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Aides
to the speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, will
today appear before the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related
offences Commission (ICPC) over their involvement in the 5.2 billion
naira rural electrification scandal.

The aides include the senior special assistant on communications to the speaker, Kayode Odunaro.

A source within the
commission informed NEXT that the aides are expected to testify on
their roles in the nominations of companies that executed the rural
electrification project across the country.

Ndidi Elumelu, the
former chairman of the House of Representatives committee on power, and
Nicholas Ugbane, the chairman of the Senate committee on power, are
among those already facing prosecution by the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the matter.

The EFCC had
concluded its investigations, which exonerated the speaker and charged
Mr. Elumelu, Mr. Ugbane, and others for their involvement in the
scandal.

As earlier reported
by NEXT however, ongoing investigations by the ICPC indicate that Mr.
Bankole may be involved in the scandal.

When contacted, Folu Olamiti, the media consultant to the ICPC, confirmed the expected appearance of the aides.

“Yes, some of the
speaker’s aides will appear before us tomorrow (today),” Mr. Olamiti
stated, while refusing to comment further on the issue.

Mr. Odunaro told
NEXT he was ready to appear before the commission, although he had “not
received any (invitation) letter from the ICPC.” He explained that he
had earlier written a petition to the commission through the speaker’s
chief security officer.

“There was a time I
wrote a petition to the ICPC on a plot to rope in the speaker. There
was a serious plot to nail the speaker, which involved some cheques of
UBA,” Mr. Odunaro said.

The UBA cheques

Though Mr. Odunaro
did not elaborate on the UBA cheques, findings by NEXT show that these
were the cheques issued by Mr. Elumelu to companies who had completed
their own part of the electrification project.

“The cheques were
meant for the companies. But there was a woman who was a go between,
between the speaker and Elumelu. Elumelu told us that the speaker
recommended the woman as a middle-man so as to limit his involvement.
The woman was supposed to collect the cheques from Elumelu, take them
to UBA, and transfer the agreed sum to the companies,” a source in the
ICPC told NEXT.

The source, who
declined to mention the name of the woman, stated that “the woman is
now on the run; we understand she escaped out of the country. We are
searching for her and once we get her, the whole truth about the
speaker’s involvement in the scandal will be clear. Elumelu also told
us that it was Bankole that gave him the names of the companies that
got the contract, though Bankole denied that.”

Mr. Elumelu and
some other members of his committee; Mr.Ugbane; the permanent secretary
in the ministry of power, Abdulahi Aliyu; and the managing director of
the Rural Electrification Agency, Samuel Ibi Gekpe; are all facing
trial by the EFCC for their involvement in the scandal.

The legislators are
alleged to have influenced the officials of the Rural Electrification
Agency to smuggle contracts that were not approved by the presidency
into their operations.

In all, 21 companies believed to be associated with members of the House of Representatives, got the controversial contracts.

NEXT learnt that the money, which was meant to be paid to the
companies that successfully completed their own electrification
projects, is still with the UBA, even though the companies have
completed the projects.

The
federal government on Wednesday strengthened its commitment against
cyber crime by approving a Computer Crime Prosecution Unit (CCPU) under
the supervision of the Public Prosecution Department of the Federal
Ministry of Justice. The Attorney-General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke said the unit will be
responsible for the prosecution of those found to be involved in cyber
crimes. ”Nigeria needs to have a robust cyber security and cybercrime
prevention/prosecution structure to drive issues related to
cybercrime,” said Mr. Adoke in a statement issued by his chief press
secretary, Ambrose Momoh.

The new department
will work with agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) and the telecommunications and banking sectors.

“Officers to man the unit are to commence immediate training in
basic cyber prosecutors’ courses and electronic evidence handling,
amongst others, while other modalities for the effective takeoff of the
CCPU are being worked out,” he said.

To
improve its effectiveness in handling oil spill incidents in the
country, the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency will
carry out a comprehensive review and validation of its guidelines on
oil spill management and environmental damage assessment.

