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A Federal High
Court in Abuja will today decide the fate of five governors seeking
legal interpretation of their tenure in office, whether it will be
extended beyond May 29 this year. The governors of Kogi, Adamawa,
Sokoto, Bayelsa and Cross River (Ibrahim Idris, Murtala Nyako, Aliyu
Wamakko, Timiprieye Sylva and Liyel Imoke) are challenging the decision
of the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct
governorship elections in their states. At the last court sitting,
Adamu Bello, the presiding judge, decided to fixed the judgment date
after counsel to the governors had adopted their briefs of arguments
and stated their positions and authorities to back up their position.
Counsel in the matter are Lateef Fagbemi, Kanu Agabi, Sunday Ameh, Ladi
Rotimi Williams and Paul Erokoro for the governors of Kogi, Adamawa,
Sokoto, Bayelsa, and Cross River States respectively.

The lawyers asked
the court to stop INEC and the People’s Democratic Party from
conducting elections in the five states because the tenure of the
current governors will still be on. According to them, INEC erroneously
came to the conclusion that the tenure of the governors would expire in
2011 based on the court-voided elections.

Specifically, they
cited the provision of Section 180 (2) of the 1999 Constitution,
providing for a four-year tenure of office for a governor from the day
he took the oath of office and oath of allegiance as a sacrosanct
provision of the law which cannot be abridged or ignored. The federal
government and PDP took different positions, even though they were
defendants in the case. In its opposition to the bid of the governors
to have their tenures extended, the government objected to the hearing
of the case by the court and pleaded that the case be dismissed for
lacking in merit.

Government lawyer,
Adeniyi Akintola, who stood in for the Attorney General of the
federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, argued that
no tenure elongation should be granted to any of the governors since
the amended 1999 constitution was opposed to such a move.

But the PDP,
represented by its national legal adviser, Olusola Oke, said the tenure
of any governor in Nigeria today legally begins from the date the
governor takes the oath of office and oath of allegiance.

The party claimed
that the 2007 elections that brought the five governors to office in
the first instance were voided and set aside for fresh ones by courts.
PDP insisted that the oath of office taken by the affected governors in
the voided elections have been voided along with the elections and were
of no effect whatsoever in law. The governors are seeking to prevent
the commission from holding elections for their seats until April 5,
2012.

INEC had announced that the tenures of governors who were re-elected
after their 2007 elections were cut short by tribunals would end on May
29, 2011, just like the other governors. INEC is the first defendant in
the suit while PDP is the second defendant.

The Aeronautical Information Service Association of
Nigeria (AISAN) has countered the claims of the Nigerian Airspace
Management Agency (NAMA) on the sufficiency of manpower requisite for
the smooth running of the country’s airspace.

The president of the body, which comprises of
professional Aeronautical Information Engineers, Paul Igene disclosed
to airport reporters at the weekend that Nigeria needs a minimum of
about 250 personnel to man the 27 airports across the country, while
noting that 15 officers out of the 126 members of the association will
be retiring between 2011 and 2012.

He said the claims by NAMA that the agency recruited
aeronautical personnel last year was “misleading,” Mr Igene said that
the most recent employment into AIS was done between 2002 and 2003 and
that no recruitment has taken place since then, adding that the current
shortage of manpower will bite harder on the agency when its top 15
senior officers disengage from service.

Mr Igene said that the government has been promising
to recruit more hands into the service after series of request but
lamented that nothing has been done to ameliorate the stress and
fatigue experienced by members of the association on daily basis as a
result of manpower shortage.

“We want the government to create a directorate of AIS in NAMA to boost our operations and meet our operational needs,” he said.

The president of the association, however, said that
Annex 15, document 8126 of the International Civil Aviation
Organisation (ICAO) Act, has it that the basic purpose of AIS is to
ensure the safety, regularity and efficiency of civil aviation.

