NIGERIA, with 74,059 inmates, is currently the 27th country with the highest number of prisoners globally.
According toWorld Prison Brief (WPB), an institution collating data on prisons worldwide, the nation has fewer prisoners than many populous countries across the globe.
However, the population of prisoners each country keeps does not commensurate with the inmates’ welfare, rights and prison infrastructures.
The WPB’s data tally with those on Statista, another credible data hub.
“The World Prison Brief (WPB) is a unique database that provides free access to information about prison systems throughout the world. Country information is updated on a monthly basis, using data largely derived from governmental or other official sources,” the organisation said on its website.
In Nigeria, there were 74,059 inmates as of January 31. The country has the highest number of inmates in West Africa but ranks seventh on the continent, coming behind South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Algeria, Morocco and Rwanda.
South Africa – the 12th on the log – has 144,938 prisoners. China has the highest number with 1,690,000 prisoners, followed by the United States of America, 1,675,400; Brazil, 835,643; India, 554 034; Russian Federation, 439 453; Turkey, 314 502; Thailand, 285 572; and Indonesia 275 518.
Others before South Africa are Mexico, 230 000; Iran, 189 000; and the Philippines, 166 912.
Before Nigeria are Vietnam, 125 697; Egypt, 119 000; Argentina, 114 074; Ethiopia, 110 000; Myanmar, 100 324; Columbia, 98 242; Algeria, 94 749; and Peru, 90 293.
There are also Morocco, 88 941; Pakistan, 85 670; United Kingdom, 82 176; Bangladesh, 81 156; Malaysia, 76 336; and Rwanda, 76 099.
The ICIR reports that with South Africa’s present 61.2 million (61,232,451) population (on Wordometer), dividing the country’s population by its number of prisoners shows that one out of its 422 population lives in prison.
In Nigeria, the most populous country on the continent at 219.3 million (219,305,878), there is a prisoner among every 2,961 persons. The nation has 74,059 prisoners.
China has a population of 1.4 billion (1,453,629,085), with one out of every 860 people jailed, given its 1,690,000 inmates.
The United States of America, currently with 335.9 million (335,999,183) people, has 1.6 million (1,675,400) of its population in prison, making one out of every 200 persons in the country serve a jail term.
The pattern of Nigeria’s prisoners population since 1982
There were 41,034 inmates in Nigeria in 1982. The figure jumped to 54,079 in 1990 but reduced to 41,482 in 1993.
It rose again to 52,000 in 1996 but shrank to 44,450 in 2000. In 2004, there was a further decline in the population from 40,048 in 2002 to 38,999 in 2004.
Meanwhile, since former President Goodluck Jonathan took over power in 2010, till 2023 when President Muhammadu Buhari is rounding off his eight-year maximum terms of four-year apiece, there has been continuous growth in the number of inmates kept across the nation’s 253 custodial centres, from 46,586 in 2010 to 74,059 in January 2023.
Females versus male inmates
Data from countries show that more men get sentenced for crimes. In July 2022, The ICIRreported that only two per cent of inmates in Nigerian prisons were women.
In China, females constitute 8.6 per cent (2018), US, 10.2 per cent (2019); Brazil, 5.1 per cent (2021); India, 4.1 per cent (2021); Russia, 8.9 per cent (2022); Turkey, 3.9 per cent (2022); Thailand, 11.5 per cent (2021); Indonesia, 4.9 per cent (2022); and Mexico, 5.6 per cent (2022).
Rising inmates versus growing crimes in Nigeria
Nigeria has witnessed unprecedented crimes, namely terrorism, banditry involving abduction and kidnapping for ransom, inter-communal attacks and killings, money ritual, armed robbery, looting of public funds and other crimes in the past decade more than any other years in the nation’s history.
These may have led to the rising inmate population in the country. However, many Nigerians believe the government is not thorough in getting criminals punished by the law courts. They also frown at the government for illegally keeping people in prison without trial.
Citizens have variously accused the government of shielding public officials who loot the treasury from the law courts or making them get punishment much too low for the offence(s) they committed. Citizens have also expressed worry over the government’s handling of leading terrorists and criminal gangs in prisons.
