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The tussle over who
is the PDP’s authentic candidate took another dimension recently when
Justice Gabriel Kolawole, of the Federal High Court, Abuja, upheld the
nomination of Peter Yohanna as the chairmanship candidate of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Bwari Area Council in the Federal
Capital Territory (FCT).

This judgement
thereby restrains the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
from effecting the substitution of Mr. Yohanna’s name with that of Musa
Dikko’s as the PDP candidate in the election slated for April 10, 2010.

History of the case

In a motion dated
March 16, 2010, Sunday Ameh, counsel to Mr. Yohanna, applied for an
order of prohibition restraining INEC and its resident electoral
commissioner from removing Mr. Yohanna’s name as the PDP’s candidate
for the April 10 elections, as he won the primary elections and his
party submitted his name as its candidate to INEC.

Mr. Ameh also asked
for an order of certiorari quashing the INEC’s list of nominated
candidates, in which Mr. Dikko was reflected as the PDP candidate.

Justice Kolawole
granted the orders, saying that INEC and its resident electoral
commissioner, had not shown cause why the order should not be granted.

Mr. Yohanna told
the court that he contested the PDP primaries for Bwari Area Council
chairman election with Mr. Dikko and other applicants, but won the
primary election by the result declared on November 21, 2009, while Mr.
Dikko came second. His name was subsequently forwarded by the state
chairman of PDP to INEC as the party’s candidate for the election. When
INEC recieved his nomination, the organisation published his personal
particulars at its Bwari office and at its FCT headquarters.

However, Mr.
Yohanna testified that on February 8, 2010, to his shock and surprise,
he learned his name was substituted with Mr. Dikko’s by a letter
written by the FCT Chairman of the PDP, and signed by the party’s
national legal adviser, Chief Olusola Oke, to INEC’s resident electoral
commissioner. Mr. Yohanna said he immediately protested the act, as
there was no reason for it.

On March 1, the
PDP’s national chairman, Vincent Ogbaulafor, reversed the substitution
in a letter addressed to INEC chairman, Maurice Iwu. Mr. Yohanna
accused INEC’s FCT resident electoral commissioner of ignoring the
letter and its directives.

Final judgement

Giving judgment in
the case, Justice Kolawole held that the substitution cannot stand in
the face of section 34 of the Electoral Act 2006.

The court noted
that the PDP substituted the plaintiff, Mr. Yohanna, as a result of
various allegations against him, but later cleared him after the party
conducted a thorough investigation and re-affirmed his candidacy.

Accordingly, the
PDP’s letter of February 1st, 2010, disqualifying Mr. Yohanna and
replacing him with Mr. Dikko was quashed by the court. The court upheld
Mr. Ogbulafor’s letter which cleared Mr. Yohanna of all the allegations
against him.

Justice Kolawole
banned Mr. Dikko from parading himself as the PDP candidate, and barred
INEC from further recognising him as the PDP’s flag bearer.

Finally, the court dismissed all the allegations brought against Mr.
Yohanna by Mr. Dikko in his counter-affidavit, which accused Mr.
Yohanna of failing to call witnesses.

The new
attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, Mohammed
Bello Adoke, yesterday, called on lawyers in the ministry to be
advocates of change and reforms in the judicial sector.

Speaking in a
meeting with the top management team of the ministry, Mr. Adoke pledged
to do his best in order to leave a worthy legacy. He promised to build
upon the foundation already laid by his predecessors and said he will
pay particular attention to the reform of administration of criminal
justice, updating of international treaties, arbitration law reform,
and the modernisation of civil procedure, among others.

Take charge

Ambrose Momoh,
chief press secretary to the ministry, said the minister encouraged all
departmental heads, legal advisers and heads of parastatals to take
effective charge of their various posts and deliver results in line
with the reform agenda of the government. He also urged the lawyers to
be diligent in the discharge of their various duties.

Earlier, Mohammed Abdullahi Yola, the solicitor-general of the
federation and permanent secretary in the ministry, welcomed the
Attorney-General on behalf of the staff and said the ministry had
competent lawyers, who are capable of driving the various programmes
and projects lined up for implementation.

The new
attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, Mohammed
Bello Adoke, yesterday, called on lawyers in the ministry to be
advocates of change and reforms in the judicial sector.

Speaking in a
meeting with the top management team of the ministry, Mr. Adoke pledged
to do his best in order to leave a worthy legacy. He promised to build
upon the foundation already laid by his predecessors and said he will
pay particular attention to the reform of administration of criminal
justice, updating of international treaties, arbitration law reform,
and the modernisation of civil procedure, among others.

Take charge

Ambrose Momoh,
chief press secretary to the ministry, said the minister encouraged all
departmental heads, legal advisers and heads of parastatals to take
effective charge of their various posts and deliver results in line
with the reform agenda of the government. He also urged the lawyers to
be diligent in the discharge of their various duties.

