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The Ogun State
chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday said it would
head to the electoral tribunal to challenge the national assembly
election results of the Ogun West senatorial district, as well as the
Yewa/Egbado North House of Representatives. The chairman of the PDP
campaign team, Sarafa Ishola, revealed this at the end of the two-day
review session of last Saturday’s election. He said the party was not
satisfied with the so-called victories of the Action Congress of
Nigeria senatorial candidate for Yewa/Egbado West and that of Rasaki
Adewusi of the Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN) for the House of
Representatives.

In a statement
issued by the party, Mr Sarafa said the PDP had incontrovertible
evidence showing that its Ogun West senatorial and Yewa/Egabdo North
House of Representatives candidates won their seats for the party.

“The PDP would be
proving to the electoral tribunal that its candidate, Babatunde Fadu,
won the senatorial seat for Ogun West while Alexander Ajibade won the
House of Representatives seat for Egbado/Yewa North,” he said.

Still in the race

The campaign team
also said its governorship candidate, Tunji Olurin, is still running
for the office, contrary to speculations that he had stepped down for
Gboyega Isiaka, the PPN candidate.

“The PDP
gubernatorial candidate for Ogun State, Adetunji Olurin, is still very
much in the race. This is to put paid to unimaginable wicked lies being
fabricated by PPN and others who do not wish Ogun State people well,”
said the statement, which was signed by Lai Labode, the media committee
chairman.

“The party wishes to confirm to PDP supporters that at no meeting
called by any Yewa Group did the issue of stepping down for a PPN
candidate by Adetunji Olurin came up. It is laughable that the PPN,
which seriously showed very poor outing in the last week elections,
could ever dream that PDP, which did better, would concede to PPN,” it
stated.

Andrew Lloyd who is
also the Permanent Representative of Britain to the Economic Community
of West African States (ECOWAS), talks about Britain’s role in the
general elections, his hopes for future bilateral relations and
delivers an assessment of INEC’s performance.

What is your assessment of the elections so far and is there room for improvement?

The elections have
captured the international community’s imagination. There is a large
number of international observers here. These elections are significant
because Nigeria has proven itself to be a champion of democracy. My
sense is that there will always be room for improvement, no matter how
good the elections are; even in the UK with postal ballots and the US
with electronic voting. My overall sense is that last weekend’s
elections were a significant improvement on any election Nigeria has
ever had.

How would you rate Attahiru Jega’s performance in comparison to his predecessor?

I cannot comment on
Maurice Iwu’s performance because I was not here at the time and it
would be unfair. My assessment is that INEC, under Chairman Jega’s
stewardship, has really turned around the conduct of the elections. He
has built a lot of trust with the people of Nigeria and the political
parties.

When there were
logistical problems, Nigerians were quite right to give him the benefit
of the doubt and stick with his leadership and determination in
ensuring Nigeria gets the freest and fairest elections it can in 2011.

Could the logistical challenges behind the botched elections have been handled any better?

The irony is that,
after all the initial fears about the elections, the biggest problem in
the end was something as boring as logistics.

All of us with the
benefit of hindsight could have made different decisions, perhaps, but
I can’t think of many other Nigerians who would want to swap places
with him. I admire his patience, determination and resolve. I was not
in his shoes so I don’t know what I would have done differently. That
there were logistical problems was a disappointment but that INEC
managed to overcome them for April 9 is a cause for congratulation.

What is the biggest thing you are looking for in these elections?

We are not
interested in parties or the personalities but in the process. Our big
hope is that Nigeria builds on last weekend to demonstrate to the rest
of Africa, that even when democracy is hotly contested or the margin of
victory is very small, it’s possible to run a legitimate, credible and
peaceful process. That’s my hope, building on last Saturday. Yes, there
are areas that need to be addressed but my sense is that they are being
addressed.

Is Britain assisting INEC in any way?

