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The Commonwealth election observation team in Nigeria yesterday
expressed concerns over the Independent National Electoral Commission’s
accreditation process, which some political parties have opposed, as well as
the decision to allow voters wait after casting their votes.

Contrary to an earlier directive of the police, the electoral
commission says voters are free to stay back for election results as long as
they do not cause trouble.

A reviewed directive from the police said security agencies
will allow voters stay 300 meters away from the polling point but the chairman
of the electoral body, Attahiru Jega, has asked voters to stay 30 metres away,
saying the process will be more transparent if voters are allowed closer
proximity.

As elections begin tomorrow, the Commonwealth Group, led by
former president of Botswana, Festus Mogae, yesterday expressed concerns over
the confusion at a meeting with the INEC leadership.

“I share the sense of excitement and anticipation that we have
come across in Nigeria, but also their apprehensions about the likely
challenges that lie ahead,” Mr. Mogae told Mr. Jega at a meeting in Abuja.

Responding, Mr. Jega said although the commission is happy to
allow voters witness the collation of results from a close range, the decision
remains that of the police since it involves security.

“Our believe is that it will make the process more transparent
and credible,” he said, adding that the commission is yet to resolve with the
police on the final decision.

Accreditation

Mr. Mogae said the observer team “shares the apprehension” of
some of the political parties who have opposed the new stringent accreditation
measures introduced by the body.

A growing number of the political parties have criticized the
“rigorous” verification process to be deployed by the electoral body.

On election days, voters are expected to be verified between
8am and 12.30pm in a series of coordinated but strict procedures never deployed
since 1993 elections that was adjudged one of Nigeria’s best.

Each accredited voter will be inked and counted on a queue
before allowed to ballot.

While some of the political parties fielding candidates for the
elections, including the ruling People’s Democratic Party, say the method will
be tedious for their supporters, others praised the commission for what they
view as a radical move that will help combat malpractice.

The electoral commission has ruled out the possibility of
reversing the new plan.

Vote of confidence

The Commonwealth team, however, said it believes in the
competence of INEC to handle challenges that may arise from the sweeping
changes.

“I am however confident that INEC will address these
challenges, and hope that the elections go well,” he said.

The team, joined the European Union, the National Democratic
Institute, and the International Republican Institute, to “recognize” INEC’s
effort in administering the elections.

In a joint press release, the observer missions urged the
security agencies in the face of troubling cases of violence across the country
to contribute to a peaceful environment, maintaining the rule of law and
safeguarding the integrity of the process.

They also urged the political parties and their supporters to respect the
code of conduct they signed with INEC and refrain from violence.

The Action Congress of Nigeria, yesterday, said it has no
confidence that the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, will ensure a
free and fair election, and therefore demanded his immediate removal from
office before the April general elections.

The party’s National Chairman, Bisi Akande, who revealed the
party’s stance at a press conference held in Lagos, said Mr Ringim’s management
of some politically linked arrests is biased against the opposition party,
reading out also a litany of several cases of “biased handling” of political
violence across the country. The party particularly expressed dismay about the
treason charge against its gubernatorial candidate in Akwa Ibom State, John
Udoedehe. He said it now appears that any challenge from an opposition party
against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration is a treasonable.

“It is against this backdrop that an emergency meeting of our
party leadership was convened to review the events and a vote of no confidence
passed on Mr Hafiz Ringim as his activities are a shame to the noble profession
of policing,” he said. “We are saying that with an Inspector-General like Hafiz
‘Rigging’, the 2007 horrors may turn out to be a child’s play. We are not
comfortable with Hafiz Ringim as the Inspector-General of Police and we call
for his immediate removal.”

Other demands

The party also demanded: “the immediate and unconditional
release of John Udoedehe, the institution of an independent panel of enquiry
into the endless assassinations, kidnappings and other forms of violence that
have claimed scores of lives in Akwa Ibom State since the emergence of Godswill
Akpabio as governor in 2007, and the immediate release of the ACN voluntary
workers detained in Ilorin, Kwara State, for repairing a community road and
other states.”

Mr Akande said that “a mass rally is to hold simultaneously all
over the country by our teeming supporters at a later date to press home the
above demands and to demonstrate our will to resist the continuous acts of
terrorism by the police.”

