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Ahmed Mahuta, Sokoto State Resident Electoral
Commissioner (REC) said on Tuesday that the office was ready for the
PDP senatorial re-run primary for Sokoto East Senatorial district “once
we receive the go ahead.”

Mr Mahuta, said that “I am still waiting for
directive from the INEC headquarters on weather to conduct the election
or not. We don’t have any issue regarding that as far as the commission
is concerned in Sokoto.” The People’s Democratic Party (PDP)
headquarters had ordered for a re-run primary for Sokoto East
Senatorial district on January 26, 2011.

According to Mr Mahuta, the commission is determined
to conduct a hitch free voter registration in Sokoto, but however said
that ink is not available in must registration centres and added that
some of the materials needed were not available in the Sokoto central
market. “We have already made effort to source the materials from
outside the state capital.” He said. He expressed satisfaction with the
large turnout of eligible voters in the state and called for more
support from all Nigerians to ensure smooth conduct of the exercise.

Meanwhile, INEC has condemned plans by the PDP to run new primaries in some states, saying such moves are illegal.

The PDP at the weekend cancelled the governorship
primaries in Kano and Kogi states. It ordered fresh senatorial
primaries in some districts in Oyo, Sokoto, Bauchi,

Taraba and Adamawa states.

Protests have continued in many states, with aspirants pushing for fresh primaries.

Former Defence Minister Rabiu Musa Kwankwanso had won
the PDP primaries in Kano whlie Jibril Isah won in Kogi. Supporters of
both men kicked against the decision to cancel the elections and run
fresh primaries.

The rerun polls were billed for today before INEC declared the plans illegal.

The commissions’ Director of Information, Emmanuel
Umengor said: “We have written a letter to the party and we have drawn
their attention to the fact that the time for primary elections has
lapsed. They are supposed to have finished the primaries on January 15.

“It is important to draw their attention to the
timetable and we drew the party’s attention to the (INEC) timetable and
schedule of activities for the 2011 elections. These were issued by
INEC pursuant to the powers vested in it by the provisions of Section
153 of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended.

“If the reports of PDP’s plans for fresh primary
elections are true, we are reminding them that the time for the conduct
of such elections has since elapsed on January 15, 2011. It has not
been extended by the commission.” He said.

The police in Borno
State have appealed to Igbo traders doing business in Maiduguri, to
rescind their decision to close shops over an alleged serial killing of
their members, claiming that investigations indicated that the attacks
on them were carried out by robbers.

The Police Public
Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Borno State Police Command, Lawal
Abdullahi, in Maiduguri on Tuesday, advised the traders to remain calm,
and promised that the police will strive to ensure maximum protection
of lives and property of all residents of the state.

According to Mr
Abdullahi, the Igbos were not targeted in the killings in the state as
the victims cut across tribes and religions.

“We are
investigating all the cases involving attacks on Igbo traders, our
investigations indicated that the attacks were carried out by robbers
because large sums of money were always taken away in the process of
such attacks. I want to assure them that we will get at the robbers
sooner or later.” He said.

The Igbo Welfare
Association had on Monday directed all traders to close their shops and
proceed on an indefinite fasting and prayer session to protest the
serial killing of their members in the state.

However, the police
spokesman assured them that the police is on top of the situation in
Maiduguri. “We are trying our best to ensure the protection of lives in
the state. The traders should be rest assured of maximum security by
our men.” He urged the traders to go about their normal businesses as
security has been beefed up in the state and also to utilise the police
distress call numbers which have been supplied to the public.

More than 50
persons, mostly security officers, had been killed by suspected Boko
Haram militants since July 2010 when the group launched deadly attacks
on individuals.

Meanwhile, the
Borno State Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) also
on Tuesday, called on the state government to address the killing of
innocent people in the state urgently.

The Chairman of the
chapter, Yuguda Mdurvwa, made the call while addressing the media in
Maiduguri, saying that the Christian community in the state has
suffered great losses in recent times, following attacks by
unidentified gunmen.

“A number of churches, clergymen and other Christians have been killed in recent times in cold blood in Maiduguri.

