Coalition of Northern Youths under the auspices of Arewa Youth Assembly, AYA, has called on Nigeria’s Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to sack National Security Adviser, Inspector General of Police and Director of State Security Services for their inability to arrest those behind the ‘Kaduna Declaration’.
The youths also called on the Acting President to urgently constitute an all embracing, credible and sincere peace and reconciliation committee to resolve the brouhaha in the country.
The Acting President Professor Yemi Osinbajo and Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai had at the wake of the ‘Kaduna Declaration’ ordered the arrest of those behind the declaration and their sponsors to serve as deterrent to others.
The coalition in a statement signed by its Speaker, Mohammed Salihu and made available to newsmen in Kaduna, Northern Nigeria, Friday also faulted the elders from the region for supporting the October 1st ultimatum issued to Igbos to vacate the region.
The statement said, “Acting President should move ahead and order the arrest of all those behind this plot, Biafra agitators and bring them to book. While the NSA should be sacked and the DG –SSS, I.G for failing to apprehend all those behind the Kaduna declaration.
“If no arrest is made to serve as a lesson to others, next episode will be a full scale war and lives and properties will be destroyed by the followership of ember of disunity. What make Americans great is the supremacy of her citizens, the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable and can’t be left in the hands of misguided rascals.
“While the sack of the security chief should be treated with dispatch and levity because whosever descend into the arana of conflict will not escape the dust of the encounter, we should question the character of some of our elders we found their effusions rather too insensitive to bear especially in a country that is sitting on a delicate balance.
“Their support of Kaduna declaration have made the North to South, East to West our language of engagement loaded with tempers that are waiting to explode.
“While agitation for Biafra has attained a dizzying height, on October deadline, all you hear is languages of war and war alone. If separation would answer all the questions, examples from South Sudan are not something to relish. Even if we agreed to go our separate ways is not synonymous with development and peaceful coexistence.
“To our elders they should always encourage our young people to see strength in our diversities, forge a national consciousness that would gravitate towards positive development; they should always promote national peace and unity.
“It is not enough to lament what has happen in the past it is more important and more noble to do something now in order to reshape the future of our beloved country Nigeria.
“Arewa Youth Assembly is pressing home is demand by staging a peaceful protest for the sack of NSA, DG/SSS, I.G of police and the arrest of all those behind Kaduna declaration.
“Arising from the above, the forum therefore advises all parties to remain calm and guard against provocative utterances in order not to further polarize the system.”
Former Botswana President Sir Ketumile Masire has died at the age of 91.
According to reports, Masire died on Thursday night after he was hospitalized last weekend in a critical condition.
The country has declared three days of national mourning.
Masire was the president of Botswana from 1980 to 1998.
He led various diplomatic initiatives in Africa, including chairing a panel that investigated the 1994 Rwanda genocide, and coordinating the Inter-Congolese National Dialogue.
Masire became president after the death of Botswana’s first post-independence leader Sir Seretse Khama in 1980.
According to Botswana government, He had served as the country’s first minister of finance and vice-president before becoming president.
13 inmates from the Umuahia Prisons in Abia State, southeastern Nigeria, have been matriculated into the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) for the 2016 /2017 Academic year.
The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) after inspection of facilities in the prison earlier in the year approved the Study Centre as part of its partnership with the Nigerian Prisons Service in providing opportunities for the inmates to link up their already truncated education programme as a result of their incarceration. Educational programme is one of the programmes employed by the Service to reform inmates.
In his opening speech, the Controller General of Prisons Ja’afaru Ahmed who was represented by the Assistant Controller-General of Prisons(ACG)/Zonal Coordinator Zone ‘E’ Owerri, Alloy Uchenwa, while congratulating the matriculating students, advised them to avail themselves make judicious use of the opportunity to get themselves academically updated for eventual and meaningful engagement upon discharge from the Prison.
Vice Chancellor NOUN, Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu who spoke through the Ag. Director Umudike Study Centre, Dr. Mrs. Chinwe Ihuoma, urged the matriculating students to attend their classes, respect their lecturers and be of good character, noting that, the cardinal objective for the establishment of the University is basically to provide access to higher education for mass of qualified candidates who are desirous of equipping themselves with quality education in order to uplift their standard of living.
She added that their interest in the programme is a testimony of their ambition and determination to become relevant to themselves, their families and the larger society.
Also speaking, the Officer-In charge of Umuahia Prison, ACP Obizue Valins described the programme as a welcome development and assured the students of a safe, secured and conducive environment for learning.
Speaking on behalf of the matriculating students, Ikechukwu Uka expressed delight for the rare opportunity given to them to actualize their dreams in spite of their present situation and pledged their loyalty to the rules and regulations of the institution.
