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Constitutional
lawyer, Bamidele Aturu, has decried the ongoing process to amend the
1999 constitution, saying the process falls short of what the original
document stipulates.

Both arms of
national assembly, last week, agreed to forward the amended document to
the 36 states house of assembly for concurrence. But Mr Aturu said the
legislators “ought to have passed a resolution before passing the bill
and sending it to the states house of assembly.” He quoted section 9 of
the constitution, which stipulates that the “National Assembly can only
pass an act to amend the constitution when its proposal to amend the
constitution has been supported by two-thirds majority of all the
members of each chamber and the proposal is approved by the resolution
of at least 24 Houses of Assembly of the States.”

This section of the
constitution, which states the procedure to be adopted in amending the
constitution, according to the lawyer, has “simply been ignored or
deliberately trampled upon by the legislators. The implication of which
is that the whole exercise…is an exercise in futility, an unnecessary
waste of taxpayers’ money and an indefensible trivialisation of
legislative time.”

Mr Aturu said the
National Assembly has violated the 1999 constitution in the process of
trying to amend the constitution because in law, one cannot build
something on nothing and expect it to stand.

“The illegal process which the national assembly has embarked on will soon collapse,” he said.

Harmonised illegality

Mr Aturu expressed
shock at the pronouncement of the National Assembly that it has passed
a bill to amend the constitution, saying the lawmakers has only passed
a “harmonised illegality.”

“When a procedure
has been laid down in a statute for the doing of a thing, to do that
thing in a different way is an illegality,” he said. “If they go ahead
with the proceedings, anybody can challenge them to court to nullify
the whole process. It is better for the National Assembly to halt the
illegal process, recommence constitutional review by merely passing a
resolution and then take the resolution to the states for approval. If
they secure the resolution of 24 Houses, then they can pass the bill
for the amendment of the constitution. If not, then that is the end of
the attempt.”

The lawyer also warned against claims that the bill to amend the
constitution, once passed by the National Assembly, does not require
the assent of the president. Quoting Section 58 of the constitution, he
said: “the section makes it clear that a bill does not become law until
it has been assented to by the president; unless after a period of one
month, the National Assembly passes the bill by two thirds majority and
overrides as it were the president’s veto.”

The All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP)
has called on the nominated INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega to create a
“re-branded INEC by flushing out all bad eggs” in the commission, as
soon as the National Assembly ratifies his appointment.

Sabo Muhammed, the party’s National
Director of Publicity, made the call in an interview with the News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi on Wednesday.

Mr. Muhammed, a former Public Relations Officer of the Academic
Staff Union of Universities when Mr Jega was its national president,
said, “notwithstanding Jega’s credibility and pedigree, government must
create an enabling environment for him to conduct a free, fair and
credible elections in 2011”.</

The National
Council of States yesterday approved the nomination of Attahiru Jega as
the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission by
President Goodluck Jonathan.

The ratification
came during the council’s first meeting under Mr Jonathan’s
administration. An influential advisory body, members of the council
include state governors, all former heads of state, former chief
justices of the federation and the current one, the attorney-general
and minister of justice, Senate President and Speaker of the House of
Representatives.

Yesterday’s meeting
had, for the first time in a very long while, all former living
Nigerian heads of state in attendance, including Yakubu Gowon, Olusegun
Obasanjo, Shehu Shagari, Ibrahim Babangida, Ernest Shonekan,
Abdulsalami Abubakar, and Muhammadu Buhari who consistently shunned the
council’s meetings during the administration of Mr Obasanjo.

The full attendance by the former leaders signifies their confidence in the leadership of Mr. Jonathan, a presidency aide said.

The council also
approved 10 national commissioners and 18 resident commissioners for
the electoral commission, alongside Mr. Jega who was a former national
president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, and the Vice
Chancellor of the Bayero University, Kano. All the names will be
forwarded to the National Assembly for confirmation.

