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The Chief Whip of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rasak
Balogun, has urged Nigerians to vote out the ruling party if President Goodluck
Jonathan fails to attend the lined up debates for presidential candidates ahead
of the April polls.

Mr Balogun stated this while receiving, on behalf of the
Speaker of the House Adeyemi Ikuforiji, a group of professionals, Governance
500, who were on a peaceful walk protest to the Assembly premises. He demanded
all political parties to ensure that their candidates are subjected to open
debates to reel out their plans in details ahead of the forthcoming general
elections.

Reacting to recent media reports that Mr Jonathan had initially
refused to attend a televised debate, he said: “A sitting president that came
into office by destiny should be the one championing the debate but
unfortunately I hear the gentleman is running from the debate.”

According to him, such an attitude from the president portrays
that: “the message is to easy out the government and this I believe indicates
for us in the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) that we have a role to play in
the central government.”

‘Walk the talk’

The walk, which commenced from First Bank, Kudirat Abiola Way,
terminated at the House of Assembly, Ikeja. Members of the group carried
banners and chanted that all candidates should “walk the talk” and that
“Nigerians demand a presidential debate.” “We have had enough of campaigns,”
said Femi George, a member of the group. “They told us housing and education
for all by 2010 before and now they talking about 2020. We want them to tell us
how and when they will achieve the plans. We are tired of the same old stories,
give us the blueprints.”

The leader of the group, Obiageli Obi, while addressing
lawmakers at the House, said that “we are tired of voting for people who do not
have impacts on our lives.” “There are issues that are recurrent and nothing
has been done about it,” she said. “We want a debate, we want to know what the
candidates have for us, we want to see the party’s manifestoes and know how it
will affect our lives.” She also urged the public to get involved in the
debate. “We need everyone to tune in, this is a selection time,” she said, and
advised people to send in questions for the candidates so that they know what
to expect from them.

Sustaining the tempo

Mrs Obi said the group is a training programme for professionals
to participate in politics and re brand Nigeria. “This advocacy will continue
even after the elections,” she said. “When they get into office, we will be on
their neck to monitor they deliver their promises as at the time pledged. We
are an advocacy group and we will keep advocating.”

Mr Balogun commended the group on its initiative, noting that what they
embarked on is “very good for our democracy.” He said that the debate must not
only end with the presidential candidates. “Their vice presidents too should
have a debate because they are presidents in waiting and we need to know what
they [are] worth,” he said. He pledged the support of the House to the call and
urged them to make sure they take it out of Lagos. “Lagos alone does not make Nigeria,”
he said.

The House of
Representatives yesterday directed the Aviation Minister, Fidelia
Njeze, to hasten the perimeter fencing of the Bauchi airstrip after
Tuesday’s crash-landing of the plane conveying leaders of the Action
Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

The lawmakers accused the ministry of delaying the project despite years of funding approvals.

Short of
describing the incident which involved the presidential team of the
Action Congress of Nigeria as politically-motivated, some lawmakers led
by Sani Abdul, a Representative from Bauchi State, asked the National
Security Adviser, Patrick Azazi, to “ascertain the security lapses and
political implications surrounding the incident.”

The suggestion
came a day after the federal government denied allegations of sabotage
in the incident. It was, however, rejected as part of the final prayers
by the House.

On Wednesday, the
Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Njeze, disputed claims by the ACN that the
plane which carried its presidential running mate, Fola Adeola, had
crash-landed colliding with animals, saying the aircraft had “already
landed and was taxing before the incident happened.”

“There was no crash-landing, no sabotage”, she said. She, however, said the fencing will now be completed in two weeks.

Mr. Abdul, a
member of the Congress for Progressive Change in the House of
Representatives, who sponsored the motion said the incident occurred as
a result of the failure of the aviation ministry to complete the
fencing of the airstrip even when funds had been made available in 2009
and 2010 budgets.

“Most embarrassing
is the remarks from the Bauchi State governor’s aide to the effect that
the state was not aware of the coming of the ACN candidate.

“And the Federal
Executive Council (FEC) has said there is no act of sabotage in the
incident. There is a counter claim by the ACN of sabotage. This needs
to be investigated. The Police must be asked some questions. The
National Security Adviser (NSA) must also answer some questions.”

