Nigeria Content Online

A non-governmental
organisation, Project 2011 Swift Count, which monitored the voter
registration in the first two weeks, yesterday agreed with the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that 58.8 million
Nigerians registered during the first two weeks of the exercise. It said
that the figure is consistent with data collected by its observers from
individual registration centres nationwide.

Project 2011 Swift
Count is a joint initiative of Federation of Muslim Women Associations
in Nigeria (FOMWAN), Justice, Development and Peace/Caritas Nigeria
(JDPC), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and Transition Monitoring Group
(TMG).

Presenting the
group’s interim report, its 1st co-chair, Dafe Akpedeye said it
dispatched 985 observers to all parts of the nation to monitor the
registration in the first two weeks before it was extended. He said at
the end of the second week of the exercise that 93 percent of the
centres were opened by noon while 86 per cent had two registration
officials present.

He also said that 82
per cent of the centres had complete Direct Data Capture systems (DDC);
79 per cent of centres had the DDC systems functioning throughout the
day; 66 per cent of centres had all essential registration materials; 65
per cent of centres had sufficient materials throughout the day; while
86 per cent of centres remained open throughout the day.

Mr Akpedeye also
said that in two specific areas – opening times and functioning of the
DDC system – there was dramatic improvement of the exercise over time.

He said, “Only 18
per cent of centres opened by noon on the first day, but this increased
to 93 per cent by the end of the first weeks and has remained at this
level. Similarly, DDC systems went from operating properly throughout
the day at 46 per cent of centres at the start of registration to 79 per
cent by the end of the second week.” The chairman also said that the
observers measured how well the centres carried out the multiple
processes of proper voter registration, namely the marking of fingers
with indelible ink, photographing of registrants, issuance of temporary
voter cards, entering of names into both the electronic and the manual
registers.

Mr Akpedeye also
said that in two areas, there were two minor concerns. He said that
while 11 per cent of the registration centres witnessed a few underage
registrants, eight per cent of centres saw few people being permitted to
register even though they were not from the community.

On the group’s
recommendation, Mr Akpedeye said INEC should continue in its efforts to
ensure that all centres are open and properly equipped and that all DDC
systems are functional.

He also said that
INEC needs to improve its logical and organisational capabilities for
the elections since it won’t have the luxury of making improvements over
time as has been the case during the voter registration.

“For elections, INEC
has to ensure that all centres open and operate properly on the first
day because unlike voter registration there won’t be another opportunity
to correct any problems,” he said.

Mr Akpedeye also wants the electoral body to release daily figures
on the number of registration per state and by local government areas.

The Kwara State
governor, Bukola Saraki, swore-in four commissioners yesterday in
Ilorin and charged them not to betray the trust of the people and the
government.

Mr. Saraki
explained that the appointment was to fill existing vacancies. The
governor told the commissioners that his administration would not
tolerate corruption, saying, “It is incumbent on you to make prudence,
transparency, and accountability your watchwords.”

He urged all the
new and serving political appointees in the state to remain strong in
their belief in the Kwara project. The governor further urged them to
be determined in the task of taking the state to a higher level.

The commissioners
include AbdulRazaq Atunwa, a one-time finance commissioner who has
retained the portfolio back, Kolo Mohammed; Raji Atolagbe, and Olabode
Olayemi. Responding on behalf of the commissioners, Mr. Atunwa
expressed his appreciation to the governor for his confidence in them.
He pledged that they would serve with integrity, loyalty, and
commitment to the Kwara project.

Speaking shortly
after the swearing-in, the secretary to the state government, Saka
Isau, explained that some positions in the state executive council
became vacant because a few commissioners resigned to compete in the
April elections.

Apart from Mr.
Atunwa’s posting, the secretary said that Mr. Mohammed would take
charge of the Ministry of Industry and Cooperative, while Mr. Atolagbe
would head the Energy Ministry with Mr. Olayemi in charge of the
Ministry of Works and Transport.

In a minor reshuffle, the former commissioner for works, Kola
Shittu, was moved to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development,
while Dele Abdulganiyu is now in charge of the Agriculture and Natural
Resources Ministry.

A Federal High
Court sitting in Abuja yesterday ordered the People’s Democratic Party
to stop submitting the name of Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime as
its candidate for the forthcoming governorship election in the state
pending the determination of an action challenging his alleged
nomination.

