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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.

Apathy and lack of
sincerity by the developed countries was undermining global efforts to
tackle the impact of climate change, African countries participating in
the Bonn Climate Change Talk have said.

Victor Fodeke,
Nigeria lead negotiator, and one of the spokespersons for the African
Group at the summit, stated that what the world is currently
experiencing the impacts of climate change which are the result of
activities that occurred more than 50 years ago. He also warned that
the world should be prepared for the worst in the years ahead.

“In the last 50
years the world witnessed tremendous growth and development, more coal
and thermal power plants have come on stream, more cars, ships, and
aeroplanes have being manufactured so we should brace up for the
calamity ahead,” he said. “But, in all this, Africa and other
developing countries that are only responsible for about four per cent
of climate change will suffer the most due to their inability and
capacity to cope or adapt.”

Time for change

Mr Fodeke said it
was time African countries started working on self protective measures
as developed countries continue to frustrate efforts that would lead to
a legally binding treaty that would force them to cut their CO2
emission.

“We should start
developing strategies that will ‘climate-proof’ Africa and prepare her
to tackle the challenges of climate change,” he said. “We should start
working on adaptation strategies that will boost agriculture, bring
about energy efficiency, and renewable energy so that we are not caught
napping. To be fore-warned is to fore-plan, as we don’t need any
prophet to warn us on the antics being deployed by developed countries
to stall efforts to have a legally binding treaty.”

The scientist, who
is head of Nigeria’s Climate Change Unit, also suggested the formation
of regional climate change blocks that would conduct regular
vulnerability assessment, and advice national governments on actions
needed to cushion the impact of climate change on their citizens.

“Through such blocks, indigenous capacities can be enhanced to
enable the continent compete with others in attracting clean
development mechanism projects,” he said.

Ebiredelu Bako, an Edo State high chief has been apprehended by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) for human trafficking.

Mr Bako, according to the immigration service, was
apprehended at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA),
Lagos, on his way to Turkey last week, and was found to be with two
ladies that he could not reasonably account for.

“The chief that we have here was travelling to Turkey
and he was travelling with these two ladies. We discovered during our
interrogation that he could not give us any convincing reason for
travelling with the two ladies,” said Lasun Olaitan, State Controller
NIS, during a press briefing at the Service’s headquarters in Lagos.

Mr Olaitan disclosed that it is an onus due the
Service to stop people from travelling out of the country with children
and ladies without credible explanations, stressing that this is
because human traffickers are on the prowl.

“We don’t allow people to travel out with these young
ladies unless they give us genuine reasons before we can allow them to
travel and this is mainly because of the issue of human trafficking,”
he said.

The State Immigration boss disclosed that the
suspect, with the Ebiredelu of Emuhi title from West Local Government
Area of Edo State, was in possession of an official passport which is
not expected of him, adding that the Service is investigating the
matter.

“We discovered that the chief is travelling with an
official passport, and an official passport is supposed to be held by a
government official of the country,” he said. “It is not something that
members of the public can hold, unless they are working with the
federal or state government. In short, they must be working with the
government for them to hold an official passport. We are trying to
investigate how chief came about the official passport.” According to
Mr Olaitan, the chief had been arrested in the past by the Service with
some ladies, as he further disclosed that the NIS has decided to hand
over the case to the right quarters.

“On checking our records, we discovered that in
January 2009, Mr Bako had a case to answer with (the) NIS, and our
investigations showed that he was travelling with some girls and when
interrogated, he said they were his helpmates,” he said. “We suspected
very much a case of human trafficking and we have now decided that we
are going to hand them over to the appropriate statutory authority
which is NAPTIP (National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking In
Persons).”

Suspect refutes

Reacting to the allegations, the Edo State chieftain
disclosed that he was in possession of the official passport owing to
his high status in the state, as he argued that he was nabbed because
he refuse to give the officers money.

“I am in possession of an official passport because I
am a first class chief in Edo State. It was not given to me by anybody;
it is by the federal government and I can’t travel without the
knowledge of the federal government,” he said. “It is because I refused
to part with some money at the airport that is why they said they are
going to deal with me.”

Meanwhile, the Immigration Service boss gave the names of the girls
travelling with the suspected human trafficking chief as Queen
Ebiredelu, 22, a student of Edo State polytechnic; and Egharevba Helen,
22, an alleged maid to the chief.

More
details have emerged of how German auto-maker, Daimler AG, distributed
bribes to public officials in Nigeria in exchange for government
patronage. The automaker had, in April paid $185 million (N28 billion)
to settle allegations that it had violated U.S. anti-bribery laws by
giving bribes to foreign government officials to win contracts.

