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The Court of
Appeal sitting in Enugu, yesterday ordered the Senate president, David
Mark to swear in Alphonsus Igbeke (ANPP) as the senator representing
Anambra North Senatorial Zone.

The court also
ordered that the clerk of the Senate should comply with the order,
which it had earlier disobeyed by permitting former senator, Joy
Emordi, to return to her seat at the Senate by the leadership.

As she received
news of her second defeat at the Appeal Court yesterday, Mrs Emordi
silently walked out of the senate chamber during the usual plenary
proceeding.

She had, only on
Tuesday, received her April salary and a N40 million constituency
allowance for the second quarter immediately she returned to the office.

The court had, on March 25, declared Mr. Igbeke winner of the senatorial polls of April 14, 2007 for Anambra North.

Following the
order, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) withdrew
the certificate earlier issued Mrs. Emodi to Mr. Igbeke in compliance
with court directive.

But the court, in
a lead ruling delivered by Suleiman Galadima, decried the senate’s
refusal to comply with the March 25 judgment and berated counsel
representing the Senate and Mrs. Emordi for failing the judiciary and
their client.

The court, while
ordering the withdrawal of the certificate issued to Mrs. Emordi, again
affirmed that Mr. Igbeke had the majority of the lawful votes cast in
that election.

Controversial claim

Mrs. Emordi had
filed two applications before the court, asking it to refer a
substantial issue arising from its judgment of March 25 to the Supreme
Court because it was in conflict with its judgment of Feb. 10, 2009.

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

It pronounced that
the said suit of February 10, 2009 was between Jessy Balonwu of Labour
Party and Joy Emordi of the PDP and that Mrs. Balonwu’s case was
dismissed on grounds that she did not join the lawful parties in the
suit.

The court pointed out that the issues were clear and distinct.

Mrs. Emordi’s
fresh application of May 7 also sought for determination that three
judges of the Court of Appeal disqualify themselves from further
participation in the processes of the appeal, and a new panel be
reconstituted.

Mr. Galadima
however warned that, “the court cannot allow itself to be intimidated
in any guise by counsel. It is the prerogative of the president of the
Court of Appeal to reconstitute a panel.’’ The judges also condemned
the delay of cases by counsel through frivolous applications and
thereby dismissed the applications – pointing out that there was no
merit in granting them the reliefs they sought in rulings concurred by
the five justices.

The court awarded N25,000 cost each against the first and second respondents.

Following the
death of President Umaru Yar’Adua last week, the Vice President,
Goodluck Jonathan, assumed the post of the President pursuant to
section 146 (1) of the Constitution. As the new President, he is
required by section 146(3) to appoint a Vice President with the
approval of each House of the National Assembly. It has been contented
in some quarters that he is bound to pick a candidate sponsored by the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

As far as the 1999
Constitution is concerned, the nomination and the appointment of the
Vice President are within the exclusive discretion of the President
subject to the approval of the National Assembly. If the Constitution
had wanted the ruling political party to nominate or sponsor the Vice
President it would have said so in unambiguous terms.

In making a case
for the nomination of the Vice President by the PDP, reliance has been
placed on sections 137 and 142 of the Constitution. As both sections
essentially deal with the nomination and qualification of the running
mate of the President for purpose of election, they are totally
irrelevant with respect to the appointment of the Vice-President
envisaged by section 146(3) of the Constitution.

In the celebrated
case of Attorney-General of the Federation v. Atiku Abubakar (2007), it
was the contention of the President, Olusegun Obasanjo, that the Vice
President was deemed to have resigned his post having decamped from the
PDP to the Action Congress contrary to the provisions of sections 137
and 142 of the Constitution.

In rejecting the
contention, the Supreme court held, abundanti cautela “That the
Constitution intends the Vice President to be an associate of the
President does go beyond the time the election was conducted and they
have won.” See also the case of PDP v.INEC (1999) 11 NWLR (PT 626) 200.

In view of the
fact that we are not dealing with an election in which a presidential
candidate is not compulsorily required to pick a running mate sponsored
by the same political party, President Jonathan is not under any legal
obligation to appoint a PDP member as Vice President.

Even where section
147(5) of the Constitution states that “No person shall be appointed a
Minister of the Government of the Federation unless he is qualified to
be a member of the House of Representatives” it has not been suggested
that by any right thinking person that every Minister has to be a
card-carrying member of the ruling political party.

