Things falling apart within Lagos PDP

George and Obanikoro

In this piece, ENIOLA AKINKUOTU examines the conflict within the Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party ahead of the 2015 elections

On June 22, 2014, the day Mr. Ayodele Fayose was declared the winner of the Ekiti State governorship election, it seemed the fortunes of the Peoples Democratic Party in the South-West had changed for the better.

Weeks later – precisely on July 11, 2014 – Fayose arrived at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, Ojota, along with several leaders of the PDP on a ‘thank you’ tour to Lagos State. Many observers, however, believe that the aim of the event was to create awareness for the PDP and mock the All Progressives Congress, which has been ruling the state since 1999.

At the event, some PDP leaders such as the then Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro; the Chairman, PDP Mobilisation Committee in the South-West, Chief Buruji Kashamu; and six other governorship aspirants in the state; made it clear that their mission was to wrest Lagos State from the APC.

Another event involving the Lagos State PDP held on August 29 at the National Theatre, Iganmu, in honour of the leader of the PDP in the state, Chief Olabode George, when the Mandela Award was bestowed on him by the National Association of Nigerian Students. At the event were the Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko; a former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel; a former Governor of Oyo State, Adebayo Alao-Akala; a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole; a former Minister of Transport, Chief Ebenezer Babatope; a former Minister of Works, Mr. Adeseye Ogunlewe, and many other party leaders in the state. Their mission was clear; they wanted to ‘rescue’ Lagos from the firm grip of the APC.

George did not mince words when he stated that Lagos was being run by a former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who has been largely responsible for the success the APC has always enjoyed at the polls in Lagos State.

The PDP leaders, who referred to Tinubu as the ‘Lion of Bourdillon,’ said just as the late South African leader, Nelson Mandela, freed his country from apartheid after spending 27 years in prison, George, who is also a prison returnee, would free Lagos from the firm grip of Tinubu.

Mimiko, who is of this view, said he had a ‘spiritual revelation’ that the PDP would win Lagos next year. Mimiko said, “I can see; I have the gift of clairvoyance that by 2015, we shall come to celebrate with Chief Bode George when he has produced the next governor of Lagos State. You better believe it. I am speaking under divine inspiration.”

On his own part, ex-governor Daniel, who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for alleged financial impropriety, said it was unfortunate that Lagos had never been ruled by the PDP despite the fact that George is an indigene of the state.

He said, “In 2000, the Yoruba nation was in a quandary and we had a President (Olusegun Obasanjo), who had no political support in his home. So, Chief Bode George led us to tour Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti and everywhere and the PDP won everywhere in 2003 but Bode George’s state. It now behooves all of us to understand the concept of one good turn deserves another and now that he is no longer as strong as before, we must stand by him to ensure that he can inaugurate the next governor of Lagos.”

Three months later, however, it seems the PDP’s attempt to ‘sack’ the APC and Tinubu has suffered a setback, following emerging acrimony and infighting between the supporters of Obanikoro and another governorship aspirant, Mr. Jimi Agbaje.

Agbaje, who is alleged to be enjoying the strong support of George and Ogunlewe, was said to have been promised the governorship ticket long before he joined the PDP from the Democratic People’s Alliance, which was deregistered by the Independent National Electoral Commission. Since Obanikoro was still a minister at the time, it was believed that with the support of such influential leaders of the party, Agbaje would be accepted by other aspirants.

However, the political calculation changed when Obanikoro resigned his ministerial appointment and joined the governorship race. Since then, it had been allegations and counter-allegations between the two camps.

A source close to Obanikoro, who preferred to remain anonymous, said, “When Agbaje joined the PDP and declared his intention to run for governor, he was highly favoured by the party leadership and was rumoured to have the President’s backing. They probably believed that Obanikoro would not contest. But now that Obanikoro has declared, it has now dawned on them that things will not go as smoothly as they thought.”

As the crisis deepens, the warring parties which have the Agbaje, Ogunlewe, and George camps on the one hand; and Obanikoro on the other hand, have not had a direct confrontation. They have not traded accusations in the open. However, various groups have sprung up in support of each of the two major factions, issuing press statements on their behalf.

For example, a group, the Lagos Integrity Watch, told Obanikoro to forget his bid for the party’s ticket. The group slammed Obanikoro for allegedly criticising George over the conduct of the ward congress in the state. The coordinator of the group Olarinde Onitolo, in a statement, said, “We read with alarm and disgust the outrageous claim of Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, alleging that our national leader, Chief Olabode George, was somehow partisan in the ward congress held in Lagos State. This is unfair. It is crude, illogical and foul. The fact of the matter is that Obanikoro is a rejected aspirant. The stakes are too high. Obanikoro should apologise immediately to our party and Chief George for this gross indiscretion.”

However, another group, which is loyal to Obanikoro, The Patriots, berated George for being a dictator in the party. The group, while adopting Obanikoro as its sole candidate, said it believed that George was planning for the PDP to fail because he wanted to remain the leader of the PDP in Lagos. The group explained that if a PDP governor emerged next year, the governor would assume the leadership of the party and thus make George redundant.