“We are surprised
that the attacks were carried out, in spite of measures taken to
protect lives and property by the state government which we commend.

“We fail to
understand the failure of security agencies, in spite of the enormous
resources by government to make sure that lives and property of
citizens are protected,” he said.

Mr Mdurvwa called on the State Government to put pressure on
security agents to ensure that they live up to expectations of
protecting lives and property of innocent and law-abiding citizens of
the state.

Two employees of
the Veterinary Council of Nigeria who were allegedly sacked by the
management for exposing corrupt activities in the council have taken
its registrar and chief executive officer of the council, Daniel Maddo,
along with the council, before a Federal High Court in Abuja. Abiakwe
Darlington and Ehirim Comfort are alleging that they were victimized
for testifying and giving evidence which exposed fraud in the council
in their testimonies before the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission and an investigative panel set up by the board of the
council to probe a series of allegations of fraud and abuse of office
against the registrar of the council and other management staff. In the
originating summons, the plaintiffs alleged that following the exposure
of the financial scam in the council which led to the sack of the
council’s accountant, Hilary Ibe, the registrar who aided and abetted
the former accountant, had not hidden his disdain for them because of
the evidence they produced before the anti-graft agency and the
investigative panel. Noting that since the exposure of the fraud, they
have both been inundated with queries and interdictions, all in an
attempt to relieve them of their appointments without recourse to due
process.

Accusations

The registrar and
the sacked accountant were accused of inflating the nominal roll of
employees in the Veterinary Council and systematically defrauding the
federal government of millions of naira for over a decade as salaries,
allowances and entitlements for the ghost workers who they placed on
high grade levels. The EFCC investigated the matter last year before
another panel was set up by the council’s board which recommended the
sack of the accountant and reprimanded the registrar.

Seeking an order

The plaintiffs are in court, seeking to stop the council from
relieving them of their appointments and their eviction from their
quarters in Abuja, where they reside. They are asking the court to make
an order vacating the interdiction of the first plaintiff, Mr. Abiakwe,
which was made by the respondents on the April 1, 2010, which was done
in disregard to the pending suit. They are also seeking an order
compelling the respondents to restore Mr. Abiakwe to his position as
confidential secretary 2 with all entitlements and benefits as well as
an order restraining the defendants from terminating their appointments
or harassing them and their families as a result of their roles as
witnesses at the investigation conducted at the Council by the EFCC.
Mr. Maddo who is due to retire from service this June is alleged to
have threatened that the duo will never return to office over their
conduct which led to the discovery of the scam. Donatus Okorowo, the
presiding judge adjourned the matter to February 24 to allow for the
service of the court processes on all parties.

Former Governor of
Plateau State, Joshua Dariye has said that the call for a state of
emergency in Jos will not solve the problems bedevilling the state, he
advocated for true dialogue among indigenes and non-indigenes of the
state. Stressing that the recent spate of crises is a new phenomenon in
the history of the state, the former governor said that prior to now,
most of the crises experienced in Jos centred around land disputes, but
the incidences where bomb explosives are used, is a new dimension that
cannot be comprehended.

“There is no sense
of respect for human lives, it calls for through examination by
government, at both the Federal and at the State level as well as
security operatives.” He said.

According to Mr
Dariye, dialogue will be the best option to solve the problem of the
state. “I believe dialogue will be the best way of quelling the
troubles in Jos, let’s get people who are non partisan, committed and
sincere and the issue can be resolved amicably.”

Calls for extension of voter registration

Mr Dariye however
called on the National Assembly to convene an emergency meeting to
amend the 2010 Electoral Act, and agree to extend the period of the
voter registration exercise beyond two weeks.

While speaking with
Journalists in Abuja yesterday, Mr Dariye said that in spite of the
huge sum of money spent in the purchase of the Direct Data Capture
(DDC) machines, majority of Nigerians still encounter problems at the
registration centres.

“My worry is that,
with the colossal sum of money, how many billions of naira approved and
yet people complain of shortage of ink in my area, that we have to deep
our hands in our pockets to buy ink. I don’t think it is right. There
is no reason for that,” he said.

