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Babayo Gamawa,
deputy governor of Bauchi State, has been elected the PDP candidate for
the Bauchi North senatorial district. Announcing the results of the
primary elections in Azare, the returning officer, Sambo Raja, said
that Mr. Gamawa polled 1,862 votes to defeat his opponent, Aminu
Ahmed-Yapeco, with 37 votes.

“I declare Alhaji Babayo Garba Gamawa, who scored 1,862 votes, the winner of the election,” he said.

Reacting to his
victory, Mr. Gamawa thanked the voters for conducting themselves
peacefully during the election. The three other aspirants, former
members of the House of Representatives – Hamisu Shira, Modibbo Ahmed,
and Faruk Mustapha – boycotted the election.

Isyaku Maigoro, the
Independent National Electoral Commission Resident Commissioner in
Ekiti State, revealed that the Commission had received 1,576 Direct
Data Capture Machines for the voter registration.

Mr Maigoro while
speaking in Ado-Ekiti said that the commission is still expecting 784
machines, he also informed that ,177 electric generators will be
purchased by the commission, and distributed to each of the 177
political wards before the beginning of the registration on January 15.

He said that the commission had begun the training for 4,390 NYSC
members to be used as Assistant Registration Officers and Registration
Area Centre Officers.He charged the corps members to be committed to
the exercise and warned that any staff of the commission who engaged in
sharp practice, would be punished.

Twelve of the 32
members of the Rivers House of Assembly sailed through the PDP
primaries held on Jan. 5 in the 23 local government areas of the state.
The state chairman of the party, Godspower Ake, told the News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt that the remaining tickets were won by
other members of the party elected by their constituents. He said that
in spite of little misunderstandings and arguments at the polling
centres, the primaries were successfully held and candidates for the
party elected for the April election. He said the exercise in some
areas was cancelled and later held again. Returning officers for the
National Assembly primaries had been told not to favour anybody or rig
elections in their areas.

Following the
recent bomb blasts at Mogadishu Barracks in Abuja on January 1,
security at the Army Barracks Mammy Market in Onitsha has been beefed
up. The 302 Artillery Regiment and 14 Field Engineers, Onitsha, is the
only military barracks in Anambra.

A correspondent of
the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) who visited the Mammy Market on
Saturday learnt that new security measures had been put in place to
monitor movements at night. According to a trader who pleaded
anonymity, the market now closes at 9pm as against 10pm and “there has
been increased patrol in the market after the 9pm deadline. The ongoing
perimeter fencing of the barracks has been fastened to ensure quick
completion and comprehensive policing of the entire barracks.”

When NAN contacted the acting commander of the 302 Artillery
Regiment, I. Akpan, a Lieutenant, he said he could only talk on the
directive from the Army headquarters.

Uche Chukwumerije, a senator and former
information minister, said in Ohafia, Abia State, that the cost of the
election on aspirants was assuming an alarming dimension.

“I have said it before and I am
reiterating it again. The cost of election on aspirants must be
addressed if our democracy must remain relevant. No meaningful election
and democracy can stand if the aspirant cannot bear the cost of
presenting himself and contesting the poll,” he said.

Mr. Chukwumerije, who was speaking after winning the Abia PDP
senatorial primaries, noted that no poor man can contest election in the
country.

Lawmakers who were
elected back in November officially entered Congress, with the new
Republican majority in the House of Representatives gunning immediately
for President Barack Obama’s signal achievement — the overhaul of the
U.S. healthcare system.

“I and a lot of my
fellow freshmen ran on repealing Obamacare,” said Republican
Congressman Joe Walsh. “The folks in my district told me month after
month they wanted this thing repealed.” The health plan aims to provide
medical insurance to nearly all Americans. Republicans consider it a
complicated and costly burden on the country — but their battle to kill
it probably won’t draw blood.

They do control
the House and have scheduled a repeal vote for Wednesday. But the Senate
and White House remain in Democratic hands. No law can be passed or
repealed without their approval.

Obama suggests
that the Republicans will simply try to impress their supporters with
the effort and then abandon it “I think that there’s going to be
politics,” he said. “That’s what happens in Washington.” But the
Republicans have other ways to oppose and annoy the administration. In
the weeks to come, they plan a wide range of investigations, exercising
American lawmakers’ traditional role of overseeing government
operations, with the traditional accompanying opportunities to embarrass
the party in power.

One committee of
House lawmakers has already announced plans for public hearings on no
less than six separate issues. There’s no telling how many more
committees will come forward with their own ambitious agenda.

But the biggest
minefield of all could be a vote on whether the U.S. government can keep
borrowing money above its currently approved “debt ceiling.” The
Congress has only authorized total borrowing of up to $14.3 trillion.