The Organising Secretary of the South-West PDP, Mr. Femi Carenna, who is a staunch supporter of The Patriots, said, “Only Obanikoro can face Tinubu and even Tinubu knows this. Obanikoro is the only person that can take the PDP to Alausa Government House next year. We saw how he performed in Ekiti and even in Osun. We are sure that he is the only one capable of fighting the opposition.”

As the fighting intensified, another pro-George group, asked an Ikeja High Court to stop the governorship ambition of Obanikoro over an alleged falsification of age. Besides, the group asked the court to determine Obanikoro’s citizenship, alleging that the ex-minister had acquired the citizenship of the United States without renouncing his Nigerian citizenship.

Specifically, the respondents, Michael Babatunde Ogun, Suleiman Olayinka Saheed and Wasiu Adeniyi Odusan, all PDP members in the state and initiators of the suit, asked the court to determine Obanikoro’s eligibility to participate in the party’s governorship primary fixed for December 8, 2014.

They also asked the court for an injunction barring Obanikoro from accepting what they called “the PDP’s candidacy or nomination” to contest the next year’s governorship election in Lagos State until the matter was favourably disposed of.

However, another group, The Group of Concerned Lagosians, slammed Ogunlewe and George for sponsoring a campaign of calumny against Obanikoro. The group, in a statement by its coordinator, Olayinka Sotade, on Monday, said it was mischievous for them to have brought up the issue of citizenship a few weeks to the PDP primary even though Obanikoro had served as a minister and an ambassador. The statement read in part, “Let it be made clear that Obanikoro is a natural born citizen of Nigeria and nowhere else, not USA, not UAE, not Outer Mongolia. Instead of meeting him at the party primary, desperate individuals are resorting to the same dirty tricks they used in years past to, at the most, frustrate his aspiration, and, at the least, confuse the electorate.

“We are solidly behind Senator Obanikoro and wish to let Bode George and his cohorts know that Obanikoro is a true son of Lagos, who has served Lagos decently all through his public service career without any criminal record, accusation or litigation. He will not be intimidated by half-baked politicians who are already afraid of meeting him at the primary.”

Responding to the crisis within the PDP, a former Minister of State for the Interior, Mr. Ademola Seriki, who was a vice chairman of the PDP in Lagos State, before defecting to the APC, said the disunity in the Lagos PDP was expected and that it would affect the party’s chances next year.

He said, “They have not and cannot win Lagos because they are not united and can never be. They have never had power in Lagos before and don’t know what it is like to have it. So, when power is approaching, all of them will be hungry. It is like putting food in front of people that are not just hungry but starving. You know, when they see the food, they can just start slapping one another because no one would want to be cheated. That is what is happening now.”

In a move seen largely as a bid to unify the party, President Goodluck Jonathan visited the state last month when he reportedly charged the party leaders in the state to come up with a consensus candidate or prune the large number of aspirants to three so that the party could forge ahead.

This seemed to be more difficult than expected as only one aspirant, Dr. Ade Dosunmu, dropped out of the race to contest the Lagos-Central senatorial ticket. Reacting to the crisis, the Publicity Secretary of the Lagos State chapter of the PDP, Mr. Taofik Gani, said the party was aware of the infighting. He, therefore, warned those disparaging George to be careful as they risked being sanctioned by the party. Gani said there was no reason to believe that George was supporting anybody and reaffirmed George as the leader of the PDP in the state.

He said, “The Lagos PDP is reading the Riot Act to all those who are out to foment trouble in the name of any aspirant or group. Issues that are meant to be resolved within the party should not be discussed on the pages of newspapers. Let it be known that the activities of the aspirants and their groups in the open or secret are being noted by the party. Elections are approaching and this is not the time not to be seen as united.

“We are not precluding that people can agitate for rights and privileges but they should not be overambitious. We particularly condemn any aspirant or group that has come to put a bad label on Chief Olabode George, he remains the leader of our party but that is not to say that his opinion will always be final. Anyone that continues to attack him will not only suffer punishment but may lose some privileges and will be labelled a mole of the APC and Tinubu.

Fayose has sealed my office, says Speaker

Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin

The Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin, said on Tuesday that Governor Ayodele Fayose had ordered the sealing off of his office.

This, the Speaker claimed, followed the action of seven PDP members of Ekiti State House of Assembly who illegally sat to attempt to change the leadership of the House, but only succeeded in approving the reconstitution of the local government caretaker committees and confirmation of the commissioner-nominees sent to the House of Assembly last week by Fayose.

A statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Wole Olujobi,ý said the governor had earlier employed threats and coercion, including freezing the accounts of the Assembly, cutting off the electricity supply from the Speaker’s Lodge and stopping statutory votes for the Speaker’s upkeep and protocol to intimidate Omirin and have firm control of the House.

He added that on Tuesday, the governor announced the sacking of the Speaker’s aides, ýincluding that of the Deputy Speaker and Majority Leader.

Olujobi claimed that the Speaker’s official vehicles had been demobilised because their keys had been taken to the office of the governor, while his official drivers had been redeployed.

Efforts to get the state government reaction to this failed.

But Fayose had earlier denied involvement in the purported removal of the Speaker of the Ekiti House of Assembly.

