Shock as INEC postpones National Assembly election

Nigerians reacted with shock as the Chairman of the Independent National Election Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, announced the postponement of the National Assembly election till Monday. Jega, who spoke at a press conference in Abuja, blamed the non-availability of result sheets and materials for the decision. Jega, who also apologised to Nigerians for the hitches recorded during Saturday’s botched exercise, said, “It is regrettable, it is unfortunate. It shouldn’t have happened. “It should not have happened but what can we do? Man proposes and God disposes. “We are no excusing ourselves from blame. I take responsibility.” Millions of Nigerians at polling stations across the country expressed disappointment at the development. Many of them had waited at polling units for hours for election materials to arrive. More details later. By Our Correspondent Courtesy Of: Punch

Polls: Restrictions on GSM calls, text messages likely

Political parties and individuals hoping to use telephone text messages to check electoral malpractices or relate on other election matters may be in for a shock as strong indications emerged on Thursday that the services of GSM operators might be restricted on election days (April 2, 9 and 16). Our correspondent learnt that it was the thinking of the Federal Government that mobile telephone calls and text messages on the general elections should be restricted during the polls. Sources said that government’s fears over possible abuse of mobile telephones on the days of the polls informed a meeting between security chiefs and the GSM operators in Abuja recently. The meeting, which was at the behest of the Nigerian Communications Commission, deliberated on how to contain the possible spread of unverified results or other messages capable of increasing tension during the elections. An integrated network of security for the elections, according to our source, was constituted by the security chiefs drawn from the military, the Police, the State Security Service and the office of the National Security Adviser. The National Council of State had on Wednesday okayed the deployment of military on the streets to deal with thugs and other miscreants who might want to breach public peace during the elections. The Executive Vice-Chairman, NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, confirmed THE PUNCH findings on Thursday in Abuja, during an interactive session the Minister of Information and Communications, Mr. Labaran Maku, had with journalists on the general elections. “The NCC and security chiefs have already invited network operators and, as we are talking, measures are being put in place. The networks are so large and connected to the international community. These things (unwholesome text messages) cannot be stopped overnight,” Juwah said. He assured that something was being done, but warned that telephone or text exchanges might be difficult to control. Earlier, Maku, had expressed the displeasure of the government over the circulation of what he described as “unwholesome messages” through the mobile networks and, therefore, asked the NCC, the industry regulator to check the menace. He said journalists and the GSM networks could constitute greater danger to the electoral process than religious fundamentalists. The NSA, Gen. Owoye Azazi, had on Wednesday in Abuja expressed similar concerns on the reportage of the elections in an interactive session with the media. He urged that “national interest” should be above other considerations. Maku, therefore, warned foreign journalists that had been accredited to cover the elections against picking their stories from local newspapers that he accused of aligning themselves with different political interests in the country. The minister said, “In every election, security agents estimate threats that can be a problem to the election. There are no known threats that can disrupt the nation’s election. “We have isolated cases of religious fundamentalism in Borno State, but there is no threat to the elections. The parties have concluded their campaigns in these places without any incidence. “In fact, the only threat we fear is sensational reporting. If reports go wrong, they can threaten an election. A fundamentalist can disrupt election in one place but a reporter can disrupt election in the whole country. “I am worried by the role played so far by telecommunications networks. Attacks are carried out daily through the networks without control. The NCC should meet with the heads of telecoms companies.” An information technology expert who spoke with our correspondent confirmed that the GSM operators have the ‘functionality’ to restrict text messages or calls through their networks. According to him, a ‘functionality’ such as text messaging can just be switched off. “When that is done, it will affect everybody on the network. However, it can also be done on selective basis. Networks also have the capacity to screen text messages before allowing them to go to the recipients. However, these must be for numbers that are already on the watch of security agents,” he said. The expert, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said blanket restriction would amount to taking actions that are only common in police states. He added that because of competition, private operators were not likely to agree to such a measure since it had the capacity of limiting customers on their networks. Apart from text messaging originating from mobile phones, advancement in information technology has made it possible for subscribers to originate and send messages to mobile phones through the Internet. Sending text messages through the Internet could be cheaper and more convenient since bulk messages can be sent to hundreds and thousands of recipients simultaneously and even anonymously. The Federal Government had in recent times been worried over the rising rate of technology-assisted crimes in the country. Only on Monday, the NCC inaugurated the registration of Subscriber Identity Module cards and set a deadline of September 28 for the exercise to be completed. The rationale is that if the owner of each SIM card in the country is known, it would be easy to trace any crime committed with the aid of a phone to a person. THE PUNCH had recently reported that a total of 114.63m telecommunications lines had been connected as at the end of January, confirming the huge potential of the Nigerian telecommunications network as asserted by the NCC boss. However, the total number of active lines, including mobile and fixed lines, by the end of January stood at 89.84 million. In segmented terms, the number of connected GSM lines by the end of January stood at 96,547,864 lines, while active lines stood at 82,618,510. The number of connected mobile lines offered by Code Division Multiple Access operators stood at 12,338,686, while active lines stood at 6,186,442. Out of a total of 2,741,983 fixed lines that were connected, 1,035,391 were active. With the ubiquity of mobile phones and users, observers of the general elections say it would be easy for everyone at each polling booth to broadcast the result of the centre without having to wait for INEC to collate all the results. The National Broadcasting Commission had warned recently that it was wrong for anyone to announce election result without a final word from INEC. By Everest Amaefule, Abuja Courtesy Of: Punch

