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Following last
Tuesday’s shut down of airports in North African nation Morocco, and
some countries in Europe as a result of the second eruption of ash from
Iceland, Nigeria’s civil aviation has said that there are no plans yet
to close the country’s airspace.

The Nigerian Civil
Aviation Authority (NCAA), being the primary body saddled with the
regulating the industry, disclosed that if there is a need to have the
nation’s airspace closed, it would be alerted by the Nigerian
Meteorological Agency (NIMET), promising that the authority will not
hesitate to stop flight operations if the situation warrants such.

We have the technology

“NIMET forecast
weather, for they have the technology and manpower to get this done;
our role by law is to issue advisory circulars to airline operators,
pilots, air traffic controllers and other key industry personnel as to
weather developments made available to us by the meteorological
agency,” said Sam Adurogboye, media head NCAA over the weekend at the
authority’s headquarters in Lagos.

“For the fact that
Morocco shut down its airports does not mean we are to carryout same,
it can only be done when we have such information to do so from NIMET.”

Explaining that
the State-Weather-Minima (SWM), which is the minimum visibility level
for operating an aircraft within a particular state, is currently
normal in most parts of the country, the authority’s spokesperson
disclosed that pilots are occasionally updated on what to do at any
given point in time, adding that any violation to stipulated procedures
and principles automatically necessitates grounding.

“With the SWM they
will know which airport they must not go to, or the one that they must
not land in, for any thing below that means no aircraft is expected to
fly within that territory,” he said. “For instance that of Lagos is
800m as was made public during the last haze that was seen in the State
and you can recall that flight operations were suspended for a while
until the situation improved.”

Meteorological agency comments

When contacted,
Austin Udogwu, chief meteorologist for the central forecast office of
NIMET in Lagos, gave an assurance that the country’s weather is
presently safe for flight operations, but declined comment on how
possible the volcanic ash eruption disrupting flight operations across
Europe will impact Nigeria.

“As for our
weather there is no problem, but I cannot speak on international
weather issues for now,” he said. “The fact is that we are working hard
to relay up to date weather information to ensure safety.”

Hakeem Jimoh,
media consultant for Lufthansa Airlines, an international carrier that
operates to countries in Europe, disclosed that flights are still
operational, adding that the ash cloud experienced this time is not as
severe as the previous one that occurred last month which paralysed
aircraft services for at least five days.

“Everything is fine and our flights are operating as normal,” he
said. “The ash this time is not as harsh as that of April, so I don’t
think it will stop us from flying.”

A veteran
journalist, Yakubu Mohammed, on Sunday called for a social revolution
against money bags in the nation’s polity in order to move Nigeria
forward.

Mr. Mohammed, a
deputy chief executive officer and co-founder of Newswatch Magazine,
told Lagos State Assembly correspondents in Lagos, that only a shift
from the usual norm of money politics could bring about development.

“What we are
expecting to happen in Kogi and the nation is a social revolution where
people would say ‘no’ to money bags and the influence of money,” he
said. He said most political office holders in mainstream politics have
let the society down.

According to him, Nigerians are looking for those who have what it takes to deliver the dividends of democracy.

Mr. Mohammed, who
plans to run for the governorship election in Kogi State in the 2011
general election, said he had written against corruption for 35 years
as a journalist and felt it was time to become part of the change
process.

The media expert,
who was also a former Pro-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria,
said that he would be running on the platform of the Peoples’
Democratic Party (PDP).

He said that he would look beyond the broader party manifesto to address the problem of uneven development in Kogi State.

He called on President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure the
implementation of the Justice Uwais Electoral Reform in order to remove
the influence of money and increase the chance of credible Nigerians to
become leaders.

The Senate may, on
Tuesday, swear-in Alphonsus Igbeke, of the All Nigeria People’s Party
(ANPP), as the senator representing Anambra North Senatorial Zone,
after almost a month of drama.