Between 2020 and 2022, there were about a dozen attacks on prisons in Nigeria, leading to the escape of thousands of inmates. While some of the escapees were rearrested, others remain at large to date.
Many escaped prisoners are terrorists and other inmates who committed heinous crimes.
The most recent jailbreak was at Kuje Correctional Facility in Abuja, the nation’s capital. The attackers freed about 69 suspected Boko Haram terrorists held at the facility, as well as some other inmates.
The government said 879 inmates, including all the Boko Haram suspects, escaped.
The onslaught led to the death of five persons, including an officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence (NSCDC) and four inmates.
THE Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has assured Nigerians that banks will continue to accept the N1000, N500 and N200 notes being rested after the February 10 deadline.
Emefiele gave the assurance today when he appeared before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee on the currency redesign and naira swap policy.
The House had last week invited the CBN governor for discussions as worries mounted across the country over scarcity of the redesigned N1000, N500 and N200 notes and the January 31 deadline dawned.
When Emefiele failed to honour the invitation last Thursday, the House Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, threatened to arrest him.
Emefiele, however, announced a 10-day extension to the deadline, with the old notes acceptable as legal tender till February 10.
The CBN governor, interacting with the legislators today, made reference to the CBN Act which mandates the apex bank to continue to accept old notes after their legal tender expiration.
Section 20 (3) of the CBN Act states: ‘Notwithstanding sub-sections (1) and (2) of this section, the bank shall have power, if directed to do so by the president and after giving reasonable notice in that behalf, to call in any of its notes or coins on payment of the face value thereof, and any note or coin with respect to which a notice has been given under this sub-section, shall, on the expiration of the notice, cease to be legal tender, but, subject to section 22 of this act, shall be redeemed by the bank upon demand.’
Emefiele explained that even after the old currency had lost its legal tender status, the CBN is mandated to collect them.
“I stand with the House of Representatives on this. What does that mean? It could (old notes) have lost its legal tender status, which means we have moved on. But if you have your money that you have not been able to send to the bank, we will certainly give you the opportunity to bring them back into the CBN to redeem it. Either you pay it to your bank account or you want to do exchange, we will give you. You will not lose your money. This is the assurance I give to Nigerians,” he said.
THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it would be meeting with the leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) to ensure adequate fuel supply during the forthcoming general elections.
The INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, made this known today in Abuja at a consultative meeting with officials of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
Yakubu said that the meeting was to fashion out ways of ensuring adequate supply of fuel to prevent disruption of INEC plans for the elections.
“The Commission shares your concern about the fuel situation in the country and its impact on transportation on election day.
“The truth is that our arrangements may be negatively affected by the non-availability of products.
“For this reason, the Commission will this afternoon meet with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) to look into ways to ameliorate the situation,” he said.
Yakubu assured Nigerians of continuous engagement with every national institution for the success of the elections.
A PRIVATE hospital run by a man, Jongsu Kim, who claims to be Chinese but is a North Korean, has been operating illegally in the heart of Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, for four years, The ICIR exclusively reports.
The hospital enjoys patronage from highly placed individuals, particularly public officials, including those who work in the presidency. Daily, officials in SUVs bearing FGN plate numbers and armed policemen drive in and out of the hospital premises.
A former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa, is one of the leading figures said to be seeking medical care at the facility.
In addition to Aondoakaa, at least four lawyers who are Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) receive treatment at the hospital.
The ICIR’s checks showed that at least three other expatriates whose nationalities could not be verified because they refused to speak also work and live at the facility.
Kim, a doctor, leads the team. He also lives at the hospital. Clients pay for services the facility renders into Kim’s personal account rather than the hospital’s.
The hospital does not have a signboard. It did not have a bank account when the larger part of this investigation was carried out between June and October 2022 and does not pay tax to the government as required by law.
For instance, the hospital does not pay the “Pay As You Earn” (PAYE) tax to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Internal Revenue Service (IRS), even though it has Tax Identification Number 20913237. PAYE is the tax companies deduct from their employees’ salaries and remit to the government.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) said the Federal Government exempts hospitals and schools from taxes, but they must provide a report of their annual returns. The FIRS in Abuja said only the hospital could provide evidence of submission of the annual return report.
