don’t know why we were beaten up and if not for
God who saved us, the government thug could have killed us.” Dabo
Ezekiel, the Police Command spokesperson, however, told NEXT that he was
not aware of any meeting between the group and the police commissioner
and asked them to be calm and follow the path of justice.

Commonwealth team lauds Nigerians for election success

Commonwealth team lauds Nigerians for election success

Commonwealth observers, currently
monitoring the general elections in the country have attributed what
they dub “Nigeria’s credible elections and creditable elections” to the
resilience and doggedness of Nigerian citizens.

At a media briefing in Abuja, the Chair
of the Commonwealth Observer Group, former Botswana President Festus
Mogae said “We noted the deep-seated public frustration at the history
of deficient elections and the desire to make a new beginning. Across
the length and breadth of the country, the people of Nigeria
demonstrated exemplary dignity, responsibility and forbearance, waiting
the entire day peacefully and patiently under the hot sun, or in heavy
rain, to exercise their franchise.” They also commended the efforts of
security agents and the National Youth Service Corps Ad hoc staff saying
that their concerted efforts contributed to the success of the
elections.

“The April 2011 elections marked a
genuine celebration of democracy in Africa’s most populous country and a
key member of the Commonwealth” Mr Mogae said.

Foreign observers praise conduct of presidential polls

Foreign observers praise conduct of presidential polls

International
observers have applauded the conduct of Saturday’s presidential election
but have cited several areas that need to be improved upon ahead of the
governorship polls next week.

The Commonwealth,
National Democratic Institute (NDI), European Union (EU) and the
International Republican Institute issued separate post-election
assessments yesterday amid reports of violent protest against the
outcome of the election in Kano, Kaduna and Bauchi states.

The Commonwealth
mission said the April 2011 elections marked a “genuine celebration of
democracy” in Nigeria saying that previous notions that the nation can
only hold flawed elections be discarded.

Mr Mogae admitted
that the parliamentary polls had procedural problems although there were
improvements. Asked whether he would advise Nigerians to accept the
outcome of the polls, he said: “I say yes,” adding that the
imperfections noticed do not point to deliberate “mischief.” The NDI
said its observation unveiled the inadequacies of the “complicated and
multi-tiered” collation process which the mission said was vulnerable to
human error and manipulation as tabulation proceeds from the polling
unit to the electoral office.

As the statements
were read on Monday in Abuja, fears mounted about the breakdown of law
and order in the Federal Capital Territory as clashes erupted in Dutse,
Mararaba areas of the Federal Capital Territory with no certain number
of casualties.

Already, the NDI led
by the former Canadian Prime Minister, Joe Clark, said its coverage of
the pre-election and the election days, showed there have been 135
politically-motivated deaths.

The election
monitoring teams condemned the renewed unrest yesterday urging aggrieved
candidates in the polls to seek judicial redress.

“Any post election
violence will be regrettable,” said Festus Mogae, the chief observer of
the Commonwealth team and former president of Botswana. “If it is
happening, it is regrettable.”

Assessment

The monitors praised
the poll on the one hand and on the other, criticised series of
processes from the accreditation to counting of results although they
agree the setbacks were minimal to affect the wider result for the
entire nation.

The teams complained
about overcrowded polling stations despite claims by the Independent
National Electoral Commission that sub voting units will be established
for centres beyond 300 voters.

The EU team observed
that for 633 random polling units it monitored across the 36 states,
only 14% were split as INEC directed with the rest having an average 860
voters.

Attempts to induce
voters were noticed in 17 percent, while party agents interfered in 26%.
In spite of these, counting was overall evaluated positively in 91%, it
said.

‘We will not tolerate any form of violence’

‘We will not tolerate any form of violence’

Aminu Kofar-Soro, the Sokoto State Commandant, Nigeria Security and
Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), on Monday warned the people to steer clear
of any political violence and thuggery. He told the News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) that already, detectives had been deployed to identified
“black spots” to gather intelligence information to enhance the security
situation in the state.”We will do all that it takes to sustain the
peaceful environment in the state,” he said. Mr Kofar-Soro also warned
politicians to desist from encouraging any form of violence, saying: “We
will not tolerate any form of violence during and after the polls. We
are out to ensure the safety of lives and property.” He advised parents
not to allow politicians to use their children as political thugs,
warning that security officers had been ordered to arrest and prosecute
any person or group of persons found breaching the peace. MR Kofar-Soro
appealed to the public to assist security agencies with useful
information on criminal activities in their areas for prompt action.
“Security matters should not be left in the hands of security officers
alone,” he said.