The Senate’s
decision, a source said, follows on last week’s ruling of an Appeal
Court sitting in Enugu, ordering the Senate President, David Mark, to
“immediately” swear in Mr. Igbeke (ANPP) as a replacement for Joy
Emordi who, despite previous rulings of the same court ousting her, had
stayed back in the Senate.

Mr. Mark confirmed
to the National Executive Council of ANPP that he would have sworn-in
Mr. Igbeke if the new senator had appeared at the chamber earlier than
he did last week Thursday, when he was denied admittance.

The Senate
President’s confirmation was in a report given to the ANPP’s National
Executive Council in their last meeting held in Abuja on Saturday.

Emmanuel Eneukwu,
the national publicity secretary of ANPP, said the party’s leadership
decided to give the Senate leadership a benefit of the doubt and
present Mr. Igbeke early enough for oath taking on Tuesday, when the
Senate resumes plenary.

Also, unconfirmed
reports said the leadership of the Senate have asked Mrs. Emordi to
stay away from Senate, pending the determination of a fresh case she
instituted in the Supreme Court, hours after the Enugu Appeal Court
ruled against her.

Even so, the
Senate President, in a press release signed by his senior special
assistant on media, Kola Ologbodiyan, said the Senate will never act
unconstitutionally.

No room for illegality

“The attention of
the Office of the President of the Senate has been drawn to news
reports claiming that the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark,
has refused to honour the order of the Court of Appeal asking him to
swear-in Alphonsus Igbeke as Senator representing Anambra North,” the
statement read.

“The President of
the Senate, Mark, has utmost respect for the Judiciary as a partner in
the onerous task of deepening our hard earned democracy. In the extant
case of Joy Emordi and Alphonsus Igbeke, the President of the Senate,
Senator David Mark, and indeed the Senate, has never and will not act
unconstitutionally,” Mr. Kola added.

Mrs. Emordi, who
was senator representing Anambra North Senatorial Zone was, on 25
March, asked to relinquish her seat to Mr. Igbeke by an Enugu Appeal
Court, following a suit filed by Mr. Igbeke claiming he got the
majority vote in April 2007 senatorial elections.

The Senate,
however, re-admitted Mrs. Emordi, following a notice of an application
she filed before the appeal court asking for the interpretation of the
ruling, which she claimed conflicted with an earlier ruling. The same
court had, on 10 February last year, in a separate case, upheld Mrs.
Emordi’s election.

The court, however, held that there was no conflict in its
judgments, pointing out that the judgment of 25 March declared Mr.
Igbeke winner of majority of lawful votes in that election, and that he
was not a part of the 10 February suit and asked the Senate to swear
him in immediately.

Theophilus Orisha
goes about his daily task with a quiet mien. Because most of the
residents of Zion Street and environs who cross the dark, murky canal,
linking Sari Iganmu to the Lagos-Badagry expressway via a wooden boat
pay to a collector at the gate before boarding; Mr. Orisha says he has
no other business with them. And he doesn’t even make the effort.

His hole-laden
wooden contraption of a boat, in which passengers stand and are
propelled by means of a rope attached to two wooden poles at opposing
ends of the canal, has been serving the purpose for which it was built
for more than a decade, according to Mr. Orisha.

“This bridge was
built in 1972,” says Mr. Orisha, pointing to a decapitated remains of
what used to be a wooden bridge, “And it used to cross people across
the canal where they would pay at the table there. But later they said
they wanted to dredge the canal and so the bridge was destroyed.”

Mum is his word

With the throng of
passengers who cross the canal daily, Mr. Orisha says that adopting a
passive demeanour has been a very effective means of dealing with his
customers.

“Due to this kind
of job, man needs to be very patient. If not, human being will make you
to be annoyed and you would do what you don’t want to do. There are a
lot of problems here. Patience overcomes all the problems,” he says.

The nearness of the
canal to Orile bus stop, the first bus stop along the Badagry
expressway when coming from the National Theatre, implies it will
inevitably enjoy a huge patronage from the local touts in the area.