A complaint filed
against the company by the United States’ Security and Exchange
Commission and obtained by NEXT yesterday indicated that the bribes
were distributed to top Nigerian government functionaries through
officials of the Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company (Anammco) with
which Daimler had a joint venture agreement. The foreign company made
the payments, amounting to N2.3 billion, between 1998 and 2005, to
corner sales contracts worth approximately $73 million, from at least
seven different government customers.

The bribe money
given to Nigerian officials comprised of DM 3.9 million, $1million and
230, 000 Euros. Daimler dished out the slush fund – exporting some of
it in raw cash from its headquarters in Germany – while unnamed ANAMMCO
officials help funnel the money to corrupt government functionaries who
approved the contracts. In one instance, the document stated, “Daimler
employees withdrew DM 400,000 and $150,000 from the cash desk (in
Germany) and transported the Marks. and US dollars to Nigeria to pay
bribes to government officials.”

Daimler, ANAMMCO
and Nigerian officials involved in the scandal were not named in the
document because they are not U.S. citizens. But analysts say if
Nigeria has the political will to get to the bottom of the case, it can
get full details of the investigation from the US Department of Justice
by virtue of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty it has with the States.
While the names of the allegedly corrupt officials remain under wraps,
their crimes and modus operandi are clear.

Investigators made
the following findings regarding the corrupt payments to Nigerian
officials: Daimler made the bribe payments and kept funds that were not
properly recorded on its books through four TPAs (third party accounts)
that were held by Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company (“Anammco”), a
then Daimler-controlled joint venture between Daimler and the military
government. Daimler later sold its interest in the joint venture in
2007.

Moreover, a portion
of Daimler’s proceeds from the sale of vehicles in Nigeria was credited
to the Anammco third party accounts. Senior executives of Daimler then
used a portion of these credits to fund improper payments to foreign
government officials. Between 1998 and 2005, Daimler made approximately
N2.3 billion in improper payments to Nigerian government officials.
These payments were either improperly recorded in Daimler’s books and
records or were not recorded at all and were made as a result of weak
internal controls.

The third party
accounts were controlled by a former head of overseas sales, and the
former head of Daimler’s Nigerian office through which Daimler carried
out its business in Nigeria (the “Nigerian representative office”); he
was also the managing director of Anammco.

These two former
executives had decision-making authority over the sales operations in
Nigeria, and they were able to direct large-scale bribe payments. For
example, in order to obtain a deal to sell armoured vehicles to the
Nigerian government, the former head of overseas sales authorized the
former head of Daimler’s Nigerian representative office to debit an
Anammco TPA and pay DM 200,000 and OM 50,000, respectively, to two
senior Nigerian government officials, who had decision-making authority
over the contract. Daimler employees then wired the funds to the
personal foreign bank accounts of these two officials in England and
Germany.

Similarly, in order
to obtain another deal involving the sale of commercial vehicles to a
Nigerian state-owned entity, the former head of the Nigerian
representative office effectuated a debit of nearly €200,000 from an
Anammco TPA and had the funds wired from a Daimler bank account in
Germany to a bank account in England held by the entity’s managing
director.*The former head of Overseas Sales and the former head of the
Nigerian representative office also routinely withdrew large sums of
cash in various currencies from Daimler’s corporate cash desk in
Germany to make bribe payments to secure business in Nigeria.

Daimler failed to
adequately monitor the amount of cash that could be withdrawn through
the cash desk or understand the purpose of the withdrawals. The former
head of the Nigerian representative office, for example, was authorized
by the former head of Overseas Sales to debit an Anammco TPA to obtain
DM 400,000 in cash from the cash desk for use towards the hotel stay,
travel, dining and shopping of a senior Nigerian government official,
his delegation and their relatives. In connection with the contract to
sell buses to a Nigerian state-owned entity, the former head of the
Nigeria representative office withdrew $110,000 in cash from the cash
desk and delivered the funds from Germany to Nigeria to make bribe
payments to government officials affiliated with the entity.

At one point, the
former head of the Nigerian representative office and a senior sales
manager for Anammco opened up at least two Swiss bank accounts, which
were funded by credit balances in Anammco TPAs. The former head of
Overseas Sales authorized approximately DM 2.1 million to be
transferred from Anammco TPAs into these Swiss bank accounts for
payment to government officials to obtain sales contracts with various
agencies of the Nigerian government. In all, Daimler is believed to
have made improper payments totalling at least $56million to secure
business in 22 countries, including Nigeria.

Nigerian probe

Chairman of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Farida Waziri, on Monday said
her agency had commenced investigations into the matter. cials and
representatives of Daimler and Anammco in Nigeria,” Mrs Waziri said.
“We have equally gone ahead to seek the assistance of the
Attorney-General to obtain the certified true copy of the US judgment
from the America authorities. We are working hard to see how we can
crack some of these high profile cases with international dimensions”.