It’s for Nigerians
to decide how to manage their democracy. It is not our policy to try
and interfere anywhere in the conduct of democracy. It is our policy,
however, to support democracy where we can. Therefore we have provided
technical assistance and limited financial support for that assistance.

We will engage with
civic society to play a role and indeed with political parties. Looking
forward, I predict political party reform will be on the agenda of
Nigerians and this is again an area in which Britain traditionally
assists. We have budgeted around 20 million pounds for democratic
programmes. Most of which is directed at election assistance. This
however does not reflect the totality of what we do.

Will Britain intervene if there are repeated signs of violence and electoral malpractice?

Well firstly, I
certainly hope it won’t come to that. However, if one sees Kenya or
Cote d’Ivoire-style intimidation and violence, then there needs to be
Kenya and Cote d’Ivoire-style justice. People who frustrate the
democratic process will be held accountable for that. One needs to only
look at what’s happening in the international criminal court in Kenya
to see the range of options that are available. My sense though, is
that we won’t be in that situation in Nigeria. A poorly conducted
election damages the legitimacy of the outcome.

We have already witnessed two serious bombings and recorded cases of shootings. At what point do you decide to intervene?

What happened in
Suleja and Maiduguri was completely unacceptable and contemptible. I
met with the Inspector General of Police just a day before the Suleja
bombing and he was clear that there should be no impunity for this kind
of extremist violence. It is a huge concern and looking ahead, we share
the anxieties of the Nigerian people. The best way to intervene is to
work with local authorities, to try and prevent and deter extremist
violence.

How strong is the current relationship between Britain and Nigeria?

Well this is my
second stint in Nigeria and I can comfortably say it has never been
better. Nigeria went through a very fragile moment when the former
president passed. But it is a moment in which Nigeria triumphed. A key
question was asked, is democracy irreversible? The answer is that yes,
it is absolutely irreversible.

The management of
Intercontinental Bank yesterday denied that there was a court order to
seal up its headquarters on Danmole Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Sources however
confirmed that a former employee of the bank secured the order to seal
up the place. Two employees of the bank who work at the headquarters
corroborated that policemen came to the premises to effect the order
but they did not carry out the order after a meeting with the bank’s
management.

At about 4:30pm
yesterday there was a heavy presence of policemen at the bank’s
reception, an indication that something was amiss.

An angry man,
dressed in native attire, was also seen at reception giving orders to
the security officers to close the bank’s entrance door. When
approached and asked why he gave the order, he refused to speak on the
matter. However, it appeared his words had no effect as the officers
left the door open to visitors while staff carried on with their duties.

Eddy Ademosu, the
bank’s spokesperson, claimed that the bank was not aware of any court
order restraining it from carrying out its operation. “Our door is not
locked as you can see,” Mr. Ademosu said, adding, “It is not as if
there are no issues in court relating to shareholders, the bank itself,
or customers’ perceptive, but even issues in court are being resolved
as a responsible organisation.”

According to him,
“If there are issues, it would have been brought to our attention.
Maybe somebody will come tomorrow with a court order — I cannot say,
but as I speak we are not aware of any court injunction.”

He said the heavy presence of security personnel is not new because
“security has always been part of the bank” since the Central Bank
intervention, while he also said the persons giving orders might be
telling the officers to lock the door since it was closing time.

Britain pressured other NATO members to step up
ground attacks in Libya on Wednesday but cracks appeared in the
alliance as foreign ministers met in Qatar to try to break the deadlock
in the civil war.

NATO divisions surfaced at the international “contact
group” meeting, not only over arming the rebels and increasing air
strikes but also on creating a fund from frozen Libyan assets to help
the opposition trying to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
underlined the humanitarian disaster caused by the war, telling the
meeting that up to 3.6 million people, or more than half the
population, could need assistance.