Earlier, Mohammed Abdullahi Yola, the solicitor-general of the
federation and permanent secretary in the ministry, welcomed the
Attorney-General on behalf of the staff and said the ministry had
competent lawyers, who are capable of driving the various programmes
and projects lined up for implementation.

The European Union has launched a
financial support, totalling N360 million, for various projects on
democracy and human rights in Nigeria.

In a statement signed by Kelechi
Onyemaobi, the Press and Information Officer of the EU, on Wednesday,
he said the money will cover projects for two years (2009 and 2010),
and will be implemented by non-governmental organisations:

“The European Union (EU) Delegation to
Nigeria has launched a financial support for various new projects
dealing with democracy and human rights. The total amount for the
projects, covering 2009 and 2010, is €1.8 million (about N360 million).

“The projects will be implemented by
non-governmental organisations that will be selected on a competitive
basis and awarded grants by the EU Delegation in Nigeria.”

Projects to be funded

The union also listed the priority
areas that will receive funding under the scheme. They include –
protection of the rights of children and young people (including
actions aimed at addressing child trafficking); protection of women’s
rights (including actions that support the implementation of the
Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination against Women); actions
that aim at the abolition of the death penalty; and actions that target
the prevention of torture and ill-treatment by state agencies,
including extra-judicial killings.

Others are actions that contribute to the peace process in the
Niger-Delta region of Nigeria; and actions that aim at conflict
prevention and/or resolution, especially in Nigerian societies deeply
divided by religious and ethnic issues, by means of civil society
dialogues which seek to bridge societal divides and which bring
together a wide range of stakeholders to share experience and analyse
common problems.

A network of civil
society groups has urged the Attorney General and Minister of Justice,
Mohammed Bello Adoke to prosecute a former military president, Ibrahim
Babaginda over alleged mismanagement of funds.

The coalition, in a
letter addressed to the justice ministry in Abuja, requested that Mr
Babaginda be brought to book over mismanagement of funds running into
about $12.4 billion earned from the sale of crude oil during the Gulf
War in 1991 The group asked the Minister to, “urgently and fully
implement the recommendations of the late Pius Okigbo Panel report
which indicted the former military leader of corruption and
mismanagement of the oil windfall.

The panel was set
up in 1994 by the late Sani Abacha, another former head of state, to
probe how the $12.4 billion oil windfall earned by Nigeria during the
first Gulf War was spent.

The groups said
they were concerned about the failure of successive governments to act
on the report and the non-adaptation of a White Paper since the report
was submitted to the ruling government in 1994, with the last
administration of Olusegun Obasanjo reportedly claiming that the report
could not be found.

The group, which
claims to be in possession of the report, alleged that “the Babangida
administration operated ‘a second but undisclosed budget’ with the then
Central Bank of Nigeria governor, the Abdulkadir Ahmed…and the
operations of these accounts were fraught with irregularities as the
proceeds of the sale of the crude were not shown in the revenue side
nor were the expenditures reflected in the expenditure side of the
budget.” Claiming that corruption is well entrenched in the country,
the group said “fighting it requires being ready and able to confront
powerful interest groups that clearly benefit from the status quo.” It
therefore urged the government not to let the allegations against Mr
Babaginda go unverified.

14 days ultimatum

The activists said
if nothing was done until the expiration of a two weeks ultimatum, they
will “take all appropriate legal actions nationally and internationally
to compel you to comply with Nigeria’s voluntary international
anti-corruption commitments.” The letter was signed by heads of
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP); Access to
Justice (AJ); Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and
Nigeria Liberty Forum, London. Others are Women Advocates and
Documentation Centre (WARDC); Human and Environmental Development
Agenda (HEDA); Committee for Defence of Human Rights (CDHR);
Partnership for Justice; Nigeria Voters Assembly (VOTAS) and Centre for
the Rule of Law On-line campaign.

The group also said it will “mobilise Nigerians through online
campaign tools such as Facebook, You Tube, MySpace, and other platforms
to ensure that sufficient pressure is mounted on the government to
implement the long-standing recommendations of the Okigbo report.” It
also threatened an online campaign on the social networking media,
Twitter against the much rumoured candidacy of Mr Babaginda ahead of
the next general elections.

Phoné (pronounced
‘phonéh’) is slang for phonetics. It refers to that jarring American or
British, German or French accent that some of us adopt.

Perhaps we do it to
feel cool, to be more easily understood or to differentiate ourselves
from everyone else by seeming well-travelled and cosmopolitan.

Who knows what the
motivation for abandoning one’s native accent for a foreign one is,
when we have never left our shores and when we already speak well.