Unanimous approval

The Edo State
governor, Adams Oshiomhole, who made the announcement after the closed
door meeting which lasted for about six hours, said,

“The council
considered the recommendation of Professor Atahiru Jega for appointment
as chairman of INEC and the council unanimously approved of it,” he
said, flanked by the governors of Niger, Jigawa, and Enugu States.

“We believe the
president demonstrated courage and statesmanship in appointing someone
who is not known to have any partisan political affiliation and a
Nigerian that has distinguished himself in his present and past
callings,” he said, adding, “The council also commended the president
for the quality of people nominated as national electoral
commissioners, about 10 of them as well as 18 other resident electoral
commissioners.

“The good thing
about it is that council was unanimous about these appointments because
the people concerned were considered to be men and women of integrity.
The fact is that we all accept that the president has exercised his
power quite judiciously in appointing someone that most Nigerians will
respect and appreciate, and it will be a major push on the electoral
reform line. The president also agreed that any of the existing
electoral commissioners whose tenure has not expired, but who might
have been found wanting of any particular wrong; where proven, will be
promptly removed and replaced.

“I think with council decision today, the recommendation will now go to the Senate for scrutiny and approval.”

Although the
council is essentially an advisory body, it is usually consulted on
significant national issues. Its meeting yesterday was essentially to
endorse the appointment of a new chairman for the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC).

Omotayo Mobolaji Johnson, a geologist and staff of
Chevron PLC has been arrested in connection with the attempt to kidnap
a bank executive at Ikoyi, Lagos.

Two middle-aged suspects, Tommy Ebikeme and Edward
Anigbhoro were also arrested during the June 1st kidnaping which the
police said was masterminded by Mr. Johnson who allegedly used a pseudo
name ‘Olumide.’ He was allegedly assisted by a woman called Anita to
recruit both Mr. Ebikeme and Mr. Anighboro who are militants from the
Niger Delta, to carry out the kidnap.

Their luck ran out when the police got a tip off and arrested them when they were about to kidnap their victim at Ikoyi.

The Lagos State commissioner of police, Marvel
Akpoyibo while parading the suspects at the state command yesterday
said the command’s intelligence -led policing strategy led to the
arrest of the suspect.

“Events that led to the arrest of the suspects
started on June 1st, 2010, when the command’s intelligence Unit
intercepted information that a group of persons had perfected plans to
kidnap a high profile target in Lagos. Members of the gang recruited
from the Niger delta of Nigeria were said to have intended to kidnap
the target victim from his office in Lagos island and whisk him away to
Ibadan, where Omotayo Mobolaji Johnson had a farm at the outskirt of
the town where the victim was to be taken to, after which a demand for
ransom will be made.” He said, “Acting on the strength of the
information, intelligent and undercover operatives were deployed in and
around the office and premises of the target victim for high level
surveillance mission, the efforts of the police yielded positive result
when hours later, operatives were able to effect the arrest of three
suspects connected to the plot.”

Mr. Akpoyibo added that preliminary investigation shows that the kidnap was masterminded by Mr. Johnson.

“His wife works in one of the companies owned by the
father of the target victim. The suspect worked with one Anita now at
large. Mr. Johnson owns a four star hotel and other investment in
Ibadan. He promised the other suspects a cash reward of ten million
naira from a windfall of fifty million naira expected to be made from
the illicit deal if the victim was taken to Ibadan. Some substances
recovered from the suspects include sleep inducing drugs, syringes
which they had intended to inject the victim with the substances
Halothane and Velum to facilitate his losing consciousness before
moving him to Ibadan.” Mr. Akpoyibo said.

Mr. Johnson however declined to comment on his
involvement in the crime. He said “I will not say anything until my
lawyer is here.” Mr. Ebikeme however confessed to the crime. He
indicted Mr. Johnson saying he was the one who recruited them and drove
them to the scene of the botched kidnap.

The oil company, Chevron could not be reached as at press time for its comment.

Kidnappers in Abia State have abducted
Etuk-Udo Sampson, the father of Akanimo Sampson, Editor (Niger Delta)
of Watchdog Reporters. Mr Sampson was abducted with three others on
Saturday on their way back to Eket, Akwa Ibom State from a wedding
ceremony.