Last week, Supo Atobatele, head of public affairs, NAMA, said, “NAMA
has a succession plan. This year we expect some of our engineers to
retire. In the last 12 or 15 months, the agency embarked on intensive
recruitment of fresh graduates,”. “Late last year, we recruited over 40
engineers and right now some are in the field while some have gone to
NCAT (Nigerian College of Aviation Technology). We also recruited AIS
officers last year.” He added. The AISAN president urged the airspace
agency to visit its aeronautical department for details concerning
technical AIS issues and the actual number of officers present.“15 top
AIS officers out of the 126 we have now will be retiring from the
organisation between 2011 and 2012 and right now, we have shortage of
personnel to cover the 27 airports where our members are operating. We
are in need of 250 staff to adequately man these airports,” he said.

President Goodluck
Jonathan and Liberian President, Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson yesterday
unveiled the United Nations Women’s logo, at the 16th ordinary session
of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union,
holding at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Mr. Jonathan who was represented by the former
ambassador to Ethiopia, Nkoyo Toyo expressed his hope that African
women will find their voice through the new organization. He said that
his administration would join other African leaders to support the new
organization even as he congratulated the executive director of the UN
Women and former president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet for a successful
ceremony.

In her remarks, Ms.
Sirleaf-Johnson expressed her happiness that women now have a platform
to voice their preferences on issues that concern them, adding that the
logo conveying the message of women’s equality and empowerment
worldwide was in capable hands with Mrs. Bachelet as head.

“We applaud this
new entity, and you can be rest assured that all of us will support the
contribution to the success of women’s empowerment and gender equality.
You can count on us to be a great partner,” she said.

The UN Secretary
General, Ban Ki-Moon in his remarks also said: “We need to empower
African women who produce food, raise children and drive the economy.
When women take their rightful place at the negotiating table, in the
parliament and in leadership positions across society, we can unleash
Africa’s enormous potential. UN Women is here to help reach this goal.”

Mrs. Bachelet, in
her remarks, added that, “A vision of how much more is possible when
men and women have equal rights and opportunities will drive UN Women.
We will be bold and ambitious in our aspirations. We will also be
practical in building an organization that can make a lasting
difference in women’s lives.”

The UN Women will
also work globally with all UN member states to forge international
standards and goals for gender equality. The agreement to create the UN
Women came from a UN General Assembly’s resolution in July 2010.

On the January 1, 2011, the new agency became operational under the
leadership of Mrs. Bachelet. Her attendance at the AU summit marks her
first official visit outside the UN headquarters in New York. The AU
has enshrined gender equality in its constituency act, and adopted the
Protocol to the African Charter of human and People’s rights on the
rights of Women in Africa. In 2010, it further declared the Decade for
Women in Africa.

Thousands of
Tunisians turned out on Sunday to welcome home an Islamist leader whose
return from 22 years of exile indicated that his party would emerge as
a major force in Tunisia after the ousting of its president.

The reception for
Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of the Ennahda Party, at Tunis airport was
the biggest showing by the Islamists in two decades, during which
thousands of them were jailed or exiled by President Zine al-Abidine
Ben Ali.

Mr Ghannouchi was
exiled in 1989 by Mr Ben Ali, who was toppled on January 14 by popular
protests that have sent tremors through an Arab world where similarly
autocratic leaders have long sought to suppress Islamist groups.
Ennahda is expected to contest future legislative but not presidential
elections, dates for which have yet to be set.

The Islamists were
Tunisia’s strongest opposition force at the time Mr Ben Ali cracked
down on them in 1989 but are thought not to have played a leading role
in the popular revolt. But at Tunis airport on Sunday, they were out in
force.

Up to 10,000 young
men and veiled women packed the arrival hall and car park. Some climbed
trees and electricity pylons to catch a glimpse of the 69-year-old Mr
Ghannouchi, who says he has no ambition to run for state office. “Oh
great people who called for this blessed revolution, continue your
revolution, preserve it and translate it into democracy, justice and
equality,” Mr Ghannouchi told the crowd, to chants of “Allahu Akbar”.
Ennahda supporters embraced each other in joy. A group of men performed
prayers on a grass verge, a scene unthinkable in Tunisia just a few
weeks ago.