Asked how the hospital got its TIN, the FIRS said companies get TIN from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) during registration.
The Private Health Establishments Registration and Monitoring Committee (PHERMC), a department in charge of private hospital registration and monitoring in the nation’s capital, confirmed to The ICIR that Lilu Hospital never applied for registration in city and runs illegally.
The hospital is also not in the Nigeria Health Facility Registry, where data on all health facilities in the country are domiciled.
Another observation by The ICIR is that only Kim comes out of the hospital in the daytime; his colleagues are usually indoors.
Kim drives an SUV with a diplomatic number plate, a privilege the Nigerian government accords only diplomats.
Kim’s SUV carrying the diplomatic number plate
While Kim claims he is Chinese, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) told The ICIR that the number plate on his vehicle belongs to the North Korean Embassy.
The Chinese Embassy does not know Kim and his hospital. Two spokespersons at the embassy, Huang Shuming and another who identified himself as Zhang, told The ICIR reporter they did not know Kim and his hospital.
They also said the number plate on his SUV did not belong to their embassy.
The North Korean Embassy refused to speak about the issue when contacted by The ICIR.
The reporter was at the North Korean Embassy in Abuja and met with one of the country’s nationals who put a call across to her superior.
The man, Kim, gave the reporter his phone number to send his request through Whatsapp.
Kim has since not responded to the request. He did not also respond to text messages or pick up several calls the reporter made.
Encounter with Lilu Specialist Hospital
The ICIR noticed the hospital’s operations in early 2022, especially the calibre of vehicles and personalities that patronised it and commissioned a reporter to look into what was happening at the facility.
After making some findings from the authorities about the hospital, the reporter visited the facility as a patient and ran some checks.
The reporter’s registration card at the hospital
Kim, who led his team to run the check, gave the reporter a bill of N160,000 and asked him to start treatment immediately. This is apart from the N5,000 the hospital charged the reporter for the check he ran.
The reporter paid the test bill into Kim’s account with the name Jongsu Kim. Kim said the reporter’s bill was the smallest among the scores of patients he had managed.
To prove his magnanimity, he brought out a pile of invoices and scanned through dozens of them when the reporter complained the bill was much. He counted from N160,000 to over N400,000 for each person he had treated. There were scores of invoices on his table.
Inside the illegal hospital
The three-bedroom apartment, located on the ground floor of a three-storey building, serves as a consulting ward for patients and a residence for the medical team.
The hospital has modern medical equipment that runs checks on its clients within minutes. Kim and his team make their clients lay on one of the hospital’s beds, where they apply the equipment.
Results of the checks, detailing the body’s condition, are printed from a printer in the consulting room. The cost of treatment is given only after the test is concluded. Clients pay for tests immediately after they collect their results. But they can choose to return to pay and receive the treatment later. Payment is made before treatment begins.
Entrances to the hospital rooms and other spaces on the floor are demarcated with blue curtains.
Anyone coming to the facility must remove his/her shoes and wear any of several pairs of slippers kept at the entrance after opening the main door.
Pairs of slippers at the entrance of the Lilu Specialist Hospital, Abuja. Photo credit: The ICIR
Lilu specialist hospital offers trado-medicine and therapeutic care. It does not use or prescribe orthodox medicines, Kim told the reporter.
Depending on their condition, outpatients may come to the facility for about 30 days or more for their treatment.
North Korean operating my hospital without my knowledge and authorisation – Nigerian
The ICIR began this investigation in mid-2022 but met Bartholomew Chigozie Awugozi, who claimed to be the hospital’s legal owner, on January 19, 2023, for the first time on the telephone. The organisation sought to know if he was aware of activities at the hospital.
He was shocked that the hospital he opened in Port-Harcourt years back had shut down because it wasn’t yielding returns, now runs in Abuja by people he claimed not to know.
Awugozi is based in Awka, Anambra State, where he manages his hotels. He is one of the hospital’s three directors. One of the remaining two directors is his son (Obinna Patrick), and the third is a North Korean by the name Jong Chol Ann.