The kidnapped elderly man, who is also
a royal father in Atai Ndon, Afaha-Eket, in Eket Local Government Area
of Akwa Ibom State, was at Ikeduru in Imo State, for the wedding
ceremony of his nephew, Mr Akanimo N. Sampson Etukudo, where he served
as the groom’s father of the day. Some five other relatives who
accompanied him to the wedding received serious gunshot wounds during
the abduction.

An eye-witness account said Mr Sampson
was abducted at Onicha Ngwa, near the Nigerian Christian Hospital,
after sporadic gun shots by the bandits which lasted for some 10
minutes.

The abducted citizens have been denied food since Sunday, while their abductors are pressing for a ransom of N30 million.

Already, the Nigeria Police, Rivers
State command, has made necessary contacts with the Abia State command,
to ensure that the captives regain their freedom.

Police Commissioner, Suleman Abba, said
on Tuesday that his command has brought the incident to the knowledge
of the Abia State high command.

Mr Daniel Abia, spokesperson for the
Journalists for Niger Delta (JODEL), a media group concerned with the
affairs of the oil and gas region, said Abia State was becoming
increasingly unsafe for Akwa Ibom and Rivers States citizens. The group
is, therefore, calling on the federal government to do something about
that axis of terror, since the authorities in Umuahia, the Abia State
capital, appear to be helpless.

From Eket, where Mr Sampson hails,
concerned citizens have called on the state government to ensure the
safety of Akwa Ibom citizens who travel through Abia State.

Ensure safe passage

Spokesperson for the Concerned Eket
People, Maurice Edohoeket, claimed that if the situation was not
curbed, “Akwa Ibom people could be forced to embark on reprisal
attacks. There are some prominent Abia people who live and do business
in Akwa Ibom.”

Family sources say the health of Mr Akpabio, who recently underwent surgery, is at risk.

Before the Nigerian civil war, Mr Sampson was a prominent figure in
the automobile industry in Aba, the commercial town of Abia and, before
retiring to become head of his community, he was the sales manager of
Auto Engineering Sales and Service Ltd, in Calabar, the capital of
Cross River State.

A
member of the House of Representatives, Ita Enang, has accused the
National Assembly of granting hasty approvals to executive requests for
foreign loans, calling the approvals “mistakes” that have raised
Nigeria’s debt to the highest in four years.

Mr. Enang, chairman
of the House’s committee on business and rules, said yesterday the
failure of the House in particular, to examine the requests sent to
them by the executive arm, before approvals, led to several erroneous
endorsements that have now lifted national debt to $4.3 billion.

“For example, if
the National Assembly had read through the document of the latest
proposal brought to us by the executive to approve $915 million loan
from World Bank, we couldn’t have approved it,” he said at the second
day of the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee meeting on
Nigeria’s local and foreign loans.

“The Fiscal
Responsibility Act says the National Assembly should examine and
approve the terms and conditions, but we don’t examine, before we
approve. We just approve and it goes.

“50 percent of
these loans are marketed by people at the World Bank; they market these
loans and take their percentages, sometime 1.5%, and so on. You hire
their consultants and you pay them from the same loan you have taken;
and at the end of the day, you still pay them,” he added.

Mr. Enang’s
committee is the major planning body of the House and is largely
responsible in deciding when and if, matters brought before the chamber
would be given legislative attention.

Rising debt levels

His comments would
be viewed as weighty representation of a part of procedural failures
that have characterised the working of the federal legislature. Between
2009 and date, the executive arm under the late president, Umar
Yar’Adua, and the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan, have sought and secured
authorisations from the lawmakers, for foreign loans amounting to more
than $1 billion.

In each case of the
loan applications, their respective approvals received speedy treatment
and passage at both chambers of the National Assembly, most times over
ruling dissenting opinions of many members.

Finance minister, Olusegun Aganga, who also attended the event on
Monday, disclosed that Nigeria’s debt has risen from $3.54 billion in
2006 to the present $4.3 billion, rated by ending of March 2010.