Eguavoen upbeat over All African Games ticket

Eguavoen upbeat over All African Games ticket

After
the 1-1 draw against Liberia on Saturday, the coach of the Nigerian
side, Augustine Eguavoen has said his team will do the business when
they meet the Liberians again in a fortnight.

This was what the
former Super Eagles coach claimed after watching his team forced to the
draw by the Liberia U-23 side. The match was played at the Samuel Kayon
Doe stadium and it was the first leg, first round of the All Africa
games qualifiers, The Nigerian team dubbed; “The Dream team V” is
expected to beat their foes after their five-star showing against
Equatorial Guinea two weeks ago.

Eguavoen said:
“They are a good side but they will not survive my team in the return
leg. They were only lucky today that my boys did not convert the
chances that came our way. Also, the pitch did not allow us to express
ourselves but the story would be different back in Nigeria”.

An angry Eguavoen also poured out his mind over the harsh treatment meted to his team on arrival to Monrovia.

“I am not happy
with the Liberia Football Federation. It’s a shame that in this
advanced stage of the game, African countries can still pull such
antics. When we arrived, they left my team stranded at the airport for
three hours, transported us to the hotel in a bus with no ventilation.
As if that was not enough, they dumped us in a hotel without power and
delayed meals, leaving my players to sleep on the floor at afternoon
because of heat and then this race course they call a pitch,” Eguavoen
lamented to Liberian press.

He however assured that Nigeria will qualify for the next round of the All Africa games by beating Liberia convincingly

Cases of theft

While the Dream
Team was on the pitch doing battle, some unidentified people reportedly
broke into the locker room of the team carting away Leicester City
midfielder, Uchechi Daniel‘s Blackberry phone and Edet Ibok’ spare
boots.

Uchechi opened
scoring for Nigeria in the 33rd minute from the spot while a Johnson
Samuel header in the 63rd minute drew Liberia level.

Nigeria failed to make it to Algiers 2007 All African Games football event.

Sports

Falcons prove supremacy in Namibia

Falcons prove supremacy in Namibia

Nigeria’s
women football team, the Super Falcons, confirmed their supremacy, at
least on the African continent, with a 2-0 win over the Namibian
national team. This followed its 7-0 victory over the Namibian team two
weeks ago in Abuja. The Nigerian ladies thus won the tie 9-0 on
aggregate. The team paraded an array of locally-based players as the
technical crew continue to work on it, in preparation for the 2011 FIFA
Women’s World Cup kicking off in June in Germany.

Though the Brave
Gladiators, as the Namibian team is known, tried their best, the
Falcons scored through Ebere Orji and a penalty converted by Stella
Mbachu, both in the first half.

Reports on
namibiasport.com.na, concede that the Falcons were vastly superior to
the home team and that they dominated the match throughout the 90
minutes of play. In the whole of the first half, the ball hardly
entered the Falcons’ area. The Namibians were forced to play
defensively as forays by Falcons attackers overwhelmed the hosts.

The Nigerians
scored the first goal when Orji took advantage of a fumble by the
Namibian defence in the 20th minute to slot the ball past the Namibian
goalkeeper, Sussana Eises. The second goal was a penalty when
Gladiators’ defender, Rejoice Kasaona, handled the ball in the box.
Falcons’ Mbachu sent Namibian goalkeeper, Sussana Eises, the wrong way
and it was game over.

The start of the
second half was almost marred by heavy rain, which seemed to invigorate
the Namibian side. The Gladiators threw everything into attack, to at
least get a goal. The onslaught was led by pint-sized striker Juliana
Skrywer. The rain however made play more difficult on a bumpy pitch. As
a result the Namibians committed more errors.

The Falcons had beaten the Namibian team 10-1 on aggregate in their
last meeting. The Falcons are billed to face the winner of the
Equatorial Guinea versus Cameroun tie.

Sports

Nadal in seventh Monte Carlo heaven

Nadal in seventh Monte Carlo heaven

Rafael
Nadal once again confirmed his supremacy on clay, by claiming the Monte
Carlo Masters tournament for the seventh time on Sunday, by beating
compatriot, David Ferrer in two straight sets of 6-4 and 7-5. That was
the world number one’s first Masters 1000 tournament in 2011. He had
lost in Indian Wells and Miami to Novak Djokovic, who was however
absent with an injury from Monte Carlo.

Nadal, thus enters
the history books as the first man in the Open era to win the same
tournament on seven successive occasions. A comfortable service in the
12th game of the second set saw the Spaniard take the match and the
title but not before Ferrer had broken in the ninth game to lead
briefly 5-4. At 24, Nadal has now won 44 titles.

There was three
breaks each in the first and second sets with Nadal breaking in the
third and fifth games of the first and in the third and 11th game in
the second set.