Why the military?

Mr Akande also said the party is averse to the deployment of
military troops for the purpose of ensuring a peaceful election, a job he said
is meant for the police. “We in the ACN are vehemently opposed to the constant
recourse to military men for constabulary duties,” he said. “Our political
history vividly teaches that we are inviting trouble for ourselves by the
reckless use of soldiers for partisan duties. The Jonathan administration is
only following the familiar path of drafting soldiers during elections to
intimidate the opposition and tilt the polls in favour of the PDP.”

The campaign director of the party’s presidential candidate,
Audu Ogbe, said only the PDP was against the electoral commission’s decision to
adopt the open secret ballot system. “Nigerian voters are no threat to the
election, rather it is the corrupt politician who is afraid of the people’s
choice,” he said. Mr Ogbe warned voters to be alert, especially on the issue of
extra ballot papers. “INEC has no reason to send any extra ballot paper to any
polling unit because we already know the number of registered voters in all the
units,” he said.

The Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) has accredited the National
Assembly to monitor the forthcoming general elections.

The National
Assembly is listed as number 162 in a list of 313 domestic observer
groups approved by the electoral commission to monitor the polls
published on INEC’s website.

Most members of
the National Assembly are contestants in the first in the series of
elections scheduled for this Saturday. It is not clear how they will
double as monitors especially as INEC guidelines forbid candidates from
moving around polling units.

An INEC staff, who
did not want his name mentioned because he has no authority to speak
for the commission, said incumbent lawmakers might hide under NASS
accredition units to roam polling stations, and possibly commit
electoral fraud.

But David Asemo of
INEC’s Election Monitoring and Observation Unit, in a telephone
interview, said it was members of the National Assembly’s Research and
Documentation Department that were approved as observers, and not the
legislators vying for election.

“It is not the
National Assembly legislators. It is the management headed by the Clerk
of the National Assembly who is the administrative head of the National
Assembly that applied, and they met all the criteria. You can go and
verify,” Mr. Asemo said.

Mr. Asemo however
refused disclosing which criteria were used in accrediting the National
Assembly members, stating “those are administrative details, which I
can’t tell you.”

When contacted,
INEC’s spokesperson, Kayode Idowu, requested some time to confirm the
commission had indeed accredited the National Assembly as an observer.
In a subsequent conversation, he also said only National Assembly staff
were accredited.

“It is the staff
and not the legislators. Different groups applied, just like we have
journalist groups who also applied to be observers. It does not mean
the legislators themselves are the observers,” Mr Idowu said.

He however could
not state which criteria were used in selecting the National Assembly
staff, as he said he was unable to locate the document having the
details.

But a human rights
activist, Bamidele Aturu, says it is “an affront on democratic
principles” for the National Assembly to be given observation rights
considering many of the legislative members have vested interest in the
elections.

“It is funny and
strange because these members are politicians either contesting
directly or supporting one candidate or the other in the elections. It
makes a mockery of election monitoring and observation,” Mr. Aturu said.

He added that such
an “undue privilege” might allow the National Assembly staff to move
around freely on election days to the advantage of select politicians,
and the detriment of other Nigerians.

“This same staff of the National Assembly have close contact with
these politicians. I think it is undue privilege because other
Nigerians can’t move around on election day. How do we know they won’t
act in favour of them? I think it is strange this is happening. It
should be left with civil society organisations to handle and not the
National Assembly which is a government institution,” Mr. Aturu said.

Libyan rebels
pulled out of the oil town of Ras Lanuf on Wednesday under heavy
bombardment from Muammar Gaddafi’s forces, showing up their weakness
without Western air strikes to tip the scales in their favour.

The rapid reverse
comes just two days after the rebels raced westwards along the
all-important coastal road in hot pursuit of the government army that
had its tanks and artillery demolished in five days of aerial
bombardment in the town of Ajdabiyah.

Gaddafi’s army
first ambushed the insurgent pick-up convoy outside the “brother
leader’s” hometown of Sirte, then outflanked them through the desert, a
manoeuvre requiring the sort of discipline entirely lacking in rag-tag
rebel force.