Mr Dariye, said if the National Assembly amends that section of the
Electoral Act, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),
will have no option but to extend the voter registration exercise
billed to wind up on January 29.

The Independent
National Electoral Commission in Ondo State yesterday said that it has
registered over 600,000 voters since the exercise started on January
15. The commission also said that it has received an additional 527
Direct Data Capturing machines to address the hitches being recorded in
the exercise. The administrative secretary of the commission, Folarin
Awujoola, said this in a briefing with journalists yesterday in Akure,
adding that the commission had addressed the hitches experienced in the
first two days of the exercise.

Mr. Awujoola said
that the latest consignment of 527 DDC machines were in addition to 918
machines earlier received by the commission. He also promised that the
commission would fix the tardiness problem by officials in charge of
the registration exercise. However, despite the additional DDC
machines, some aggrieved communities in Akure South Local Government
Area of the state have staged a protest against what they described as
the non-availability of machines to register them in the exercise. The
communities — Esure, Ologede, Kajola and Ilula in the Oda area of Akure
— urged INEC to allocate more DDC machines to the area in order not to
disenfranchise thousands of voters. They noted that the lack of
registration centres and the absence of the machines had made it
difficult for them to participate in the ongoing registration exercise.
Their spokesman, Sunday Fakunle, expressed displeasure over the failure
of INEC to address the non-availability of registration centres in the
area. Mr. Fakunle added that despite the complaints made to INEC, the
lapses have not been corrected to ensure that people living in the area
are registered.

He said: “We have
done everything possible to get our people registered but the electoral
body has not responded to our plea. We are bonafide citizens of this
country, it is wrong for INEC to deny us of our fundamental right.

“We want the commission to create more registration centres and
provide all the necessary materials to enhance registration in our
areas, so that people can take the first step towards voting.”

The federal minister
of aviation, Fidelia Njeze, has expressed displeasure over the alarming
rate of the presence of disabled aircraft in airports across the
country. According to her, the trend, “is obviously assuming a worrisome
dimension” hence the need for proactive measures to stem the tide and
bring sanity to the airport operating environment.

The minister made
these remarks in Abuja yesterday, while inaugurating the ministerial
committee for the removal of displaced aircraft from airports in the
country.

“It is incumbent on
the ministry to exert every possible effort and provide an enabling
environment to safeguard the passengers, crew, ground personnel and the
general public against incidents and accidents,” she said.

She maintained that
the purpose of inviting participants was “to formally bring together
professionals and other stakeholders to outline the responsibilities to
manage the removal of disabled aircraft on, or adjacent to the movement
area of the airport immediately as it is consistent with safety and
security of airport operations.”

Mrs. Njeze said that
she was aware that “aircraft become immobilised on an airport for a
variety of reasons ranging from incidents such as [damaged] tyres, an
aircraft skidding off the runaway or taxiway to major accidents
involving partial or complete damage of the aircraft but a situation
where such aircraft is left unattended to for an unnecessary prolonged
period as witnessed in our airports is unacceptable and detrimental to
efficient and effective air transport operations.”

She also noted that
“the removal of the disabled aircraft is the responsibility of the
registered owner or operator; however, if this obligation is not carried
out, relevant establishments in coordination with the Civil Aviation
Authority and the investigation authority should act swiftly to remove
the aircraft and the cost [be] borne by the owner or operator.”

The committee, which
has six weeks to submit its report, has its members from Aviation and
its parastatals, Justice, Defence, National Security Adviser, Armed
Forces, and the Police.

The chairman of the committee, Mohammed Rumah, a captain who doubles
as the ministry director of safety and technical policy said Nigeria is a
member of the International Civil Aviation Authority and that they
“would not tolerate anything that flouted the law and expressed the hope
that with ICAO technical capacity, the disabled aircraft will be
removed.”

The federal minister
of aviation, Fidelia Njeze, has expressed displeasure over the alarming
rate of the presence of disabled aircraft in airports across the
country. According to her, the trend, “is obviously assuming a worrisome
dimension” hence the need for proactive measures to stem the tide and
bring sanity to the airport operating environment.