PR Nigeria reported that the event took place in Umuahia Prison on Friday 16th June, 2017. 10 males and 3 females were matriculated into various disciplines of their interests according to the required minimum qualifications.
It was another interesting moment two weeks ago when the Appeal Court decided the case brought to it by the People’s Democratic Party PDP, and its candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, against the victory of Governor Godwin Obaseki of the All Progressives Congress APC, in the September 2016 Edo State Governorship Election.
In appealing the judgement of the Tribunal, the petitioners raked up many claims that turned out to be figments of their imagination. This piece captures the core of those erroneous contentions and the positions of the appellate court on them.
In dismissing the appellants’ case, the trial judge notes that having perused the issues formulated by the appellants along with the grounds of appeal, it is very obvious that the appellants engaged in prolixity and proliferation of grounds of appeal and issues. But the Supreme Court has consistently emphasised the fact that the success or failure of an appeal is not dependent on the quantity of the grounds of appeal but on the quality of the contents of the grounds of the appeal and the issues distilled there from.
The petitioners alleged in their appeal that the respondents did not sufficiently prove that their victory, as declared by INEC, was deserved. But the position of the law is that a petitioner is to succeed on the strength of his own case and not on the weakness of the case of the respondents. In other words, the burden of proof is on the claimant. The petitioners deposed that the election was marred by non/improper accreditation, inflation and reduction of scores, alteration of results, over-voting, swapping of votes and inadequate or non-filling of forms. But the position of the law drawn from Evidence Act, section 1135 (1), is that these allegations have criminal elements, hence they require proof beyond reasonable doubt.
On the appellants’ complaint that the Tribunal failed to properly evaluate the evidences adduced by not putting the same on the imaginary scale of justice, the Appeal Court rules that the law is settled that for a piece of evidence to be put on the imaginary case it must first pass the test of credibility, cogency and legal admissibility, and that where the evidence adduced has been discredited during cross examination, there will be nothing left for the purpose of weighing on an imaginary case.
In its response to the appellants’ complaint that INEC’s refusal to call witnesses was tantamount to an abandonment of their deposition before the Tribunal, the Appeal Court rules that the law is settled that the onus of proof does not shift until the petitioner has discharged the burden placed on him by the law, and that it is only if the Tribunal or Court is satisfied that the petitioner has discharged the burden that Tribunal or Court will move to the next stage of considering the evidence of the respondent. If the petitioner fails to lead cogent, credible and satisfactory evidence in support of his/her petition, the Tribunal or Court has no duty to consider the case of the respondent.
Moreover, the appellants’ counsel maintained that the Tribunal did a wholesale condemnation of the evidences of his clients’ witnesses as hearsay. In giving its verdict on this, the Appeal Court has this to say: “The ward collation agents could have seen what happened only in the polling units where they voted and can therefore testify only in respect of those units. The evidence of PW1 and ward collation agents in respect of the polling units other than where they voted based only on their purported examination of the result sheets and reports received from polling agents are hearsay and inadmissible and were rightly rejected by the Tribunal”.
One other complaint by the PDP and its candidate is that the Tribunal erred by upholding that the election was conducted by INEC in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act. To this, the Appeal Court rules thus: “In setting out on the adventure to prove non-compliance with the Act, the Appellants went on the journey without the necessary implements that would have enabled them establish over voting or malpractices as envisaged by the Act, rather being empty handed had gone into the minor details of ticking or marking on the right side or left side, a situation akin to blowing of air which has no value.
The Appellants sought to establish over voting, irregularities and malpractices on INEC’s manual and ticking or no ticking of the voters register which are themselves just administrative directives of INEC not contained in the Electoral Act. What one expected is for the Appellants to show that registered voters in a polling unit or units were more than allowed or that accredited voters were less than cast votes – all of which are easy to establish where a party was not distracted by minor issues unless such irregularities did not take place.”
On the definition of over-voting which the appellants alleged, the Appeal Court rules: “Although the word used in Section 52 (2) of the Electoral Act 2011 as amended seems to suggest that over voting occurs where the votes cast at an election in any polling unit exceed the number of registered voters there, however the Supreme Court has held in Shinkafi vs. Yari (Supra) that in order to prove over voting the Petitioner must tender the statement of Result in the appropriate forms which would show the number of accredited voters and the number of actual votes.”
To prove over-voting, the Appeal Court clarifies: “What the law requires is that first of all the maker of the document must tender it and testify to its contents. Then the document must be subjected to the test of veracity and credibility, mathematical calculations and the correctness of the figures. But what the Appellants did here was to dump the documents on the Court by tendering it from the bar, got a few witnesses to identify or recognise some of the documents and left the Tribunal to figure out the rest in its chambers in contravention of the Supreme Court’s position which makes it clear that it is not the duty of the Court to sort out the various exhibits, the figures and do calculations in chambers to arrive at a figure to be given in judgment.”