Awugozi said he registered the hospital at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) with his money. He claimed he engaged a North Korean he identified by first name Sin to set up the facility in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
According to him, Sin, an ophthalmologist, worked with a private eye hospital with many branches in the South-East and Abuja some years back. Sin was also a consultant to the Imo State Government House during the era of former Governor Rochas Okorocha, Awugozi said. The doctor treated Awugozi’s two eyes, and they became friends, leading to the idea of establishing the hospital.
The plan materialised, but Sin did not work at the hospital. He hired his nationals, whom Awugozi claimed could not generate any revenue for him after running the facility for a year in Port Harcourt. He then allegedly closed the hospital.
The ICIR could not establish if Kim who currently runs the facility in Abuja was among the North Koreans who ran it in Port Harcourt.
Awugozi wants the current operators of the Abuja facility arrested. “Please help me get them arrested. I’m not aware that they opened that hospital in my name. Have you investigated the certificate of incorporation?
“We had the arrangement to have a hospital about three or four years ago in Anambra state and have a branch in Rivers state. We opened the Rivers state branch (first), and they were not rendering accounts. We closed the place. They left. They told me they’d gone back to their country.
Frontage of the hospital’s premises, with the vehicle from the Presidency. Photo by The ICIR
“Surprisingly, this call came now, and you’re telling me they are operating with my name in Abuja. I’m not aware of the operations in Abuja.”
He said the hospital could not open a bank account because, as the owner, the operators knew he could authorise that the account be frozen.
“Do they have a signboard there?” he asked. The ICIR reporter responded in the negative. “That will show you that they are fake.
“If they have a signboard, anybody from my community, Lilu, in Ihiala Local Government, will see it and make it public.”
Hospital lawyer faults The ICIR’s investigation
In 2022, The ICIR contacted Kim to respond to some of the findings. He did not understand the questions because he struggles to speak English and communicates more using signs. It is thus a wonder how he communicates with patients enough to enable him to diagnose their ailments because there is no interpreter with him.
Hours later, the hospital’s lawyer, Matthias Adeyemi, arrived and asked the reporter to send the questions to him. The reporter did.
Lilu Specialist Hospital’s flier
Rather than answer the questions, Adeyemi, who said Aondoakaa, the former Attorney General, recommended him to be the hospital’s lawyer, warned that whoever attempted to disrupt the hospital’s services would have the high and mighty in the country to contend with.
The lawyer named three SANs who use the hospital in addition to Aondoakaa.
He confirmed Kim runs the hospital with his bank account.
On October 11, last year, the lawyer requested the reporter meet him in his office in the Asokoro area of the nation’s capital.
The reporter hoped the meeting would enable him to answer the questions he had sent to him. Adeyemi spoke with the reporter for over an hour on why the investigation was unnecessary, adding that the hospital would promptly address issues raised.
He promised to contact Kim to answer the questions. There was no response from him, despite a reminder the reporter sent on October 19.
However, he boasted that nobody could force Kim to talk if he chose not to. He threatened to sue The ICIR and vowed to make the organisation pay heavily if it “fails to get all its facts correct.”
Registration with the MDCN
The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) registers all doctors practising in Nigeria and issues them a practising license valid for a year.
Kim hangs the license he got in 2020 on the hospital wall beside the facility’s Certificate of Incorporation from the CAC.
The ICIR’s reporter could not find his practising license for 2021 and 2022 at the hospital.
Practising license for Jongsu Kim from the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria for 2020 was his only licence on the hospital’s wall as of October 2022
The ICIR contacted the MDCN to confirm Kim’s registration status. The council’s Public Relations Officer, Zubaidat Abdusalaam, could not confirm if he obtained a practising license in the past two years.
However, based on the information given to the MDCN by the newspaper, the council officials stormed the hospital on Thursday, October 13.
Efforts by The ICIR to get the operation’s outcome did not yield results. Abdusalaam said she was not informed about the operation. When the reporter probed further, she said it was the organisation’s practice to make such operations secret until its investigations are concluded. Meanwhile, the hospital has continued to provide services after the MDCN’s visit.
Hospital not registered to operate in FCT – PHERMC Registrar
The Private Health Establishments Registration and Monitoring Committee (PHERMC), a department under the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) Health Secretariat, is the agency that registers and monitors private hospitals’ operations in the nation’s capital.