The PDP lawmakers had cited the absence of the Speaker and his deputy, Taiwo Orisalade, as reasons for the appointment of the Acting Speaker for the Monday’s business.

Although, the PDP has seven, members in the Assembly, 10 persons attended the plenary on Monday including three whose identities remained unknown as of press time.

The APC on Tuesday maintained that only seven members of the Assembly including three ‘fake’ legislators sat at the plenary when it required nine members to form a quorum.

The party challenged the governor to name the 10 lawmakers that sat on Monday and to provide the video recording of the proceeding.

The situation is already generating heat in the state.

But Fayose’s Special Assistant on Information, Mr. Lanre Ogunsuyi, on Tuesday said the government would not allow the situation to degenerate into a crisis in the state.

Addressing journalists in Ado-Ekiti, Ogunsuyi said the Speaker had yet to brief the governor on the incident.

Maintaining innocence of the governor, he said Fayose had once saved Omirin from impeachment.

He said, “We are waiting to see if the Speaker was removed or not. But we know the Assembly is empowered to appoint a Speaker extempore. What happened yesterday (Monday) was an affair of the Assembly. He (Fayose) has no hand in it. He is not a beneficiary of any of the action.

“When they need us they will come to us. Up till now the Speaker has not come to the governor.”

Ogunsuyi, however, said what happened at the Assembly with the approval of the three commissioner nominees was in the interest of the state.

He said the state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice was needed to draft document for the state to access the N220bn Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises’ Development Fund of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He added that the Commissioner for Works also needed to represent the state at a World Bank event.

Ogunsuyi said the government did not expect a smooth relationship with the Assembly because of party differences.

“We don’t expect the relationship to be very smooth because of the party differences. But honestly speaking, the Assembly is for the state. They have the right to reject a thing if it’s not in the interest of the state but they don’t have the right to reject a thing if it’s not in their party’s interest.

“Nobody should use the government platform to advance party’s interest.”

The governor’s aide also frowned on the branding of the Ekiti people that went to witness the Assembly’s sitting as thugs.

He said, “My people should not be addressed as thugs anytime they take interest in the activities of government. They are no thugs. They were the people that voted and are interested in the government. Some of these people have their business under threat while some have their shops locked by the former government.”

Ogunsuyi also justified the sacking of the aides of the Speaker by the government.

According to him, the last administration made a law that the governor will appoint aides for the principal officer and Local Government chairmen.

“What happened was that the Governor had to revalidate the appointments. It is left for the Speaker to put heads with the governor. If he is interested in retaining those people, the governor would appoint them for him.

“But he passed that law knowingly or unknowingly that the governor would appoint aides for him.”

The Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, who also attended the briefing, recalled that former Governor Kayode Fayemi did the same thing by sacking all the political appointees on assumption of office.

Senators divided over emergency rule extension

Senate President, David Mark

 

The Senate on Tuesday abruptly adjourned plenary till Wednesday (today) following a sharp disagreement by its members over President Goodluck Jonathan’s fresh request to extend emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.

Plenary had commenced smoothly with Senate President David Mark reading a letter from Jonathan amid murmuring by some of his colleagues, especially those from the affected states.

Sensing that the letter titled, “Extension of the period for the proclamation of a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states” might generate tension, the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, moved a motion for the Senate to dissolve into a closed – door session to consider the request.

When the senators reconvened after a two-and-half hour extensive brainstorming, Mark announced that further discussion on the issue would hold on Wednesday(today).

He said, “The Senate in a closed session met and discussed the letter from Mr. President on the extension of a state of emergency.

“We had a very extensive debate on it. And we will continue with the debate tomorrow (today).

The letter by Jonathan read in part, “May I respectfully draw your attention to the state of emergency proclamation 2013 in respect of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states which was approved by the National Assembly and extended for a further period of six months as conveyed by the Clerk of the National Assembly dated May 21, 2014.

“By virtue of the provisions of Sections 305, (6) c of the 1999 Constitution as amended, the proclamation aforementioned will elapse after a period of six months from the date of approval of the National Assembly except the period is extended by the National Assembly.

“It is important to state that despite concerted efforts by this administration to stem the tide of terrorism and insurgency in the affected states, the security challenges that necessitated the proclamation are yet to abate.

“Consequently, it has become imperative to request the approval of the senate for extension of the period for the state of emergency for a further period of six months.

“In view of the foregoing, I most respectfully request distinguished senators to consider and approve by resolution the extension of the proclamation of the state of emergency by a further period of six months from the date of expiration of the current period.

“I look forward distinguished Senate President to the usual kind expeditious consideration of the above request by the Senate.”

The Vice-Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Bello Tukur, who briefed journalists after the adjournment , did not give details of what transpired at the closed-door session.

Tukur merely said, “The Senate met behind closed – doors to consider the letter from Mr. President but we did not conclude deliberations on it.

“I want you to reserve whatever questions you have on the issue till tomorrow (today) when we would have concluded discussions on it.”

However, senators, especially those from the Northern part of the country, who spoke on what transpired at the meeting, said they opposed the extension of the emergency rule.

Their objection was based on the fact that the declaration of the state of emergency in the affected states had not achieved the desired objectives since it was proclaimed in May 2013.