The review, to be
carried out as part of a two-day workshop scheduled to hold in Abuja
next week, would afford operators in the oil industry an opportunity to
make critical inputs to validate the guidelines developed by NOSDRA in
collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The guidelines
comprise regulations and standards for oil spill recovery, clean-up and
remediation, damage assessment and environmental regulations in the
country’s petroleum sector.

On several
occasions in the past, the agency has been called to question when
there are oil spills in the Niger Delta over its failure to mete out
appropriate sanctions to offending international oil companies.

Contracts for the
development of the guidelines were awarded in 2009 to University of
Lagos (UNILAG) Consult and Jawura Environmental Services Limited.

Henshaw Ogubike,
its head of Public Affairs, said the draft reports of the two documents
submitted to NOSDRA would form part of a comprehensive environmental
best practices guidelines for the agency and others in the oil and gas
sector, to guarantee confidence in the sector through enhanced
performance.

In a related
development, Mr. Ogubike said that part of agency’s effort to check oil
spillage in Niger Delta, it plans to inaugurate a committee on
environmental sensitization or awareness campaign in the region.

The need for the
committee emerged during the recent meeting between the Minister of
Environment, John Odey, with oil and gas industry captains,
international oil companies and the media as part of strategies to
raise environmental awareness among operators and residents in the
oil-producing areas.

Mr. Ogubike said that the inauguration of the committee follows a
number of measures by NOSDRA to control oil spills in the region,
including series of meetings with oil companies and the recent
launching of the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) mapping for use
by the companies in response to spills in coastal areas.

An
Oyo State High Court, on Wednesday, nullified the June 8 suspension of
eight members of the Oyo State House of Assembly, declaring it
unconstitutional and of no effect.

The presiding
judge, Morufu Ademola, submitted in his judgement that the suspended
members were sanctioned by the house without ‘fair hearing’, condemning
the speaker, Olawale Atilola, and 15 other members of the legislative
arm for violating section 36 of the Nigerian Constitution.

“The contravention
of section 36 of 1999 constitution by the Hon. Atilola and other
defendants not only breached the cost of natural justice of the
plaintiffs, but their civil rights,” the judge declared, while
stressing the responsibility of the court of law to always frown at any
appearance of the breach of fundamental human right it is established
to protect.

“There was no
evidence before the court that the Speaker and the other 15 lawmakers
issued queries to any of the plaintiffs, challenging them of wrong
doing, coupled with the fact that the plaintiffs were not there when
the defendants found them guilty of the said allegations, which
eventually led to their suspension,” he noted further.

Mr. Ademola said
the complainants have proven their cases of violation of human rights,
beyond ordering their immediate reinstatement to the house and their
offices.

One of the
reinstated lawmakers, Ademola Adejumobi, who was also the majority
leader before the suspension, commended the effort of the judiciary for
striving to sustain the nation’s nascent democracy. According to him,
the judgement would afford them to resume at the house today (Thursday)
for their legislative business.

Following the
attempt to move for the impeachment of the speaker on June 8,
pro-speaker members of the state legislature threw decorum to the wind
as thugs, believed to be members of the National Union of Road
Transport Workers (NURTW), were engaged to beat their colleagues
mercilessly for the move.

Two of them sustained injuries in the process and were later admitted at the University College Hospital (UCH) for attention.

Advancement of democracy

The speaker was
alleged to have used his office to prevent the house from investigating
the allegations of misappropriation of funds leveled against the state
governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala.

The other members of the house later sat same day to suspend the anti-speaker lawmakers for three months.

Meanwhile, Lekan
Balogun, a leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state,
has described the judgement as victory for the rule of law.

Mr. Balogun, an
Ibadan high chief, in a statement sent to journalists in Ibadan
yesterday, said the judgement represents advancement of democracy in
the state and Nigeria, in general.

“We, in the Oyo PDP
opposition, commend the perseverance and tolerance of these G9
legislators. We congratulate them over this victory and we also commend
the boldness and courage of the judiciary in giving this ruling, in
spite of the odds against it,” the statement reads in part.

He urged the reinstated lawmakers to quickly reconcile with their
colleagues in the House to ensure peace and good governance for the
people of the state and the country.