It ought to be
made abundantly clear that the election of the President and the Vice
President on a joined ticket should not be confused with the
appointment of the Vice President by the President following the death
of a sitting president. In any case, since the Constitution has not
created any role for the PDP or the Governors’ Forum in the nomination
and appointment of the Vice President, the President should proceed to
appoint a competent Nigerian of his choice, subject of course, to the
approval of the National Assembly.

Femi Falana is a lawyer and human rights activist

Nigerians should
support the Niger Delta region of the country to retain the presidency
in 2011, Bayelsa State governor, Timpreye Sylva said yesterday in
Lagos. President Goodluck Jonathan is from Bayelsa State, in the Niger
Delta.

Mr Sylva, who spoke
at the presentation of two poetry anthologies authored by Sam Omatseye,
chairman of The Nation editorial board at the Nigerian Institute of
International Affairs (NIIA), noted that the region has played
prominent role in the nation’s history, dating back to the
pre-amalgamation era when the region was a major producer of oil-palm.

The Bayelsa
governor also expressed displeasure with his party’s (the People’s
Democratic Party) zoning arrangement, saying “the Niger Delta should be
considered for the presidency of the nation. Whatever zoning
arrangement that is on ground, we (Nigerians) should realise that the
Niger Delta is ripe for the leadership of the nation.” Mr Sylva said he
was happy at the emergence of Mr Jonathan as the nation’s leader
following the death of Umaru Yar’Adua.

“I am proud at last
that the Niger Delta has produced the president, as the region is a
very important component of the nation. We fought a war and after
consultations we have willingly disarmed and surrendered our weapons.
The Niger Delta deserves this opportunity to continue in the office.”

However, in his
reaction to the governor’s call, the representative of the Sultan of
Sokoto, Danladi Bako said the quality leadership should be the major
requirement for the nation’s leader and the region where he/she comes
from should not be an issue.

Intellectuals needed

Commenting on the
book launch, a former commissioner of Lagos State, Dele Alake decried
the low-turnout at the book presentation.

“Events like this
gives us hope in the ray of darkness that elopes Nigeria, which all
good men and women must embrace to move us to the light,” he said.

“Without a sound
intellectual base, a society/people is lost.” Mr Alake said one of the
major problems of Nigeria is the lack of visionary leaders.

“When we destroy the intellectual base of a country, the soul of the
nation is lost,” he said, adding that “intellectual works are very
important in our national development for the elevation of governance
from a mundane to something substantial and concrete.”

Apparently worried
by the lull that appears to have set in the post-amnesty programme
since last year, the Presidency said yesterday it has taken over all
activities pertaining to it. The move comes about a fortnight after
NEXT exclusively revealed that the amnesty programme was being poorly
managed.

At its inception,
the organization and supervision of the initiative, which was the
brain-child of the late President Umaru Yar’adua, as a solution to the
threat of armed militancy in the Niger Delta region, were in the hands
of a Presidential Committee headed by the Minister of Defence, Godwin
Abbe.

But, in recent
times allegations of high level embezzlement of the funds meant for
reorientation, rehabilitation and reintegration of militants who
accepted state pardon led to protests and threats to abort the
programme.

But Special Adviser
to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Timi Alaibe, said that in line
with the new post-amnesty blueprint, all matters concerning the
programme have now been transferred into his office for effective
coordination and supervision.

“Fresh impetus has
been brought into the programme, which is presently at the critical
stage of implementing of demobilisation, rehabilitation and
re-integration, with camping of the first batch of 2000 ex-militants
billed to commence in the first week of June, 2010,” he said.

According to Mr.
Alaibe, the roadmap for the implementation of the programme covers the
disarmament phase, which was completed in October last year, with
thousands of former members of various militant groups surrendering
their arms to embrace amnesty, while the demobilization phase covers
efforts in the next one year to control the proliferation of armed
groups.

The reintegration
phase billed to last till 2015 will involve social and economic
initiatives to encourage the former militant deploy their potentials
into more lucrative and sustainable economic ends.

The objective of
the DDR process, he explained, is to help create the secure and stable
atmosphere necessary for the take off of development in the Niger Delta
region.