Shekarau holds Emergency Security Meeting

Governor Ibrahim Shekarau of Kano state North West Nigeria has summoned an emergency security meeting ahead of Saturday�s National Assembly Election. The crucial security meeting which started as early as 10 o�clock in the morning, had in attendance the brigade commander of the 3-motorized division, the commander, 303 flying training school and the state police commissioner. Details of the meeting were not made known to newsmen but Channels Television gathered that the meeting was to fashion out a security strategy to ensure a peaceful and violence-free election on Saturday. It was also gathered that the Kano State Governor and the security chiefs resolved to deploy a joint security team, made up of the police, the army, air force and other allied security agencies to identified flash points within the state. Governor Ibrahim Shekarau, the ANPP Presidential Candidate, presided over the three hour meeting, was said to have commended heads of security agencies in the state, for working towards maintaining law and order, and urged them to sustain the peace throughout the election period. Courtesy Of: Channels tv

Ogun ACN Campaign: Sen. Amosun Hosted by Traditional Rulers

The on-going campaign for the election of the Action Congress of Nigeria governorship flagbearer in Ogun state, Senator Ibikunle Amosun has received a major boost with support coming from traditional rulers and community leaders across the state. The traditional rulers gave their support when they played host to Senator Amosun who was accompanied by his wife, former governor of Ogun state, Chief Olusegun Osoba and party leaders, reiterated his commitment to building a people oriented government if elected governor in April. Courtesy Of: Channels tv

Olurin's Campaign Train moves to Ijebu-Ode

The Peoples' Democratic Party PDP Governorship Candidate in Ogun state, General Tunji Olurin has assured the people of the state of accountability and equitable distribution of infrastructural facilities in the state if voted in as the governor of the state in next month�s governorship election. He was speaking in Ijebu-Ode local government area of the state, as part of his statewide campaign tour to solicit for support of the electorate in the build-up to the general election. Addressing his teeming supporters and party loyalists, the governorship candidate also asked his supporters to tackle the challenges of electioneering with all sense of responsibility, to ensure a resounding victory during the polls. Courtesy Of: Channels tv

Obasanjo compelled Oyinlola to trade-off LAUTECH – Aregbesola

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of compelling ex-Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola to trade-off Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, to Oyo State. A statement by an Assistant Director, Osun State Bureau of Communications and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Fayemiwo, said Oyinlola initially resisted the bid by the Oyo State government to take-over LAUTECH. But Oyinlola has faulted the claim of Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala that he (Oyinlola) ceded LAUTECH to Oyo State before he was ousted from power on November 26, 2010. A statement by a former Osun State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice under Oyinlola, Mr. Niyi Owolade, on Wednesday in Osogbo, said Oyinlola never ceded LAUTECH to Oyo State at any point in time. The statement reads in part, “We want to state that Oyinlola, throughout his tenure, fought gallantly against any insults targeted at Osun State from all quarters over LAUTECH issue. “We are happy that even Aregbesola, for the first time, acknowledged this when he said that on LAUTECH matter, Oyinlola ‘stood courageously like a prince.’” Owolade also quoted Aregbesola as saying at the palace of the Olufon of Ifon, Osun State, Oba Almaroof Magbagbeola that “Obasanjo of threatening Oyinlola to trade-off LAUTECH, which was a joint patrimony between Osun and Oyo states since 1991.” Aregbesola had further said, “Let me tell you the secret of LAUTECH. When it started, Oyinlola stood courageously like a prince that he is. However, when (ex-President Olusegun) Obasanjo harassed him, he quickly appended his signature to the dubious agreement papers stating that he had ceded LAUTECH to them. “It is that dubious agreement which Alao-Akala relied on to say all the gibberish he had been talking about. This was where they faltered and shamed themselves. LAUTECH was established by a law. It was not a talk between two people. “The law is more powerful than an agreement. The agreement which Obasanjo forced Oyinlola to sign is not as powerful as the law which established LAUTECH.” “At the time of the signing of the agreement, Aregbesola described the authority of his predecessor as a nullity as the law did not recognise him as a governor who was incapable of doing so. He added that the judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal in Ibadan which pronounced him as governor implied that Oyinlola’s actions since May 29, 2007 were illegal. But in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Thursday, the Special Assistant to Alao-Akala on Communication, Mr. Dotun Oyelade, declined to comment on the issue. He said, “We are not going to engage in any negative remark with our Osun (PDP) brothers and sisters because we belong to the same party.” By Tunde Odesola, Osogbo Courtesy Of: Punch