Paris and London are increasingly frustrated that air
strikes have neither tipped the balance of the war in favour of rebels
trying to end Muammar Gaddafi’s 41-year rule nor even ended devastating
shelling of the besieged city of Misrata.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe criticised NATO
on Tuesday for not doing enough to stop the bombardment of the
rebel-held port town, where hundreds of civilians are said to have died
in more than six weeks of siege.

Libyan state television said on Wednesday that NATO
planes had bombed Misrata’s main Tripoli street, scene of repeated
battles between rebels and government troops. It said people were
killed, without giving details.

It said alliance planes also attacked Gaddafi’s birthplace of Sirte, east of Misrata, and Aziziyah, south of Tripoli.

British Foreign Minister William Hague told Reuters that other coalition aircraft must join ground attacks.

“There are many other nations around Europe and indeed Arab nations who are part of this coalition.

There is scope for some of them to move some of their aircraft from air defence into ground-strike capability,” he said.

Rebels call for more NATO strikes

NATO said it destroyed 16 tanks, an anti-aircraft gun and a pickup truck in operations on Tuesday.

Rebels attending the Doha meeting said they expected
more support, saying NATO was using “minimum” power and needed to step
up attacks on Gaddafi’s heavy weapons.

Britain and France, western Europe’s two main
military powers, are delivering most of the air strikes on Gaddafi’s
armour since President Barack Obama ordered U.S. forces to take a back
seat.

Other NATO countries are either keeping their distance from the campaign or enforcing a no-fly zone but not bombing.

A wide gap appeared at once between NATO hawks and doves.

Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere said the
March 17 U.N. resolution authorising NATO action in Libya — to protect
civilians from Gaddafi’s government forces — ruled out arming
civilians and he saw no need to boost forces there.

In another disagreement, German Foreign Minister
Guido Westerwelle voiced reservations about an Italian call to create a
fund from frozen assets to aid the rebels. “The question is, is it
legal? The answer is we don’t know,” he said.

Britain’s Hague called for a temporary financial
mechanism to fund rebel government in the eastern territory they
control. The rebels said they needed $1.5 billion in aid for civilians.

A spokesman for the rebel national council at the
Doha talks said the coalition was considering supplying arms which
should go to soldiers who have defected from the army. The rebels only
had “primitive weapons” taken from Gaddafi’s troops, he said.

Hague also sought a clear statement from the ministerial group that
Gaddafi must go, a demand reiterated in Doha by the rebels. The group
of international powers has struggled to reach a consensus on calling
for regime change.

Okey Ezea, the
governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Enugu State and 35
others were yesterday arraigned before an Enugu State Magistrate Court
for allegedly attempting to disrupt last Saturday’s National Assembly
election.

The suspects were
accused of threatening to cause violence and disrupt the parliamentary
election at Ibagwa Aka in Igbo Eze local government area of the state
when the result of the election was being collated. But they pleaded
not guilty to the charge brought by the police.

Mr Ezea and the
party’s House of Assembly candidate in the area were subsequently
granted bail on self recognition by the presiding magistrate, Emma
Ezema, after taking their plea.

However, the others
were granted bail under in the sum of N500,000 each and four sureties
who must be residing within the area where the offence was allegedly
committed.

Mr Ezea, who was
earlier on Monday invited by the Criminal Investigation Department
(CID), explained that he visited the office of the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) at Ibagwa Aka with some of his supporters
at about 10pm on the election day to report cases of malpractices to
officials.

According to him,
the state commissioner for information, Chuks Ugwoke and the chairman
of Igbo-Eze South Local Government Area, Chris Omeje, both of whom hail
from Alor Agu Community snatched some ballot boxes during the election.

Mr Ezea said that
rather than institute an investigation into the allegation, some
officials of the state government instructed soldiers to arrest him and
his supporters.

Following Tuesday’s
deadly clash between students of Ibadan City Academy and Community
Grammar School, both in Ibadan, in which a life was lost and property
worth millions of naira vandalised, the Oyo State government has
ordered the closure of the two schools until normalcy returns to the
area.