The government’s mounting debts are already approaching $14 trillion and will grow more in the months to come.

Republicans who want to shrink the government and reduce its spending have suggested they’d vote against additional borrowing.

Administration officials say the unprecedented prospect of Washington
running out of money would rattle financial markets worldwide. The
Republicans and Democrats can obviously avoid conflict if they want to.
But the prospects aren’t entirely promising. It does look like war — and
the shooting is about to begin.

The former Nigerian
ambassador to South Africa, Buba Marwa, yesterday announced his
defection to the opposition Congress for Progressive Change in his
quest to contest the Adamawa governorship elections. The politician
had, last week, announced his exit from the PDP, saying he would be
seeking another party’s platform to realize his aspirations. Mr Marwa,
who arrived in Yola at about 6pm yesterday night, drove straight to the
CPC state party secretariat to formally join the party. After about two
hours, the state party chairman, Ibrahim Mohammed Waziri, told the
press that Mr Marwa had obtained a membership form and was subsequently
screened by the party screening committee as a gubernatorial aspirant.

Mr Waziri, in an
apparent response to the significance of Mr Marwa’s membership of the
CPC, said it presents “opportunity and possibilities of taking over
government within a very short time. There’s no problem. Our party is
very formidable and well positioned to take over power in 2011 in
Adamawa State.”

Mr Marwa’s
defection from the PDP comes on the heels of the cancellation of the
December 28 ward congresses which he insisted was properly conducted.
Although both Mr Marwa and the incumbent governor, Murtala Nyako,
agreed that the congress conducted on December 28 was satisfactory but
the national headquarters of the party cancelled the ward congress
which Mr Marwa now claims was to shortchange him and give Mr Nyako
undue advantage.

An earlier attempt
by the former ambassador to join the Action Congress of Nigeria was
unsuccessful as both sides could not reach an agreement.

No blame on Jos

But speaking after
his presentation by the CPC party officials, Mr Marwa said he would go
into the primaries with other aspirants, confident in his credentials.
Meanwhile, the CPC has debunked the allegation that the violence in Jos
was due to the crisis that erupted during its ward congresses last
Saturday. The party, in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Aghanya
Dennis, however said the CPC has always conducted its affairs in most
orderly manner.

The party also called on the security agencies to review its tactics.

“Leadership of our party should also share in the blame. A political
party should at all times be on its toes attending to all
misunderstanding emanating within its membership at all levels quite on
time before it generates into a monster that may be capable of
consuming the party,” Mr Aghanya said. “The problem in Jos should not
be linked to the CPC because of the crisis within, if there was any at
all, but to the lapses on the part of our security agencies.”

Relative calm
returned to Jos on Sunday after violence rocked some parts of the city
on Saturday. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the streets were
once more busy after they were totally deserted by residents who
scurried to safety when reports of the fracas first broke out around
11.45am. NAN also reports that many christians went to church while
some petty traders displayed their wares.

Police Commissioner
Abdulrahman Akano confirmed that “only about three” people died during
the crisis which took place around Bauchi Road, but unconfirmed sources
put the figure at between 11 and 13. There were also reports of
midnight clashes in some parts of Ungwan-Maidoki and Bukuru in Jos
South Local Government Area after some youth began reprisal attacks
when the corpse of a youth was found near a school in Ungwan-Maidoki.
Security personnel patrolled the area throughout the night, NAN learnt.

The cause of
Saturday’s violence could not be ascertained, but Mr Akano blamed it on
a clash among members of the Congress for Progressive Change who wanted
to hold their state congress. He told journalists that the party sought
police permission to use a particular venue but later changed it
without informing the police, resulting in a clash between factions in
the political group. Another version also traced the violence to the
reported killing of about eight people who were travelling to attend a
wedding ceremony in Mangu.

The state
government, in a statement signed by James Mannok, director of press
affairs, confirmed the police version that the riot was caused by the
planned CPC congress, but also directed the police and the Special Task
Force to quickly unearth the cause of the violence.

“The state government has also directed that culprits be brought to justice,” Mr Mannok said.

Spokesperson for
the Special Task Force, Charles Ekeocha, who blamed the riot on the CPC
congress, confirmed that the party got police permission to hold the
congress in “one particular hotel, but later changed the venue.”

“That situation created some disagreements among the CPC members and resulted into attacks by political thugs,” he told NAN.

