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Over the week,
federal lawmakers began the final stage of adjusting the constitution to
provide enough time for the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) to prepare and deliver credible elections next year without
shifting the May 29 handover date.

Although the efforts
of the lawmakers have offset some of the huddles that might have
chocked INEC if they went ahead with the old timeline, the election
management body still faces obvious timeline challenges.

One of the major
amendments to the constitution is that of the timeline, which has been
widened. The new changes recommend that elections be held not earlier
than 150 days and not later than 30 days before the expiration of a
running term.

That gives INEC a
total of four months – between 29 December 2010 to 29 April 2011 –
within which to organise and hold elections. But the Electoral Act gives
INEC the power to fix election dates. But elections would preferably
hold in April 2011.

In a meeting with
the senators early this month, Atahiru Jega, the chairman of INEC, said
if the commission has till April 2011, it will organise a free, fair,
and credible election. Tentatively, elections would hold in April but
not in one day and the furthest the first elections can hold, in
accordance with the law, is on the first weekend of that month.

Section 25 of the
Electoral Act 2010 provides that elections be staggered, with the Senate
and House of Representatives elections coming first. Thereafter, the
Presidential elections and later the state Houses of Assembly and
Governorship elections will hold the same day.

Important dates

The basic for a
credible election is a reliable voters’ register. The Electoral Act
requires that the voters list of each local government, council area, or
ward be displayed for scrutiny not later than 30 days before a general
election.

With the furthest
date for the first election being on the first weekend of April 2011,
the voters’ list must be on display before the first week of March 2011
and that is away.

Currently, the
Bureau of Public Procurement and INEC are yet to finalise the terms on
which the Data Capturing Machines INEC intend to use to conduct a fresh
voters’ register will be purchased.

The purchase of the
Data Capturing Machines is a major step to kick start the process of the
forthcoming general elections and industry experts say the process of
purchasing the machines may take up to 8 weeks or more.

Going by that
estimate, if INEC finalises with BPP this week, voters’ registration may
commence early next year. But if INEC fails to commence the purchase
process early enough in November, voters’ registration may be rushed in
February of next year to beat deadlines, and errors and malpractices
will be inevitable.

Kayode Idowu, INEC’s
public relations officer, however, said his organisation is
“virtually” through with BPP on the process of purchasing the data
capturing machines.

Other important
dates INEC would have to meet with the new timeline include publishing
its election timetable before the end of January.

The 2010 Electoral
Act in section 30 provides that INEC shall publish the date of elections
“90 days before the date appointed for holding of an election.”

Political parties
are also expected to submit to the commission list of the candidates
they propose to sponsor in the election 60 days (2 months) before the
date of the elections.

Reaction chain

Also, with the
latest amendment, the settlement of election cases before swearing-in
dates is no longer practicable in the next general elections.

The new amendment
recommends that an election tribunal shall deliver its judgment on a
case within 180 days (6 months) from the date of the filing of the
petition. It also stipulates that the petitions be filled within 21 days
after the elections.

“An appeal from a
decision of an election tribunal or court shall be heard and disposed
of within 60 days (two months) from the date of the delivery of
judgment of the tribunal,” the new constitution also recommends.

In the case of
presidential and governorship elections – including deputy governors –
the appeals could also go further to the Supreme Court.

Allowing petitions
on governorship elections go up to the Supreme Court is an idea of the
Senate in the amended constitution, but if the House of Representatives
accepts it, it will further extend the time an illegal officer would
occupy political office beyond one year, completely defeating the
initial aim of the first amendment to the constriction.

Ike Ekweremadu, the
deputy Senate president who also heads the Senate ad hoc committee on
constitution review, said the idea of providing for extension of appeal
of governorship election petitions to the Supreme Court for final
determination is to curb the conflicting judgments which arise from
various Courts of Appeal.

The amendments are,
however, not finished yet. As a major part of the process, the Senate
set up a committee to harmonise the differences in the bill passed by
the Senate with that of the House of Representatives.

Thereafter, a clean copy of the bill will be sent down to the state
Houses of Assembly for the assent of at least 24 of the states before
the amendment will become a law.

An early morning fire gutted the DAAR Communication Plc, AIT/Raypower, office in Kano on Friday, destroying equipment worth millions of Naira.

Nobody died or sustained any injury in the inferno which lasted for over three hours. The head of the station, Abdullahi Addy, said the fire started around 8.20am when the station was on transmission. He said studio workers suddenly saw smoke in the office, which is on the 6th floor of the building.