Attahiru Jega, a professor of political science is the vice chancellor of Nigeria’s Bayero University, Kano.

A former consultant
to INEC, he was also the national president of the Academic Staff Union
of Universities, between 1988 and 1994, during which, his predecessor
in office, Maurice Iwu, was the union’s vice president.

Mr. Jega, who holds
the national award of the Order Of the Niger, was also a member of the
Justice Uwais Electoral Reform Group, whose report has been widely
acclaimed as the required panacea for the nation’s electoral woes. He
is very popular, and generally respected for his principled stance on
issues. Some of his cohorts describe him as an ‘unrepentant optimist’
that fought and believed that Nigeria will be freed from the shackles
of the military; and that democracy will not only prevail but will
become a way of life, while he was the University union chairman.

Mr. Jega is also the founding coordinator of the Nigeria Research
Group, and the Centre for Research and Documentation in Kano. He is the
author of several books and journals, and has served as speaker at
various events. One of his major books is ‘The state and Identity
Transformation.’ Mr. Jega was head of the university’s political
science department before he was appointed its vice chancellor in 2005,
a tenure that is supposed to end in October, 2010.

Muhammadu Buhari, former Head of State:

What concerned all
of us is the elections with INEC. I think it is the most important memo
we discussed. The substantive work of the National Council is only, I
think, about census, national honours, and the election of the chair of
INEC. Note that all other things are at the pleasure of the president.
He can advise us or he can withdraw. We have the CVs of all those
recommended and I think they are worthy Nigerians of the positions
approved for them. We appreciate the seriousness of having a free and
fair election next year.

Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, chairman of ANPP:

Anybody who loves
this country must not make the mistake of the past; that merely because
somebody belongs to the university world, that he can handle the
complex Nigerian situation. I believe that Jega, lets see what he can
do. But people from that line, the academia, have failed us in the INEC
world. I felt that we would have looked for somebody completely
neutral; particularly people from the judiciary. Retired high court
judges or retired Supreme Court judges should have been a better
option. We are going to face the same problem we faced with Iwu,
because he has not got any political experience. He has not mixed with
anybody in politics.

Ehiawarie Eferakeya, senator, PDP Delta State:

I cannot comment on
him because I do not know him in person. Being a unionist does not tell
the true character of a person. You will only know whether he can
deliver if he has held such positions before.

Adams Oshiomhole, Edo State governor:

Jega is eminently
qualified for the job because he is capable of bringing to bear the
courage, independence and integrity necessary to lead INEC. With Jega
as chairman, I believe that INEC would be in safe hands and we can
expect fundamental improvements in the conduct of elections. People
like him are much better to nurture the democratic project.

Pandemonium broke
out in the chambers of the Oyo State House of Assembly on Tuesday, as
the members split into two over an impeachment move against the
Speaker, Olawale Atilola, engineered by a faction of the assembly.

Two members of the
House, Abiola Ayorinde of Ibadan Southwest 1 and Bamidele Ajibola of
Ibadan Northwest sustained injuries during the ensuing fracas.

Initiators of the
move to impeach the Speaker raised several allegations bordering on
inept leadership, lack of charisma, absence of robust debate and
irregular sittings of the House, to back their position.

Yesterday’s
sitting took a violent dimension as bus-loads of supporters and thugs,
wielding dangerous weapons, stormed the premises of the state House of
Assembly to express their support for the Speaker and the state
governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala.

The crowd,
mobilised from all the 33 local governments of the state, chanted
different songs to show that they are indeed for the government of the
day.

Riot policemen took their positions around the state secretariat and prevented many people from entering the premises.

The thugs
prevented all the lawmakers known to be behind the impeachment move
from entering the chambers to attend yesterday’s session. The said
lawmakers were also beaten as they approached the premises of the
chambers. Not satisfied with this, the thugs then went into the
Assembly complex to ransack the offices of the legislators and search
for who among the pro-impeachment lawmakers might have escaped their
beatings.