The state
commissioner for education, Nureni Aderemi, made this known in Ibadan
on Wednesday through a press release from his press officer, Babatunde
Ajibike.

According to him,
the government was saddened by the development and had to order the
immediate closure of the schools “to safeguard the lives of students
and teachers, to forestall further destruction of properties and with a
view to ensure maintenance of peace in the state”.

Mr Adeniran also
conveyed the sympathy of the state government to the family of the
bereaved and wished the injured speedy recovery.

He said the
security operatives in the state have already been put on red alert to
take over the premises of the schools to allow peace reign in the
vicinity.

The commissioner
said the government will take punitive actions against the culprits in
the incident, adding that it “frowns at attempt by anyone to ferment
trouble and disrupt academic activities in our schools”.

Clashes between students of the two schools turned bloody on Tuesday
when thugs were mobilised by one side to seek reprisal against the
other. One person was reportedly killed, one other put in a coma, and
many others injured in the fracas. Many cars and several properties
were also destroyed.

The governorship
aspirant of the Action Congress of Nigeria in Kwara State, Dele
Belgore, has alleged a plot by the PDP-led state government to arrest
some of his supporters.

In a statement
issued by the media aide to the politician, Rafiu Ajakaiye, he said the
plot is to “get the police to keep key ACN leaders out of circulation
ahead of the next elections.”

Meanwhile, Mr.
Belgore has urged the residents of the state to fast and pray on
Thursdays preceding the remaining elections, calling for the aversion
of violence and rigging plans.

Mr. Belgore, in a
media broadcast, said that “If Kwarans can do this for Nigeria and the
state, the election will be peaceful and the will of the voters shall
be ensured.”

The support group
of the party aspirant campaign, called MDB Support Group, through its
chairman, Saliu Ajibola Ajia, said in a statemen that the special
adviser on security to the state governor, Bukola Saraki, has written a
letter calling on the police to round up ACN leaders, especially those
from Asa, where the PDP alleges plan to also rig in the coming
elections.

“We are aware of
the grand design to railroad the police to arrest and detain our men in
Asa, whom the PDP fears could stand in the way of any rigging tactics
in the coming elections. For the avoidance of doubt, on April 4, 2011,
yesterday, the new SA Security to Governor Bukola, Usman Abdulkareem,
wrote the Commissioner of Police in Kwara State demanding that he
invites the following ACN chieftains for questioning.

“They are: Rahimi
Gidado of Adangba area; Hanafi Omo-Owo of Oloje; Memudu Turawa of Ile
Lanigan, Ipate Oloje; Jimoh Salami of Eyenkorin; Alhaji Issa Kewu
Repete of Alore Area; Obalowu Toyin of Oloje; Olaitan Oladimeji, also
of Oloje area; Wahab Yusuf Tode of Ode Alausa Area; and Bashir Gidado
of Adangba Area.

“We urge the police
and indeed all security agencies not to be wiling tools in the hands of
the PDP because that would not augur well for our democracy and
collective drive to change Nigeria for good,” Mr. Ajia said in the
statement.

Mr. Ajia also
warned the PDP to stop what he called the harassment and intimidation
of the party’s governorship flag bearer by spreading unsubstantiated
rumours against him and his team.

He alleged that PDP
wants to use the claims that the party is introducing violence into
Kwara politics through the peaceful protests it introduced last Monday.

When contacted on
the allegation, Dabo Ezekiel, the police spokesperson in the state,
said that he was not responding to whatever it was that they are doing,
claiming that they could say whatever they liked.

When he was asked
whether the police had anything against the party’s protest and
possibly want to take any issue on it, he said, “ours is just to
provide the security, that is all that I can tell you.”

The chief press secretary to the governor, Ma’mud Adebimpe, however, in an interview denounced any plan against the party.

The Court of Appeal
in Ibadan, on Wednesday, fixed April 19 for its ruling on an
application filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in a case that
will determine who is the governorship candidate of the party in the
state.