Mr Addy said the fire destroyed equipment such as transmitters, cameras, the library, and the editing box of both the television and radio studio.

“Though it is painful, but we pray that the station will bounce back with more determined to inform, educate and entertain its numerous listeners,” he said. “We give gratitude to God that this fire did not kill anybody and nobody sustained any injury. But it is unfortunate that our whole corporate studio and office have been razed down by the fire.” He commended the efforts of fire fighters who immediately swung into action and subdued the fire after a two hour battle.

The Director of Operations of the state fire service, Kassim Abdullahi said he mobilised men and enough vehicles immediately he got information about the fire.

“We cannot ascertain the number of properties lost by the station, but we will investigate the cause of the fire and make it known soon”.

Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi, apparently
overwhelmed by the occasion when the late Deputy Speaker of the State,
Saliu Adeoti was being buried yesterday, shed tears and could hardly
deliver a prepared grave-side eulogy at the deceased’s home in Otun
Ekiti, Moba Local Government area of the state.

Mr Adeoti, formerly the most senior official of the
Action Congress in government, died Wednesday at the University
Teaching Hospital, Ibadan.

Earlier at a special valedictory session held for the
late politician in the chambers of the State House of Assembly Complex,
the deceased was eulogized by former colleagues and political
associates. These include the Deputy Governor of the state,
Olufunmilayo Olayinka who described the late lawmaker as a political
son who was an epitome of dignity and honour.

The former governor of old Ondo state, Bamidele
Olumilua said it is not the tradition of the land for a father to
witness the burial of a son but that the late politician was not an
ordinary son but an accomplished general who fought for the
emancipation of the state.

“His appointment was made in heaven and he was a gift
to the state. At 39, he was an accomplished achiever whose life is a
shining example for others to emulate,” he said.

A former deputy speaker of the state Dapo Karunwi
said the late politician fought against the attempt of the People’s
Democratic Party to impose itself on the House.

Family tragedies

Mr Fayemi, on arrival at the deceased’s home, wrote
a sorrowful prose in the condolence register and later joined other
mourners at the graveside of his ardent supporters.

“Saliu, we did not plan it this way. You fought
gallantly for our people’s liberation and freedom. You were still with
us on victory day but alas! You are no more. Who are we to query
Allah?” the statement reads. “We can only promise that all your dreams
for our people in Moba and the whole Ekiti shall be fulfilled. Aljanah
First Class. Rest In Peace.” The late Deputy Speaker‘s family has
suffered a myriad of tragedies in the past few months, with the death
of his 28-year-old wife in February this year. His personal driver also
died few days after this incident, while his mother died three months
before his inauguration as Deputy Speaker.

Mr Fayemi told journalists after the lowering of the
coffin around 1.13pm that the late politician was loyal and totally
committed to the cause of transforming the state. He said party
faithful will be consoled by the fact that he lived to see the victory
of the party.

“He was a field Marshall for Action Congress of Nigeria and we owe him a duty to take care of his family,” he said.</

Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi, apparently
overwhelmed by the occasion when the late Deputy Speaker of the State,
Saliu Adeoti was being buried yesterday, shed tears and could hardly
deliver a prepared grave-side eulogy at the deceased’s home in Otun
Ekiti, Moba Local Government area of the state.

Mr Adeoti, formerly the most senior official of the
Action Congress in government, died Wednesday at the University
Teaching Hospital, Ibadan.

Earlier at a special valedictory session held for the
late politician in the chambers of the State House of Assembly Complex,
the deceased was eulogized by former colleagues and political
associates. These include the Deputy Governor of the state,
Olufunmilayo Olayinka who described the late lawmaker as a political
son who was an epitome of dignity and honour.

The former governor of old Ondo state, Bamidele
Olumilua said it is not the tradition of the land for a father to
witness the burial of a son but that the late politician was not an
ordinary son but an accomplished general who fought for the
emancipation of the state.

“His appointment was made in heaven and he was a gift
to the state. At 39, he was an accomplished achiever whose life is a
shining example for others to emulate,” he said.

A former deputy speaker of the state Dapo Karunwi
said the late politician fought against the attempt of the People’s
Democratic Party to impose itself on the House.

Family tragedies

Mr Fayemi, on arrival at the deceased’s home, wrote
a sorrowful prose in the condolence register and later joined other
mourners at the graveside of his ardent supporters.