Three of the senators, who spoke were Ali Ndume (Bornu South), Ahmed Lawan (Yobe North),   and Kabiru Marafa (Zamfara Central).

Ndume stated that he was totally opposed to the request by Jonathan because it would further worsen the security situation in the three states which are ravaged by Boko Haram insurgency.

He said, “The state of emergency since it was declared in the three states had taken us from bad to worse.

“Our fear now is that if we extend it again, we are inviting more problems to ourselves because the insurgents would capture more territories during the period.

“As the representative of my people, my entire constituents are totally opposed to the extension of the emergency rule because it restricts movements of the civilian populace while the insurgents move freely and have a field day.

“When people are sleeping in the night, the insurgents are freely moving around. By 6pm, the whole towns are closed but the insurgents are busy taking control of everywhere.’’

Ndume doubted the sincerity of the Federal Government to the fight against insurgents and urged the relevant military authorities to adopt fresh strategies to confront them.

Lawan, who boasted that the President’s request would not be granted, advised that “after 18 months of the state of emergency, we should look at other avenue.”

He said, “Although we will continue deliberations on the issue tomorrow (today), but I can assure you that we will not approve the emergency rule extension because the president can deploy the military to any part of the country without declaring a state of emergency.

“We have a very strong military in Nigeria and nobody can doubt their capacity to handle this insurgency except if the government is telling us that so many things are fundamentally wrong.

“Discussions on it will definitely continue tomorrow (today) but I want to tell you that I am totally opposed to it.

“So many options are being advanced which would be concluded tomorrow.

What we need at the moment is the massive deployment of troops to quickly

launch serious attacks because we have lost so many territories already.

“The request for the extension of the state of emergency is only a waste of time because we had it for 18 months which ended in total failure.”

Marafa said, “The emergency rule extension is unnecessary because previous ones had failed. Even if you are a student and you fail three times then something is either wrong with the student or the teacher. We need a different strategy now.”

Mark leads Senate leadership to Jonathan

Hours after adjourning sitting, Mark led his Deputy,   Ike Ekweremadu;   Ndoma-Egba; the Deputy Senate Leader, Abdul Ningi;   the Minority Leader, George Akume, among others to the Presidential Villa for a closed-door meeting with Jonathan.

All the senators arrived and left the villa in a convoy without talking to State House correspondents.

A Presidency source however said the meeting was a troubleshooting effort by the President to ensure that his request to extend the emergency rule scales through at the National Assembly.

House to hold special session Thursday

The House of Representatives will reconvene on Thursday (tomorrow) to hold a special session on the extension of emergency rule in the troubled Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.

A meeting of the House leadership presided over by the Speaker, Aminnu Tambuwal, on Tuesday (yesterday) endorsed the special session.

Tambuwal confirmed the reconvening in a statement he signed on Tuesday evening.

Part of the statement reads, “On Tuesday, November 18, 2014, I received a communication from the President, requesting the extension of the existing state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states by the House of Representatives.

“Pursuant to the powers conferred on me by Section 305 ( 2 ) of the 1999 Constitution, which requires me to ‘forthwith convene or arrange a meeting of the House’ and in order to treat the extension before the expiration of the current state of emergency in accordance with Section 305 (6) (c) of the constitution, I hereby reconvene the House which is currently on recess.”

The statement added that the session would hold on Thursday by 11am.

The Chairman, House Committee on Rules/Business, Albert Sam-Tsokwa, told reporters that a decision on the special session had been taken.

“Now, they (leadership) have resolved that the House should reconvene on Thursday to consider the extension of emergency rule”, he said.

The spokesman for the House, Zakari Mohammed, said, “There is going to be special session on the emergency rule on Thursday. The speaker’s office will convey a statement on the reconvening shortly.”

The House has been on break since October 28 to resume on December 3. However, the urgency attached to the emergency rule extension reportedly forced the leadership to approve the special session.

Earlier on Tuesday, a Peoples Democratic Party, Friday Itulah had said it would be proper for the House to reconvene since the issue at hand (Jonathan’s request) required some urgency.

Itulah claimed that the emergency rule had yielded “positive results so far”, adding that the extension was necessary to strengthen the war against terrorists in the affected states.

He said, “I think the extension is worth it as long as the reason for it has not been realised. So, there is a need to extend the emergency rule. Some aspects of it also need to be revisited to make it more effective.

The House is supposed to reconvene on December 3, but since this is a national emergency, let us see how it goes.”

An All Progressives Congress lawmaker, Pally Iriase, also backed the extension of the rule.

He said, “We have been moving back and front; one step forward and 10 steps backward, but that notwithstanding, we still believe the requisite environment be created to enable the Armed Forces to do their work.”

However, investigations by Rev4mation's world showed that many lawmakers in the House were against the extension.

One of them said, “Let us face the truth. Has emergency rule worked? More lives and property have been lost in those states with emergency rule in place.

“Where are the abducted Chibok girls? If anything, Boko Haram has become more daring, taking control of more towns and hoisting flags under the emergency rule than when there was no emergency rule.

“The facts are there for all to see. Why continue to deceive ourselves with this emergency rule?”