A former Minister
of Power and Steel, Wole Oyelese, Yekinni Adeojo, and a former deputy
governor of the state, Hazeem Gbolarunmi along with 38 others, had
challenged the selection of the state governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala and
others as candidates of the party in the ongoing general election.

They based their
objection on the allegation that the candidates were not properly
selected and so should not be allowed to fly the flags of the party
during the election.

The plaintiffs
prayed the court to restrain the party from presenting the names of the
candidates to the electoral body and also sought the order of court to
restrain the body from receiving the names.

Justice Jonathan
Shakarho of the Federal High Court granted the order, but later vacated
it. The vacation has also being challenged at the appeal court.

Now at the appellate court, the PDP filed an application, seeking a relief of the court to amend the records of the lower court.

Lateef Fagbemi,
lead counsel to the party, told the court on Wednesday that the record
provided by the lower court on what transpired during the proceedings
was incomplete, adding that the appeal could not be based on important
omission in the record.

Time for reckoning

He made reference
to an affidavit deposed to by Humphrey Orlu, the Director of Litigation
of the lower court, on behalf of Mr Shakharo where he said the judge
only recorded the arguments he considered relevant to the case while
the case lasted.

Mr Fagbemi faulted
the decision of the judge to consider his application for discharge of
the interim injunction relevant but not to add it in his record.

Consequently, he sought the relief of the court to use his own record to complement to the one provided by the lower court.

The governor’s lead
counsel, Richard Akinjide, aligned with Mr Fagbemi’s submission and
asked the court to grant the application.

In his submission,
however, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, lead counsel to the aggrieved PDP
members, said Mr Fagbemi was no longer a party to the appeal since his
notice of discontinuance had been filed and allowed in the lower court.

He noted that it is
not possible to have all things that transpired in court recorded by a
judge, saying the court was right to record only the relevant
submissions.

“The judge does not
also have to record argument or submission of a counsel that is no
longer a party to the case by virtue of Order 50, Rule 2,” he said.

Mr. Akeredolu said the supplementary record provided by Mr, Fagbemi could not be taken to mean a true record of the court.

The presiding justices – Stanley Alagoa, Sidi Bage and Joseph Ikyegh – adjourned till Tuesday to give their ruling.

Ahead of Saturday’s
presidential election, six presidential candidates on Wednesday
withdrew from the race and threw their weight behind President Goodluck
Jonathan, who is the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

The candidates who
stepped down for Mr Jonathan are Peter Nwagu of the African Democratic
Congress (ADC), Godwill Nnaji of the Better Nigeria progressive Party
(BNPP), Solomon Akpona of the Nigerian Mandate Progressive Party (NMDP)
and Batos Nwadike of the Peoples Mandate Party (PMP).

The others are
Lawson Igboanugo of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and the
candidate of the United National Party for Development (UNPD) who was
represented by his running mate, Galadima Samari.

At a joint news
conference at Legacy House, the campaign headquarters of Mr Jonathan in
Abuja, the six candidates said they were stepping down for the PDP
presidential flag bearer because he represents the vision of a strong
and united nation.

They also commended
Mr Jonathan for delivering on his promise to give Nigerians transparent
and credible polls as witnessed in last Saturday’s parliamentary
election, adding that they were sacrificing their ambitions for the
interest of the country, which they said is bigger than any individual.

Winning opinion poll

The announcement came as an SMS opinion poll put Mr Jonathan ahead of other candidates.

In the poll,
conducted by HALA Global Services Nigeria Limited, in collaboration
with N&D, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), FRCN, and Radio1, has
Mr Jonathan receiving the endorsement of 78 percent of Nigerians who
sent in messages. Muhammadu Buhari of the Congress for Progressive
Change (CPC), Nuhu Ribadu of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and
Ibrahim Shekarau of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) shared the
remaining 22% among themselves.