“Saliu, we did not plan it this way. You fought
gallantly for our people’s liberation and freedom. You were still with
us on victory day but alas! You are no more. Who are we to query
Allah?” the statement reads. “We can only promise that all your dreams
for our people in Moba and the whole Ekiti shall be fulfilled. Aljanah
First Class. Rest In Peace.” The late Deputy Speaker‘s family has
suffered a myriad of tragedies in the past few months, with the death
of his 28-year-old wife in February this year. His personal driver also
died few days after this incident, while his mother died three months
before his inauguration as Deputy Speaker.

Mr Fayemi told journalists after the lowering of the
coffin around 1.13pm that the late politician was loyal and totally
committed to the cause of transforming the state. He said party
faithful will be consoled by the fact that he lived to see the victory
of the party.

“He was a field Marshall for Action Congress of Nigeria and we owe him a duty to take care of his family,” he said.</

Two presidential candidates, Muhammadu
Buhari of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), and Nuhu Ribadu,
of the Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN) yesterday outlined their plans
to tackle Nigeria’s educational challenges.

The candidates spoke at the second
national Joint Education Stakeholders Action Coalition (JESAC)
conference held at the women development centre in Abuja.

Mr. Ribadu, the former chairman of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), who was represented by
an Anambra-born politician Sunny Ugochukwu, outlined “seven broad
areas” his administration would address for a revamping of the
education sector.

The seven areas according to Mr. Ribadu
are funding, access to qualitative education, quality
assurance/regulation, infrastructure, staff training and welfare,
research, and student discipline and related matters.

The CPC aspirant and former military
ruler, Muhammadu Buhari outlined seven problems facing the Nigerian
education system and proffered five solutions to them.

The five solutions to the nation’s
educational challenges according to Mr. Buhari are improved quality of
education, expansion of higher education, sustainable mechanism of
funding, utilizing the gains of research for rapid national
development, and restoring an effective Inspectorate Service to cater
for all levels of our educational system.

The candidates identified poor funding
as a problem facing education in Nigeria. However, while Mr. Ribadu
stated that he would “implement to the full the 26 percent UNESCO
recommendation on taking office,” Mr. Buhari stated that he would
“suggest a minimum of 26% of the national budget in consonance with
UNESCO’s well grounded recommendation.”

Both candidates, who are both
recognized for their stance against corruption, also identified
corruption as one of the challenges facing the educational sector.

“We shall not be handing out sacks of
Naira to actors in the education sector like sailors out on a binge. We
shall ensure that every Naira disbursed will be carefully monitored to
eliminate waste, corruption, and inefficiency. We shall not only give
education funding the highest priority, we shall also prioritize a new
culture of accountability and transparency,” the former EFCC boss
stated.

They also promised to address issues of
teacher and staff welfare, dilapidated infrastructure, and education of
the physically challenged.

Free education for all

Mr. Ribadu, however, promised to
implement free education in pre- secondary schools saying “we shall
make education free in all primary and secondary schools in this
country on assuming office. We have estimated the cost for this
programme, and we know it is achievable.”

On higher education, both candidates promised to make available loans and scholarship for deserving students.

“The scholarship system which will
cater in the main for indigent students will be resuscitated and funded
adequately with the only proviso being accountability. We might even be
willing to experiment with the setting up of a loans board to give
loans to students,” Mr. Buhari stated.

While both candidates also spoke on research, they differed in their modalities for it.

While the CPC aspirant stated that “the private sector will be
encouraged with specific incentives in order to finance research and
development,” Mr. Ribadu the ACN aspirant stated that his government
would “establish a National Research fund, that will be manned by
experts and from which research grants would be accessed by researchers
in our various institutes.” </

Following
Wednesday’s passage of the second amendment to the 1999 constitution by
both chambers of the National Assembly, the Senate on Thursday set up a
six man committee to harmonize the bill with the Rep’s version.

The committee is
headed by Victor Ndoma-Egba (PDP Cross River state) and will join a
similar committee made up Rep members to harmonize the differences in
the bill.

It is a crucial step in the law making process to ensure the enactment of a single copy of bill.

“What is passed in
the House is different from what we passed,” the Senate President,
David Mark said. “This committee is to harmonize it.” The Senate voted
on ten clauses and passed the bill on Wednesday providing the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) new time-lines and
allowing the Supreme Court to handle Governorship election petition
cases.

The House of
Representatives, however, only passed the new time-lines for INEC and
did not discuss the court of finality in governorship election petition
cases.

Waiting on the states

Other members of
the Conference Committee set up by the Senate yesterday include
Senators Dahiru Umar, Ikechukwu Obiorah, Sola Akinyede, Abubakar
Sodangi and Idris Umar.