In the exparte
application argued by Alex Aigbe Izinyon on behalf of a PDP
governorship contestant in the state, Anayo Onwegbu and 38 others, the
court granted an interim order restraining the Independent National
Electoral Commission from accepting or validating Mr. Chime’s name as
the party’s standard bearer for the governorship poll.

Thirty-eight
plaintiffs also got an order temporarily halting the electoral body’s
dealing with alternative lists of names. The trial judge, Abdu
Kafarati, ordered “that the first defendant (PDP) is hereby restrained
in interim from submitting any other names, list of names other than
the names contained in the list of candidates dated 17th January, 2011
which includes the plaintiffs as the gubernatorial candidate and deputy
gubernatorial candidate for Enugu State 2011 respectively and first
defendants for the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly in
Enugu State for submission to the second defendant (INEC) pending the
determination of the motion on notice.”

Mr. Kafarati adjourned the hearing of the substantive suits till February 8.

The minister of
health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, on Monday in Abuja, restated the federal
government’s commitment to fight against leprosy.

Speaking in
commemoration of the World Leprosy Day, with the theme ‘Nigeria at 50:
Celebrating Success in Leprosy Control’, Mr. Chukwu urged Nigerians to
join in the cause to eliminate the disease from the society.

“Let me
re-emphasise that leprosy is curable; its treatment is free and it is
unfair to stigmatise or discriminate against people affected by
leprosy.

“I will like to
assure the nation that we remain fully committed to the idea of a
country without leprosy, and we intend to continue to fight against
this disease as long as it is necessary,” he said.

The minister, who was represented by Philippa Momah, the head of the
family health department of the ministry, noted that the ministry has
introduced leprosy services in secondary and tertiary health
institutions.

The Supreme Court
on Monday has set March 1 as the date to entertain the main appeal
filed by the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Ado Ibrahim, against a judgment that
ordered his vacation of the stool in 1996.

The presiding
judge, Aloma Murthar, adjourned hearing on the appeal to enable all
parties with sundry motions to file and serve the relevant parties.

“We must create
time to deal with all pending motions before we commence hearing on the
main appeal. All these arguments will be sequentially done on March 1,”
the judge said.

Mr. Ibrahim had
approached the court to vacate a judgment delivered by the Ayangba High
Court on April 5, 2006 in Kogi State and upheld by the Appeal Court in
Abuja. The trial court had in that judgment ordered Mr. Ibrahim to stop
parading himself as the Ohinoyi or Attah of Ebiraland. The judgment
also ordered members of the Ebira Traditional Council to take steps to
appoint a new paramount ruler to replace Mohammed Sanni, who died in
1996.

Ahmodu Anivassa and six others had instituted the suit against Mr.
Ibrahim; the former military administrator of Kogi, Lassa Afariya; the
attorney-general of the state; and two others.

The governor of
Borno State, Ali Sheriff, on Monday, formally reported the killing of
Modu Gubio, the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) gubernatorial
candidate for the state, to the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) in Abuja.

Mr. Gubio was one
of a number of ANPP leaders who was killed on Friday in Maidugari. Also
killed were Goni Sheriff, the younger brother of Governor Sheriff, and
five others.

Mr. Sheriff told
journalists, after meeting with electoral boss, Attahiru Jega, that his
mission to INEC was to notify the commission of the death of “their
governorship candidate.”

He, however, said that while security operatives were doing their
work to uncover those behind the killing, “we will not be deterred.”

President Goodluck
Jonathan yesterday said that he will not contest in the 2015 elections
and that he will ensure that free and fair elections are conducted
during the April polls. Speaking during an interactive session with
Nigerians, primarily diplomats working in the United Nations Economic
Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Union (AU), the president
assured them that if he is voted for the next four years, he will
ensure significant improvement in key sectors of the economy like
security, power, education, road, health among others.

“Without security
there is no government so it is not debatable, it is something we have
to address and we are working towards that with vigour. But if I am
voted into power within the next four years, the issue of power will
become a thing of the past. Four years is enough for anyone in power to
make significant improvement and if I can’t improve on power within
this period, it then means I cannot do anything even if I am there for
the next four years” he said.

Fielding questions
from those present at the session on whether Nigerians abroad will
vote, Mr Jonathan said “I would have loved that the Nigerians in
Diaspora vote this year but to be frank with you, that is going to be
difficult now. Presently, the law does not allow voting outside Nigeria
and so this year, Nigerians in Diaspora will not vote but I will work
towards it by 2015 even though I will not be running for election”, he
said.