Balarabe Musa, National Chairman of the Conference
of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), on Wednesday expressed concern
that the 2011 general elections might not hold in January 2011. Mr Musa
told journalists in Abuja that the concern was due to the “indifference
of the government and National Assembly.” “I think from the
indifference of the government and National Assembly, we may not have
the elections either in January or even April 2011,” he said. “And that
means series of political crisis because by the May 25, 2011 this
government, including the National and State Assemblies must go,
because they will have no legal power to continue in office. We believe
those responsible for the delay now are the federal government and the
National Assembly. If they can behave responsibly, even at this late
hour, we can still have proper elections in January or April.”

Mr Musa,
who is also the National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party, said
if the election was to hold peacefully, then there might be an interim
administration after May 29, 2011. “In April, it is virtually
impossible because if you have it in April, how many days do you have
before hand over on May 29, 2011? And there must be hand over on that
date, otherwise there will be revolutionary crisis in the country,” he
said.

A bird sanctuary is the latest addition to the tourism bouquet
of Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort, Calabar, Cross River State.

Tinapa, located on the fringe of the Calabar River, is home to
various species of birds that perch all year round on the branches of trees in
the environment.

“Tinapa ecosystem offers a variety of birds and nature tourism
opportunities, hence it’s a route chosen by a high diversity of birds. By
visiting the Tinapa bird route, you will not only see amazing biodiversity, but
also help to maintain the ecological integrity of one of the world’s most
biologically diverse places,” Bassey Edem, the Managing Director of Tinapa,
said.

Unique habitat

Conservation experts say Tinapa is one of the few remaining
habitat for pelicans, herons, swallows, thrushes, woodpeckers, humming birds,
cuckoos owls and hawks in our country. Quite a good number of migratory birds
also fly through the area twice a year enroute the Abu’evam hills in Boki Local
Government Area of Cross River State, where they spend some time before going
back to Europe and America.

“This bird sanctuary indeed shows how rural host communities can become
active bird habitats defenders while tangibly benefiting from biodiversity, a
true challenge for many bird areas around the world,” Mr Edem said, adding that
the expansion of leisure at the resort to include bird-watching “involves
training local people to be able to deliver high value and low impact birding
tourism. The Adiabo people will tell you about those birds in a cultural
context.”

The World Bank will release $900 million (574 million pounds) to
help fund relief efforts for Pakistan’s flood disaster as international
agencies warned millions of people were at risk from disease.

The United Nations has warned that up to 3.5 million children
could be in danger of contracting deadly diseases carried through contaminated
water and insects in a crisis that has disrupted the lives of at least a 10th
of Pakistan’s 170 million people.

Up to 1,600 people have been killed and two million made
homeless in Pakistan’s worst floods in decades.

Hundreds of villages across Pakistan, one of the poorest
countries in Asia, have been marooned, highways have been cut in half and
thousands of homeless people have been forced to set up tarpaulin tents along
the side of roads.

The World Bank funds will come through the reprogramming of
planned projects and reallocation of undisbursed funds, but it did not say how
it would be utilised to aid flood victims.

“We are reprioritising to make the funds immediately available,”
said Mariam Altaf, a spokesman for the World Bank.

Public anger

Public anger has grown in two weeks of floods, highlighting
potential political troubles for an unpopular government as aid failed to keep
pace with the rising river waters.

On Monday, some Pakistani flood victims blocked a highway to
demand government help as aid agencies warned relief was too slow to arrive for
millions without clean water, food and homes.

The damage caused by the floods and the cost of recovery could
bring long-term economic pain to Pakistan and shave more than one percentage
point off economic growth, analysts say.

Pakistani stocks ended down 2.9 per cent on Monday on fears the
impact may be more damaging than first estimated.

Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Britain, Wajid Shamsul Hasan,
told Reuters the cost of rebuilding could be more than $10 (6.38 pounds) to $15
billion (9 billion pounds).

He appealed to the international community to provide funds for
relief and reconstruction for a country fighting Islamist militants, or risk
potentially destabilising the whole region.