Though he described
some of the previous documentations on the programme as spurious, as
there were no serious planning to reintegrate the affected persons, Mr.
Alaibe said it will adopt a biometric system that would authenticate
the population of the people that would be catered for under the
programme, with the target put at about 20,192.

Training by next month

He disclosed that
the integration process will see all the ex-militants distributed in
camps of about 2,000 each for a training programme scheduled to
commence with the first batch by the first week of next month.

To be sponsored
through the special purpose vehicle of collaboration with all
stakeholders, including governments, oil companies as well as local and
international non-governmental organizations, he said the camping would
provide opportunity for the erstwhile militants participate in
education and skill acquisition activities, financial
empowerment/micro-credit schemes as well as reconciliation efforts with
local communities.

“One of the major
initiatives is work with some specialized foreign conflict resolution
and peace training institutions to help in capacity building programmes
for 3,000 beneficiaries over a six to 48 months period for
re-orientation and leadership training; marine, welding,
entrepreneurial, employment/placement opportunities development
activities,” he said.

“Any development plan for the region that does not first address the
issue of transformation of the lives of those involved in the extreme
violent activities in the region, be they militants, commercial hostage
takers, armed robbers or warlords, will surely fail,” he said

Voting on the
number of parties the country should register for future elections was
yesterday aborted in the House of Representatives when its session
became rowdy over a proposal for a two-party system.

Members disagreed
over the proposal, stalling debate for more than 20 minutes.
Consequently, Speaker Dimeji Bankole adjourned the session and asked
the lawmakers to come with their card today with a view to voting
electronically on the issue.

Minority Leader,
Mohammed Ali Ndume, while contributing to the resumed debate on the
report of the House ad-hoc committee on the review of the 1999
Constitution, at the committee of the whole, called for the reduction
of the number of parties in the country to two.

Mr Ndume, who is a
member of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) proposed the insertion
of a clause under Section 80 of the Electoral Act 2006 to provide for a
two-party system.

Supporting the call, Olaka Nwogu (PDP, Rivers) said the country has operated different systems which, according to him, failed.

Mr. Nwogu said the
provision of a two-party system with a provision of independent
candidacy would lead to a vibrant political situation in the country.
He described the multi-party system being operated today as a “giant
and grasshopper situation.”

Lanre Agoro (PDP,
Oyo) recalled that the best democratic system the country ever had was
when it operated a two-party system, adding that it is the reason why
all nationalists and federalists are asking for a return to the system.

Dino Melaye (PDP,
Kogi) said only election riggers, ballot box stuffers and ballot box
snatcher will support anything but two-party system.

Limited choices

Others, who spoke
in support of the two-party system include Leo Ogor (PDP, Delta), Nkiru
Onyejiocha (PDP, Abia), Femi Gbajabiamila (AC, Lagos), Ahmed Mohammed
(PDP Bauchi) and Samson Positive (PDP, Kogi).

Those who opposed
the two-party system include Cyril Maduabum (PDP, Anambra), Uche
Ekwunife (PDP, Anambra), Nnenna Ukeje (PDP, Abia), Soli Sada Jibia
(PDP, Katsina), John Enoh (PDP, Cross River) and Emmanuel Bello (PDP,
Adamawa).

Mr. Enoh reminded
his colleagues of the stringent conditions provided for independent
candidacy to avoid its abuse, warning that there would not be enough
parties for people to join if the number of the parties in the country
is limited to two.

According to Ms.
Ukeje, Nigeria is nation that is diverse in several aspect, stressing
that two parties would be inadequate for its population.

Ms. Ekwunife, on
her part, suggested that the country should not have more than five
parties, while Mr. Maduabum, who invoked Section 40 of the constitution
during the debate, said the two party system would deny Nigerians
freedom of association.

Ita Enang (PDP,
Akwa Ibom) warned against the proposal saying it was wrong to make law
limiting the number of parties in anticipation of the amendment of the
constitution, stressing that two-party system is a “contamination of
the Electoral Act and Constitution.”

Worried about the direction of the debate and the rowdiness, Mr
Bankole, adjourned the matter. He said today’s session would be
televised live.

For the second
time, a Lagos High Court on Wednesday has foiled the attempt of the
Lagos Assembly to investigate allegations of financial impropriety
levelled against the Governor Babatunde Fashola administration

Justice Opeyemi Oke
ordered an injunction, on Tuesday, restraining the ongoing
investigation by a 7-man committee set up by the legislative house.