On the issue of
security in the country, Mr Jonathan said the government is doing
everything possible to arrest the situation adding that all those
involved in the October 1st bombing have been arrested and are
currently being prosecuted. He also said he ordered the release of the
car dealers because they were just businessmen who could not have known
that the vehicles were to be used for such heinous crime.

As regards road
network and transportation in the country, he assured the audience that
the railway system will soon be revamped because presently, heavy duty
vehicles are destroying the roads. “Why we cannot have continuous road
maintenance for now is because no contractor wants to go into it
because of the continuous pressure on the road by heavy duty vehicles.
That is why we are working to ensure that we revamp the rail”.

Care for Nigerian Diaspora

The president also
addressed issues raised on having a database of Nigerian experts in the
Diaspora, Mr Jonathan assured them that he is working on creating a
forum for interaction between them and that the government will also
develop a database, where experts needed to address the various
challenges of the economy will be drawn from. He hinted that this is
why the Diaspora Commission is being set up and the bill is already
before the National Assembly.

The President also
disclosed that the government is planning to review the country’s
foreign policy to ensure that Nigeria gets maximum benefit from its
roles and contributions to international organisations like the AU, UN
and ECOWAS.

He further lamented
that right now, Nigeria’s contributions are not being recognised adding
that “there is need for Nigeria to have something in return for our
investments. We are investing so much but it is not being noticed and
there is need to reverse that trend.”

The President
further assured that Nigerians working in international organisations
and institutions will be issued diplomatic passports. Following this,
he directed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Odein Ajumogobia to submit
the list of those qualified within the shortest possible time to him.

The expected
emergence of former governor of Anambra State, Chris Ngige, as the
senatorial candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria for Anambra
Central will not cause sleepless nights for Dora Akunyili, the All
Progressives Grand Alliance candidate said yesterday. Mrs. Akunyili who
stated this at a meeting with the opponents she defeated in her party’s
primary said she was prepared to take on any opposition.

“I’m not worried by the emergence of anybody,” she said. “Everybody is free to vie for any position. The more the merrier.”

Mr. Ngige who
governed Anambra State for three years before being thrown out of
office by the courts has been rumoured to harbour senatorial ambitions
although he is yet to make a public declaration. But indications that
he was going to contest emerged when he allegedly had the name of his
political son put in for the Anambra Central senatorial slot for
Senate, prompting political analysts to speculate that Mr. Ngige’s name
will be put in as a replacement for the current candidate on the last
day for substitution of candidates.

But Mrs. Akunyili
said she was not bothered, whether Mr. Ngige was going to run or not.
She said that the paramount thing was to put her house in order by
mending fences with those who ran against her before the primary.

“You don’t expect
people that didn’t make it in the primaries to be rejoicing, you don’t
expect them to be happy,” she said. “It is natural and it is our
responsibility as people that won to call them and their supporters
together and appeal to them to sheathe their swords so that together,
we can work to achieve victory.”

Of the three people
that contested against Mrs. Akunyili, two — George Ozodinobi and Emma
Nweke — have declared their support for her, with Mr. Ozodinobi showing
up in person at the venue of the meeting.

According to Mr.
Ozodinobi, he was present at the occasion in order to help salvage the
APGA in the state. Describing Mrs. Akunyili as a woman of substance, he
said it was now time to come together to ensure victory for the party.

“What I’m saying
today is that the contest is over,” he said. “In the game of football,
there are provisions for gold, silver and bronze but in politics, the
winner takes all. Akunyili is our gold, she’s our choice and it is our
duty to support her. If she fails, everybody has failed and it will be
our collective shame.”

Earlier in the day, Mrs. Akunyili, in the company of her husband
John Akunyili, a medical doctor, had opened her campaign office in Awka
and paid a courtesy call to the traditional ruler of Awka thereafter.
The Awka monarch, Igwe Gibson Nwosu, praised Mrs. Akunyili and noted
that “never in the history of politics in the state had such a popular
candidate come out”, and urged the people of the state to support her.
The contestant restated her commitment towards giving her people
unparalleled representation in the Senate and promised to resign if her
impact was not felt within a year.