The latest violence is a continuation of the trouble that has brewed
in Plateau over the last few years as tribal, religious and community
groups have continued to attack one other in what is seen as a fight
over the control of Jos, the state capital. On Christmas Eve, bombs
exploded in several parts of the city, killing scores of people, while
many more were injured. The federal government last year set up a
presidential committee to investigate the cause of the riots and to
proffer solutions. The committee, led by Solomon Lar, submitted its
report to President Goodluck Jonathan in October.

Security has always
been important; but now it has become very important, especially with
the advent of elements of Boko Haram, militants and kidnappers adding
to the previously known elements of armed robbery, assassins and
ritualists. So, apart from reliance on the police, State Security
Service, Civil Defence, Customs, Immigrations, Soldiers, Airforce, Navy
and other paramilitary agencies, people need to be more conscious of
their own security.

What happens when
your assailant is part of the supposed security outfit, whether at the
border, on the high seas, in the air, on the road, in your house, in
the church, mosque, park or in the market? The next few weeks will
unveil a series of personal experiences, that are quite traumatic,
regarding the way most of our so-called security officers treat their
fellow citizens in the line of duty.

It is now time to
tell the stories of your own ‘mai-guard’ that collaborated with robbers
to raid your house; a vehicle inspection officer who, against all odds,
looks for a fault in your vehicle in order to punish you; or a
policeman you invited to investigate a breaking and entry scene but
decides to steal the items that the burglars missed. Or soldiers who
take citizens to the barracks and torture them there for weeks because
the young man chased their oga’s girlfriend. I could go on.

Let me begin with a
story that is unfolding before we unveil others. I have told you before
that my late father was a police officer. I have inherited that police
instinct from him, such that my wife always starts by accusing me of
being too suspicious and then, later she would say, I should go and
become a prophet because things usually end up as I have predicted
them. That was partly why my father said I should become a lawyer and
others said I should join the security forces. But I never knew how I
could fit in for, as a friend used to say “put a uniform upon a goat in
Nigeria and you have created another tin god or local almighty.”

A friend’s younger
brother, who has been trying to relocate to Nigeria, recently decided
to rent an apartment in Lagos early in the year. He comes in once every
three months to transact business, so he finally decided to buy a car
instead of depending on taxis. He bought the car about six months ago
in Lagos, registered it and has been driving it there. At the end of
every year, like my family, they all gather in their father’s house in
Benin. But on the way to Benin, on the 29th of last December, he was
stopped by Customs officers at Ore junction and his vehicle taken to
their Akure office.

His offence was
that he did not travel with his ‘custom duty’ papers. The man’s
explanation that he has been driving in Lagos and nobody has requested
for this particular document was unheeded. When we called some friends
to wade in and try to salvage the situation, the officers said he was
rude to them on the road, so they decided to punish him.

Masters of the game

They off-loaded his
property from the car and drove it to their Akure office. The helpful
officer said my friend’s brother could have saved himself the trouble
if he had handed out at least N1,500 and that now that the Comptroller
in the area is aware of the case, the young man risked having his car
impounded or vandalized, even if he produced the said original custom
duty papers that he had in his house in Lagos. Take note, the officers
were not peeved because he did not have the papers. They were merely
peeved because he stated that nobody ever asked for custom papers from
him in all his years of driving in Lagos, especially when he was not
driving a new car and he was not traveling outside our borders.

It is the same
scenario with a VIO officer, who stopped my car some years ago in
Gwagwalada. The young officer asked for everything, from vehicle
papers, C-caution sign and fire extinguisher. He even asked me to
“press your horn, trafficate to the left, to the right, put on the
hazard lights, match your brakes, put on the full light, dim the
light”. Then he told his colleague, “e think say we nor go catch am”.
They actually tried to stick ‘off road’ on my car for my light that
does not dim; but I resisted and we finally went into their compound in
Gwagwalada, where they proceeded to deflate my tyres. I eventually had
to part with money before I was let off the hook. The most interesting
part was the lies the four VIO officers concocted in the office and
stuck to, which left me dumbfounded.

So like the bible said, settle with your accusers before they take
you before the judges; some of whom we have discovered, with all the
recent electoral judgement, are also not clean. Secure yourself by
making sure all your vehicle papers are up to date, try to be polite to
these men and women who stand under the sun 24/7 and, worst of all, are
armed and not well remunerated. They are masters of the game. Happy new
year.

Teslim Folarin,
Senate majority leader, will not forget his experience last week in a
hurry. What started like a mere routine at the Oyo State police command
headquarters, Ibadan, on Monday is reverberating across the country,
promising a major bang on the ever- volatile politics of Oyo state.

Oblivious of the
fate that awaited him in the week, Mr Folarin went to the command
headquarters to honour the police invitation requesting him to tell his
side of the story on the murder of Lateef Salako (aka Eleweomo),
factional leader of the National Union of Road Transport Workers
(NURTW) in Oyo State.