The general manager
and head of marketing of HALA Global Services Nigeria Limited, Usman
Ahmed, said in Abuja that poll was conducted from 15th March, 2011 to
12th April, 2011.

Mr Ahmed, who did
not give the breakdown of the percentages, urged Nigerians who want to
know the facts and figures recorded in the SMS Opinion Poll to visit
the website: www.nextpresidentng.com.

No odd man

The presidential
candidates said they were impressed that Mr Jonathan has so far avoided
using abusive and inciting language all through the electioneering
campaign.

According to Mr
Igboanugo, Mr Jonathan is an embodiment of great ideas and “the
consequences of all he has been doing in the past month have been
marvellous for the unity of Nigerian.” He added that he is “keeping his
ambition in the cooler until Jonathan completes his tenure.” In his
withdrawal declaration, Mr Nwadike said he heeded the call of his
people that initially asked him to run for the presidency and that of
“Ohaneze Ndigbo” that every bonafide Igbo person should support the
presidential ambition of Jonathan.

“I cannot afford to
be an odd man out.” Mr Samari, who spoke on behalf of his principal,
called on northerners to jettison regional and divisive politics which
he alleged some candidates have been propagating and advised them to
cast their votes for the Jonathan/Sambo ticket on Saturday.

The chairman of the
Inter Party Relations Committee of the Presidential Campaign council of
the PDP, Ebenezer Babatope denied insinuations that the presidential
aspirants were induced with the sum of N5million each to withdraw from
the race.

Mr Babatope
insisted that the PDP has always tried to maintain close ties with
other political parties through an all inclusive government of national
unity, adding that the ruling party will continue to collaborate with
other parties and their candidates.

Group of 45

Meanwhile, 45 registered political parties, on Wednesday, endorsed Mr Jonathan.

Announcing their
decision at a joint press conference, the coalition of the political
parties led by the National Chairman of the Advanced Congress of
Democrats (ACD), Yusuf Yakubu, said their decision was based on their
“faith in President Jonathan and belief that he is the most capable of
all the candidates in the field.”

They said their
faith in the PDP candidate was strengthened by the conduct of the
National Assembly election, which they claim was free and fair.

“We salute President Jonathan for keeping his promise to ensure
free and credible elections in Nigeria, for creating the enabling
environment and providing all necessary support to INEC,” Mr Yakubu
said. “The tremendous success achieved last Saturday convinces us that
President Jonathan is the man to lead Nigeria to the promised land.”

The governor of
Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel, yesterday said he is retiring from public
service after the expiration of his term on May 29, 2011.

Mr. Daniel said he will join the Ogun State Chapter of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners immediately he leaves office.

“I am going to
become a pensioner effective from May 29 when our tenure expires,” the
governor said during his administration’s valedictory meeting with
pensioners held at June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta.

Mr Daniel, who
bagged the award of the ‘Pensioners Friendly Governor’ at the event,
said he had not found the past eight years as governor of the state an
easy job.

He, however, said he is satisfied his government did not make life difficult for pensioners.

“By the special
grace of God, till I handover May 29, whatever will make you happy I
will do. You have served the state, what left is for the state to serve
you, and since my assumption I paid pension regularly,’ Mr Daniel said.

The governor
pledged a new bus to pensioners’ union and assured members that he will
not leave any unpaid debt of pensioners when he leaves office next
month.

“I have said it, I
will not go leaving debt behind,” he said. “I want you elders to pray
for me to accomplish this. It is not easy to rule for eight years
without violence. I didn’t lie to you for eight years, so there is no
reason lying to you while leaving office.”

The Secretary of
the pensioners’ union, Bola Lawal, appealed to the governor to offset
the gratuity payments owed pensioners since October last year.

“It is on record
that you approved land for our secretariat, but I want to use this
opportunity to tell you that the last time gratuity paid was last year
September, so we appeal to you on this,’ Mr Lawal said.