House Minority
Leader, Femi Gabjabiamila, a member of the ACN, also called for an
independent investigation of the incident, dismissing the federal
government’s claims.

“FEC has reacted even though it is not known to law. We cannot ask
the Ministry of Aviation to probe. This is because it is an interested
party. Let us go for an independent body to probe this,” he said,
adding “Yearly, we budget monies for perimeter fencing and nothing is
done. This is not an act of God as claimed by FEC, it is an act of
negligence.”

The Presidential
Campaign Council of the People’s Democratic Party has expressed
sympathy with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) over the mishap
involving some top-level members of their presidential campaign team.

The Director of
Media and Publicity, Abba Dabo, in a press statement said the campaign
group, “joins the ACN in thanking God that no life was lost in the
incident and prays that no Nigerian experiences such a sense of panic
and anxiety in our airspace again.”

Mr. Dabo, however,
criticised the statement credited to the spokesperson of the ACN’s
presidential campaign team, Ibrahim Modibbo, alleging sabotage.
Describing the statement as “absurd and indeed worrisome,” Mr. Dabo
claimed ACN members are in the habit of blaming the PDP for all their
misfortunes.

“These unfounded
allegations range from such issues as denial of campaign permits, plane
mishaps and even alleged assassination attempts. It is our sincere
belief that even in the midst of a fierce political scramble for power,
there should be a limit to political interpretation of sensitive
matters.

“This strategy of
blaming PDP for all their woes is a further confirmation that their
campaigns lack issues or direction. And that they have seen the
handwriting on the walls, about their impending electoral defeat,” Mr.
Dabo said.

The vice
presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Fola
Adeola and other leaders of the party escaped harm when the 5N-BMR
aircraft they boarded ran into goats that strayed onto the runway of
the airstrip of Bauchi airport on Tuesday.

Mr. Adeola was in
Bauchi State for the party’s presidential campaign and the flag-off
campaign of the governorship candidate for the state, Baba Tela, which
took place at the Ibrahim Babangida Square.

Speaking to
journalists, Mr Modibbo, had said the incident was a bad development
and described it as the “handiwork of saboteurs who were out to
eliminate the life of the presidential candidate (Nuhu Ribadu).”

According to Mr.
Modibbo, the second aircraft which Mr. Ribadu and other party members
boarded could not land immediately and had to hover in the air for over
40 minutes before it finally landed. Mr. Modibbo said the management of
the airstrip was aware of Mr. Ribadu’s flight plans. However, he said
the Nuhu Ribadu Campaign Organisation was not asking the government to
do it a special favour by guaranteeing safety and security at the
nation’s airports.

“What we are saying is that no life is more important than the other,” he said.

“Before the present
PDP government is booted out by the people, they should at least ensure
that our airports, our roads and our towns and villages are safe enough
for everyone, including our candidates, and particularly during this
electioneering period.”

The PDP, however, described the position as a politics of bitterness, saying it is unjustified and in extreme bad taste.

“We call on Nigerians to disregard these malicious and libelous
insinuations. President Goodluck Jonathan has given his pledge to run a
decent, lawful and decorous campaign, where issues are discussed and
debated for the transformation of Nigeria. We urge the nation’s
aviation officials to do everything necessary to prevent any such
incident in future.” Mr. Dabo said.

The national
leadership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday said it
refused to sign the code of conduct for parties produced by the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) because the parties
were not allowed to make input into the drafting of the documents as
agreed at a retreat with the commission in Calabar, Cross River State.

The national
secretary of the party, Abubakar Kawu Baraje, said INEC should carry
the blame for its refusal to follow agreement reached between it and
the political parties.

“At the retreat
organised by INEC and the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) for all
registered political parties in Nigeria held in Calabar, Cross River
State recently, it was agreed that all political parties shall
contribute ideas towards the establishment of an acceptable code of
conduct for all parties in the forthcoming elections,” Mr Baraje said.

Party is law abiding

“The PDP has always
participated actively and given its maximum cooperation to INEC in all
its programmes. It is this very high esteem with which we hold INEC
that the National Secretary broke away from the ongoing nationwide
presidential campaign to attend the stakeholders forum summoned by INEC
on the 8th of March 2011.