Record breaker

The 24-year-old
increased his Monte Carlo record to 39-1 with 37 consecutive wins after
opening with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Jarkko Nieminen. The world number
one followed that first round win with a 6-2, 6-4 win over number 13
seed, Richard Gasquet. He lost only four games to Ivan Ljubicic, and
then had to play three sets for the first time in the semifinal match
against Briton, Andy Murray. The loss of 2-6, in the second set was a
blip that was quickly consigned to history with his blistering 6-1 win
over an inconsistent Murray in the third set. He showed throughout the
week that he will be hard to dislodge at the top of the rankings and
improved his return serve percentage to close to 50%.

The tournament director, Zeljko Franulovic, had announced on Sunday
morning, a record-breaking attendance of 125,000 spectators. The world
number one is now fast closing on the highest number of clay court
titles in the open era. Nadal with yesterday’s win joins Bjorn Borg and
Manuel Orantes on 30 titles on clay.

Sports

Stop/start Hamilton ends Vettel’s streak

Stop/start Hamilton ends Vettel’s streak

McLaren’s
Lewis Hamilton went from China crisis to champagne celebration on
Sunday with a stirring victory that denied Red Bull’s Formula One world
champion, Sebastian Vettel, a fifth win in a row.

Hamilton, who made
it out of the Shanghai pit lane with only seconds to spare after
frantic work on his car’s engine before the race, hunted down his
German rival remorselessly on better-gripping tyres in the closing laps
to win by 5.1 seconds.

Australian Mark
Webber, finished third for Red Bull after starting 18th while McLaren’s
Jenson Button was fourth following a rare blunder that saw him pit in
front of the Red Bull mechanics.

Vettel now has 68
points after three races while Hamilton moved up to second overall with
47. Red Bull have 105 to McLaren’s 85 and Ferrari’s 50 in the
constructors’ standings.

“With the whole
thing that happened in the pit lane, perhaps I wasn’t even going to be
in the race,” Hamilton told reporters after a thrilling and
strategy-loaded race that left even drivers confused.

“I thought I was
going to be back with Mark,” added the Briton who gave a whoop of
delight to celebrate his and McLaren’s first win since Belgium in
August last year.

The 26-year-old,
triumphant in Shanghai on his way to the title in 2008, was the first
driver to win twice in China since the race made its debut on the
calendar in 2004.

“The car just
wouldn’t start,” he said of the pre-race problems that saw him drive
out of the garage barely 30 seconds before the pit lane closed and
without the rear engine cover installed.

Mechanics carried on their work once he was safely installed in third place on the grid.

Strategic decision

Vettel had won the
first two races of the season, after also finishing first in the last
two of 2010, from pole position and looked the favourite again after
grabbing the top slot.

His team’s decision
to go for a two-stop strategy, rather than Hamilton’s three, proved
crucial with the McLaren man making the most of his fresher tyres to
reel in the Red Bull after his final stop.

“The pace was
there,” said Vettel, who had lost out to both the McLarens at the
start. “It was there all weekend but once we decided to go to two stop
you have to be patient, look after your tyres and when it doesn’t work,
it doesn’t work.

“I saw there were seven laps to go and not much I could do,” he added.

“I don’t see second today as a disappointment, all in all we are happy with second. First was not meant to be.”

Hamilton and
Button, who started on the front row, had both screamed past Vettel at
the start with the older Englishman leading the eventual winner for the
first 13 laps.

The 2009 champion
then blew his lead on his first pit stop with a mistake that would have
embarrassed even a rookie, let alone one of the smoothest of drivers.

With Vettel
following him in, moments after passing Hamilton for second place,
Button stopped in front of the German’s mechanics who hurriedly ushered
him out to make way for their man – who was then first out again.

“I was looking down and when I looked back up I could see I was in the wrong place,” he said.

Webber charge

While the top five
were separated by less than eight seconds after more than a third of
the race, Webber was on a charge of his own.

Robbed of his
chances of winning by a technical problem on Saturday, he ran a
different strategy to his team mate thanks to having three sets of
unused option tyres due to his lack of track time on Saturday.

“I had a few sets
of tyres left over from qualifying so that helped a bit,” he said,
adding jokingly: “Maybe that is the best way to do it all the time, not
even take part in qualifying and just go from there.”

Germany’s Nico
Rosberg also enjoyed a moment in the limelight, leading after
successive rounds of pit stops for Mercedes, but his hopes of a first
career win after five seasons in Formula One faded as his team urged
him to save fuel.

Rosberg finished fifth, ahead of Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso in sixth and seventh.

Seven times world champion, Michael Schumacher, crossed the line in
eighth place for Mercedes at the circuit where he had his last podium
finish with Ferrari in 2006.