Consequently, the
injunction, which was served on the House on Wednesday morning stalled
the interrogation of the state’s attorney general, Supo Sasore, who was
invited by the House to answer questions on his directive that
ministries, departments, and agencies of the government should not
appear before the probe committee.

A special plenary
session was scheduled for the interrogation because Mr. Sasore could
not appear before the House on Tuesday due to a court engagement.

However, the
injunction means that any matter relating to the investigation remains
suspended until the determination of a pending suit at the Appeal court
on the matter.

“An interim
injunction restraining the defendant whether by itself, agents,
members, officers, privies, committees, or by whomsoever howsoever from
proceeding with or acting on the purported investigation of allegation
of financial impropriety levelled against the executive arm of Lagos
state government by a group which calls itself ‘The True Face of
Lagos,'” said Justice Oke after listening to the argument of Bamidele
Aturu, the counsel to Richard Akionla, a human right activist who filed
the ex-parte application.

After the
injunction was read, Speaker of the House, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, asked the
attorney general to leave the chamber on the ground that the House “has
so many things to do and therefore will not be able to interrogate him.”

Sanai Agunbiade (Ikorodu constituency), made an attempt to get the lawmakers to debate the injunction.

“Sincerely, I am confused and I need the help of the House,” he said.

However, he was cut short by the Speaker who subsequently forbade any further debate on the matter.

Partial judiciary

Debo Adeniran, the
president of the Campaign Against Corrupt Leaders, believes the
judiciary is not neutral as far as the probe issue is concerned and
says that “it is an indictment on the executive government that it
needs a judicial bailout instead of seeking to absolve its name of any
allegation.”

Mr. Adeniran also condemned the fact that “somebody who calls himself a human right activist is the one initiating the case.”

Someone! Anyone!
Help! I was forced to endure a one-hour flight sitting next to a
sharp-looking gentleman. He was dressed in crisp, clean clothes and
polished shoes. He sported a fashionable watch and he had well-trimmed
hair, clean nails, a ready smile, and kind eyes. He also STANK!!!

Someone! Anyone!
Please tell me what is going on! I regularly train emerging leaders on
how to deliver unpleasant news or give performance feedback to their
subordinates in a respectful way. One of the most popular, yet
distressing exercises I use in developing this skill is a simulation of
being sent by your colleagues to inform a team member that s/he has bad
body odour! Very few people want to do it, and even fewer know how to
do it well – even with guidance. Sometimes it is hard to tell from the
squirming going on, whether it is the person giving the feedback who is
most uncomfortable, or the poor person being told that they have been
perfuming the air with ‘eau de putrid’ – the strong and lingering aroma
of rotten boiled eggs, wet carpet and vomit.

I have had occasion
to very kindly and respectfully advise staff, colleagues and service
providers to avail themselves of the use of a deodorant that is
conveniently at hand in my drawer, in my bag, or in my guest toilet.
But what is the protocol when the offence to the nostrils and to one’s
comfort is being committed in a public space or when the offender is a
complete stranger?

Let’s go back to
the aeroplane. Confronted by Mr Odoriferous, I felt supremely sorry for
myself, sorrier for my fellow passengers (don’t ask me why), and sorry
for the crew whose work space had been infiltrated. You find that, in
times of adversity, solidarity forms instantaneously, and it happened
here too. Speaking glances, grimaces, and shows of sympathy flew back
and forth amongst the newly formed fellowship of suffering passengers.
Still, no one said anything.

Shouldn’t there be rules about this sort of thing?

Business etiquette
teaches you suitable dress for the workplace. Could there not be
etiquette about appropriate personal hygiene in public? Could Health,
Safety and Environment (HSE) standards against air pollution be
expanded to include odious body odour? Anyone who has been trapped in a
lift, a car, or a bus with someone reeking of unwashed flesh knows what
I am talking about.

Don’t get me wrong;
I doubt if anyone sane would step out of their abode smelling bad. On
enough occasions, the offender is not even aware that s/he is smelling.
Once they are informed, the majority are mortified and take immediate
action to suppress it.