Bakassi returnees at the Ekpri Obutong
resettlement camp in Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River State
have been assured of the state government’s assistance to make life
comfortable for them. Liyel Imoke, the state governor, made this known
while on a working visit to the area.

Accompanied by his deputy, Efiok
Cobham, and the director-general State Emergency Management Agency
(SEMA), Vincent Aqua, Mr. Imoke urged the returnees to send their
children to the nearby primary school and directed Saviour Nyong, the
local government chairman, to supply the pupils with books and uniforms.

He also urged the Bakassi Local
Government council to move its legislative arm to the area, as well as
keep the surroundings clean.

Innocent Asuquo Bassey, one of the
returnees, said they are stranded in the area, as they have no means of
livelihood “because the sea is no longer safe for us to fish, following
the harassment by Cameroonian gendarmes”.

Mr. Bassey subsequently appealed that
they be given some financial assistance to start businesses, as they
are no more into fishing, their primary occupation.

He also asked for the provision of a
health centre, primary school, electricity and pipe borne water, to
enable them live a comfortable life.

Mr. Imoke said though the state government could not give all of
them money for business, the government will ease their burden by
providing them with water, electricity, a health centre and financial
assistance, to ease their burdens.

Muhammadu Idrissa, the emir of Fika and
chairman of Yobe State Council of Chiefs on Monday called on the
federal government to accord traditional rulers the privilege of being
recognised in the Nigerian constitution.

Speaking to aviation correspondents at
the General Aviation Terminal of the Murtala Mohammed Airport (MMA),
Lagos, the emir, who is also the chancellor of University of Uyo,
disclosed that the development will enable the local leaders to
efficiently assist the government in daily governance.

“As an advocate of rural development,
it is my considered opinion that traditional rulers should be accorded
constitutional recognition such that they should assist in their
advisory capacity to help in the day to day running of government,” he
said.

The monarch stated that traditional
rulers were closer to the people, and where therefore better positioned
to address their needs. “They are very close to the people, they know
their problems, and they will advise government on how to dispense the
funds appropriately with a view to seeing to all round development of
the areas,” he said.

“Government should think about giving
constitutional recognition to the role of traditional rulers so that in
their advisory capacity they can urge elected leaders on how to
dispense funds meant for community related projects judiciously.”

The emir regretted that traditional
rulers currently do not have much impact in their domain because they
do not have the required political backing, stating that they
subsequently concerned themselves only with traditional matters.

“If given the chance, traditional leaders can influence a lot of
things,” he said. “But at the moment there is not much control
politically in all tiers of government, for they are only concerned
about traditional matters and culture. If given the chance
constitutionally, they will make positive impact.”

Afe Babalola (SAN) has blamed the nation’s economic woes on the incursion of the military into political affairs.

At an interview
with journalists in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, over the
weekend, Mr. Babalola faulted the economic policy implemented during
the regime of former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, adding that
the country has not recovered fully from the trauma caused by the
cancellation of the June 12, 1993 elections by Mr. Babangida.

He pointed out that
the Babaginda regime should be blamed for the devaluation of the
country’s currency that caused great havoc on the country’s economy
system. He identified the discovery of crude oil as the beginning of
the nation’s problem, saying “The discovery of oil in 1970s has done a
great damage to the country. The damage was compounded by the military,
which devalued the naira and introduced IMF loan, even when a few years
earlier, we were told that money was not our problem, but how to spend
it.”

The legal
practitioner also blamed the Babangida government for the current
political upheaval, stressing that the country would have moved forward
if Babaginda had not cancelled what observers adjudged as the best
election in the nation’s history.

According to him,
he was representing the late Moshood Abiola, the presumed winner of the
elections in court in Kaduna when the judge presiding over the case
announced that the case could no longer take place as a result of the
annulment of the June 12 presidential election.

The road to nowhere

He said, “When the
judge came and announced that the case could no longer go on because
June 12 election had been annulled, I was angry. How can a man annul
the wishes of the whole nation? But I said then that we were at the
beginning of a road which nobody knew its end, and here we are today.”

Answering questions whether Babaginda should contest next year, Mr. Babalola said,

“Babangida has the
right to say he wants to come back. But you will never have the right
people voted into power as long as the majority of the voters are
extremely poor.

“So many people
don’t make up to N10 in a day and politicians seeking their votes are
aware of this; they are ready to sell their houses and other property
to buy voters’ conscience.”

He advised that the remuneration of political office holders should be made less attractive too.