On the offensive,
government tanks and artillery have unleashed a fierce bombardment on
towns and cities which has usually forced rebels to swiftly flee. That
tactic appears to have worked once again in Ras Lanuf, an oil terminal
town, 375 km (230 miles) east of the capital Tripoli.

“Gaddafi hit us
with huge rockets. He has entered Ras Lanuf,” rebel fighter Faraj
Muftah told Reuters after pulling out of Ras Lanuf. “We were at the
western gate in Ras Lanuf and we were bombarded,” said a second
fighter, Hisham.

Scores of rebel 4×4 pick-ups raced east, away from Ras Lanuf, a Reuters journalist saw.

Air strikes

Without Western air strikes, the rebels seem unable to make advances or even hold their positions against Gaddafi’s armour.

As the rebels
retreated, a Reuters correspondent heard aircraft, then a series of
loud booms near Ras Lanuf, but it was unclear if the sounds were the
sonic boom of the jets or bombs.

But a fighter
returning from Ras Lanuf, Ahmed, also told Reuters: “The French planes
came and bombed Gaddafi’s forces.” France was the first member of the
international coalition to announce that it had launched air strikes on
Libya and rebels commonly credit most air strikes to French aircraft.

A conference of 40
governments and international bodies agreed to press on with a NATO-led
aerial bombardment of Libyan forces until Gaddafi complied with a U.N.
resolution to end violence against civilians.

The Pentagon said
on Tuesday 115 strike sorties had been flown against Gaddafi’s forces
in the previous 24 hours, and 22 Tomahawk cruise missiles had been
fired.

Britain said two of
its Tornado fighter-bombers had attacked a government armoured vehicle
and two artillery pieces outside the besieged western town of Misrata.

Libya’s official
Jana official news agency said air strikes by forces of “the crusader
colonial aggression” hit residential areas in the town of Garyan, about
100 km (60 miles) south of Tripoli, on Tuesday. It said several
civilian buildings were destroyed and an unspecified number of people
were wounded.

U.N. Security
Council Resolution 1973 sanctions air power to protect Libyan
civilians, not to provide close air support to rebel forces. That would
also require troops on the ground to guide in the bombs, especially in
such a rapidly changing war.

Air strikes alone may not be enough to stop the pendulum swing of Libyan desert civil warfare turning into a stalemate.

The United States
and France have raised the possibility of arming the rebels, though
both stressed no decision had yet been taken. “I’m not ruling it in,
I’m not ruling it out,” U.S. President Barack Obama told NBC.

It is not clear
however if the amateur army of teachers, lawyers, engineers, students
and the unemployed know even how to properly use the weapons they
already have — mostly looted from government arms depots.

Lack of food

Aid agencies are
increasingly worried about a lack of food and medicines, especially in
towns such as Misrata where a siege by Gaddafi’s forces deprives them
of access.

“It is difficult to
even get water in from wells outside the town because of the positions
of the forces,” said Abdulrahman, a resident of Zintan in the west, cut
off by pro-Gaddafi forces.

The U.N. refugee agency said it had reports of thousands of families living in makeshift shelters cut off from assistance.

Protection of
civilians remains the most urgent goal of the air strikes, and British
Prime Minister David Cameron accused Gaddafi’s supporters of “murderous
attacks” on Misrata.

A series of powerful explosions rocked Tripoli on Tuesday and state
television said several targets in the Libyan capital had come under
attack in rare daytime strikes.

The United States has called on
security agencies in Nigeria to ensure safety at polling stations and
prevent violence during the April general elections.

The U.S. also urged the Nigerian
government to exercise “special care” in some parts of the country
where there is “instability” including the Niger Delta, Jos and some
parts of the North.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson spoke to reporters on Tuesday via a teleconference.

“We are watching very closely, the potential for violence in the run-up to the Nigerian elections.

“Right now, we have seen regrettably
too much of that even though the level of violence in the run-up to the
2011 elections is not as serious as it was in 2007.”

On the restive areas, Mr Carson said:
“we hope that the government will exercise special care and caution in
the management of elections there to ensure that the violence that is
ongoing as a result of those local issues does not impact on the
ability of the people to cast votes.”