Clearly, all of these irrefutably show that the Edo PDP and its candidate had no credible case.
It was not even that they did not organise their case well. No, they know they lost the election fairly but are too smitten by pride and vain consideration to accept defeat. Now that a Tribunal and the Appeal Court have made it abundantly clear that their claims are baseless and evidence of no credible value, one hopes these men and women of the PDP will cease to whine in the public’s ears about the loss of a paradise they never had in the first place. The law has no respect for self-pitying sentimentality; it recognises hard, unassailable evidence and logical facts.
Mr. Cephas a public affairs analyst, wrote from Benin City, Edo State.
Leaders of the Middle Belt and other northern minorities met in Abuja yesterday and asked the Federal Government to immediately begin the implementation of the 2014 national conference report to address the agitations for the restructuring of the country.
The meeting, which was convened under the aegis of Middle Belt Leaders’ Forum was attended by other leaders from Adamawa, Taraba, Southern Kaduna and the six states in the North Central zone.
They specifically canvassed a middle belt region made up of the current six states in the North Central zone, as well as Southern Kebbi, Southern Kaduna, Southern Borno and parts of Adamawa, Taraba and Gombe states.
In attendance at the meeting presided over by former Information Minister, Prof. Jerry Gana, were former Deputy Senate Leader, Jonathan Zwingina from Adamawa; Air Commodore Dan Suleiman (rtd) also from Adamawa; former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national chairman, Ahmadu Ali from Kogi State; and former Senate President, Iyiorchia Ayu, from Benue State.
The meeting condemned what it called the “murderous activities of Fulani herdsmen” and called on the presidency to quickly take serious measures to curb the menace. The Middle Belt leaders who met for over six hours agreed on how the much-canvassed restructuring could be achieved.
They noted that the existing structure of the Nigerian federation has become a problem, and suggested that the country could best be more successful by introducing a regional government.
The meeting resolved that in line with the recommendations of the 2014 confab, a structure of 12 regions as federating units with 54 states as basic centres of development would be better for the country.
The leaders also suggested a three-tier federating structure which would retain a president to preside over the affairs of the federation by heading the Federal Government, while each of the 12 regions should have a governor-general, and the states should continue to have elected governors. “Local governments should be the responsibility of state governments to ensure effective grassroots development,” they stated.
A statement issued at the end of the meeting and signed by the Secretary of the Middle Belt Forum, John Dara, reads: “In a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious country like Nigeria, the federal system makes enormous sense, because it allows the federating units to fully look after their local affairs and to develop at their own pace. Therefore, we hereby renew our loyalty, love and strong support for a united Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We appeal to all separatist agitators to allow the restructuring initiative to run its full course. We need to stay and work together to ensure that new leadership that can make Nigeria great emerges in the next elections.
“We condemn the murderous activities of Fulani herdsmen in the Middle Belt and other parts of Nigeria. We call on the Federal Government to step up security measures to curb this menace.“Similarly, we call on the Federal Government and Borno State government to bring back our Chibok girls and resettle our people of Southern Borno and other internally displaced people in their ancestral lands and homes.
“However, we are resolutely of the view that the current federal structure is unbalanced, unfair, over-centralised and therefore unstable. Accordingly, we firmly support the demand to re-structure the federation, together with appropriate devolution of powers to the federating units, and a commensurate revenue allocation formula.
“Since these fundamental matters were considered and resolved at the 2014 National Conference, we urge the Federal Government to take appropriate and urgent steps to ensure the full implementation of the resolutions and recommendations contained in the confab report.
“We believe that a faithful and effective implementation of those recommendations will promote peace, harmony and greater security, thereby giving Nigeria a new lease of life.
“We denounce recent calls and threats to Nigerians from the South-East living in the northern states to move back to their areas of origin. Being free, equal and legitimate citizens of Nigeria, such calls are totally unconstitutional and unacceptable. We urge the federal and state governments to take effective steps to ensure the safety and security of all Nigerians, wherever they may choose to reside.”The Senate had last week passed a resolution asking the presidency to submit the 2014 confab report to the National Assembly for appropriate legislative work.
Nigeria has declared Monday, 26th and Tuesday 27th June 2017 as Public Holiday to mark Id-El Fitr Celebration.
Minister of Interior, Lt Gen. (Rtd) Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau, who made the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government, enjoined all Muslim faithful and Nigerians in general to use the occasion of the celebration for sober reflection and pray for peace, unity and progress of the nation in its march to nationhood.