The names of the
members of the committee were announced by the Senate President, after
the bill was read the third time during plenary session yesterday.

Whenever the two chambers are through with harmonizing the bill,
clean copies would be sent to the 36 State Houses of Assembly for
endorsement. Two-Third of the votes of 36 State Houses of Assembly is
required for the alteration to become law.

The Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC)
has announced that it was considering enlisting the support of the
military in the provision of logistics for the conduct of 2011 general
elections.

This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end
of a two-day workshop on “Security Challenges of Election Management:
Toward Nigeria’s 2011” organised by INEC in collaboration with
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Foundation.

It said “the decision became necessary having noted
that the challenges facing INEC are multi-dimensional and the need to
garner support for tactical internal security awareness.” According to
the communiqué, INEC needs to develop a special electoral security
strategy and plans that will delineate roles for different agencies
based on their competence profile and capacity. The Chairman, Board of
INEC Electoral Institute Lai Olurode, in his presentation at the
workshop stressed that the need to enlist the military for logistics
was necessary to overcome the challenges in difficult terrains.

“In the distribution of materials there are some
difficult terrains that you cannot navigate ordinarily unless you get
some logistics support from security agencies,” Mr Olurode noted. He
said that INEC was discussing with security operatives to see how best
to collaborate with them in the distribution of election materials in
river sides and difficult areas. He said that kidnapping and abduction
would not necessarily pose a threat to the military engaged in the
distribution of materials in such areas.

He said that participants at the workshop had
observed that security remained a persistent critical challenge to the
conduct of elections in Nigeria. “It was recommended for INEC to
create a platform for inter-agency collaboration on security matters at
all levels as a matter of urgency. INEC should also design and deploy
appropriate training and sensitisation measures to guide security
personnel and agencies to be deployed for electoral duties,” Mr
Olurode added. The workshop drew some 50 participants from the academia,

security services, civil society organisations, the media, private
security firms and electoral management bodies from Lesotho, Kenya,
Togo and Senegal.</

The assistant legal
adviser of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation,
Onyibo Chukwu, has denied the group’s endorsement of the presidential
ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011.

Mr. Chukwu told
journalists in Abuja on Thursday that there was never a time the
organisation took the decision to endorse Mr. Jonathan, as claimed by
the group’s president, Ralph Uwechue, alleging that he (Uwechue) was
executing a personal agenda.

“I am a PDP member
and a strong supporter of President Goodluck Jonathan, but if Ohanaeze
has to endorse him, it has to be done with decorum, and not through
this ambush tactics of Ralph Uwechue,” Mr. Chukwu said.

The senatorial
aspirant from Enugu State explained that Ohanaeze has three different
organs through which it takes crucial decisions – the national
executive, Ime Obi, and National Assembly – and insisted that none of
them ever deliberated on the matter.

He warned that Mr.
Uwechue should not be allowed to bring crisis into the organisation
because the Igbo race is already in a dilemma.

Personal project

According to him,
the way the group’s president is going about the support for Mr.
Jonathan might jeopardise his chances in the five Igbo states, pointing
out that some of the people are disturbed by the development.

“Uwechue must not
be allowed to bring crisis into Ohanaeze,” he said. “He is using this
his pro-Jonathan project to blackmail Ndigbo. He is putting the Igbo
race into very serious dilemna.

“We want to
maintain good relationship with the people of the South- South
geo-political zone, but not through this personal aggrandizement of one
man,” he said.

Mr. Chukwu said the
organisation does not have the kind of money which was used to
advertise its support for the president on television and other media
outfits. He said he will bring up the matter at the National Executive
Committee (NEC) meeting of the organisation scheduled to hold on
Saturday, October 30.

The national
leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has written the
Independent National Election Commission (INEC) stating reasons why it
will not organise fresh congresses in some states.

The party also set aside October 29-November 1, for a fresh congress in Imo State.

The commission had
in a letter signed by the INEC secretary, Abdullahi Kaugama, said it
would not accept congresses in eight states, insisting the ones
organized in those places were inconclusive. The states are Adamawa,
Imo, Kogi, Delta, Oyo, Plateau, Bayelsa and Enugu. But in a letter
signed by the PDP deputy national chairman, Bello Mohammed and dated
October 26, addressed to the INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega, the ruling
party said it will not accede to the request by the national electoral
body except as regards Imo State.

The ruling party had last weekend dissolved the executive committee of the Enugu State chapter.