The government has been under fire for its perceived inadequate
response. Islamic charities, some linked to militant groups, have stepped in to
provide aid to flood victims, possibly gaining supporters at the expense of the
state.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi expressed
concerns over Pakistan’s stability, saying it was dangerous to let the
Islamists fill the vacuum.

“If a person is hungry, if a person is thirsty and you provide
water, he’ll not ask whether you are a moderate or an extremist,” Qureshi told
the British Broadcasting Corporation.

“He’ll grab water from you and save himself and his children who
were starved. So you have to be aware of this challenge.” Only a quarter of the
$459 million (292 million pounds) aid needed for initial relief has arrived, according
to the United Nations. That contrasts with the United States giving at least $1
billion (638 million pounds) in military aid last year to its regional ally to
battle militants.

The U.N. has reported the first case of cholera. In a statement
issued in New York, it said the greatest threat was from acute watery diarrhoea
and dysentery, but that hepatitis A and E and typhoid fever were also
significant risks.

Victims are relying mostly on the military, the most powerful
institution in Pakistan, and foreign aid agencies for help.

Nevertheless, a military coup is considered unlikely. The army’s priority is
fighting Taliban insurgents, and seizing power during a disaster would make no
sense, analysts say.

Cleaners, fumigators and other workmen were hard at work at No 13
Beira Crescent, in the Wuse II area of Abuja yesterday. This is where Nuhu
Ribadu, former anti-graft boss, is setting up a campaign office in line with
his bid to run for president in 2011.

Although Mr. Ribadu is yet to announce an alignment with any
particular political party and has not publicly declared his intentions to run,
it is only a matter of days before he does that now, his aides told NEXT
yesterday.

He has not yet declared but will do that soon,” said Chido
Onumah, media assistant to the former EFCC boss. “This is the presidential
campaign office and it should be ready in a couple of days. It will be the hub
of operations for his bid to run for president.”

Mr. Onumah also said that his team has recruited a group of
professionals who will undertake several positions in the new office. Mr.
Ribadu is widely touted as the preferred candidate of the Action Congress of
Nigeria, (ACN). “It is not certain what political platform Mr. Ribadu will be
running under but he has been approached by several parties,” said Mr. Onumah.
“He is currently consulting widely with other politicians and groups. At the
end of the day, he will sit back and decide which political platform fits into
his plans and visions.”

The ACN, however, insists that Mr. Ribadu is yet to formally join the party
and therefore cannot be considered a prospective presidential candidate. “I am
not aware that Nuhu Ribadu has joined the party,” said Lai Mohammed, the party
spokesperson.

Only one in every ten federal civil servants between the grade
levels 14 to 16 is incompetent, the results of the re-sit of the competency
test organised for the federal civil servants have shown.

According to the results, which were released by the office of
the head of service on Tuesday, 89% of the 2800 civil servants that sat for the
test passed the cut-off point of 40%.

The latest result shows a 59% increase in the success rate
recorded in May when the exam was first held.

The test was organised to test the competency of the senior
civil servants in areas of basic office skills.

“You will recall that when the Mandatory Training Competency
test took place in May, 2010, only 30.5% of civil servants who sat for the
competency assessment test crossed the cut-off mark of 40%,” the head of
service, Stephen Oronsaye, said. “I was not particularly happy at the outcome
of the test,” he further said.

Mr. Oronsaye defended the astronomical success rate in the
latest test, saying the woeful performance of the civil servants in the
previous test was due to challenges that were experienced during the training
and the assessment. He blamed the failure on logistics and “some gaps in the
contents of the training modules and course materials developed.”

According to Mr. Oronsaye, a six-member committee helped planned
the latest test, eradicating the challenges that were experienced in May.

“The result of the re-sit test has clearly shown that commitment
and determination towards learning and development can be achieved. It is
indeed gratifying to note that civil servants are beginning to understand and
appreciate the critical importance of the need to have a well developed,
competent, and knowledgeable civil service that is focused on effective service
delivery and able to meet the expectations of policy makers and the public,”
Mr. Oronsaye added.

Olakunle Olaitain, the president of the Association of Senior
Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSON), however, dismissed the result, saying it is
a “non issue.”