Other times, body
odour is simply a function of lifestyle – the combination of humidity,
working outdoors in the heat and sun, sweat, and wearing clothes that
were not completely dried after washing. Many cannot afford to buy
deodorants and powders, and have to rely on their morning baths or
rubbing lemon and other native remedies. This is not adequate in our
climate if you are physically active or move around a lot outdoors.

Yet, some people
simply won’t scrub their bodies, wash their clothes or change their
underclothes daily. Others do not shave their underarm hair, wash their
hair regularly or clean themselves properly after ‘easing’ themselves.
It is pure carelessness.

A friend asked me
why the body odour here is so much worse (in her estimation) than in
the Western world. Well, for starters, how a person smells when they
sweat is affected by what we eat and drink. In the Western world, their
food is partially uncooked, like salads, and mostly bland to the taste.
Our food is generally boiled or fried, and pungent with spices. Hence
‘pungent’ sweat.

An unfunny joke

Secondly, our odour
also has to do with the quality of the air. Our air quality here is
poor. We breathe in all kinds of pollutants from vehicles, generators
and badly disposed waste. Those toxins find their way out of our bodies
in our sweat.

Thirdly, our public
transport system is choked with people rubbing up against each other.
Workers trek long distances to bus stops, they wait and sweat in the
sun, they squash into cars, buses, and onto the backs of trucks. Is it
any wonder that they do not arrive at their destinations smelling fresh
and fragrant?

Let’s go back to
the aeroplane again. In situations where the cabin air quality has been
compromised by a reeking passenger, what should the crew do? Should
they behave the way up-market restaurants with a strict dress code do?
They have a stock of jackets and ties to lend to patrons who arrive
without them. Could the crew legitimately invite the ‘oozing’ passenger
to make use of their stock of deodorants and fabric fresheners in the
cabin toilets, and deny the person service until they co-operate?

I don’t have the answers but, really, we should do something.
Anything. This joke is no longer funny. Life is too stressful to have
to put up with a corrupting presence in close quarters. Let’s find a
way to deal with the offence while respecting the sensibilities of the
offender

The
former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC), Maurice Iwu, officially handed over the reins of leadership to
the Acting Chairman, Solomon Soyebi, on Wednesday in Abuja.

The brief event
that was held behind closed doors at the INEC Headquarters on Zambezi
Crescent, Maitama, officially marked the end of Mr. Iwu’s embattled
tenure at INEC.

The change of
leadership at the commission came on the heels of a letter signed by
President Goodluck Jonathan and received at INEC yesterday, directing
Mr. Soyebi to assume office as INEC’s Acting Chairman, pending the
announcement of a substantive chairman by the federal government.

The letter had
effectively ended the popular expectations that INEC National
Commissioner in charge of Public Affairs, Phillip Umeadi Jr., was set
to be named as the Acting Chairman, having already acted in the
capacity last week.

Mr. Soyebi, the
representative of Ogun State, was until this appointment, the National
Commissioner in charge of INEC Operations.

Although Mr. Iwu, a
professor of Pharmacology, did not attend the press conference later
addressed by the new helmsman, it was learnt, however, that he
physically handed over his leadership notes before breezing out to
evade the prying eyes and lenses of the media.

Efforts made to
uncover the content of the handover notes at INEC office was not
fruitful, even as the Acting Chairman avoided any direct reference to
it during his address at the INEC Conference Hall.

Voters register for review

Mr. Soyebi, who was supported by Mr. Umeadi at the press conference, said the task before INEC was enormous.

“The task before us
is very enormous, considering the fact that we are going to have the
presidential election and other elections in less than one year. We are
here to fine tune our strategies, to fast track our preparations
towards ensuring a free and fair election in 2011. There will be a
purification of the voters register so as to make future elections
credible,” he said.

“The commission has
a renewed vigour for election service delivery. On our own part, we are
going to be prepared to ensure a credible election in 2011.”

He called for
greater patience from the public, so as to allow the establishment of a
new INEC to take proper place before next year’s general elections.

He also announced
the return to office of the INEC National Commissioner on Legal
Matters, Victor Chukwuani, who was hitherto directed by the presidency
to go on terminal leave, but whose situation was reviewed by Mr.
Jonathan’s letter to INEC on Tuesday.