The minister made
these remarks in Abuja yesterday, while inaugurating the ministerial
committee for the removal of displaced aircraft from airports in the
country.

“It is incumbent on
the ministry to exert every possible effort and provide an enabling
environment to safeguard the passengers, crew, ground personnel and the
general public against incidents and accidents,” she said.

She maintained that
the purpose of inviting participants was “to formally bring together
professionals and other stakeholders to outline the responsibilities to
manage the removal of disabled aircraft on, or adjacent to the movement
area of the airport immediately as it is consistent with safety and
security of airport operations.”

Mrs. Njeze said that
she was aware that “aircraft become immobilised on an airport for a
variety of reasons ranging from incidents such as [damaged] tyres, an
aircraft skidding off the runaway or taxiway to major accidents
involving partial or complete damage of the aircraft but a situation
where such aircraft is left unattended to for an unnecessary prolonged
period as witnessed in our airports is unacceptable and detrimental to
efficient and effective air transport operations.”

She also noted that
“the removal of the disabled aircraft is the responsibility of the
registered owner or operator; however, if this obligation is not carried
out, relevant establishments in coordination with the Civil Aviation
Authority and the investigation authority should act swiftly to remove
the aircraft and the cost [be] borne by the owner or operator.”

The committee, which
has six weeks to submit its report, has its members from Aviation and
its parastatals, Justice, Defence, National Security Adviser, Armed
Forces, and the Police.

The chairman of the committee, Mohammed Rumah, a captain who doubles
as the ministry director of safety and technical policy said Nigeria is a
member of the International Civil Aviation Authority and that they
“would not tolerate anything that flouted the law and expressed the hope
that with ICAO technical capacity, the disabled aircraft will be
removed.”

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has accused the Kwara State
government of compromising the ongoing voter registration exercise in the state
with the donation of almost N100 million at the unit rate of N50,000 to all the
1,872 polling centres in the state.

The party’s national publicity secretary, Lai Mohammed, in a
statement on Monday, urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
to urgently “investigate the reason behind the donation,” which was allegedly
announced on the radio airwaves without stating the purpose of the donation.

ACN claimed that the need for the electoral body to “investigate
the inexplicable monetisation of the registration exercise in Kwara State
becomes even more imperative,” considering the commission’s warning against any
unsolicited financial assistance.

The party also demanded that INEC should probe its officials
across the country “in view of its implications.”

Raising more allegations, ACN expresses its concerns on what it
described as the “Greek Gift from the Kwara State government” against the
backdrop of reports that some DDC machines are being used to register voters in
certain unauthorised locations in the state”, adding that it has ascertained
that “Nigerians are resolved to fully participate in the voter registration
exercise without any financial inducement.”

Demanding an explanation to unravel the real motive of the state
government in what the party called “playing Santa Claus in January”, the party
questioned what the money was supposed to be used for, who the beneficiaries
are, why the state government would give away over 100 million naira for an
exercise that has been fully funded by the federal government through INEC, to
what extent the unsolicited cash donation has compromised the exercise, and if
there are other measures being taken by the state government to influence the
exercise in favour of the ruling party in the state.

Supporting INEC

Confirming the donation, the chief press secretary to the Kwara
State government, Mas’ud Adebimpe, told NEXT over a phone interview on Monday
that the state government made the donation to assist INEC tackle the myriad of
challenges that is plaguing the voter’s registration.

“In view of the situation INEC has found itself with the ongoing
voter’s registration, we (the Kwara State government) believe nothing is too
much in supporting the process so that our people, irrespective of political
affiliations, can register,” Mr. Adebimpe said.

The spokesperson noted some of the challenges to include
difficulties with charging the DDC machine’s power-pack, purchase of ink, and
laminating of the voters’ cards.

“With all these problems in the final lap of the registration process,
a lot of our people are yet to be registered and Mr. Jega, who is in Abuja
cannot solve all the problems. So we believe these little challenges must be
addressed so that most of our people who are majorly in the rural areas will be
enabled rather than being disabled to exercise their civic duties due to this
challenges,” Mr. Adebimpe further said.