Mr. Olaitan led the group of civil servants who protested
against the test.

Not for promotion?

The test, which was held against stiff opposition from the civil
servants, will not be used for promotion. Rather, its results will be studied
to reveal areas of training needs of the civil servants.

“The Assessment Test is distinct and different from the
promotion examination conducted by the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC),”
he said, while announcing the results.

“The Assessment Test is to assist us to understand and help to
address the training needs of the civil servants as well as to optimise the
utilization of the talents of civil servants in the performance of their
duties,” Mr. Oronsaye explained.

However, those that failed the test, alongside the over 300
civil servants who boycotted the test, will not be presented for promotion.

Also, the over 300 servants who did not take the test will face
other disciplinary measures “in line with the rules and regulations of the
civil service.”

Mr. Olaitan, however, advised his members who feel their right
are abused whenever the disciplinary measures are announced by the head of
service, to go to the courts for redress.

Critical areas

Notwithstanding the excellent performance, Mr. Oronsaye said the
performance of participants has indicated the lack of adequate skills in policy
formulation and development, and writing of council memos, amongst others, in
civil servants.

“Clearly, we need to ensure, as a matter of urgency, that these
routine areas of job performance are addressed and improved upon,” he said.

“I wish to emphatically declare that, before the end of the
year, we will put in place a framework for performance management. This will be
backed by integrating a standardized and specialized mandatory training into
the work plan and programmatic activities of ministries, departments, and
agencies,” he said.

In future, Mr. Oronsaye said the test will be better packaged with
more incentives and a more comfortable testing environment. He said the
participants will be paid training stipends, while the training will be
“residential” but mandatory.

“We are also committed to initiating an interactive and vibrant on-line
learning system. As a consequence, we are considering a blend of virtual and
classroom learning and assessment. This, we are committed to introducing before
the end of the year,” Mr. Oronsaye added.

New media rules planned by the South African government are
symptomatic of the draconian apartheid-era press laws and could hinder the
growth of democracy in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said
yesterday.

The New York-based media freedom group, in an open letter to
President Jacob Zuma, said the proposed laws would severely curtail the
country’s media independent.

The group says it writes the letter to express concern about the
legislative proposals that it believes would severely restrict South Africa’s
independent press corps, ‘which is distinguished for its dynamism and
professionalism.’ ” We call on you as the head of state and leader of the
ruling African National Congress (ANC) to ensure that such proposals are either
amended in line with constitutional safeguards for freedom of the press and
access to information, or withdrawn altogether in the interest of preserving
the transparency, accountability, and democracy gained after apartheid,” the
CPJ said.

The country’s parliament is currently considering an information
bill that ruling African National Congress MPs say will protect state secrets,
but media groups said could prevent investigative reporting and curtail reports
on corruption.

“The Protection of Information Bill currently before parliament
is meant to replace an apartheid-era law dating from 1982. Yet the broad
language and far-reaching provisions of the legislative proposal introduced by
Security Minister Siyabonga Cwel is reminiscent of apartheid-era regulations
since it would virtually shield the government from the scrutiny of the
independent press and criminalize activities essential to investigative
journalism, a vital public service. Journalists, under the proposed law, would
face heavy jail time for violations,” the CPJ said.

It also reveals that the bill propose that “officials and state
agencies would have unchecked authority and discretion to classify any public
or commercial data as secret, confidential, protected, or sensitive based on
vaguely defined ‘national interest’ considerations and without any explanation,
according to our research and legal experts.”

Shelve the law

Also, political appointees overseeing state intelligence
agencies would have final say over which information should be classified or
not.

The bill places the onus on journalists to establish ‘public
interest’ (broadly defined as ‘all those matters that constitute the common
good, well-being or general welfare and protection of the people) to justify
declassifying any information.

The Executive Director of the CPJ, Joel Simon, called on Mr.
Zuma to amend or shelve the Protection of Information Bill and the Media
Appeals Tribunals proposal.

“We ask that you ensure that any media reform in South Africa is
the result of a transparent, consultative process reconciling the interests of
government, the ANC, and the concerns expressed by the overwhelming majority of
civil society,” he said.