Shettima, Ngillari back emergency rule extension

Although Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima and his Adamawa State counterpart, Bala Ngillari,   backed Jonathan’s bid to extend the emergency rule, they called for the evaluation of the gains or otherwise of the previous proclamations.

Shettima, through his Media aide, Isa Gusau, said, “I do not have doubts about the sincerity of Mr. President in seeking an extension to make it easier for our security agencies to continue their services to our fatherland and I think an extension is reasonable in the circumstance we have found ourselves much as it is also reasonable to take stock of what previous declarations have achieved.

“No democratic government would wish to have military men roaming its streets with armoured vehicles. However, we are very much aware that in most guerrilla warfare, insurgents sometimes dictate the pace because they can disguise and pretend to be friends whereas the security agencies are by their systems, known so they can be identified by citizens.

“I have strong hope that Borno will get out of this situation just I have for the Nigerian state. The problem is however how long it takes and those who suffer while it lasts. This is why we must make common sense sacrifices as leaders, political party members and those in positions of influence to help our military and security agencies to remain focused and not to make the slightest attempts of diverting their attention for whatever reason we seek to achieve.

“We must at the end never fail to remember that no matter how long, we would be required to give accounts of how best we managed our influences, whether we blindly limited our thoughts to our individual and group goals or we used our influences for our people who entrusted us with rights to decide their fates. We owe them the right to live.”

Also, Ngillari,who spoke through his Director of Press and Public Affairs, P. Elisha, said the President had absolute powers to seek extension of emergency rule in the affected states.

The governor however warned against rumours on the situation in the affected states, saying they were capable of making nonsense of the efforts to flush out Boko Haram fighters from the North-East.

Lawyer asks court to cancel Lagos monthly sanitation

A Lagos-based lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has asked  a Federal High Court in Lagos to put a stop to the monthly enviromental sanitation exercise in Lagos State.
The lawyer is asking the court to declare as illegal, the monthly exercise, during which citizens’ movements were restricted.

Joined as respondents are the Inspector General of Police, Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Governor and the state’ Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice.
Others are Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and the Ministry of Environment.
The applicant in his motion on notice argued that the imposed environmental sanitation on every last Saturday of the month did not have any legal backing.

According to him, the restriction of people’s movement was in conflict with Sections 35 and 41 of the Constitution, which guarantees rights to personal liberty and  freedom of movement.

Adegboruwa stated that the restriction also violates  Article XII of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
He is therefore asking the court to declare that the Lagos State Government and its agents do not have the legal backing to restrict movement of Lagos residents on the last Saturday of the month.
The applicant is also asking the court to declare that the respondents could not,  as of right, arrest and detain any Lagos resident found moving on either state or Federal Government roads in the state on the last Saturday of every month.

Justice M.B. Idris has adjourned till January 28, 2015 for hearing in the suit

‘I cannot count the stolen cars I’ve sold’

Akorede

A suspected car snatcher, Alhaji Kabiru Akorede, who was arrested by the Lagos State Police Command, has said he can not count the number of stolen vehicles he sold to people.

Rev4mation learnt that 42-year-old Akorede, who hails from Ilorin, Kwara State, was nabbed by operatives of the special Anti-Robbery Squad in his residence at NEPA Quarters, Isashi, Lagos.

Our correspondent gathered that Akorede allegedly belonged to an eight-man robbery gang, who had gone to the Victoria Island area on September 12, 2014 and robbed one Mr. Albert Omisore of his Toyota Prado marked, AAA 690 BH.

The vehicle had reportedly been delivered to Moses Ogbu, a gang member, who in turn, gave it to Akorede for sale.

According to the police, Akorede allegedly re-fixed the fittings of the vehicle such as the headlights and windscreens.

However, after the gang had been nabbed, Akorede was trailed by SARS operatives. He was subsequently arrested, while the stolen vehicle was recovered.

According to the police, Akorede had been arrested earlier in the year and was still standing trial before an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court when he went back into crime. The police added that Akorede was arrested at the point of re-fixing the fittings of a stolen vehicle.

Speaking with Rev4mation last Friday, Akorede, who said he went on a pilgrimage to Mecca in 2010, confessed that although he started selling stolen vehicles barely a year ago, he could not recall the number of the vehicles he had sold.

He said, “I was working as a building engineer until 2013. I started receiving stolen cars last year. It was a friend, one Dada, who introduced me to the gang. Since I started with them, I used to sell the stolen vehicles along the Ile Zik area in Lagos.

“I cannot recall the number of the vehicles I collected, but they may not be less than 20. There were about three Toyota Highlander which I sold for N1.2m each. I also got four Toyota Camry, which I sold for N600,000 each.”

Akorede, who is married with two children, said that while the court granted him bail, Ogbu called him that the gang wanted to dispose a Toyota Prado, and the vehicle was brought to his place.

He said, “I decided to work on the vehicle so that I could conveniently resell it. It is true that I changed the fittings. I gave Moses N250,000 for the vehicle. I did this because I desperately needed money.”

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the arrest, adding that the suspect would be charged to court.

He said, “Yes, the suspect was arrested for receiving stolen vehicles. Investigations are ongoing and he would be charged to court soon.”