Ennahda likens its
ideology to that of Turkey’s ruling AK Party, saying it is committed to
democracy. Experts on political Islam say its ideas are some of the
most moderate among Islamist groups.

Secular order imposed

Tunisia has imposed
a secular order since independence from France in 1956. Habib
Bourguiba, the independence leader and long-time president, considered
Islam a threat to the state. Mr Ben Ali eased restrictions on the
Islamists when he seized power in 1987, before cracking down on them
two years later.

The protests which
dislodged Mr Ben Ali and electrified the Arab world have largely dried
up in the last few days following the announcement on Thursday of a new
interim government purged of most of the remnants of Mr Ben Ali’s
regime.

The security forces
have tried to restore order to the capital, where confrontations
between shopkeepers and protesters have indicated dwindling support for
demonstrators on the part of Tunisians who want life to return to
normal.

U.N. Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon, speaking at the African Union summit in Addis
Ababa, said the United Nations would be “pleased to help the people of
Tunisia freely choose their leaders through timely and credible
elections.”

Mr Ghannouchi told the crowd that the path to democracy was “still long”. “Unite and consolidate, democracy cannot
happen without national consensus and development can only happen with
justice and democracy,” he said. Ennahda activists wearing white
baseball caps tried to marshal the crowd. Asked how they had managed to
organise so quickly, one activist said: “Our activities were stopped,
but you can’t disperse an ideology.” Some Ennahda activists were among
the political prisoners released under an amnesty granted by the
interim government. A handful of secularists turned up at the airport
to demonstrate against the party, holding up a placard reading: “No
Islamism, no theocracy, no Sharia and no stupidity!” Ennahda and its
supporters say they do not seek an Islamic State and want only the
right to participate in politics.

About 169 bags of
fertilizer earlier declared missing by the Edo State Ministry of
Agriculture and Natural Resources have been recovered. This was
revealed in the handover notes by the former Commissioner for
Agriculture, Tunde Lakoju, who quit the state’s cabinet last week.

The fertilizer,
which was sent from Abuja last year and stored in the ministry’s
warehouse, was designated for distribution to farmers to boost food
production in the state.

The fertilizer was
declared missing earlier in the month and according to Mr. Lakoju’s
letter, “competent sources said that the stolen fertilizer was
allegedly diverted by officials of the warehouse and taken to the open
market and sold at N602,350.00.”

The letter further
revealed that interrogation of the warehouse officials revealed that a
retired storekeeper simply identified as Mr. Usiomoifo was responsible
for the missing bags of fertilizer. Mr. Usiomoifo was said to have
denied any knowledge of the fertilizer which went missing while he was
on duty. The ministry then decided to deduct the financial worth of the
fertilizer from the gratuity due Mr. Usiomoifo. The letter did not
indicate whether the accused would be prosecuted.

Commenting on why
this revelation was just coming out, Peter Okhiria, the chief press
secretary to the state governor said: “The reason why the commissioner
left the information till he resigned from the government was best
known to him.”

Meanwhile, the Edo State government may only be able to pay for
about 8,000 metric tons or about 140 trucks of assorted fertilizer, out
of the 12,600 metric tons or 420 trucks allocated to it by the federal
government for the current farming season. Government sources confirmed
that the dwindling financial resources of the state might be
responsible for the shortfall. This, they alleged, has also affected
its capacity to access the N1billion agricultural loan which it
announced it was taking in 2010 to improve food production.

Bauchi State
Governor, Isa Yuguda, has sworn in Ibrahim Mohammed Zango as the new
chief judge of the Bauchi State High Court. Speaking at the ceremony
which took place at the Government House, Bauchi, the governor stated
that the constitutional role bestowed on the judiciary is to allow
peace, order, and harmony to reign supreme and form the foundation for
enduring democracy. He further said that it was for this reason that
the 1999 constitution not only made the judiciary its own guardian, but
also made it the arbiter of all disputes brought before it.