Injured lawmakers

That eventuality
was what Mr. Ayorinde wanted to avoid when he jumped from the balcony
of the first floor of the building and injured his leg in the process.
Mr. Ajibola was not allowed to escape. The thugs pounced on him, tore
his clothes, and beat him thoroughly.While the beating was going on,
the Speaker and 15 other members of the House were conducting a
legislative session on the floor of the House.

There, they
suspended the Majority Leader, Ademola Adejumo; deputy chief whip;
Nafiu Baale and five others perceived to be the masterminds of the
impeachment move.

The incident took
place in the full glare of the security officials of the state
secretariat and some senior members of the state executive council,
including Mr Olayiwola Olakojo, secretary to the state government.

The state chairman
of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Lateef Salako
(a.k.a. Eleweomo) and his second in command, Mukaila Lamidi (popularly
called Auxiliary) led the army of thugs that unleashed terror on the
pro-impeachment lawmakers.

Wearing vests with
the governor’s pictures, the thugs publicly assaulted some members of
the state legislature.However, Dotun Oyelade, media aide to Mr.
Alao-Akala, said on Tuesday that the state government had nothing to do
with the incident.

The federal government, as part of its
efforts to meet the Millennium Development deadline in 2015, has
launched a new scheme to empower local governments.

The initiative, titled ‘The MDGs
Conditional Scheme Scale up to Local Governments,’ has been designed to
empower local governments to fully execute their constitutional role as
the lead provider in primary education and health care services, which
are key components of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Considering the time left for the
country to achieve the goals set, which are regarded as the minimum
basic essentials for development, the conditional Grants Scheme to
Local Governments is aimed at accelerating the MDGs at the local level.
One hundred and thirteen local governments are to benefit from the
initiative, which was launched yesterday in Kaduna. The local
governments were selected by state governors based on their challenges
in achieving some, or all, of the MDGs.

A release from the office of the Senior
Special Adviser to the president on MDGs, Amina Mohammed Az-Zubair,
stated that the initiative is reinforced by the fact that “more
effective local government will mean more accessible, more affordable
and higher quality services for households and communities”. “It is,
therefore, projected that a healthier, more educated population will
improve Nigerians’ quality of life and the human resources for national
development through vision 20:20,” it added.

Columbia University involved

The agency also
stated that, with five years remaining to the 2015 MDGs deadline, the
conditional Grants Sheme to local governments is a unique and timely
intervention towards accelerating the MDGs at the local level.

“The sensitization
meetings are the first step in facilitating increased investment in the
MDGs at the local level, as well as improved service delivery,” Mrs Az
Zubair said.

The conditional
grants to local governments will be launched at three high level
sensitization meetings in Kaduna, Lagos and Owerri. The programme is
expected to run from the June 8 to 9, for the North-West and North-East
Zone; Lagos (June 15-16) for the South -West and North -Central Zone
and Owerri (June 22-23) for the South-East and South-South.

“These
interventions will include improving the effectiveness of primary
education, health care delivery, reduce child and maternity mortality,”
the agency said. “The grants are to be implemented within a clear
framework that promotes accountability, public expenditure reform and
improved public service delivery, whilst strengthening the capacity of
government to deliver sustainable services.

“The sensitization
meeting will also share the objectives, framework and implementation
modalities of the LGA initiative with key officials from the state and
local government and seek their feedback on the most effective support
that can be provided to accelerate MDGs implementation. In addition,
participants will discuss key national international experiences that
will inform the initiative.” The Earth Institute of Columbia
University, headed by Jeffrey Sachs, is also a key partner in the
initiative and will be providing technical backstopping and data
management systems that will permit tracking of the impact of the
initiative.

During the
sensitization meeting, the Institute will highlight the role of data
management to the success of the LGA, as well as explain the key
lessons and tools derived from the millennium villages project, which
has engaged with communities across Africa (including Pampaida, Kaduna
State and Ikraram, Ondo State) to demonstrate that the MDGs can be
achieved with targeted investment.