“They cannot
disturb us because we know all of them. When they cross, if they pay we
collect, if they don’t we leave them. We just make everything simple.
And like I told you, everything is patience. We don’t want to start
trouble then you’ll go and be giving police money,” says Mr. Orisha.

Organized business

The business at the
canal is quite organized – Murana Adebayo, a part time driver opens the
wooden pole serving as gate for the passengers to come into the toll
shanty; while Taiwo Adisa, an elderly man, always hunched over a creaky
wooden table, collects the fare from the customers before allowing them
to proceed to where they’d board the boat. Those crossing from the
opposite direction pays at the table before Mr. Adebayo let them out.

“No one can
estimate the number of people crossing here. When this place was the
only crossing point, more than 5, 000 people cross here daily,” says
Mr. Adebayo, keeping a wary eye on the influx of commuters.

“Some people are
afraid of passing the other side because of the way it shakes when they
are walking on it. But when it rains, no one can pass there,” he says.

The other crossing point to the expressway is about 20 metres away where refuse had been used to bridge the canal.

Though no one
collects toll at that point, some of the commuters say they prefer
taking the less than one minute boat ride so as to avoid the stench,
and sometimes smoke, from the from the refuse dump.

“That side is not
even hygienic. Apart from the smell of the refuse, you have to also
experience smell of shit (faeces),” says Bala Abuh, a resident at
Orisha Street in the area.

Mr. Orisha, whose
wife and two kids had been sent back to his native Ondo State when his
home was demolished during a road expansion last year, says he is
hoping to get a better job elsewhere since his current N600 daily
stipend is far from being adequate.

“It’s not much but there’s nothing we can do. We thank God that we
are just fine. We cannot go and steal. I don’t want to stay here for
long. I have a plan for myself and my family,” he says.

Despite claims to
the contrary by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),
NEXT can authoritatively reveal that the anti-graft agency has no
evidence to back the N32 billion misappropriation charge it has
levelled against Nasiru El-Rufai, the former minister of the Federal
Capital Territory (FCT).

Rather, a
preliminary investigation report, prepared by the Bank Fraud Unit of
the agency, dated January 22, 2010, shows that the N32 billion figure
emerged as a result of a calculation error. The report was addressed to
the Acting Director of Operations of the EFCC and signed by Jimoh
Abdulkadir, for the Head of Operations.

The report,
obtained by NEXT, states the details of investigations into the sale of
22,052 units of non-essential federal government houses in the FCT
between 2005 and 2007,during which period, Mr. El-Rufai served as
minister.

According to the
report, it was the Senate Joint Committee on the activities of the FCT
Administration that came up with the figure in 2008. The Senate
committee erroneously arrived at a N97.6 billion figure as the total
figure obtained from the sale of forms and the Federal government-owned
houses, rather than a figure of about N60.5 billion, which the EFCC
investigators stated as the correct figure.

Following further
investigations, the report also stated that based on the new figure,
the preliminary findings showed that the EFCC now required that the Ad
hoc committee, which was in charge of the sales of the houses between
2005 and 2007, account for N1.65 billion which the investigators say
has not been accounted for; a far cry from the N32 billion figure, for
which Mr. El-Rufai had been declared wanted in 2008.

“That following
various records studied by operatives, the sum of N60,539,353,127.10
was arrived at as the most probable total proceeds realized from the
sales, based on which the sum of N1,658,596,299.50 which ought to be
part of bank balance needs to be accounted for by the Ad hoc
committee,” the report stated.

The report further
stated that the accountant of the ad hoc committee, Ijato Ugbagwu, had
pointed out that the Senate committee figure was a calculation of the
entire proceeds from the sales up to April 2008 instead of ending in
May 2007.

The report also
revealed the many miscalculations by the Senate committee, the ad hoc
committee, the banks, and the EFCC which produced conflicting results
and showed a range of sloppy accounting carried out by the parties.