The deceased met
his untimely death penultimate Thursday shortly after the local
government congress of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of the
Ona-Ara local government area of the state.

Following the
sustained battle within the PDP fold in the state, the National Working
Committee (NWC) of the party called for fresh congresses to elect its
officers in the wards, local governments and the state. But rather than
douse the tension, the congresses stirred fresh conflagration, among
which was the death of Mr Salako, an ally of the Oyo State governor,
Adebayo Alao -Akala.

Mr Folarin, who was said to be at the scene of the incident, was invited by the police, but has not returned home ever since.

He passed a night
at the state’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) office, before
being ordered to be remanded in prison. After his arraignment alongside
three other people, by an Oyo State Chief Magistrate, Shakirat
Badrudeen.

Together with
Ramoni Jayeoba Bankole Olaide Raji and Raimi Ismaila, the senate leader
was, on Tuesday, docked on a two-count charge of felony (conspiracy to
murder) and murder of Eleweomo.

Though, a team of
lawyers, headed by Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, former President of the
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has been raised to defend him, and
possibly argue for and secure his bail this week, his incarceration is
generating furore, particularly as the Oyo State politics is concerned.

Battle for governor’s office

The root of the
crisis in Oyo State politics is said to be the battle for the
governorship seat for the 2011 elections. More than any other forum,
the battle has become fiercer in the PDP as the party is divided into
two, with one side favouring the return of Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala,
while other want him out at all cost.

The dissolved state
executive council of the party has ceded the slot to the governor, even
before the primaries but another group led by Lekan Balogun, former
Senator and Ibadan high chief, is insisting that the governor must not
return. Mr Balogun also felt the governor and the state police
leadership have, for too long, pampered Mr Salako and some political thugs who surrounded him.

“The death of
Eleweomo is one death among several others before it and if the CP had
been alive to his responsibilities as earlier said, it could have been
averted and what is more, unless he changes his style, it is as if all
of us are not safe in the state. When a government decides to be
lawless, the CP is not expected to collaborate with such government,”
Mr Balogun added.

Apart from many
other verbal and violent efforts to discredit one another over the
battle, not a few consider the arrest and detention of the senate
leader as a direct effect of the PDP internal crisis.

Interestingly, the
battle for the soul of the state is crossing the boundary of party
politics to other interest areas. For instance, the Ibadan elite, who
have taken on Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala on several issues ranging
from politics to tradition, are looking at the unfolding situation from
another angle. The Olubadan-In-Council and the Central Council of
Ibadan Indigenes (CCII) hurriedly summoned separate emergency meetings
last week to discuss the travail of Mr Folarin.

They reportedly
view the prosecution of the senate leader as a direct assault on the
people of Ibadan, where he hails from. The belief among those who
display bias for this argument is that Governor Alao-Akala is putting
the senate leader in trouble to take his pound of flesh on the Ibadan
people, who were generally seen to be against his second term ambition.

As much as the
state’s commissioner of police, Baba Adisa Bolanta, struggled to show
the public the command’s fair intent, by stressing on the criminal
implication of the matter, only few got to reason with him.

Mr Balogun was particularly irritated by the CP’s argument that he promised to lead a rally for his redeployment from the state.

He accused Mr
Bolanta of corruption, adding that he had turned himself to a tool in
the hand of the state government by allowing pecuniary consideration to
becloud his professional callings.

Bickering children of Adedibu

In truth, before
Eleweomo’s death, Mr Balogun and some other politicians have cried out
over alleged attempt on their lives, citing the deceased and his gang
as the main suspects.

But, the police
have not really done any open investigation to prove its fairness in
those allegations. That alone raised a lot of questions of its
‘efficiency’ when the drivers’ union leader was killed.

It has also been
argued that the crisis was escalating because of the death of Lamidi
Adedibu, acclaimed strongman of Oyo State politics.

Most of the
dramatis personae in the battle were direct political children of the
politicians, who came to office through his manipulations in 2007.

Many eminent
Nigerians who visited Mr Folarin said he was in high spirit. But, that
represents an exact opposite of the situation with the state’s politics.

Already, the
killing and other forms of desperation exhibited by politicians in the
state is instilling fears on the people over the next elections.

The experience of
the 2007 polls, where open rigging, through the use of thugs, was the
order of the day, still remains fresh in the people’s memory.

However, other parties are working on how to benefit politically in the ongoing crisis within the PDP in the state.

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), for instance, is said to be
considering a process that will bring a candidate that will give a
tough challenge to the PDP even through undemocratic means. Other
parties are also looking at how they could gain from the crisis.