Phoné is funny
because if those really are the objectives, speaking in that affected
way does not help you achieve what you want. To the contrary, instead
of looking cool, you look foolish. Instead of being easily understood,
your speech becomes undecipherable and therefore incomprehensible.
Instead of seeming ‘exposed’, you differentiate yourself as a person
who is aping foreigners in speech rather than in attitude and behaviour.

Imagine speaking to
someone here from the same neigbourhood as you in a deep southern Texan
accent. He will look you up and down and first confirm what his eyes
are telling him, that you are ‘one of us’. Then, he will decide if you
are play-acting, choosing to confound or patronise him or if you are a
lost soul who has turned your back on our culture and are yearning to
live another life as a new person in a different country. The bottom
line is that you are not speaking his language to him, so you are not
seeking to build rapport or reach an understanding.

The results of
affected speech vary greatly. The reaction you receive could be
admiration at the discipline required to deviate from your natural
intonation shown by your masterful delivery of the heavy twang. You
could suffer derision, scorn, laughter, sideways looks of amazement,
and a “what’s wrong with this guy?” More frequently, you could be
cruelly dismissed as a superficial person who does not know the value
of who they are and the culture they are from.

The problem with
phoné is that, unless you have spent more than six months at a time
living abroad and have picked up the local lingo or accent, it is
phoney!!!! People can tell. Language is so much more than just words
and sounds. It is culture. It is a way of life; methods of reasoning;
modes of reacting. It is appreciation for things not found on our
shores, unfamiliar perspectives and different attitudes to time
keeping, formality, showing respect, and hierarchy. Language determines
whether we approach subjects directly or in a roundabout manner. It can
determine whether we are soft spoken or brash.

It only really
works if you are speaking with foreigners or if you have travelled
overseas and are speaking with the natives there. Then, the intonation
and rhythm of speech you adopt is an approximation to theirs. They find
it comforting and welcoming, if somewhat amusing at times and they
generally respond positively to it.

There is absolutely
nothing wrong with phone. As a linguist, I find myself unconsciously
taking on the accent of the person I am speaking to, or of the
environment I find myself in. Being adaptable, both in speech, gestures
and behaviour smoothens the way when interacting with others.

Stick with your own

When in your own
culture, stick with your own phonetics regardless of whom you are
dealing with. Simply focus on speaking clearly and correctly. Build
your knowledge about the world around you. Read, watch documentaries
and enrich the content of your conversations. Remember all those
aspirations you had to feel cool, to be more easily understood, to
differentiate yourself from everyone else by seeming well-travelled and
cosmopolitan – they will all come true.

Oh yes, if you are
learning a foreign language the easiest way to master it is to lay on
full phoné when practicing. Not just the words, but also the gestures,
the attitude, and the flair of the culture the language is used in. It
works.

Another trick is to
try replying in English to someone who is speaking to you in your
language. Make sure that when you reply you use the same rhythms, head
and arm movements, facial expressions and tones as your language. The
other person may not realise for a long while, or at all, that you are
not speaking in vernacular.

Just ask our
politicians. They figured it out a long time ago. They come to your
area, pepper their speech with words in your language, use your
proverbs, sing one of your traditional songs, do some of your
distinctive dance steps, and you are convinced that they are ‘one of
us’. Give it a try and see what happens. Meanwhile, it is all phoné.

Phoné can be funny, but it is also very powerful. Use it wisely! In
a mixed group, use phoné with the foreigners and be natural with your
countrymen. They will all be wowed by your prowess!

The Nigerian Bar
Association yesterday said that it was a shame that, one year after a
panel was constituted to investigate the $180m Halliburton bribe
scandal, no report had been submitted nor any prosecutions made. They
added that the investigation into the case has been ignored by the
relevant authorities.

The President of
the NBA, Rotimi Akeredolu, said this at the 5th Business Law conference
organised by the Section on Business Law of the NBA, in Abuja.

“Last year about
the time of this conference, the Halliburton scandal broke open and at
that time the NBA remarked that it was one scandal too many and it
should not be swept under the carpet,” he said. “All other countries
that are in one way or another connected with the scandal having put
machinery in place to bring the culprits to justice but in Nigeria as
the case often a few attempts at playing to the gallery were made and
thereafter the matter has effectively been swept under the carpet. This
attitude has come to characterise our insincerity to deal with the
issue of corruption which stands firmly between us and development.”
Specifically, he said the manner in which the Halliburton scandal was
handled showed that the country was not sincere in the fight against
corruption.

Show of shame

He further said
that there was nothing wrong with the constitution but that those who
operated it had refused to be decent, adding that the association would
not shy away from speaking the truth to those in power.

He noted that the
disgrace which Nigeria was subjected to before Goodluck Jonathan became
the acting president would have been avoided if only President Umaru
Musa Yar’Adua had followed a path of honour by writing to the
leadership of the National Assembly.

“If honour attended every action following our President’s illness,
we would have been spared the show of shame and object of ridicule that
we have become.”