The total proceeds
from the sale was put at different figures by the different parties-
N96.7 billion, N78.8 billion, N68 billion, N75 billion, and N58.6
billion, before the EFCC investigators finally agreed on a figure,
N60.5 billion.

The EFCC’s response

While confirming
that the anti-graft agency had launched their investigations in 2008
based on the report from the Senate committee, Femi Babafemi, the
spokesman of the EFCC, disclaimed the report obtained by NEXT, saying
it was forged.

“What you have is
absolute forgery. It is not from us. Whoever forged that report is not
from us,” Mr. Babafemi said to NEXT over the weekend.

Adding that this would not be the first time that reports, using the names of EFCC operatives, would be forged.

Mr. Babafemi
reiterated that the EFCC is conducting an investigation into the
allegations of misappropriation of funds to the tune of N32 billion
levelled against the former FCT minister.

“What we are
investigating is 32 billion and we do not have any report that states
that 1.65 billion is the new figure,” Mr. Babafemi said.

Suing for damages

A spokesperson for
the former minister, Mr. El-Rufai, said that he has begun legal
proceedings against the EFCC and auditors with regards to the N32
billion naira misappropriation allegations.

“Nasir el Rufai has
asked the court to declare that N32b did not go missing under his
watch. He sued the EFCC and the auditors,” Muyiwa Adekeye, media
consultant to Mr. El-Rufai said in Abuja.

“The final report
of the Senate committee also did not put the issue of N32b; thus it did
not constitute part of a Senate report or vote. The interim report of
the Senate FCT which broached the matter was leaked to the media, and
has been the basis of falsehood since then.”

Last week, when the
case was first brought before the Federal High Court in Abuja, Mr.
Babafemi said that the investigations into the matter was ongoing.

While not directly
indicting Mr. El-Rufai in the report, the EFCC officials recommended
that criminal prosecution be launched against the former minister and
members of the ad hoc committee.

“From the above findings, it is obvious that the sale of Federal
Government houses… was used as opportunity by some persons under the
control and supervision of the then FCT minister, Mallam El-Rufai to
siphon money and fraudulently enrich themselves,” the report concluded
after examining the evidence gathered.

Less than nine months to the 2007
presidential elections, the crisis-ridden People’s Democratic Party
(PDP) is still uncertain about the criteria for choosing its
presidential candidate.

Vincent Ogbulafor, the party’s
former national chairman, was the first to brew the controversy when he
told journalists shortly after Goodluck Jonathan was made acting
president that Mr Jonathan was not eligible to contest the 2011
presidential elections. His reason was that his party had zoned the
2011 presidency to the north, a position which was echoed by other
leaders of the party, including former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.

Mr Ogbulafor’s position, NEXT
learnt, is based on article 7, subsection 2c, of the PDP constitution,
which defines how elective and party offices should be shared or zoned.

“In pursuance of the principle of
equity, justice and fairness, the party shall adhere to the policy of
rotation and zoning of party and public elective offices, and it shall
be enforced by the appropriate executive committee at all levels,” the
section states.

Despite claims that the PDP had
always had a zoning formula since its inception, it was not a legal
item within the party until about 12 months ago.

At its April 2009 special
convention, PDP delegates from all over the country came for one
purpose, to amend the party’s constitution. The section on zoning was
adopted by the delegates, allowing for a controversial debate to become
a law within the party.

Prior to 2009, however, zoning had
always been a contentious issue within the party. Olusegun Obasanjo,
Nigeria’s former president, is believed to have been the first
beneficiary of the PDP’s zoning formula, when he was elected as the
party’s flag-bearer in the 1999 presidential elections. Mr Obasanjo
later claimed ignorance of any arrangement within the PDP that
supported zoning, when he told the Voice of America that “there’s no
arrangement that precludes any Nigerian from contesting or from
becoming the president of Nigeria.” Founding members of the PDP where,
however, quick to point out that Mr Obasanjo was speaking out of
ignorance.