“However, to our
greatest surprise, the INEC Chairman announced that the forum was for a
signing ceremony for a “code of conduct” which we were seeing for the
first time. The earlier understanding that a draft copy shall be sent
to parties for inputs was completely jettisoned.” Still cooperating Mr
Baraje said the PDP, alongside other parties, raised this observation
which the INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega acknowledged and subsequently
advised that parties could still come up with their inputs even after
signing of the documents had taken place.

He added that in
complying with Mr Jega’s advice, the PDP and 42 other parties met and
came up with inputs into the code of conduct and submitted same on the
8th of March. He said the submission has been duly acknowledged by the
office of the INEC Chairman.

“The PDP is
therefore not afraid of complying with any code of conduct, neither is
it in any way working towards sabotaging the forthcoming elections as
unfairly implied by some people. We are only insisting on proper
procedure to protect the interest of all Political Parties,” he said.

Mr Baraje described as “misleading” media reports purporting that he
refused, adding that his action was twisted to make it look like the
PDP is averse to set rules meant to regulate the forthcoming electoral
exercise.

The emergence of
Goodluck Jonathan as Nigeria’s president is rooted in the long
political friendship that existed between the north and the old Rivers
State, former civilian president, Shehu Shagari has said.

Mr Shagari, who
received Mr Jonathan in his home in Sokoto yesterday, said he was happy
that as politicians like him become old, young ones like Mr Jonathan
have emerged to take up the task of leading the country. He spoke of
the need to allow younger Nigerians like Mr Jonathan to take over the
leadership of the country from the older ones.

“I’m getting old
and I don’t think I can join any political party for active politicking
now, but I’m happy that you (Jonathan) have emerged to undertake the
onerous task of leading this country.

I believe you will succeed, having worked so hard,” he said.

The former
president said even before the nation’s independence in 1960, when the
Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) was looking for an alliance with the
Southern region, it was the politicians from the Niger Delta that
volunteered to form a coalition with the party.

“Even after
independence, people from the Niger Delta remained faithful to the
friendship bond that had developed over the years. The North will
remain proud of such a long political friendship with the people of the
Niger Delta,” he said.

Follow the lead

Mr Shagari assured
Mr Jonathan that he will not regret paying him a personal visit. Mr
Jonathan thanked the former president for the invaluable advice he gave
him when he was acting president after president Umar Yar’Adua became
incapacitated.

“We want to follow your foot-step of building a united, peaceful and economically stable nation,” he said.

The President said that his aim is to create jobs for the growing
number of youth, re-invigorate the economy, strengthen security and
improve the lives of Nigerians.

The Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday pleaded with the Federal
High Court in Abuja to allow it to conduct governorship elections in
the five states that the court earlier ruled there will be no election.

Presiding judge,
Adamu Bello in a judgment recently, said governorship elections should
not hold in Kogi, Sokoto, Adamawa, Cross River and Bayelsa states until
next year.

The ruling also set
new dates for the termination of the tenures of the governors. Ibrahim
Idris, Kogi, will stay on till April 5,2012; Aliyu Wammakko, Sokoto,
remains till May 28,2012; Timipre Sylva, Bayelsa, leaves on May 29,
2012; Liyel Imoke’s tenure in Cross River terminates on August 28,
2012; and Murtala Nyako, Adamawa, gets his tenure elongated to April
30th, 2012.

The five governors
had gone to court to challenge the decision of the Commission to
conduct governorship elections in their states this year. They said
their tenure only began after they won the run off in their states and
so should not be terminated in April 2011. They named INEC and the
Peoples Democratic Party as first and second defendants respectively.

But INEC yesterday asked the Court to stop the execution of its judgment.

In a motion for
stay filed by its lawyer, Carol Ajie, INEC asked the court to stop the
governors from enjoying the judgment until the Appeal Court has decided
the appeal filed by the commission against the High Court judgment.

“But if this
application is granted by this court, the Appellant would perform its
statutory duties of conducting elections in the affected states as well
others and the opportunity of a level playing ground afforded to other
candidates.,” he said.

Ms Ajie told the
court that if the application was refused, any decision arrived at by
the Court of Appeal would have been rendered nugatory by the ruling
that extended the tenure of the five governors.

In a
seven-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Kennedy Ajogi, a Litigation
Clerk in Ajie Chambers, the lawyer said an appeal had already been
filed against the judgment and that the appeal raised substantial
issues of law which might be resolved in favour of the appellant (INEC).