N2.8 billion illegal withdrawal

Mr. Soyebi, who had
also met with the workers of INEC before and after the briefing, did
not disclose if he was going to de-froze INEC’s accounts, which were
allegedly frozen last week on the order of Mr. Umeadi, over allegations
of illegal withdrawal of about N2.8 billion immediately after Mr. Iwu
was asked to proceed on terminal leave.

It was further
gathered that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is currently
investigating the allegation, even though it could not be confirmed as
at press time how far it has gone with the work.

Efforts to provide the nation with a new electoral law moved closer to reality yesterday when the Electoral Act passed a second reading at the Senate.

It has subsequently been committed to the Senate’s standing committee on constitution review and the committee on INEC to conduct a public hearing on it.

The electoral bill is part of the ongoing attempts to reform the electoral system in the country. The bill was read for the first time in the Senate on April 20, 2010 and is composed of 161 clauses – with additions of the clauses expunged from the draft amended constitution.

“This bill, which seeks to repeal the 2006 Electoral Act and re-establish the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), regulates the conduct of federal, state, and area council elections, and deals with related matters, is broadly aimed at strengthening democracy and the electoral process in Nigeria,” Ike Ekweremadu, the deputy Senate president who led debate on the bill, said.

The new Electoral Act will contain some major parts that will define future political systems in Nigeria.

Firstly, in line with the amendment of the constitution, the bill provides for independent candidates. More so, it has absorbed the issue of political party formation and administration from the old constitution, “for ease of reassessment as the dynamics of time might require,” Mr. Ekweremadu said.”

Furthermore, with this bill, the procedure for election into local government councils, which hitherto forms part of the existing act, has been expunged, as the issue of local government elections need not be included in the federal legislations on election matters.”

No more free money

Highlights of the bill include the elimination of the annual grant clause in the existing Act, which currently compels the government to pay out grants to political parties annually. A similar clause in the constitution has also been expunged in the draft amended constitution.

“I don’t know how, in the first place, the idea came about to give grants to political parties,” the Senate President, David Mark, said. “Right now, it does not meet our political needs, and we have to expunge it.” Grace Bent (PDP, Adamawa State), argued that the removal of the grants will distinguish the real political parties from fake ones: “All the political parties should be denied grants so we will know who is real,” she said.

Uche Chukwumerije (PPA, Abia State), also supported the argument, saying it will scrap the current “kleptocracy” many pseudo political parties practice and institute real democracy.

The bill will also empower INEC to monitor both the administrative and financial activities of political parties, in order to ensure that few wealthy individuals, foreign agents, or interest groups do not control the operations of political parties.

The bill also provides serious penalties for offenders of the various rules in the Act, as well as provisions that will expedite the process of litigation by providing for time saving measures in the dispensation of electoral cases.

The governor of Edo
State, Adams Oshiomhole, on Tuesday, ordered that the chairman of the
state’s Committee on Illegal Structures and Street Trading, Felix
Igiebor, and four members of the committee be arrested for allegedly
extorting money from the public.

Mr. Igiebor allegedly arrested a bishop and demanded N10, 000 as bribe from him.

The governor said
his administration would not tolerate acts capable of bringing hardship
to the people and denting the image of the government.

“You people have
been doing a lot of damage to the image of government. You go about
arresting innocent people and extorting money from them, and today you
arrested a Bishop and demanded for bribe,” Mr. Oshiomhole told the
members.

Narrating his
experience at the hands of the alleged extortionists, Gabriel Dunia,
the bishop of the Auchi Catholic Diocese, said upon his arrival from
Europe, he noticed that members of the committee were about to tow his
vehicle for parking illegally along the Airport Road.

The Reverend Dunia said he immediately apologized but they demanded the bribe from his driver.

Reacting to the incident, Mr. Oshiomhole announced the immediate dissolution of the committee .

Confirmed extortion

A statement by
Pally Irase, the Secretary to the State Government, said the
dissolution is sequel “to confirmed cases of extortion under the guise
of wrong parking, harassment of innocent persons, physical assault and
dehumanizing methods which are unacceptable to government”.

The statement
advised the committee’s former members to return all government
properties in their possession to the Permanent Secretary, Central
Administration.

“Aggrieved members
of the public who have genuine complaints against members of the
dissolved task force are encouraged to lodge their complaints to the
permanent secretary Government House Benin City”, the statement said.