2015: Urgent tasks before INEC

INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega

The Independent National Electoral Commission is saddled with, among others, the responsibility of handling electoral matters in Nigeria. In this report, the issues that will be used to assess the success of the electoral umpire in the conduct of the 2015 general elections is simply examined below.

All eyes are on the Independent National Electoral Commission, Nigeria’s electoral umpire, concerning the conduct of the much-anticipated 2015 general elections. No doubt, it is a huge responsibility to conduct elections in an emerging democracy where many politicians crave for power.

The functions of INEC are contained in Section 15, Part 1 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (As Amended) and Section 2 of the Electoral Act 2010 (As Amended). The laws, among other functions, empower the commission to conduct elections into elective public offices. These include the office of the president, vice president, governors, and deputy governors. It is also to conduct elections into the Senate and House of Representatives.

The power to conduct local government area chairmanship elections, which were vested in States Independent Electoral Commission, is being moved to INEC, going by the amendment of the laws.

The country has experienced the good, the bad and the ugly, when it comes to elections.

The 1993 elections, especially the annulled June 12 presidential election, have been widely acclaimed to be the freest, fairest and most credible. It was conducted by the then National Electoral Commission of Nigeria, under the chairmanship of Humphrey Nwosu. The commission deployed Option A4 voting system and the Open Ballot System for the election.

Despite challenges, some close watchers of the electoral system have said there is relative improvement on how the country carries out its electoral process today. They cited computerisation of the system by INEC and the coding of ballot papers, ballot boxes and polling units, among others.

Aside these, political pundits have called the attention of the commission to other issues. They are:

Voter registration and voter card

The ongoing distribution of permanent voter cards is part of efforts towards having a comprehensive and up-to-date voter register. However, both the voter registration exercise and the distribution of voter cards have suffered public criticism.

The nationwide voter registration exercise conducted by INEC had recorded several irregularities until the anomaly was eventually corrected.

Currently, INEC is distributing PVCs nationwide and conducting a Continuous Voter Registration. However, this is not without criticism, especially from political parties and politicians.

For instance, it was the turn of nine states — Kano, Edo, Ogun, Imo, Lagos, Rivers and Nasarawa — last weekend for the third phase of the nationwide distribution of PVCs by INEC. The exercise, scheduled to hold between November 7 and 9, was marred by irregularities.

Expectedly, the opposition All Progressives Congress and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party had engaged themselves in a war of words over the hitches.

While the opposition party accused INEC of programming the exercise to favour the PDP, the ruling party fired back by accusing the APC of having a hidden agenda.

However, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Kayode Idowu, last Sunday, denied the allegations, while announcing an extension of the exercise in Lagos by 24 hours.

He said, “Contrary to allegations in some quarters, no duly registered person has been delisted from the Register of Voters, neither will any be denied his/her PVC.”

While INEC has deferred and reschedule the distribution of PVC and its CVR exercise in the affected areas, political scientists have warned that due to the political atmosphere which is becoming tense, any slight mismanagement of issues by INEC may generate controversy.

Voter apathy

Another issue INEC has to contend with is voter apathy. The development, observers have said, may frustrate efforts by INEC to ensure hitch-free and widely acceptable elections.

Just on Monday, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Abia State, one of the twelve pilot states where PVC distribution began in May, Professor Jacob Jatau, expressed worry over the alleged apathy by the electorate in the state towards collecting their PVCs.

Jatau told journalists in Umuhaia that voters in the state were not collecting their PVCs since the exercise started in May. He said less than 50 per cent of registered voters in the state had collected their cards since the collection exercise started six months ago – three months to the elections.

According to Jatau, unless there is an attitudinal change, many eligible voters might be disenfranchised in the 2015 elections.

Prior to the Ekiti State governorship election held on June 21, 2014, the REC in the state, Halilu Pai, had in May expressed fears that voters might shun the election.

He said over 285,794 permanent voter cards had yet to be collected with just five weeks to the election.

In a scenario like this, political analysts have raised the alarm over possible situations where the few who have their cards will have their say over the majority without cards.

Electronic voting

The commission has often blamed its failure to adopt electronic voting system on unavailability of enabling law.

The Head of Publicity Division of INEC, Mr. Nick Dazang, in an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH in June, expressed the eagerness of the commission to adopt electronic system. He said this was why most of INEC’s operations were technology-driven.

He said, “By law, we are not supposed to use electronic voting machines. We also have canvassed for it but so far, the law does not permit the commission to use electronic voting machines. Until the law is amended, we cannot do so.”

Earlier in February, the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, had said it would be “practically impossible to adopt the electronic voting model in the 2015 general election, even if the National Assembly were to lift the prohibition on its usage.”

At the Senate on April 1, 2014, when three separate bills seeking various amendments to the Electoral Act 2010 passed for second reading, the lawmakers were divided on e-voting.

However, the Nigerian Bar Association, on August 10, 2014, urged INEC to introduce electronic voting machine to enhance the credibility of future elections.

The Chairman, Election Working Group of the NBA, Dafe Akpedeye, in a statement on behalf of the group, said, “INEC should move towards the use of Electronic Voting Machines for elections, as it has indicated that it has the capacity to use such process, which it used to collate results in the collating centres.”