A call to the media assistant to the chairperson of the
electoral agency, Kayode Idowu, to know the stand of the agency on such
donations, was not successful as he refused to pick the calls.

After a vacation
that has defined their political future in varied ways, federal
lawmakers are resuming sitting today hoping to shelf discussions about
the sweeping primaries that denied more than half of the 469 members
party tickets.

With almost 60 of
the 109 senators and more than 200 of the 360 representatives almost
sure not to run in April, the outcome of the parties’ polls, many of
which are already contentious, is expected to inevitably feature as the
legislators resume session.

But Senators and
members of the House of Representatives will rather busy themselves with
pressing national issues, official position from both chambers say,
although they could be adjusted by urgent House rules.”Top on the agenda
of the senate business will be the 2011 appropriation bill which the
committees could not treat because of party primaries and other
political activities including the voters registration,” Chairman,
Senate Committee on Media, Ayogu Eze, told NEXT yesterday.

Mr Eze added that
the senate will also be dealing with the anti-terrorism bill which has
missed international set deadlines and two reminders from President
Goodluck Jonathan last year.Surprisingly, the age-long Freedom of
Information bill will be tabled during the week, he said, adding also
that the senate may likely inquire into the ongoing voter registration
exercise “to ascertain the progress of the exercise.”

At the House of
Representatives similarly, Ita Enang, the Chairman House Committee on
Business issued a notice paper that pointed at no politically-based
legislation or motion. The House is to consider bills on the
entitlements of certain judicial staffers,and a few public petitions
during the week.The House will also is considering pushing the FOI bill
together with the senate, and Mr Enang he was optimistic the chamber
will “do justice” to the legislation that has been rejected by the
lawmakers severally.

But inevitably, the
outcome of the primaries is expected to play a significant role in
directing the lawmakers’ deliberations after some of their most notable
members fell to the most sweeping party nomination since 1999.Amongst
such at the senate are Senate Leader, Teslim Folarin, at the center of a
murder controversy, two-term members, Effiong Bob, Ewa Henshaw and at
the House, Patrick Obahiagbon.

The senate
spokesperson, Mr Eze, himself a victim of the just concluded primaries,
avoided other inquiries from NEXT on the projected political mood of the
senate as they resume and in particular, a question regarding a planned
move against the leadership over the outcome of the nominations.

Five days to the end of the voter registration, an Ibadan based
lawyer, Tade Ipadeola has filed a suit against the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) over its failure to deploy the registration
materials to his community, Akinmoorin town, in Oyo State.

The Motion Ex-parte (which is to be held quickly) is to compel
the electoral agency through a court order to deploy the registration materials
and its officials to the community forthwith. Mr Ipadeola also prayed the court
for an order to grant his community the exact amount of time given to all other
Nigerians for the exercise, hence two weeks which will run way beyond the
January 29th deadline.

Also joined in the suit filed at the Federal High Court in
Ibadan are INEC’s chairperson; Attahiru Jega and the resident electoral
commissioner in Oyo State.

Speaking to NEXT on Monday, the plaintiff stated that “since
the commencement of the voter registration exercise on the 15th of January
2011, the electoral commission has failed to deploy its officials and materials
to the town for the voters’ registration process.” He noted that “Akinmoorin is
a town of more than two thousand adults……with the nearest towns to
Akinmoorin being approximately nine kilometres away. Therefore, due to
restrictions on vehicular movement, it would be impractical to expect indigenes
of Akinmoorin to register and vote in those distant locations.”

The ongoing voter registration has been plagued with a lot of
challenges since it commenced over a week ago across the country and there have
been diverse calls for the process to be further extended. The President,
Goodluck Jonathan and the INEC boss both gave signals last week of the
possibility of such an extension if the need arises.

The lawyer claimed that all eligible adults irrespective of political
affiliation in his community will be ‘effectively disenfranchised’ if the voter
registration exercise is not effected in the town, adding that over 700
communities in the country are currently devoid of the machines and the
electoral officials. INEC is expected to face more of such legal actions he
added as the voter registration exercise is scheduled to be concluded on the
29th of January.