The charges of
illegal arms shipment leveled against one Iranian and three Nigerians
before a Magistrate Court in Abuja, was yesterday struck out, following
the filling of a similar charge against the accused persons before a
Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.

At the resumed
hearing of the case, the prosecutor, Moses Idakwo, informed the court
that a fresh charge has been filed before a Federal High Court in Lagos
due to the fact that the court in Lagos can easily be moved to inspect
the exhibits (The arms containers).

Also, the Federal
Government withdrew charges against two of the accused persons, Aliyu
Wammako and Mohammed Tukur, as the prosecutor said that the proof of
evidence does not directly link them with the commission of the crime.

The application for
withdrawal by the prosecution was contested by the lawyer representing
the Iranian, Chris Uche, who argued that it is a ploy to further
infringe on the right of the accused persons. One Iranian and three
Nigerians were last year charged before a Magistrate Court in Abuja for
allegedly conspiring to import and importing containers loaded with
assorted calibers of prohibited fire arms into Nigeria.

The charge against
the accused persons, Azim Aghajani, an Iranian; Ali Usman Abbas Jega;
Aliyu Oroji Wamako; and Muhammed Tukur Umar was yesterday withdrawn by
the federal government. Magistrate Hafsat Soso, in her ruling, granted
the application of the prosecution, saying they cannot be forced to
proceed with the trial.

But the joy of Azim
Aghajani and Ali Abbas Jega were short-lived as they were re-arrested
by men of the state security service shortly after stepping out of the
court.

“The nature of
information is importation of prohibited firearms, contrary to section
27 (1) (a) (11) (111) of the Firearms Act Laws of the Federation of
Nigeria 2004. Attempt to export prohibited firearms, contrary to
section 27 (a) (1) (11) (111). That between 7th and 15th July 2010,
Azim Aghajani and Ali Usman Abbas Jega conspired to import and did
import thirteen (13) twenty feet (13×20) containers loaded with
assorted calibers of prohibited firearms consisting of 60mm mortars,
120m HE mortars, 81mm mortars, 107mm rockets, and 23 mm Apit fot gmzu
23 into Apapa Port, with the jurisdiction of this court. This is
contrary to section 27 (a) (1) (11) (111) of the firearms Cap. F28 Laws
of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

“Also, that between 12th and 25th October 2010, Azim Aghajani, an
Iranian, Ali Usman Abbas Jega, Aliyu Oroji Wamako, and Muhammed Tukur
Umar conspired to import and did import thirteen (13) twenty feet
(13×20) containers loaded with assorted calibers of prohibited
firearms, consisting of 60mm mortars, 120m HE mortars, 81mm mortars,
107mm rockets, and 23 mm Apit for gmzu 23 into Apapa Port, with the
jurisdiction of this court, to Banjul, Gambia. This is contrary to
section 27 (a) (1) (11) (111) of the firearms Cap. F28 Laws of the
Federation of Nigeria, 2004.”

Few weeks after the
campaign director of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Musa
Iilu was granted bail by the Chief Magistrate court 111 over the
alleged destruction of the billboards of the Nasarawa State Governor,
Aliyu Akwe Doma, his billboards at the Keffi and Karshi axes of the
State went up in flames.

NEXT gathered that
the razing of the bill boards was due to the recent People’s Democratic
Party (PDP) primaries which was marred with some irregularities as some
of the delegates who participated in the elections were worried with
the manner in which the primaries was conducted.

An eye witness told
our reporter that the youth are not happy with the governor and his
deputy for their inability to consider their plight.

Recently, the
governor’s billboards in Wamba Local Government Area were also brought
down in anger when irate youth claimed the governor restricted his main
contender, Tanko Almakura from constructing roads in their Council
Headquarters. Mr Almakura had rolled in bulldozers and graders to the
council area as part of his campaign plan to start road constructions
when he was asked to stop the projects immediately by the State Urban
Development Board.

In Doma, the
governor’s home town, his billboards were also torched down by
protesting youth who said the governor failed to honour his earlier
pledge of citing the new Federal University allocated to the State by
the President in the town.

The youth who were
initially happy that the university will be located in Doma were
disappointed when the governor announced that the state College of
Agriculture should be relocated to Doma while the University be taken
to the state headquarters in Lafia.

Our correspondent who visited Doma yesterday confirmed that all the
billboards set ablaze by the unhappy youth have since been replaced.