However, the National Chairman of the APC, John Odigie-Oyegun, on October 30, 2014, stated, “We are hoping that INEC will do their best. Good as the chairman is, he does not know the reality of what is on ground under him. Our prayer, as far as INEC is concerned, is that they use card readers in the election so that we can be sure of a cleaner process. It is a no-go area and a must that card reader has to be used.”

Better INEC management/techniques

Electronic voting is not all that the National Assembly is working on to improve INEC’s performance. The lawmakers are also working on the powers of INEC to issue duplicate voter cards before election, determine voting procedure, holding of elections on a single day, and to conduct debate for all candidates who are contesting election into the office of president.

With the ongoing review and amendment of INEC laws, there seems to be more work for the commission, and more challenges too, according to analysts.

The Assembly had on October 21 deleted the State Independent Electoral Commission from the Constitution, vesting the powers to conduct council elections on only INEC.

The lawmakers also made provisions for independent candidacy in future elections   by amending Sections 65 and 106 of the Constitution. By so doing, analysts have said the electoral umpire may begin to cater for not only political parties but also politicians as independent candidates. In addition, ballot papers will carry more names, which translate to more cost on the side of INEC.

Political party (de)registration

Another issue the INEC contends with is the registration and deregistration of political parties.

In a massive swoop, INEC on December 6, 2012, announced the deregistration of 28 political parties.

The Commission’s Secretary, Abdullahi Kaugama, in a statement, said INEC deregistered the 28 parties “in the exercise of the powers conferred on it by the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).”

However, some of the parties had sought redress in courts and won.

By the amendments made to the Constitution by the Assembly, the commission can now deregister political parties for non-fulfilment of certain conditions like breach of registration requirements and failure to secure or win either a presidential, governorship, council chairmanship or a seat in the national assembly or state assembly.

Not long ago, some newly-registered political parties emerged on the scene, including Dr. Frederick Fasehun’s United Party of Nigeria and Falae’s Social Democratic Party. This is an indication that more parties may emerge as the general elections approach, according to analysts.

With the new powers to be conferred on INEC in the constitutional amendment, observers of the political scene are expecting a massive deregistration of parties — those sometimes referred to as “mushroom parties” — after the 2015 elections.

Diaspora voting

At the moment, only citizens residing in Nigeria at the time of registration of voters can vote at any election, whereas Section 77 (2) of the Electoral Act says: “Every citizen of Nigeria, who has attained the age of 18 years at the time of the registration of voters for the purposes of election to a legislative house, shall be entitled to be registered as a voter for that election.”

Jega, who was represented by INEC Commissioner, Election Party Monitoring, Amina Zakari, had at a three-day National Stakeholders Forum on Electoral Reform in Abuja on January 29, 2014, said the much anticipated Diaspora voting was not feasible until the Electoral Act was amended.

The INEC boss, however, said it was proposing an amendment to the Act to enable Nigerians in the Diaspora, who were 18 years as of the time of registration, to vote. He added that denying the Diaspora the right to vote would be an infringement on their rights.

Terrorism and elections

Despite the ongoing terrorist acts by the Boko Haram sect, INEC has insisted it would conduct elections in the north-eastern part of the country, which is mostly affected by the insurgency.

In April, and subsequent other times, the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, said the commission would do its “best and conduct elections in every part of the country in 2015.”

Jega said, “Insecurity is a serious challenge to the commission and the entire electoral process. But we are ready to conduct elections in any situation. Security challenges are enormous, be it Boko Haram, kidnapping or even armed robbery.

“Elections can be conducted under situations of emergency rule. But all we are saying is that elections will be free and fair where there are minimal security challenges. Under a situation of emergency, many things are likely to happen, either people will be scared of coming out or they will come out and run into security cordons and be molested by security agents.

“Our hope is that by 2015 we will be able to conduct elections in all parts of the country. We are ready to conduct the elections everywhere in this country in 2015. We hope that security challenges will be minimal for us to conduct elections in 2015 and when we get to the bridge, we will cross it.”

Observers of the development in the region have expressed fears that a large percentage of the electorate might be disenfranchised in 2015 as millions of them had been displaced; some taking refuge in faraway Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

Again, observers have doubted the possibility of conducting free, fair and credible elections in troubled states like Yobe, Borno and Adamawa, where Boko Haram is in control of the areas.

However, INEC’s REC in Borno State, Prof. Tukur Sa’ad, on Wednesday hinted that the commission planned to make provisions for Internally Displaced Persons to cast their votes in the 2015 polls.

Sa’ad, however, said INEC had yet to work out modalities for the IDPs to vote.

Militarised election

One issue that often generates criticisms is militarisation of election. This is massive deployment of security personnel and hardware by security agencies. Nigerians have witnessed such in recent elections, where the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Police, the Department of State Security, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and several others deployed thousands of personnel for just a governorship election.

The October 20, 2012 governorship election in Edo State; the June 21, 2014 election in Ekiti; and the August 9, 2014 election in Osun are good examples.

Although during the public hearing organised by the House of Representatives on the bill for the amendment of the Electoral Act, 2010, held on August 20, 2014, Jega had backed a proposed amendment that would confer the exclusive power to manage and assign security men during elections on INEC. The bill also sought to limit the role of the military during elections.