Specifically, Ms
Ajie said a greater hardship would be caused if the application was
refused and that the governors would lose nothing. She said INEC would
find itself in an awkward position if the appeal was decided in its
favour since the time for holding election in the affected states would
have passed before the appeal would be decided.

She also asked the
court to take notice of the fact that some of the elections were
nullified on account of malpractices and irregularities and that to
allow the governors to stay beyond May 29, would make them benefit from
their wrongs.

“There are special
and exceptional reasons why suspension of the judgment ought to be
granted in this case,” she told the court.

“The Appellant/Applicant is a statutory body charged with the
responsibility of regulating, scheduling and conducting elections into
the offices occupied by the Respondents amongst others and should not
be stopped from doing its statutory work.”

The European Union
(EU) yesterday formally launched its election monitoring team to
Nigeria ahead of the general elections billed for April, 2011.

Former Prime
Minister of Slovenia, and current member of the EU parliament, Alojz
Peterle, is leading the European Union Election Observation Mission to
monitor the conduct of the general polls in Nigeria. According to a
statement from the mission, over 120 observers from 27 member states as
well as Norway and Switzerland are to be deployed for the mission. A
team of nine election analysts from eight different EU countries
arrived Abuja March 1, to set up and coordinate the mission, and are to
be joined by a group of 52 long-term observers who will be deployed
across the country to observe the processes and report back to the
Abuja team.

Team’s commitment

At a press
conference in Abuja on Wednesday, Mr Peterle spoke of the team’s
commitment to neutrality and fairness in its evaluation of the poll’s
compliance with local and international electoral laws.

“We are not
professors here; we are not teachers here; we are partners,” he said.
“It is a privilege to lead the European Union Election Observation
Mission to Nigeria. I hope these elections will contribute to a
peaceful future of the country. It is important that citizens can
exercise their right to vote and candidates are able to campaign freely
in an inclusive democratic environment.” The mission is independent of
any EU institutions or member states and is expected to make public its
preliminary findings after the elections and then a final report – with
technical recommendations for future elections – to be published about
two months after the elections.

The EU’s election
observation mission to Nigeria during 2007 elections, joined other
local and international observers to roundly condemn the polls as one
of the country’s worst.

The Chief Observer
for the 2011 team, Mr Peterle said the EU has reached an agreement with
the federal government and the Independent National Electoral
Commission, guaranteeing its observer members freedom of movement and
access to all polling stations.

The team will meet
with government officials, candidates and representatives from the
political parties, civil society and the media.

They will also
assess all aspects of the process including the registration of voters
and candidates, the training of election staff, voter education,
campaign activities, the candidates and political parties, the media
coverage, the preparations for polling as well as complaint and appeal
process.

The Minister of
Finance, Olusegun Aganga, yesterday explained why the Federal
Government plans to abolish the excess crude account (ECA) established
by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.

The account,
opened in 2004 following a fiscal policy decision to check the negative
impact of the swings of crude oil prices at the international oil
market on government expenditure, was to help create savings from
excess crude earnings for the country.

Under the
arrangement, all revenue earnings above a stipulated crude oil
benchmark price set by government in the annual budget were to be
transferred into the account as savings, to provide succour in times of
declining prices at the international market.

But, Mr. Aganga,
told NEXT in an interview in Abuja that the government resolved to
abolish the account not only because its existence was illegal and
unconstitutional, but also that management of the ECA has in recent
times been subjected to abuses that tend to defeat the objective for
which it was established.

A better arrangement

Mr. Aganga said
there was need to replace the ECA with a more functional structure that
would facilitate the effective utilization of the excess crude revenue
to meet the country’s developmental needs, particularly in the
provision of critical infrastructure as well as stabilization for the
country’s economy.

“The ECA is just an
account not backed by law. The process for accessing the ECA is not as
transparent and clear to the Nigerian people, therefore there is a
general perception that there is some level of mismanagement.

“The Sovereign
Wealth Fund (SWF) is being proposed not just because the ECA is
illegal, but because there is need to have a strong fiscal framework
that would ensure that future generations of Nigerians are provided for
with the earnings from excess crude. It is important for the country to
have a savings culture, since the country is relying entirely on a
depleting asset as the only source of revenue.

