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The Nigeria
People’s Congress (NPC) yesterday accused the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) of deliberately shutting out 20 political
parties from submitting list of candidates last Monday.

The party, in a
statement by its chairman, Ngozi Emioma, said the commission refused to
accept duly completed nomination forms of the parties, alleging that
they did not meet the deadline for the submission of the forms.

The party claimed
that the INEC director of political party monitoring had said that only
43 parties beat the deadline for the submission of the list of
candidates last Monday.

“We are appalled
that Professor Attahiru Jega-led INEC would change the electoral goal
post in the middle of a political contest without the consent of the
players. This is an unnecessary distraction and provocation aimed at
discrediting and frustrating the April general election. It is
unacceptable,” Mr. Emioma said.

He urged INEC to
reconsider its position and accept the nomination forms immediately,
saying that the imbroglio would have been averted if the INEC
leadership had communicated its position on the time to submit the
completed nomination forms. He claimed that the timetable released by
the commission clearly stated that the completed forms should be
returned on January 31, 2011.

Mr. Emioma recalled
that in all elections conducted by Mr. Jega’s predecessors, political
parties were at liberty to submit their forms till 12 midnight.

“To complicate
issues, INEC demanded that the forms should be submitted in triplicate.
Again, the commission did not inform political parties of this. NPC
frowns at this indiscriminate policy somersault. This is not an issue
that should heat up the polity. Jega should avoid playing into the
hands of reactionary forces who do not want the success of the April
elections,” he said.

INEC appeal

Meanwhile, a former
national publicity secretary of the Congress for Progressive Change
(CPC), Dennis Aghanya, has appealed to INEC to enforce Section 87 of
the Electoral Act to ensure that political parties submit list of
candidates who won the primary elections.

He argued that a
situation where parties submit names of candidates who did not win the
primaries is a total deviation from how internal democracies within
political parties are designed.

“The implication of these actions is that there would be series of
after election court actions, which will not go well with our
democracy. Boardroom decisions are undemocratic and meant to serve
personal interest of a few political godfathers whose stock in trade
would always be to make money at every election period,” Mr. Aghanya
said.

The mystery gunmen in Borno struck
again on Tuesday, killing a deputy superintendant of police and a
six-year-old girl in Maiduguri.

The police officer, identified as
Gadzama, was in Maiduguri to condole with the family of one of those
killed last week before he was killed near the NNPC mega station at
Abbaganaram area of the city.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
gathered that the police officer, an indigene of Askira Uba local
government area in the state, was trailed by the gunmen to the fuel
station and shot at close range.

Similarly, a six-year-old girl, believed to be his daughter, was also shot dead by the gunmen.

Lawal Abdullahi, the police public relations officer, confirmed the
incident, saying that the police had commenced investigation into the
issue.

The workers unions
at the College of Education, Ikere Ekiti, Ekiti State, yesterday began
an indefinite strike over the state government’s refusal to implement a
new salary scale. The striking workers who carried placards of various
inscriptions locked the main gates of the college as early as 8.00am.
They vowed not to return to the duty post until government implements
the new pay rise, and accused the government of marginalising them.

Addressing workers
in turns, the chairman of Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union
(COEASU), Tope Egunjobi; Senior Staff Union of Colleges of Education
(SSUCOED), Charles Egunjobi; and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU),
Femi Ajayi, all contended that Governor Kayode Fayemi had agreed that
they would be paid with the new salary scale beginning from January
2011.

“All the
institutions in the state are being paid with the new salary scale. We
don’t know why the state government has been partial to the workers of
College of Education, Ikere Ekiti. Even the workers of the University
of Education (TUNEDIK), whose licence was revoked by the National
Universities Commission (NUC) are being paid the new salary scale,” the
unions alleged.

The acting provost
of the college, Titilayo Ogunmola, could not be reached for her
reaction as she was said to be in a meeting with officials of the state
government in Ado Ekiti over the issue.

Nigerian former
head of state, Yakubu Gowon said yesterday in Benin that if Nigeria
must truly realize its vision of a great nation, the sacrifices, dreams
and ideas of the nation’s departed heroes must not be allowed to be in
vain. Speaking at the final passage rites of the late nationalist and
political icon, Anthony Enahoro, at the Ogbe Hard Court of Samuel
Ogbemudia Stadium, Mr. Gowon, described the late elder statesman as an
“exceptionally gifted democrat who defended Nigeria’s unity and fought
for her through democracy.”

He however told the
audience that Mr. Enahoro left Nigeria with the regret that he was not
able to see a Nigeria of his dream as enunciated in his NADECO and
PRONACO philosophy. He challenged all Nigerians to continue to give Mr.
Enahoro’s vision a look, and try to arrive at his dream of a
full-fledged Nigerian democracy.

“No tribute, brief
or long; no encomium, expansive or restricted, is enough to acknowledge
his achievement in life and his greatness,” he said.