Mr Mohammed
explained that fresh congress will not be conducted in some states,
especially Delta and Oyo because the previous congresses in 2008 have
become a matter of litigation in courts. He recalled that the congress
in Delta State was supervised by the commission’s monitoring team after
which the then Resident Electoral Commission, Humphrey Nwangeneh
forwarded a report to the INEC chairman in Abuja.

“There is evidence
that a Monitoring Team of the commission monitored the congresses at
the relevant levels and made a report duly signed. (The letter attached
copies of the letter of INEC Monitoring team that confirmed that there
were congresses marked annexure 1).

“By a covering
letter dated March 6 2008, the Resident Electoral Commission, then
Humphrey O. Nwangeneh (JP) forwarded the report of the congresses to
the INEC Chairman. (Annexure marked J,” the letter stated.

Change of position

Mr Mohammed also said that the matter is already in court.

“There is an
interim order of injunction issued by the presiding judge which have
been served and are subsisting, Enrolled orders attached and marked
annexure K.

“The documents
emanating from your commission do not support the claim of inconclusive
congress in Delta state. While the above suit pending, no fresh
congress can legally hold in Delta state. There appears to be good
reason for the commission to have a second look at the case of Delta
state.” The PDP deputy national chairman said there are also several
litigations pending in court on the congress in Oyo State, adding that
already an order of injunction has been issues by one of the courts.

“Our understanding
of the ruling on jurisdiction is that the ex-parte order earlier issued
by the court was never made and that at all materials times, the Oyo
State congress was never legally encumbered by any valid court order,”
Mr Mohammed said. “There is evidence that the same court which gave the
Ex-parte orders later held that it had no jurisdiction to entertain the
case and accordingly struck it out.” He, however, confirmed that INEC
did not monitor the congress in Oyo State, and that of Enugu whose
committee was dissolved last weekend.

Mr Mohammed also attached documentary evidence indicating that
congresses were held in some other states and asked INEC to change its
position on the matter.

The Kogi Youth
Council, a coalition of youth associations in Kogi State, yesterday
called for the immediate sack of Farida Waziri, the chairman of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over the publication
of a list of corrupt politicians.

Isaac Omale, the
group’s national publicity secretary, said in Abuja on Thursday that
Mrs Waziri’s tenure had ruined the progress made by federal
government’s anti-corruption campaign. It accused her of witch-hunting
and persecution of innocent citizens. The group said the case of
Gabriel Aduku, the former minister of state for health, highlights such
persecution.

On Monday, the EFCC
published a list of politicians and other prominent personalities who
were under investigation for corruption and called on the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) to ban those listed from contesting in the 2011
general election.

Witch-hunting

The list included
Mr. Aduku who was indicted by the EFCC in the wake of allegations of
N300 million fraud in 2008. He was discharged and acquitted of
corruption charges last November by the Supreme Court.

“The EFCC
voluntarily told the Federal High Court, presided over by Justice Saleh
Garba, that after a thorough investigation it had come to the
conclusion that Chief Aduku had no case to answer and applied that his
name should be deleted from the list of accused persons,” said Mr.
Omale. “

Mr. Aduku [was] an
innocent man [who] lost his job as minister, suffered bouts of illegal
detention and had his reputation ruined as result of indiscriminate
allegation of corruption against all ranking officials of the Federal
Ministry of Health.”

The group challenged Mrs Waziri to subject herself to an independent investigation to “see if she can emerge unscathed.”

“The EFCC under
Mrs. Waziri has been battling with credibility and integrity crises
owing largely to allegations against her person, which have remained
unaddressed said Mr. Omale.

“The persecution of
an innocent person who has been passed through the entire process of
the rule of law and still stands vindicated can only exacerbate her
image problem.”

A stern warning

The agency has come
under fire from the political elite over the list which it published on
its website. On Tuesday, the PDP said it would not act on the list,
which includes former state governors, legislators, businessmen and
bankers, saying that it did not want to undermine the country’s
judicial process.

On Wednesday, the
Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke, warned Mrs. Waziri
to stop making political statements capable of embarrassing the
government and unduly “heating up the polity.”

“While it is
important for anti-corruption agencies to continue to pursue their
statutory mandate with vigour, care must be taken to ensure that no
negative feeling or perception is unwittingly created that government
is complicit in any grand design or scheme to ‘witch-hunt’ people,” Mr.
Adoke wrote in a letter to the EFCC.

Mr. Adoke, however, lauded Mrs. Waziri for her ongoing
investigations and prosecutions of bank executives. He urged her and
the commission “to sustain this momentum by ensuring that all actions
and pronouncements of the EFCC come within the confines of due
process.”