Aside massive deployment of security, the appearance of masked security agents suspected to be DSS operatives during the Osun election had sparked protests, most especially from the APC.

In an apparent reaction to the development during an interactive session with local and international election observers in Abuja on August 20, 2014, the INEC chairman said “In recent times, we have witnessed an increased presence of hooded security operatives during elections. This is an emerging trend, which is highly worrisome and which needs to be addressed in good time.

“Security agents who are deployed on election duties should not be masked, the doctrine of transparency requires that they should be identifiable. We will not allow such persons during the 2015 elections. Any security personnel deployed for the election must be someone identifiable such that if anything happens we will be able to know who to hold responsible.”

While Jega also decried over-zealousness of some security agents during elections, he however maintained that the perceived over militarisation of the elections in Ekiti and Osun did not deter the electorate from voting for their desired candidate.

Jega said, “In fact, the two elections proved that there was a high correlation between the massive deployment of security and the willingness of people to come out and vote.

“Apart from over-zealousness on the part of some of the security men on the field, we discovered that people actually felt more secured to exercise their franchise. The key lesson our politicians need to learn from the two elections is that the era has gone when they relied on corrupt electoral officers or security agents to manipulate elections.

“In this era, any politician that intend to win election must reach out and convince the voters, be it through ‘stomach-infrastructure’ or otherwise. The only guarantee to win election now is to let the voters come out to vote for you, which in turn means that you must first of all convince them on your credibility.”

Speaking to SUNDAY PUNCH, the Head, Department of Political Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Prof. Jonah Onuoha, said Nigeria was not ready for a digitalised electoral process, due to the infrastructural challenges in the country.

He, however, expressed approval of any means by which Nigerians abroad could exercise their franchise, adding that a transparent process should be the underlying factor.

Onuoha said, “If there is electronic voting and the numbers are not influenced, then one can be rest assured, especially with regard to voting by Nigerians in the Diaspora. Ensuring the eligibility of the votes is a different thing all together. But I don’t see how electronic voting can work in Nigeria because you can’t be particularly sure of electric power.

“Any idea that will enhance rigging should not be encouraged. In my opinion, it is a thing for the future. However, for those in the Diaspora, in order for their votes to count, it has to be done electronically. The facilities, unfortunately, cannot support it in Nigeria.”

According to him, INEC is not ready for the 2015 general elections. He cited mixed reactions to PVC distribution exercise as a basis for the argument.

“Many participants, including aspirants and officials who are in office, have raised the alarm. For instance, in the North-East where there is conflict, there is no sign that INEC can conduct elections. In fact, we don’t know where elections will and will not be conducted. We are about three months away from the elections, and the picture is not so clear. If INEC must conduct this election, it has to show evidence of capability,” he said.

Similarly, Prof. Remi Anifowose of the Faculty of Political Science, University of Lagos, argues that Nigerian expatriates deserve to be given the platform to vote in elections.

He said, “Nigerians in the Diaspora are patriotic people and, to a large extent, they would like to perform their civic responsibility. They even look forward to it. I think INEC should make the needful arrangements to ensure that such people are not left out. They should not be denied the privilege of choosing their leaders.”

AFCON: Nigeria brighten qualification hopes, beat Congo 2-0

Steven Keshi and Vincent Enyeama

African champions Nigeria brightened their chances of qualifying for the 2015 African Cup of Nations courtesy of a 2-0 win over Congo in Pointe-Noire on Saturday.

Returnee striker, Ike Uche, converted a second half penalty before China-based Aaron Samuel added a second late on to the dismay of the Congolese fans, who threw missiles into the pitch afterwards in anger.

With the victory, Nigeria are now in second position in Group A of the qualifiers, with seven points from five games, and stand a chance of defending their title, won last year in South Africa, at Africa’s top football showpiece next year.

Congo, who defeated the Eagles 3-2 in the earlier phase of the qualifiers, also have seven points but are behind the Nigerians on the head-to-head to rule.

Group leaders South Africa had earlier defeated bottom-placed Sudan 2-1 at home to secure their place for the competition next year.

If the Super Eagles beat South Africa on Wednesday at the new Uyo Stadium, qualification would be secured by the Eagles.

Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi should have put Nigeria ahead after 20 minutes, when he headed wide from a corner kick.

But Nigeria was more businesslike after the break. Goal-bound Emmanuel Emenike was fouled by goalkeeper Massa but it was Villareal forward Uche, who converted the resultant spot kick in the 59th minute to the joy of Nigerian fans at the stadium.

But six minutes later, man of the match, Vincent Enyeama, saved a penalty after centre-back Godfrey Oboabona, handled the ball inside the area.

Samuel then sealed the win for Nigeria in the 89th minute, when he scored from inside the box. It’s the ex-3SC’s striker’s second goal in two games, having also scored in the 3-1 defeat of Sudan in Abuja.

Angry Congolese fans then threw missiles into the pitch, which could earn their team a ban, after crowd incidents in their earlier game against Sudan.

A win over the Bafana Bafana on Wednesday will secure a place for the Eagles in the continental event next year but Congo could still qualify as best third-placed team if they beat Sudan away same day.