“As a developing
nation, it does not make sense keeping money somewhere and looking at
it, without any interest paid on it. With the SWF, such monies would be
put to work. The proposed structure would serve three purposes – to
provide for future generation to be interested in equities and fixed
income securities; provide economic stabilization by helping government
augment its annual budget when there is sustained fall in oil prices,
and facilitating the provision of critical infrastructure,” Mr. Aganga
said.

According to him,
since 2008, when oil prices began to decline, the federal government
has been drawing from the ECA to augment its annual budget deficit,
pointing out that until the government successfully diversifies the
economy, the country will continue to be at a risk.

With the SWF, he
said, there would be clear prudential guidelines on how and when to
access the account. There will be more transparency about the rules on
the management of the money,” adding that unlike the ECA being managed
by government, the SWF will be managed by the private sector, through
the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) made up of people
with proven track record of risk management portfolios.

“No government
official will be on the Board of NSIA that would manage the SWF. So, it
will be free from all political interferences.

“Members will come
for the private sector. There is no room for misinterpretation or the
kind of flexibility that would lead to mismanagement.

“The SWF management
will have two structures – the day-to-day management and the Governing
Council, made up of all the shareholders, including the three tiers of
government, civil society groups, which will meet once or twice a
year,” he explained.

Some stakeholders,
including the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission
(RMAFC) as well as states governments that make up the Federation
Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) recently reiterated the call for
the abolition of the ECA, claiming it was existing in breach of the
provisions of the constitution requiring all revenues to be paid into
the Federation Accounts and shared periodically among the component
units of the federation.

The Nigerian Civil
Aviation Authority on Wednesday released a post-incident report on the
5N BMR aircraft conveying the vice presidential candidate, Fola Adeola,
and other top delegates of the Action Congress of Nigeria to Bauchi,
which crash-landed at the airstrip killing two goats.

The incident, which
was described as the “handiwork of saboteurs” by Ibrahim Madibbo, the
party’s national publicity secretary, occurred on Tuesday afternoon at
the airstrip, leaving the aircraft partly damaged with no human
casualty.

“On 8 March 2011
about 12.28pm a chartered HS 125 aircraft with registration number 5N
BMR, operated by Kings Airline, touched down at Bauchi airstrip. While
on landing roll, about eight goats strayed across the runway and the
aircraft hit two of the goats but the captain was able to maintain his
course on the runway centerline and parked the aircraft on the apron,”
said Harold Demuren, the director general of the civil aviation
regulatory agency at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.

Mr. Demuren had on
Tuesday given assurance that the authority would investigate the cause
of the incident and make public the outcome of their findings; but the
spokesperson for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Akin
Olukunle, when contacted declined comment on the incident.

Mr Demuren disclosed that one of the wings of the aircraft was damaged.

“The post-incident
inspection of the runway and the aircraft revealed that the flap on the
left hand side of the aircraft was damaged and two goats were found
dead,” he said.

Mr. Demuren gave
the name of the pilot in charge of the flight as Captain Wale Salami
and disclosed that he was brave enough to save the day for those
onboard the aircraft during the incident.

“The runway was
closed to traffic at 12.28 local time as part of safety precautionary
measures and reopened at 12.54 local time after inspection and clearing
of the runway of dead animals. There was no injury to six passengers
and three crew members onboard the aircraft,” he said.

It would be
recalled that in 2005, an Air France aircraft crashed-landed into herds
of cattle strolling at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Rivers
State.

The leader of the
Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Reuben Fasoranti, yesterday
criticised security agencies in the country for not doing enough to
quell the persistent crises in Plateau State.

Mr Fasoranti who
spoke with NEXT in Akure, the Ondo State capital said the inability of
the Joint Task Force and the Nigeria police to bring the situation
under control is a sign that something is wrong with our security
system.

The octogenarian,
who is of the opinion that the Jos crisis is more political than
religious, said it will not be out of place if the federal government
declares a state of emergency in the state. “The crisis in Jos is fast
getting out of hand. Security agencies must brace up and act fast
before the crisis spreads to other neigbhouring states. The crisis has
been on without any solution to it.

The Afenifere
leader also condemned the federal government for not addressing the
crisis in the state with the seriousness it deserves.

“The federal government has not done enough to bring lasting peace
to Plateau State; it has to put in place proactive measures to curb the
incessant crises in the region,” he added.