The PHERMC, through its registrar, Ayuba Kazzah, confirmed to our reporter that the hospital never applied for registration and is not registered to operate in the city.
Days after the reporter visited his office to confirm the hospital’s registration status, Kazzah promised to check and get back to the reporter.
“After all due diligent searches, we are unable to identify any evidence of registration with or even application to the FCT PHERMC”, Kazzah replied in a text.
Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria storms Lilu Specialist Hospital in Abuja on October 20, 2022
He told the reporter during a subsequent visit to his office that every private hospital intending to practice in the FCT must follow registration procedures which he showed the reporter.
The facility must be registered with the CAC and obtain a Certificate of Incorporation of a name that specifies the type of health facility.
It must apply through its letterhead with its Board of Directors’ details and their nationalities at the bottom.
This is followed by an inspection of the proposed location for the hospital by PHERMC and other activities, which include categorisation, type of services, number of specialists, purpose-built structure, displayed signpost, and should not operate where there are offices or in a residential building.
“For a hospital to run with foreigners in Nigeria, the head of the facility must be a Nigerian. An example is Nizamiye Hospital,” Kazzah said.
When hospitals register, they must provide the list of their staff.
According to Kazzah, any hospital that flouts the guidelines will be fined N250,000.
How VIPs bring foreign hospitals to Nigeria to cut costs
A source in the medical community, who pleaded anonymity, said prominent Nigerians and government officials aid foreign doctors coming to Nigeria because they want to cut the cost of travelling abroad for treatment.
The source said no matter what anyone does to stop the operations of hospitals where those sponsored doctors work, the people who bring them into the country would have their way.
Immigration reacts
Head of the Passport Unit at the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, Eno Deinde, said before any foreigners could work in Nigeria, the firms employing them must bring the expatriates’ passports to the Immigration Office to obtain ‘Subject to Regularisation’ (STR).
One of the Presidency’s vehicles at the Lilu Hospital, Abuja
“They must not come to the country as visitors but with the STR under the company’s name. The company will bring their passports to immigration for regularisation immediately after they arrive in Nigeria. Immigration must see the company’s quota, which is the number of expatriates coming.
“Quota is what gives the expatriates power to stay in Nigeria. Immigration determines the number of quotas a company gets,” she said.
Deinde explained that it is criminal for any expatriate to work in any organisation in Nigeria, such as the Lilu Hospital, without obtaining the STR.
About the hospital
Lilu Specialist Hospital was registered by the CAC on May 15, 2018, as a private company limited by shares to conduct human health activities. It has the registration number RC 1494942.
It has the following as directors and key management personnel:
Bartholomew Chigozie Awugosi(Director and shareholder)
Obinna Patrick Awugosi (Director, Secretary, and shareholder)
Jong Chol Ann (Director)
Okechukwu Ehogwu (Deponent)
The ICIR reports that the hospital’s registered operating address is 1 Umuenugwu Village in Lilu, Ihiala, Anambra State.
A check by The ICIR at the Umuenugwu community in Lilu, which bears the same name as the hospital, revealed that the hospital did not exist there. Elders of the community said that no specialist hospital ever existed in the locality and that the best health facility there was a primary health centre.
Meanwhile, the hospital’s lawyer confirmed to The ICIR on Saturday January 28, 2022 that “some” of its findings were true.
The ICIR contacted him to react to Awugozi’s claim that he owned the hospital, had run it in Port Harcourt, and was unaware it operated in Abuja.
“For me, there were a lot of developments I came to find out. I did a whole lot of investigations and all of that (after interracting with the reporter in his office). I found some credibility in some of the things you said. I also found some newer information. Honestly, I stand for some justice and some integrity. Whatever he (Awugozi) said, there is some truth in it.”
He also said the police were already involved in the matter (because The ICIR had informed the FCT IRS, PHERMC and the MDCN of the hospital’s operations during its investigation.
When told by the reporter that the hospital was still running despite the police involvement in the case, Adeyemi said, “that is where the real problem is.”
The lawyer also said that Jong Chol Ann, who is one of the hospital’s directors, is no longer in Nigeria.
What remains unclear is under whose authority the hospital’s current manager, Jongsu Kim, who drives around Abuja in a diplomatic SUV, runs the facility.