Security agent slaps A’Ibom ACN gov candidate

There was confusion at a Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday as a security operative slapped the governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria in Akwa Ibom State, Mr. John Akpanudoedehe, in the open court few minutes after he was granted bail over treason charge by Justice Adamu Bello. The ACN candidate had been under police custody since March 25 when he was arraigned by the police on a four-count charge of alleged treason. But in his ruling on Akpanudoedehe’s bail application, Justice Bello held that the police had failed to establish a nexus linking him with the charge of treason. The judge further held that the police did not deny the claims of Akpanudoedehe, which cleared him from the offence other than embarking on a general denial, which was tantamount to acceptance in law. But immediately the judge granted him temporary freedom, Akpanudoedehe was re-arrested and whisked away for undisclosed reasons at about 2.45pm while in the process of perfecting his bail conditions. Before this development, he was assaulted and slapped in the hallowed chambers of the court by plain-clothes security agent. Although details of the incident were sketchy, our correspondent learnt that Akpanudoedehe received the slap while perfecting his bail conditions. The security personnel was said to have dragged him with a view to whisking him away while the ACN candidate resisted the move, saying he was yet to perfect his bail conditions. But the assault degenerated to an open confrontation between supporters of the ACN governorship candidate and the security operatives, who were said to have claimed to be acting on “the orders from above.” Justice Bello had granted bail to the ACN candidate in the sum of N10m with a surety in the like sum. The judge added that the surety must be a responsible citizen with a landed property within the jurisdiction of the court. He was also directed to write an undertaking not to breach the peace of not only the state but also of the nation, failing which his bail would be revoked. But the court said in the event that he failed to meet the bail conditions, he should be remanded in prison. Justice Bello said by the general denial, the police had admitted that as at the time Akpanudoedehe was arrested and charged to court, the force did not have any charge against him. He said, “What the police have done was to charge the accused person with grievous charge of treason why they go out and fish for evidence to nail him. “I think the modus operandi cannot find a place in our law. The onus is only on the party who alleges a commission of a crime to produce evidence linking the accused with the crime. “The state should at all times be able to file a proof of evidence to enable the court have sufficient materials to show whether there is a prima facie case against an accused person.” Citing the case of Sulaiman v C.O.P Plateau State (2008), Justice Bello emphasised the importance of a proof of evidence especially in a capital offence. The judge said, “An accused charged with murder, there must be sufficient materials contained in the proof of evidence. A case of murder cannot be camouflaged to punish the accused. The court has powers to remove the veil and discharge the person. “It is not enough to parade treason and oppose a bail application. From the foregoing, the lack of proof of evidence by the complainant to link the accused with the offence is sufficient grounds to refuse the objections. I therefore admit the accused person to bail in the sum of N10m.” Few hours after being granted bail, there was an uproar in court as the policemen, who laid siege to the court premises, surged into the courtroom to re-arrest Akpanudoedehe and in the process, an officer slapped him. Reacting to the assault, one of the lawyers to Akpanudoedehe, Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN), said the public must resist this form of injustice as an injustice against one was injustice against all. He said, “Those who were perpetrating this form of injustice five years ago are the same people facing similar ordeal today.” Akpanudoedehe was charged with attempting to overrun Governor Godswill Akpabio by allegedly discharging several gunshots at him and his entourage while he was performing his official assignment, insisting that he should be punished in-line with the express provisions of section 37 (1) of the Criminal Code Act Cap ‘C’ 38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. By Friday Olokor, Abuja Courtesy Of: Punch