Alex Ekwueme, a former Vice
President and founding member of the PDP, debunked Mr Obasanjo’s claim,
when he told newsmen that “he (Mr Obasanjo) may not be fully conversant
with the historical antecedents to the formation of the party and what
we agreed on between July and September 1998.” Further evidence of the
“gentlemanly agreement” over zoning of public office was published by
the controversial “PDP integrity group” which published minutes of a
caucus meeting of the PDP held in December 2002.

The decisive meeting

According to minutes of the
meeting, 51 party leaders, including Mr Obasanjo, and Mr Jonathan, who
was then deputy governor of Bayelsa State, met to discuss two issues;
the first and major one being the zoning of public office.

Some attendees, including Mr
Abubakar; Lawal Keita, former governor of Katsina State; and Tony
Anenih, former chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees; stated that two
terms of four years each be rotated between the north and the south;
while others like Obong Attah, former Akwa-Ibom State governor, and
Farouk Farouk, the party’s national youth leader, dissented. However,
Mr Jonathan and Mr. Obasanjo did not speak on the issue, neither was
their voting pattern shown in the minutes.

At the end of the deliberation, a vote was taken and 47 members supported the zoning arrangement.

Commenting on the meeting, Bernard
Mikko, a former PDP member of the House of Representatives, explained
that, “It was a political gimmick, an understanding to get a soft
landing for Atiku, who felt that he should have been given the
opportunity to contest, so that he can be the party’s candidate in
2007.” Eight years after the meeting, however, Mr Abubakar showed that
he still very much believes in the zoning arrangement when he told the
BBC that, “Well, yes, I am aware of that agreement; I was a party to
it. It exists and I expect the party will implement that policy and if
the party decides not to implement it then, it will also have to meet
and review it.” The former vice president further stated that, should
Mr Jonathan decide to contest for the next presidential elections, it
might lead to some upheaval, saying, “I know it is bound to cause some
political instability and that is what we don’t want at this point in
time.”

Zoning is wrong

The zoning argument within the PDP
is not on a regional level, as some northerners like Mr Farouk, and
Babangida Aliyu, the Niger State governor have spoken against it. Some
southerners have also argued that the party should respect its
arrangement and constitution.

Some political analysts have
argued that since the provision was just inserted in the party’s
constitution in 2009, it cannot be a retroactive law and so its
implementation should start afresh, especially since it does not
specify which position should go to which tribe or ethnic group.

Others, like Mr Mikko, who argue
against any form of zoning, argue that the PDP is only hypocritical
about the zoning, as the party has never really followed it.

“Why is it that the party which
zoned the election allowed Abubakar Rimi (a northerner) to contest in
1999, and then Rimi and Gemade to contest the primaries in 2003? Forms
were sold to them. What of if they had won?” Mr Mikko said.

“Why was it that, in 2007, Peter
Odili (former governor of Rivers State), Sam Egwu (former governor of
Ebonyi State) and so on, were cleared to contest after they had paid
the requisite fee? This means that the party itself did not subscribe
to the same zoning which they professed. “If we truly believe that
leadership comes from God, why should we make a choice first before
leaving the remnant for God to select from?”

President Jonathan has not declared his intention to contest the
presidential elections in 2011, though his political aide told National
Assembly correspondents that Mr Jonathan would contest. Mr Jonathan
said recently that, “no law in Nigeria” prevents him from contesting.
Though the Nigerian constitution does not bar anyone from contesting to
be president based on his state or region of origin within Nigeria, Mr
Jonathan’s decision to contest or not will, however, be dependent upon
the resolution of the PDP zoning formula

The Minister of
Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke
(SAN) is in receipt of the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the report
released on the administration of the Gulf Oil windfalls by the
military government of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida .

NEXT investigation
revealed on Thursday in Abuja that Mr. Adoke was not only in receipt of
the document, but is also studying the content of the document with a
view to making a more informed reaction on behalf of the Federal
Government as soon as possible from now.

Some human rights
activists and civil society organisations have been pushing for a probe
of the tenure of Mr. Babangida, especially about a $12.4b which was
allegedly misappropriated and embezzled from the total proceeds of
crude oil during the first gulf war.

The minister’s request

Recently, a group
of NGOs told the media they had sent a certified true copy of the
report to the Justice Minister, in response to his request for it and a
promise to take proper and relevant action in the interest of the state
as soon as he received it.

Although the
special assistant to the minister on media and special duties, Onyema
Omenuwa, and his chief press secretary, Ambrose Momoh, would not
disclose any specific action being taken by the FG on the report. But
an official of the ministry said the minister will be making a proper
reaction as soon as he is done with the study of the report.

Although the office
of the minister had, last week, denied receiving the document, a source
said Mr. Adoke was at the time yet to see the document because he was
preparing for a journey to Cape Verde, where he attended an
international conference.

After Mr. Babangida
left office in 1993, government had commissioned a committee led by
Pius Okigbo to unravel the manner in which Nigeria’s earnings from the
sale of crude oil during the Gulf War era was used by the government of
Mr. Babangida, who was the Head of State at the time.

Last month, Mr. Babangida declared his intention to contest the 2011
presidential elections and challenged anybody that has any evidence
linking him to corruption in relation to the Gulf War oil windfall to
do so.

A driver attached
to Ondo State lawmaker, Kele Bolodeoku, Thursday morning committed
suicide by hanging himself in his room at Fanibi layout of Akure
metropolis, the state police command, said.

The driver, Dayo
Jumiju, from Irele Local Government Area of the state, was said to be
hale and hearty the previous day. He was said to have parted ways with
his boss with a promise to return to duty the following day to carry
his boss to the Assembly for a session in honour of late Umaru Yar’Adua.

The family of the deceased did not allow journalists to photograph the body of the late driver, whose body had been lowered.

Spokesperson of the state police command, Adeniran Aremu, said that an investigation into the tragedy had commenced.

“It is true that Mr
Bolodeoku’s driver hanged himself in the early hours of Thursday and
the State Police Command has swung into action to know the circumstance
surrounding the death of the driver,” he said.

Mr Aremu assured
that the command would let the whole world know what led to the death
of the driver as soon as the investigation into the matter is completed.

The lawmaker, colleagues said, was in a state of disbelief when he was told of the incident.

Mr Bolodeoku, who represents Ese Odo State Constituency, could not be reached on phone for further comment.

Banks and other
operators in the financial sector have kicked against the terms of a
legislation before the House of Representatives, which seeks to
criminalise the use of young females to solicit for funds deposits.

The new law
proposed by the house will prescribe jail terms, heavy fines on banks –
including a withdrawal of banks’ operational license – for those who
stray beyond the allowed standards of placing employees, particularly
female, on deposit sourcing.

This practice is often referred to as ‘corporate prostitution’ by its critics.

Facing prison

Banks or their
representatives may pay as much as N10 million and face up to three
years imprisonment if convicted of breaching the new law, which will
govern deposit sourcing and how existing and prospective employees are
commissioned for them.

The House said
banks and insurance companies have exploited their employees, mostly
female, by detailing them to secure customers and deposits at all cost
– including trading sex for deposit.

House Speaker
Dimeji Bankole said the legislation, sponsored by Femi Gbajabiamila, is
directed to curb the “unethical conduct and anti-labour practice.”

“These practices
are not just anti-labour but also dehumanising”, he said at the first
day of public hearings on the bill attended by financial sector
operatives. “Our values and cherished norms as a people, and the
philosophy that underpins them, can quite easily be eroded unless there
is a strong, indeed sacred, moral and ethical foundation, not just in
the defining principles of our legislations, but in the society as a
whole.”