The US official said the April 2011
elections provided an opportunity for Nigeria to reverse “a trajectory
of bad elections”. He added: “the elections in Nigeria in 2007 were
deeply flawed and, in fact, were poorly administered and poorly run.

“They in no way reflected the ability and the capacity of Nigeria to organise and run successful elections.

“We are looking forward to Nigeria to
substantially improve its election management and Processes in 2011, by
making them better than 2007 and 2003.”

NAN</

President Goodluck
Jonathan has urged Nigerians to be vigilant and report suspicious
characters in their areas who may want to cause violence to appropriate
security agencies.

He stated this
yesterday while inaugurating two committees at the presidential villa,
Abuja. The committees include: the Presidential Awareness Committee on
Security and Civic Responsibility which is headed by Lateef Adegbite,
Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, and
Presidential Committee on the Review of the Reform Processes in the
Nigerian Public Service, headed by Adamu Waziri Fika.

The President
stated that the constitution of the Presidential Awareness Committee on
Security and Civic Responsibility was necessitated by the acts of
violence plaguing the nation adding that security and stability are
essential ingredients for a virile democracy.

“It is disturbing
to note that security breaches as well as violence across the country
are assuming a serious dimension. Some of these major security
challenges which are capable of subverting the process include intra
and inter political party conflicts, socio-economic agitations,
ethno-religious crises, civil and organised rebellions and outright
criminality”.

Mr. Jonathan who
noted that Chapter two section 14 of the Constitution clearly places
security and welfare of the people as the primary purpose of
government, vowed that he will do all necessary to ensure that security
is maintained.

“Cognisance of our
administration’s responsibility to ensure that these challenges do not
degenerate into unmanageable proportions, we have taken a number of
measures not only to contain them but to check them before they even
emerge,” he said.

He also declared
that one of the measures is to effectively sensitise the people on
security issues and the civic responsibility of citizens especially as
it affects security.

“The establishment
of the committee on public awareness, security and civic responsibility
is, therefore, a decisive attempt to engender communal commitments from
patriotic response by all in the interest of our collective security,”
he said.

Terms of reference

The committee is
expected to embark on “the reappraisal of the potential security
threats in the country; mapping out strategies on regular basis and
creating structures at the three tiers of government on how members of
the society including civil society organisations can identify and deal
with suspicious movements as well as potential threats to security
through effective communication, planning and public awareness”.

Others include
development of curricula incorporating information, security awareness,
session to deal with issues of safety and security awareness in
national institutions in the country as well as take further necessary
action that will strengthen the security agencies and empower them to
effectively tackle security breaches in any parts of the country.

“The challenges
inherent in this assignment are enormous, but with the caliber of the
membership of the committee I am convinced that you have the capacity
to carry out this task” the President said.

Reviewing the reforms

The President,
while inaugurating the committee on the review of the reform processes
in the Nigerian Public Service, stated the constitution of the
Committee provides the government with an opportunity “to assess where
we are coming from and where we want to be including the critical steps
in actualising the Vision 202020 agenda”.

He also stated that
the inauguration of the committee is particularly symbolic because the
nation is poised to implement good governance in the country, saying
that it will guarantee a high standard of living and quality of life to
Nigerians.

“We are currently
implementing two complimentary strategies, for sustainable development.
The first is the national economic transformation strategy as
enunciated in the Vision 202020 document which is an articulation of
the long term intent to launch Nigeria on a part of sustained social
and economic progress and accelerate the emergence of a truly
prosperous Nigeria”.

He, therefore,
urged civil servants to begin to think of themselves as world class
service provider that can function as a veritable engine of growth and
development. This national strategy for public service reform is aimed
at developing and deepening stability in governance.

“The developmental
challenges the nation is facing is tied to the ability of the public
service to deliver public goods that Nigeria needs for evidenced
accelerated development”.

The committee apart
from undertaking a detailed study of previous public service reforms
and assessing their impact, will also examine the structure of the
MDAs, manpower utilisation as well as review core values of ethics,
integrity, discipline, efficiency to reposition it for effective
service delivery.

It will also
examine the need for strategic medium and long term plans, staff
exchange programme between the public service, private sector,
international organisations and academia as well as the relationship
between the federal civil serve commission and Office of the Head of
Service of the federation in areas of recruitment, promotion and
discipline with a view of promoting harmony between them.