He observed that
for the nation’s nascent democracy to succeed there was a need for a
strong and independent judiciary, assuring listeners that his
government would continue to respect the rule of law and due process in
all its transactions.

Mr. Yuguda who
described as cordial and harmonious the relationship between the three
arms of government in the state, said everything possible was being
done to provide a conducive working environment for members of the
judiciary to discharge their constitutional duties in the
administration of justice.

He enjoined the new
chief judge to continue to build on the robust and dynamic foundation
which has been laid by his predecessors and make the court truly a
bastion of democracy in the country.

Earlier, in a
valedictory court session in honor of the retiring chief judge, Sabo
Suleiman Darazo, the State Commissioner for Justice, Al-Mustapha
Suleiman Hassan noted that Mr. Darazo had served the state very well
and to the best of his ability.

He explained that
the retiring chief judge had a reputation for resolutely insisting on
due process while displaying empathy and accommodation where it was
most needed as he also worked with other arms of government to
stabilize the young and nascent democracy without compromising the
independence of the judiciary.

Mr. Darazo who was retiring together with a judge of the Bauchi High
Court, Bala Umar, expressed his gratitude that they were leaving behind
a dedicated team under the leadership of the new chief judge. Mr.
Darazo retired after working for 65 years and serving at the high court
in the state for 20 years.

Bauchi State Deputy
Governor, Babayo Garba Gamawa has won the Bauchi North Senatorial
re-run primary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Mr Gamawa, who
won 1,407 out of a total of 1517 votes, defeated his only opponent,
Aminu Yapeco who got a total of 99 votes to become the party’s
senatorial candidate, while 11 of the votes were invalid.

Speaking to
Journalists shortly after being declared winner of the PDP re-run
primary election which took place over the weekend in Azare, Mr Gamawa
said he was happy and grateful to the delegates for finding him worthy
to represent them and the entire senatorial zone.

He called on his
opponent and all the people of the zone to be united and work
harmoniously in achieving the vision of the party and that of the
region pointing out that “it is only when there is unity and
cooperation in the region that there can be development.”

He also appealed to
the people to help in making the 2011 general elections a success by
ensuring that they register during the on-going voter registration
exercise.

The former Speaker
of the State House of Assembly and presently deputy governor of the
state, said that one of his major priorities if elected as senator will
be to “make a good representation by ensuring that the people enjoy the
dividends of democracy to the electorate while in the senate. I will
make laws that will make Nigerians live in peace and have love for one
another.”

In the earlier primary election of the party before the call for a
re-run in some states, Mr Gamawa won with a total of 2,632 votes ahead
of Mr Yapeco who got only 37, but was cancelled due to petitions sent
by the latter’s camp alleging several irregularities.

The Conference of
Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has asked the leadership of the Action
Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC)
to come to an agreement in their ongoing alliance talks to present a
common presidential candidate for the April 9 elections. As the
deadline for political parties to submit their candidates to the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) expires today, the
group said it is making the call because the alliance is the surest way
to vote out the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) from power.

Both parties have,
in the past months, been discussing the possibility of presenting a
common presidential candidate for the elections. However, the
discussions are yet to come to fruition following an alleged insistence
by ACN chieftain and former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, to be
running mate to Muhammadu Buhari of the CPC, rumoured to be the
favourite joint presidential candidate of the alliance.

Another problem confronting the parties is: which platform will the candidates use for the presidential contest?

“We challenge Major
General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and other
leadership of the various progressive political parties to close ranks
and present Nigerians with an alternative common presidential candidate
platform on or before the close of substitutions of candidates in
February 2011,” the CNPP said in a statement signed by its
spokesperson, Osita Okechukwu, in Abuja.

Distinct position

The CNPP said that
it is of the view that Nigerians are fed up with the failure of PDP to
provide electricity, to fix roads and to provide employment in the past
decade, adding that the people are not ready to reward the ruling party
for poor leadership, failed promises and pervasive corruption.