Mr. Gowon recalled
his school days in the 1940s when Mr. Enahoro was a young political
firebrand and a budding political thorn in the flesh to the colonial
masters of the day.

“We used to look at him in awe,” he said.

Mr. Gowon said that
he never dreamt that he would meet Mr. Enahoro until his government
released him from prison after the late politician was jailed by the
colonial government for a ‘treasonable felony’. Mr. Enahoro served as
federal commissioner of information in Mr. Gowon’s administration.

“His performance as commissioner was exceptional as it was exemplary,” Mr. Gowon said.

In his tribute,
Governor of Edo State Adams Oshiomhole, called on Nigerians to fight
their oppressors as taught by Mr. Enahoro, saying that he was not given
to lamentations.

“He taught us how to engage, not how to beg,” he said. “He believed that if something is wrong, it must be challenged openly.”

According to Mr.
Oshiomhole, the lesson from Mr. Enahoro is that a man who fights on the
side of the people cannot be imprisoned by man.

Governor of Delta
State Emmanuel Uduaghan said ideas propagated by the late activist,
especially fiscal federalism founded on ethnic nationalities were
worthy of consideration, while Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State said the
clarity of the late Enahoro’s vision for Nigeria was infectious.

In his tribute, former governor of Edo State, John Odigie-Oyegun
described Mr. Enahoro as a man of undisputed courage and tremendous
vision, pointing out that the democracy Nigerians enjoy today is
traceable to the vision of the late Enahoro. Other dignitaries who paid
tribute to the late sage were Niger State Governor Muazu Babangida
Aliu, Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, David Edebiri, Tom Ikimi, Ayo
Adebanjo, Ndubuisi Kanu, Ayo Opadokun, Frank Kokori, and Itse Sagay.

The crisis in Jos,
the Plateau State capital, which has claimed many lives has been blamed
on the inaction of the federal government, a civil rights group,
Intersociety has said.

Speaking through its chairman, Emeka Umeagbalasi, yesterday in Awka, the Anambra State capital, he said

“Government’s
action is missing, but inaction is noticeable. It may be correct to say
that over 15,000 Nigerians including women and children had been killed
since 1999 as a result of unabated ethno-religious/political violence
and it may also be safe to submit that the number of politically
related murders in Nigeria since 1999 has risen to between 160 and 200.
And over 90 per cent of these dastardly acts have remained judicially
and socially unresolved.

“With respect to
Jos killings, is it correct to say that the president is theoretically,
the Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria’s 700,000-strong Armed Forces? If the
answer is yes, then the president must take charge, because it appears
the contrary is the correct answer. It is our total submission that the
killings in Jos are deliberately political. The sponsors of these
killings are the same ethnic nationalities who adorn their plate
numbers with “born-to-rule” insignia,” Mr Umeagbalasi stated.

He said impunity
has continued to rule over the land and the president must address this
issue for democracy to thrive. “What is far more important is the
president’s capacity and competence to govern, especially as regards
the security and welfare of the Nigerian citizens as well as credible
protection of the territorial integrity of the state of Nigeria. It is
very disheartening that most of those who perpetrated these killings
are still on the prowl, no thanks to the president. He added.

The group regretted
that apart from the 17 people who were convicted by the Federal High
Court in December 2010, most of the perpetrators have not been held to
account for heinous atrocities committed, as the white papers that
originated from the two commissions of enquiry set up by the Federal
and the Plateau State governments had equally not been issued or
implemented till this date.

He scored Goodluck
Jonathan low for allowing key security formations in Plateau State to
be controlled by Muslim officers and described it as a dangerous
security and intelligence policy on the part of the president.

“We recall vividly
that during the Niger Delta uprising, the combatants and key senior
security officers posted in the area were drawn from the northern part
of the country.

Consequently, it is our respectful request that the entire security
establishments in Plateau State should be overhauled and officers and
combatants from parts of the country other than south east, middle-belt
and core north posted to the area.

The
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday in Abuja
gave out cheques worth over 57 million naira as benefits to the
families of their late officers who were killed in active service.

The family of late
Mauazu Abdullahi, former head forensic unit got over N22 million naira,
while the sum of N22 million and N12 million naira went to the families
of late Tahir Hassan Zakari and Abdul-Aziz Jibrin respectively.

The Chairperson of
EFCC, Farida Waziri while presenting the cheques to the families said
looking at members of the families of slain officers of the Commission
receiving their insurance and other benefits, reminds her that these
officers died not from old age or sickness, but due to the wickedness
of the evil and diabolic ones.

Mrs waziri also
said that her solace however is that they have not died in vain, she
said apart from the fact that they died serving their fatherland, they
have been able to secure cover for all their staff.

Meanwhile, the
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Related Commission
(ICPC) has said that it will partner with the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure free and credible elections in
Nigeria come 2011.