THE Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) says there is no basis for the current scarcity and astronomical increase in price of petrol across the country.
Nigerians have been experiencing acute scarcity of petrol since last year, with motorists spending many hours on long queues at filling stations. Marketers, particularly the independent ones, have also been jacking up prices arbitrarily. Independent marketers are selling a litre of the product, which cost N169 across most filling stations in the corresponding period of last year, for between N280 and N450. Major marketers still sell a litre for between N184 and N200.
The PENGASSAN president, Festus Osifo, and its Secretary General, Lumumba Okugbawa, in a statement on Monday, January 30, 2022, expressed concerns over the hardship that Nigerians are being subjected to as a result of the scarcity and price increase.
The statement said that data made available to the union showed that the country has petrol sufficiency for, at least, 30 days.
“We understand that the parameters imputed into the old Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), and now Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) template has since changed.
“This is because of some economic vagaries like exchange rate fluctuation, vessel hiring cost and other logistics.
“As a result, PENGASSAN insists there is no sufficient justification for petrol to be selling for such highly inflated price, thereby subjecting the masses to further difficulties,“ the duo said.
They urged the management of NMDPRA to compel all marketers and retailers to make the products available at the approved price of N194 per litre.
Both leaders also called on the management to immediately mobilise its staff members in various locations across the country to monitor compliance.
They also urged the management to revoke the licences of any marketer who did not comply to serve as a deterrent.
“Should this collusion go unchecked, we will not hesitate to partner with other stakeholders in ensuring that Nigerians are not further exploited,“ they warned.
GOVERNORSHIP candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos Olajide Adeniran, popularly known as Jandor, has slammed the state governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for shunning the Platform debate.
Sanwo-Olu was scheduled to participate in the debate, organised for governorship candidates in the state, but pulled out citing alleged political violence by supporters of the PDP candidate.
Speaking on Arise TV on Tuesday, January 31, Jandor said Sanwo-Olu avoided the debate because of his administration’s failures and deficiencies.
“If a governor of Lagos State who is supposed to be the Chief Security Officer of the state is saying that he is not safe that speaks of what the people of Lagos should expect. He is telling us that the state is not safe but that does not justify his absence,” Jandor said.
He claimed that Sanwo-Olu cannot account for the revenue generated in the state since he came into office.
“Sanwo-Olu decided not to show up because he has nothing to show for his four years in office. He had to excuse himself.
“He would come and explain how he had a 2022 budget of N1.758 trillion with a performance of 77.9 per cent in the second quarter of that year yet we still have a poverty rate that rose from 4.5 per cent in 2019 when he took over to 8.5 per cent today. We still have an unemployment rate of 14.6 per cent when he took over but now we have 37.1 per cent.
“He is supposed to come and explain how he did a budget of N812 billion in 2020 with 120 per cent budget performance at the end of the year according to him. He should come and explain how he did a budget of N1.25 trillion in 2021 and how that recorded a performance of 85.7 per cent in that year,” Jandor added.
The PDP candidate also accused Sanwo-Olu of promoting electoral violence and insecurity in the state.
“He is the Chief Security Officer of the state so what is he saying to all of us that we are not safe, that he is not capable of even securing himself let alone all of us? The spate of attacks is becoming alarming, and we need to do the needful. It was an attack on the people of Lagos – the people we are working together.
“What they are doing is to scare us off the road because they have got nothing to campaign with.
“They have given instructions to their boys that anywhere they see a PDP billboard they should remove it and in case of posters they should post on it,” Jandor further alleged.
Further accusing the APC administration of political violence ahead of the election, Jandor said, “Funke Akindele (PDP deputy governorship candidate) went to the market to campaign and she was chased out of the market. I wasn’t there but I had to call her to retreat.
“I went to Oworo, they mounted a barricade that we will not come and I told the Commissioner of Police that I am going to go down my car and walk down and I did.”
AS the 2023 elections draw near, there have been concerns that many students will likely not vote due to the short holiday given by schools, Mustapha Usman, reports.
During the long recent ASUU strike, Abubakar Sherif, 22, thought he would have the opportunity of voting his preferred candidate during the 2023 elections as he was able to register for his Permanent Voter’s card, PVC, in his state.