The national consensus, according to the CNPP, is that it will be a
gratuitous insult to allow PDP to actualize its “dream of ruling
Nigeria for 60 years in the midst of glaring failure of leadership,
squandermania, food-is-ready economic policy and gross incapacity to
provide security in the land”.

Two weeks after he
lost his bid to contest the presidency on the platform of the
opposition All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), billionaire businessman,
Harry Akande, resigned from the party in a letter dated January 28,
2011 to the ANPP national chairman, Ogbonnaya Onu.

The letter reads:
“This is to officially notify you of my resignation as a member of All
Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) with effect from Friday, January 28, 2011.
This decision was borne out of my desire to advance my commitment and
resolution of making Nigeria a better country for the common man.
Therefore, accept my exit from the party in high esteem while wishing
ANPP the best of luck in its future political ambitions in our dear
country.

“Once again, extend
my sincere appreciation to all members for their cooperation for the 12
years of being a loyal member, as well as serving as the pioneer
chairman of the board of trustees of the party.”

Copies of the
letter were sent to the national secretary of the party, the deputy
chairmen in the south and north as well as the board of trustees
chairman.

Next move

Although Mr. Akande
did not state which party he was moving to, our investigations revealed
that he might be on his way to the Congress for Progressive Change
(CPC). He allegedly held discussions with the presidential candidate of
the CPC, Muhammadu Buhari, sometime last year on his (Akande) political
future. Mr. Akande, an indigene of Ibadan in Oyo State, was a
foundation member of the ANPP. However, his plans to contest the
presidency under the banner of the party did not materialize on two
occasions. On January 16, he lost the party’s presidential primary
election to the Kano State Governor, Ibrahim Shekarau. Mr. Akande
secured 708 out of the 5,315 votes cast during the party’s national
convention. Last September, Mr. Akande’s ambition to become the
national chairman of the ANPP also crashed at the party’s national
convention in Abuja. He lost to Mr. Onu by 1,479 votes to 3,945.

The Independent
National Electoral commission has spent about N34.4 billion on
importation of 132,000 units of data capturing machine for the 2011
voter registration exercise but Mohammed Abubakar, Minister of Science
and Technology said Nigeria may not have to spend that much again on
elections as local technologies for the same purpose are now available.

Mr Abubakar said
that “the electronic voting machine developed by the Nigeria
Communication Satellite Limited, NIGCOMSAT, can assist the nation in
biometric registration for election” and that by 2015 it will be ready
for use at the election.

The minister told
journalists in Abuja that the technology would have been used for 2011
voter registration exercise but for some logistics that are not in
place.“We have developed that capacity (production of electronic voting
machine),” he said. “There was no time for experiment and we did want
to take chances with this present voter registration, that is why we
are postponing the use of these indigenous voting machines till 2015.
Nigerian scientists and engineers have really done well with this new
feat.”

He equally stated
that there is need for the private sector to partner with the research
institutes of the ministry to commercialise their research outputs
since their mandate as a ministry ends in production of prototypes.
“Private sector has to come in. They prefer to import. We need
entrepreneurs to support us with funds so that we can meet
international standards. Nigerian scientists are coming up with
interesting research and development results,” he said.

Attahiru Jega,
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission had earlier
paid a visit to the NIGCOMSAT office where he inspected the products
and pledged his commission’s collaboration with the company.According
to Mr Jega, “INEC will partner with all stakeholders including
NIGCOMSAT to enable the nation have a credible election in 2011. I am
very pleased and I want to assure you that in whatever way we can work
together, in the interest of this country, we will be willing to do
so.”

Timasaniyi Ahmed-Rufai, Managing Director of NIGCOMSAT said that
apart from the electronic voting machine, the company has network
supporting video and voice polling that will help INEC to monitor the
election both from states, councils and INEC Headquarters.“While the
local government elections could be monitored in the state headquarters
through cameras strategically planted at the polling units, INEC
Headquarters will also be able to monitor through satellite device that
will help beam the activities of the states and local councils to the
headquarters directly.“NIGCOMSAT will be able to assist the commission
on the e-register process if given the mandate to do so,” he said.