Gen. Dambazau urged all Nigerians to shun Hate Speeches and Divisive Tendencies and join hands with the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to build a peaceful, strong and united Nigeria, which guarantees fundamental freedoms, including the right of residence in any part of the country, as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He also reaffirmed the determination of the administration to protect all lives and property of Nigerians, and added that the will of this administration should not be tested as to its capability to deploy security agencies to deal with any individual or group that may threaten the corporate existence of the nation, as well as the peaceful co-existence of the people.
While wishing Nigerians a peaceful and rewarding celebration, the Minister further assures them of the government’s resolve to be just and fair to all.
The World Bank has on Tuesday approved two Program-for-Results operations totaling $961 million to support the Nigerian federal and state authorities in their effort to foster inclusion and revive growth, in alignment with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the Federal Government of Nigeria for 2017–2020.
Senior Communications Officer, World Bank – Nigeria, Olufunke Olufon, in a statement noted that, the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) Program-for-Results is a $611 million credit aiming to bring out-of-school children into the classroom, improve literacy, and strengthen accountability for results in basic education.
In 2013, 13.2 million school-age children were out of school, the overwhelming majority of which is in the North where out-of-school children rates are also higher among girls, in rural areas and form poor families.
The Kaduna State Economic Transformation Program for Results, a $350 million credit, focuses on enhancing private sector investment in Kaduna State through improved business environment, effective budget planning and execution and fiscal accountability. Kaduna State has taken a number of reform actions to improve its economic performance and social outcomes and sustain this reform effort.
According to World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Rachid Benmessaoud, “Investing in human capital and creating economic opportunities for all are key areas of focus to achieve more inclusive and private-sector led growth. These two operations support the Government’s economic and growth recovery plan and will help Nigeria achieve sustainable and measurable results.”
Both operations implement results-based financing, whereby disbursement of funds is linked to the achievement of tangible, verifiable results. As a first phase for addressing out-of-school children in Nigeria, BESDA aims to help enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the federal Universal Basic Education (UBE) Program through incentivizing results at the state level and thereby reduce the number of out-of-school children by roughly one third by 2022.
The Kaduna State operation will support the State’s ambitious reform efforts to increase both private investments for job creation and revenue generation. It will also strengthen budget performance and fiscal accountability through citizen engagement.
Civil Society Organisations in Kaduna, northern Nigeria, are asking the state government to capture location of every project in its 2018 budget, as against the current practice of lumping items without stating locations.
This was part of outcomes of the Meeting in Kaduna to Support the State Government, State House of Assembly and Citizens’ Groups to Improve Engagement of Governance and Budget Process for Enhanced Service Delivery.
“The 2016 & 2017 budget documents have not spelled out where projects are located. For instance, when you pick the document, it says construction of township roads, it doesn’t tell you where the roads are to be constructed,” says Abdul Bako, one of the participants.
Participants are of the opinion that the non description of location of projects in the budget has made it difficult for citizens to support government through tracking and monitoring of contracts.
The civil society groups have also resolved to take special interest in monitoring government projects with a view to ensuring contractors adhere strictly to terms of the contracts as spelt out in the Bill of quantity.
“We will go to the relevant MDAs to obtain bill of quantity for projects, so as to monitor and ensure adherence to standards by the contractors,” says Bala Ibrahim.
In a paper, Prof. Uzochukwu Amakom had stressed the need for citizens to take special interest in governance by taking part in the budget process, from inception to monitoring of projects.
“Citizens Participation in monitoring and evaluation of budget and planning processes would promote strict adherence to its implementation as well as legitimise both the process and outcomes of budget implementation,” he said.
He encouraged civil society organisations, community based organisations and the media to ensure transparency and accountability from leadership, this he said will “awaken the consciousness of governments to the plight of citizens and propel government responsiveness on a sustained level,.”
Earlier in a speech, State Team Leader of Enhance Citizens Participation, a DFID Project, Abel Adejor said the meeting was put together to “foster an appreciation of broader governance processes, and reflection on experiences and challenges to enhance partnerships in and engagement of governance processes for improved service delivery.
“Document experiences of stakeholders in engaging governance processes especially budget process, as well as improve citizen’s engagement in the budget processes.”
Participants of the meeting were drawn from Civil Society Organisations, Community based Organisations, Religious Leaders and the Media.
Coalition of Northern Youths under the auspices of Arewa Youth Assembly, AYA, has called on Nigeria’s Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to sack National Security Adviser, Inspector General of Police and Director of State Security Services for their inability to arrest those behind the ‘Kaduna Declaration’.