A member of the
Commission, Simeon Oguntimilehin disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja
at the venue of a book launch and presentation titled: “Towards
Credible Elections In Nigeria” written by Timothy Ihemadu. He said that
ICPC will educate and monitor the electorate starting from registration
centres, as well as dealing with people who violate electoral rules.

The national
leadership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday asked its
members defeated in the party’s primaries to eschew bitterness and
support those who emerged as the party’s flagbearers in the forthcoming
general elections.

It also commended
the effort of the party members who supervised the conduct of the
congresses. In a statement by the PDP spokesman, Ahmed Alkali, the
party noted that now that the list of candidates has been submitted to
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the ultimate
consideration is the party and not individuals.

“We appeal to all
our party men and women to realise that no matter who the candidate of
our party is, the ultimate consideration is the People’s Democratic
Party which is the only party in Nigeria that accommodates all the
creeds, cultures and socio-economic tendencies in our country.” He said.

While
congratulating those who won the primaries, the party expressed
happiness that the tortuous process of nomination has gone, adding that
it is time to move on and confront the challenge posed by the party’s
opponents in the coming elections.

It also hailed the
zeal and enthusiasm demonstrated by members during the nomination
exercise and the transparent manner of the January 13 national
convention.

“We are therefore
confident that Nigerians will continue to identify with the great party
which represents every interest in Nigeria.” Mr Alkali stated.

The PDP also
assured Nigerians that it will continue to sustain the trust they have
in it by remaining faithful to the ideals of good governance, the rule
of law, transparency, justice and respect for human dignity.

“We look forward to
renewing our mandate to serve our fatherland in the forthcoming general
elections. This is indeed part of our deep commitment to restoring our
core values.” The statement concluded.

Daniel’s faction reacts

Meanwhile, the
chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Joju
Fadairo said yesterday that the party is in the process of vacating the
court order which empowered the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) to recognise the candidates produced by a faction of
the party led by the Commerce and Industry minister, Jubril
Martins-Kuye.

INEC had on Tuesday
accepted the list of candidates that emanated from the Mr Kuye led
faction of the party, which also has the sympathy of former President
Olusegun Obasanjo, as against the one submitted by the faction led by
the Ogun State governor, Gbenga Daniel.

By INEC’s action, a
former military governor of Oyo State, Tunji Olurin is now the PDP
governorship candidate of the party in the state while Mr Obasanjo’s
daughter, Iyabo Obasanjo is the party’s senatorial candidate for the
Ogun Central Senatorial District.

But Mr Fadairo told
reporters on phone that the court injunction cannot stand, adding that
it will be vacated in the next few days.

“The purported kangaroo court injunction they claimed to have cannot
stand,” he said. “We are in the process of vacating the court order and
the list we submitted will be the acceptable list.”

Sunday
Ichado, a former deputy provost of the College of Education, Zuba,
Abuja, is asking an Abuja High Court to commit the Minister of the
Federal Capital Territory Bala Mohammed to prison for failing to obey a
court order reinstate him to his former position. Mr. Ichado claims
that on July 2, 2010, the Federal Capital Development Authority
employed him as a chief lecturer and posted him to the College of
Education, where he rose meritoriously by promotion to the positions of
dean, School of Education and deputy provost respectively.

Mr. Ichado said
that he was dismissed by the College of Education without due regard to
and/or compliance with the provisions of the College of Education’s
manual and the public service rules and regulations.

The minister of the FCT is first defendant, while the Federal Capital Development Authority is second defendant.

In an initial lawsuit, the presiding judge, Ufot Inyang, on July 12, 2009, entered judgment in favor of Mr. Ichado.

The court granted
the relief sought by the plaintiff in the suit against the defendants
and ordered the immediate reinstatement of Mr. Ichado, the plaintiff,
as deputy provost and lecturer to his office with the defendants.

His counsel, Ogwu Onoja, asked the court to imprison the minister for contempt, and moved for the contempt proceedings.

“The plaintiff
protested his purported dismissal to the defendants and the Public
Complaints Commission, a federal government agency,” the motion stated.
“The Public Complaints Commission did investigate the case and found in
favour of the plaintiff and recommended that the defendants reinstate
the plaintiff but which recommendation the defendants have failed
and/of refuse to implement.”

Case history

Mr. Ichado said
that he was indicted with gross misconduct — perpetuating examination
malpractices — via a letter of query from the college, and that he
responded to the query on April 22, 2004. He said that some months
later, on January 10, 2005, he was served with a dismissal letter by
the college on the basis of gross misconduct of exam malpractices. Mr.
Ichado is also asking for an order setting aside the purported letters
of dismissal and termination of his employment with immediate effect
and an order reinstating him to his employment, and an order directing
the defendants to pay him all his salaries and entitlements accruing
subsequent to January 10, 2005 including promotion and N3 million as
general damages.