President Goodluck
Jonathan has ordered all Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to
henceforth give priority to locally assembled cars and machineries
during procurement.

The President gave this order during the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting yesterday which lasted for about an hour.

Briefing
journalists after the meeting, the minister of Information and
Communication, Labaran Maku, said the directive was given in order to
boost employment and promote the locally made goods.

“Today in council
Mr President in continuation of his promise and his determination to
promote made in Nigeria goods directed all the MDA’s henceforth to
ensure that every procurement relating to vehicles, attention must
first be given to locally assembled plants in all public procurement
“This decision by Mr President was first issued in Lagos State when he
met with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria. Today in council he
emphasised the need for the federal government to promote made in
Nigeria goods. He said in terms of procurement it was necessary for the
federal government especially at this time that we are talking about
boosting employment and local production to patronise those goods and
services that are made in the country. So today, MDAs were given
directives to ensure that in all future contracts especially when we
need supplies of machineries efforts must be made to give priority to
locally assembled or produced machines or vehicles” the minister said.
This is, however, not the first time the Nigerian government has
decided to make moves to fully patronise made-in-Nigeria goods.

New tariff regime

Mr Maku also said
the President has directed the office of the National Economic Adviser
to undertake a comprehensive review of tariffs to ensure that a new
tariff regime that will protect local industries and promote locally
made goods in Nigeria is developed.

“This is important
because if indeed our industries are to produce again and if we are to
encourage employment within Nigeria it has become necessary to
emphasise a change of attitude in preference for those business men and
women that have taken their time and resources to invest in the
Nigerian economy,” he explained.

The information
minister told journalists that the minister of Finance Olusegun Aganga
also announced that the ministry is presently working in conjunction
with insurance bodies and banks to develop a consumer credit facility
that will be limited to made-in-Nigeria products. This, he said, is to
ensure that consumers are encouraged to buy made in Nigeria goods. “As
we all know the economy has been picking up at a rate of about 8.5
percent and if we are to promote economic growth and development and
increase the pace of GDP, then emphasis really must be brought back to
locally produced goods and services within the Nigerian economy,” Mr
Maku said.

The amount to be
paid each of the hundreds of thousands of corps members who will
administer nationwide polls beginning Saturday remains unknown as the
two organisations responsible for their deployment passed the buck
yesterday, two days to the elections.

The Independent
National Electoral Commission and the National Youth Service Corps
declined to disclose the figures on Wednesday, putting the
responsibility for doing so on each other, as the bulk of the
participating corps members -2011 batch ‘A’- seem increasingly
impatient.

The corps members
passing out from the three-week orientation programme across the
country, said unlike the voters’ registration where the amount due for
participating corps members was announced weeks ahead, the NYSC
officials is keeping the information away from them this time claiming
INEC had not briefed them.

“We have not been
told till now; they said INEC has not told them how much,” a member who
gave his name as Tajudeen Usman said, irritably in Abuja yesterday. The
claim was corroborated by some members speaking on phone from some
states.

Yet, the
potentially explosive subject – as shown during last voters
registration where some corps members threatened to down tools midway
into the exercise – remained surprisingly a top secret between both
commissions as of yesterday, with each blaming the other for
withholding the figure corps member will be entitled as ad hoc staff
during the elections.

Officials of INEC,
who spoke to NEXT, said the figures had been released to the NYSC and
it was now their duty to make them public while the NYSC officials
argued that the elections are regarded as the electoral body’s
programme, requiring the commission to make every announcement as it
did during the voter’s registration.

Nick Dazang, the
Deputy Director, Public Affairs of INEC said officials of the NYSC were
familiar with the figures but declined to name the amount each ad hoc
official will be entitled to for either a single election, or for the
three comprising the National Assembly, presidential and governorship
elections.

“The NYSC officials
know what will be paid to them. I don’t have the figures but I know
there is an improvement on what they had before.

“And this time, it
is done in a way that there will be no delay like that of last time,”
hinting that the required sum had “already been paid into NYSC account
for their officials to disburse since they have the details and account
information of the corps members.”