Some banks however
fear the law will infringe on their capacity to raise capital and deny
they have abused their workers in attempting to get funds. A
representative of Stanbic IBTC, Christopher Knight, opposed two key
provisions of the bill which the banks called “draconian.”

No limit, please

The bank in its
presentation, said it considered as inappropriate the proposed Section
2 of the Bill, which seeks to limit monetary targets for employees in
banks and insurance companies and other related industries to a maximum
of N25 million in a year.

He argued that at
certain levels of employment, the generation of minimum amount is
reasonable, given the level of remuneration paid to the staff concerned
whether male or female.

“Any such limitation to N25million, will only lead to under performance for employees who earn jumbo pay,” he said.

Also, the bank kicked against the proposed penalty for defaulting
organisations and corporate institutions, explaining that the
revocation of operational license will be too harsh a penalty as the
bill already proposes a substantial fine and period of imprisonment for
law breakers.

The Conference of
Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) says it is not impressed by the
changes President Goodluck Jonathan has made so far in the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC), insisting that there are still
men of questionable character in the national electoral body.

The group, in a
statement by its national spokesperson, Osita Okechukwu, in Abuja on
Thursday, said it has no confidence in the acting chairman of the
commission, Solomon Soyebi, who it alleged was chosen by the former
chairman, Maurice Iwu.

Commitment in doubt

It noted that Mr. Soyebo’s appointment is an indication that the president’s commitment to electoral reforms is in doubt.

“The idea of
appointment of Mr. Soyebi as acting chairman without prejudice to
Soyebi’s baggage of questionable integrity as evidenced in the conduct
of Abia and re-run in Ekiti states’ elections, recall of Mr. Victor
Chukwuani and indeed retaining any of the Commissioners; casts serious
doubt on the commitment of His Excellency, Dr Goodluck Jonathan to
genuine electoral reform.

“CNPP is outraged
that President Goodluck Jonathan is fiddling with rotten eggs in INEC
to the extent that he buckled to Professor Maurice Iwu, who for over
two weeks flagrantly disobeyed presidential directive to hand over to
the most senior National Commissioner, Mr Phillip Umeadi; instead he
approved Mr. Solomon Soyebi, Professor Iwu’s anointed,

despite his baggage
of gross misconduct. “How can a president prevaricate and be indecisive
on such sensitive matter and allow Professor to prevail?

The coalition of
opposition parties said it considered Mr. Soyebo’s appointment as part
of the plot to rig the 2011 elections, since, according to it, Mr. Iwu
is still in charge as the president has provided him soft-landing in an
unholy alliance and negotiated exit.

It alleged that the
former INEC boss was convinced that Mr. Soyebi, unlike Mr. Umeadi,
would not probe the monumental fraud in the heaps of file he left
behind.

The CNPP also said
it is at a loss as to why Mr. Jonathan, who at every forum promised
free, fair and transparent elections next year could “wittingly mandate
a thoroughly discredited Professor Iwu and his co-travelers to lay a
fake foundation for 2011 election?”

Prosecute the lot!

The group said it
has no confidence in Mr. Soyebi’s statement on assumption of duty that
he was in the commission to fine-tune certain strategies and then make
for continuity in the plan for the general elections.

“The only
continuity we can attest of Professor Iwu, Soyebi and co,” the CNPP
said, “is sham elections, culture of impunity and rape of democracy;
which are ignoble plans.”

It demanded that
Mr. Iwu, the INEC Commissioners and Resident Electoral Commissioners
should hand over to their various secretaries for gross misconduct and
submit themselves to anti-graft agencies for investigation and
prosecution.

“CNPP posits that the Augean Stable in INEC must be totally
cleansed, as the Third Schedule Section 14{1a} of the 1999 Constitution
is very explicit and frowns over the appointment or retention of people
of questionable integrity into INEC,” the group said, while also urging
the president to submit three bills in the Uwais Report to the National
Assembly for adoption.