The House of
Representatives has compelled the Ministry of Defence to build a
specialist military hospital as budgeted for in 2010 instead of using
the fund to upgrade existing military hospitals in the country.
Briefing members of the House committee on Defence yesterday, the
Director of Finance at the Defence Headquarters, Daniel Bako, had said
the shortfall in the available funds, is compelling the ministry to
replace the plan with the upgrade of existing military clinics. Mr Bako
said out of the 13 capital projects of the Defence Headquarters in
2010, only the contract for the hospital was yet to be awarded due to
the cash constraint.

HE said over
N2billion will be required in 2011 to commence the construction of the
specialist hospital and also renew the clinics located within military
barracks across the country.

But the House
committee, headed by Wole Oke, turned down the proposition, insisting
that the specialist hospital must be constructed as contained in the
2010 budget.

“This project has a
history, and it is a request from your own end. We may not agree on
this suggestion, but rather if you are asking for more funds, then you
can let us know. Our position therefore is that the budget Act must be
respected,” Mr Oke said.

The N4.5
billion-facility is planned as pivot of military health supply in the
country and is to be funded annually for three years.

In 2010, only N561 million was released for the work against a projected annual average release of N1 billion.

The committee
argued that the amount so far released, though insufficient, should
have been applied for preliminary work on the project while sourcing
for more funds.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Committee on Barracks Rehabilitation
(PCRB), headed by Binta Muazu, has been directed to pay its contractors
immediately. The committee has also been given until February 15, 2011
to present a comprehensive report of its 2010 budget implementation to
the house committee.

The federal
government yesterday announced a projection of over 8 percent national
economic growth in the first quarter of 2011, even as it plans to
resuscitate, the Marketing Boards to help boost agricultural sector in
the country. The Minister of Information and Communication Labaran Maku
disclosed this yesterday while briefing journalists after the weekly
Federal Executive Council meeting, which was presided over by Vice
President Namadi Sambo, in the absence of President Goodluck Jonathan
who is currently in Turkey. Quoting from statistics by the Central Bank
Governor, Sanusi Lamido, which he supplied during his 2010 Fourth
Quarter Report presentation to FEC, Mr. Maku said the national growth
rate for the last quarter of 2010 was 8.29 percent. The growth, he
said, was largely sustained by improved performance in the non-oil
sector, particularly agriculture as well as the increasing availability
of electricity across the country which assisted in improving capacity
utilization from 25 percent to 29.65 percent, during the period.

“The Governor of
Central Bank of Nigeria briefed the Council on the performance of the
economy in the fourth quarter of 2010. The Council was informed that
there had been steady growth in the GDP which continues to be driven
largely by the non-oil sector, particularly agriculture,” he said.

Mr. Maku also noted
that the 2010 fourth quarter growth is an improvement from the 7.86 in
third quarter of 2010 while the CBN also projected a similar growth in
the first quarter of 2011 as capacity utilization in industries has
grown from 25 percent to 29.6 percent.

Agricultural boost

The non-oil sector
contributed 8.87 percent while the agric sector contributed about 40
percent with a positive projection. The minister further explained that
the positive outlook will be improved by the continued implementation
of the amnesty programme, stability in crude oil exports and
electricity supply to economic centers in the country. Still stating
the statistics, Mr. Maku said the CBN gave out N199.6 billion to 539
small and medium scale firms through a network of commercial banks and
which created 7,195 jobs within the period. He said although the
foreign exchange rate stabilized at N153 to the dollar, the CBN is
striving to keep the figure at N150 to the dollar as a step towards
shoring up the naira.

“Though there was
moderation in inflation, the governor cautioned that inflation remained
a major concern in the short to medium term, Interbank rates and other
money market rates, including lending, also moderate.

“The foreign
exchange market was substantially stable, while the steady recovery in
the capital market continued. The growth in monetary and private sector
credit aggregates, however, remained sluggish. The governor commended
the government for the reduction in the proposed level of expenditure
still remained high but that the general thrust of the fiscal policy
pronouncements was in the desired direction.”

The minister said
FEC also accepted in theory the resuscitation of marketing boards for
agricultural produce as proposed by the CBN governor, but with a
directive that the modalities and policy framework be worked out by the
apex bank for a possible approval Council at a later date.

He also said in
making its recommendations for the resuscitation of the marketing
boards, the CBN drew experiences from countries like Ghana and Tanzania
where marketing boards have boosted the economies by helping farmers
buy up excess farm produce which allow them to concentrate in crop
production and avoid losses.

He however
explained that “not all the boards dissolved may make a comeback but it
is expected that farmers will thence incur less losses while
agricultural productivity will be enhanced”, adding that “the idea
sounded well and FEC accepted it and directed that modalities and
proper policy framework for it be worked out”.