Corroborating that
position, Kayode Idowu, Chief Press Secretary to the chairman of the
commission, said the corps members would have been informed of the
figures and how they will be paid, as of yesterday. He too, declined to
name the amount.

“It is not true that they don’t know the figure. Ask any corps member and they will tell you,” he said.

Corps members who
spoke to NEXT insisted the figures were unknown to them, against what
obtained in January when INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega, repeatedly
stated that each member will earn N30,000 for the registration.

The Director for
Public Relations of the NYSC, Foluso Kolajo, said the figures should be
made available in a day or two, saying the state offices of the NYSC
had just been directed to inform the corps members.

“You know they are
just coming out of camp, so just give them like a day or two, the
figures will be made known. Every corps member will know how much they
will be paid,” she said. She too, declined to mention the figures.

A top official of
the NYSC’s Welfare and Inspection Department, which oversees the
organisation’s collaboration with INEC, dismissed the request for the
information, blaming the electoral commission for withholding the
amount.

The official who refused to be named, said only INEC can announce
the amount although she acknowledged the money had been remitted to the
NYSC.

The Chief of Army
Staff, Azubuike Ihejirika, has expressed joy over the cordial
relationship between the army and members of the public.

The army chief, who
was in Ibadan yesterday to assess the level of preparedness of the 2
Mechanized Division for the forthcoming elections, visited Governor
Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo State. He noted that he was particularly
happy that the visit is coinciding with the time the army was being
drafted to monitor the elections to ensure that it is not marred by
violence.

He urged the people
of the state to be peaceful and law abiding during the elections,
adding that the involvement of the army was to ensure that the exercise
is conducted under peaceful atmosphere. Commenting on the level of
preparedness of the 2 Mechanised Division, which has its headquarters
in Ibadan, the army chief said all the activities in all the formations
under the division confirmed to him that the men are more than ready
for the exercise.

He pledged total
commitment of the army to democratic governance, saying the force will
do its best to make the elections free, fair, credible and
violence-free. He said his visit to the governor was to express his
gratitude for the cordial relationship between the army and the people
of the state.

Mr Alao-Akala, in his response, said he would not shirk from his
responsibility as the chief security officer of the state. Insisting
that security is everybody’s business, he thanked the army for giving
his government necessary supports since its inception. The governor
also praised the federal government for mobilizing all the security
agencies to monitor the elections.

As the 2011 elections draw nearer, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has directed that none of its technical and search and rescue officers would go on leave during the period just as 12 states have been identified by the agency as flashpoints that require more public consciousness and awareness against untoward attitudes during the elections.
The Director-General of NEMA, Muhammad Sani-Sidi, gave the directive today while receiving members of Media and Information Committee on Emergency Management (MICEM) which comprises spokespersons of response agencies in Nigeria.
While calling on emergency spokespersons to cooperate with the press in providing timely, accurate and truthful information at all times to minimise speculations, Mr Sani-Sidi said they should be alert on their responsibility.
He, however, urged the electorate not to allow themselves to be used to disrupt the electoral processes, adding that the country would soon have dedicated hotlines that could be accessible to the public in reaching response agencies during emergencies.
He said just as the agency enjoyed massive support and cooperation of other agencies in all its activities, members of MICEM should also extend similar goodwill towards adequate information dissemination.
Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of MICEM who is also Director of Defence Information, Colonel Mohammed Yerima, commended NEMA for the success of its evacuation of Nigerians from Egypt and Libya and for timely response to distressed and displaced victims of natural disasters and communal clashes in recent times.
The chairman, Media and Information Committee on Emergency Management (MICEM) in Nigeria comprising members from NEMA, Defence, Police, Federal Road Safety, Civil Defence Corps, Federal Fire Service and other security outfits, said the association has identified major flashpoints that have witnessed heated and tensed political environment.
“The states have attracted more headlines and public attention to acrimonious activities among the political actors and parties. Two states were identified by MICEM from each geopolitical zone that required more public consciousness and awareness for orderliness during forthcoming elections. They are Katsina and Kano States in the North-West, Bayelsa and Akwa-Ibom States in South-South, Oyo and Ogun States in South-west, Nasarawa and Benue States in North-Central, Borno and Gombe in the North-East and Ebonyi and Anambra in the South-East,” he said.