Sports

Flying Eagles out to break Ghana jinx

Flying Eagles out to break Ghana jinx

Nigeria’s
U-20 team, the Flying Eagles have met with their Ghanaian counterparts;
the Black Satellites thrice at the Africa Youth Championship (AYC),
losing on the three occasions.

However, today at
the Dobsonville Stadium in South Africa by 11.00am (Nigerian time), the
John Obuh-led U-20 team will have another chance to break the jinx as
they get their AYC campaign off the ground against the defending world
and African champions, Ghana. The other teams in the group of death,
Group B, are Cameroun and Gambia.

“We are in good
spirits since our arrival here in South Africa,” Obuh said. “We just
want to go out there and get the result we came here for. We clashed
with Ghana in an invitational tournament last year and I also watched
Cameroun play against Egypt in Dubai, so we have gathered some useful
information about these teams already,” he added.

Ghana had defeated
Nigeria 4-1 in the 2001 AYC group stages, 1-0 in the 1999 final for one
of their three titles and 1-0 in 1993 group stage.

Beaming confidence

Despite the
intimidating record of the Black Satellites, Terry Envoh, Flying Eagles
forward says his teammates are ready for today’s crunch tie.

“We have a team full of quality players who are hungry to make Nigeria proud. We will not disappoint the country” he assured.

“We are
unstoppable! There is a great understanding in the team after we
trained together for long and we all know that what is expected of us
is the cup and nothing less” he said.

Also another Flying
Eagles forward, Olanrewaju Kayode, who was a part of the U-17 team in
2009, said he and some of his teammates who could not win the 2009 FIFA
Under-17 World Cup right in front of the home crowd, hope to make up
with the African trophy in South Africa.

Meanwhile Ghana’s coach, Orlando Wellington also admits that the first game with Nigeria is quite important for his team.

“It’s one game at a
time. We can’t think beyond that game. We only have Nigeria to think
about for now, Nigeria have a good side, they are very strong. We
respect them,” he said.

“We would play to
protect our status as champions. Every team we play against would be
motivated to beat us but we want to ensure that we keep our title.

“I have enough confidence in my team to challenge for the title
again. This present squad can go on to win it,” the Ghana coach boasted.

Sports

Arsenal concede title to United

Arsenal concede title to United

After
Arsenal scored in the 98th minute through Robin van Persie, it seemed
that it was game on for the English Premier League (EPL) title but
unfortunately for the Gunners, they contrived to concede a penalty of
their own when Emmanuel Eboue pushed Lucas in the 99th minute. Dirk
Kuyt stepped up to take the penalty and slotted the ball to the right
of Wojciech Szczesny.

So with the last kick of the game, the Gunners handed Manchester United the advantage.

Arsenal in their
last five matches have drawn four and won one, against Blackpool. Of
the four draws, three have been at the Emirates. The Gunners now have
to be looking anxiously over their shoulders as Chelsea now sit just
two points away in third position.

So at the Emirates
with Manchester United manager, Alex Ferguson, watching on, it was the
case of two late penalties but a favourable outcome for the 18-time
champions and it could be a 19th title in some weeks time, surpassing
Liverpool as the most successful league club in England.

So with six matches
to the end of the season, it seems the Red Devils will be coasting home
to a 19th title though it is still mathematically possible for Arsenal
to overhaul United. Though the run-in favours United, Alex Ferguson’s
men still have to face Chelsea and Arsenal in consecutive matches. And
there is the distraction of the semi-final matches against Schalke 04
but United will have to lose twice and the Gunners must then ensure
that they win their remaining fixtures starting with the away trip to
London rivals, Tottenham Hotspurs on Wednesday. Arsene Wenger had stern
words with referee, Andre Mariner at the end of the match but he must
concede that his team and not the centre referee cost his team the win
they highly craved.

Stoke destroy Bolton’s FA Cup dreams

Stoke City booked
their place in the FA Cup final match against Manchester City with a
five-goal demolition of Bolton on Sunday at Wembley.

Stoke City got off
to the best of starts with three goals in the first 30 minutes through
Matthew Etherington, Robert Huth and Kenwyne Jones.

Bolton’s manager,
Owen Coyle, must have wondered whether his team had wandered aimlessly
into Wembley on Sunday, and the second half display did not in any way
improve the manager’s countenance.

Jonathan Walters
then stepped up from the City bench and added the gloss to the drubbing
with goals in the 68th minute and 78th minute to complete the most
unlikely of results.

Stoke also achieved the biggest margin of victory in an FA Cup
semifinal since 1908. The final match of the oldest cup competition in
the world will be played at Wembley on May 14, 2011.