Sherif, a student at Federal University, Dutse-ma, Katsina, was one of the millions of young people who registered for voter’s cards in 2022.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities embarked on a long, and comprehensive strike which led to the shutdown of universities for eight months. During the strike, many University students went back to their various homes and, as such registered for PVC in their respective states.
Schools have resumed, and many of the students have returned, thereby being away from their polling unit. Those who want to vote will have to travel long distances to do so and may also risk missing lectures and other academic activities.
The ICIR gathered that some institutions, especially universities, give a few days break for elections. This, according to students who spoke to The ICIR, is not enough for a journey that may take a day or two to their destinations.
For instance, in 2019, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto gave a three-day break to students for election. Also, Obafemi Awolowo University gave two days break to students to exercise their rights.
Similarly, insecurity, bad roads and economic capacity are factors that may hinder students studying faraway from home from returning to perform their civic responsibility.
The Independent National Electoral Commission said it recorded a historic number of registered voters this year. In another report, The ICIRgathered that about 40 per cent of registered voters are students.
This, however, has led to arguments and discussions amongst Nigerians as to what the preparedness of INEC and institutions are relative to the situation.
Students groan over inability to collect PVC
The Commission will likely end PVC distribution February 5 it was extended. On January 5, 2023, the electoral body moved the distribution from Local Government Areas to Wards.
On January 5, 2023, the electoral body moved the distribution from Local Government Areas to Wards.
However, travelling students who are part of the additional 12.29 million citizens registered for the card between 2021 and July 31, 2022, may not be available to collect their PVC.
Abdulganiyu Adam, a student of Ahmadu Bello University, explained that he would not be voting as he does not have the chance to collect his PVC in his state.
Mustapha Ahmad of Federal University Abuja also disclosed that he registered for PVC in Kwara state and won’t have the opportunity to collect it before the deadline, even if he wishes to vote.
Ahmad said, “We heard that the University will be giving us a week holiday for the election, but I am not sure I will be travelling because I don’t even have the PVC.”
Opeyemi Olalekan, a student of the University of Ibadan who is an indigene of Delta state, said she wouldn’t be voting because “I didn’t collect my PVC when I went home, and even if I did, my polling unit is not in Oyo state.”
A 200-level Business Management student at Federal University Dutse-ma, Katsina Abdulfatai Abdulsamad, said he won’t be voting because he hasn’t gotten his PVC due to their just-completed examinations.
Many of us didn’t vote in 2015 and ‘19 because of school activities
There have been issues regarding voter turnout in the previous elections.
In 2019, only 35.66 per cent of the 84.0 million registered voters across the country voted. This translates to 29.3 million accredited voters in the presidential election.
While in 2011 and 2015, Nigeria recorded 53 per cent and 43.6 per cent turnout of the total registered voters, respectively.
A graduate of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Idris AbdulGaniy wrote on his Facebook status that he couldn’t vote for his preferred candidate in the 2015 and 2019 elections due to the ongoing session in the school.
According to him, he registered for PVC in Kwara state but was in school during the election and couldn’t take the risk of travelling back to Kwara, which would take almost 16 hours to make for a three-day holiday.
“For two consecutive years 2015 & 2019 I was unable to vote for my preferred candidates in the last two general elections because I was out of my state where I was supposed to cast my vote.
“In 2015, I was in Sokoto UDUS studying that year and it’s not possible for someone to vote in another state apart from his own state, local government and polling unit where the person was registered with. That is the reason why I missed the election of that year 2015,” he wrote.
Online Protest over alleged move to disenfranchise ‘3.5 million’ students
Nigerians on social media using the twitter platform are protesting over the alleged moves to disenfranchise ‘millions’ of university students in the 2023 elections.
The ICIR gathered that the online protest emanated after Daily Sun newspaper front page headlines that about 3.5 million Nigerian students won’t vote. The newspaper cited that students will be in school despite registering for PVC at home.
Several tweeps, however, showed displeasure over the development, noting that INEC should work with ASUU and University students to release students for PVC collection and give them 2-3 weeks’ holiday for the elections.
Nigerians trend #NigerianStudentsmustvote on twitter.
A Twitter user, @IdokoEm58807717 wrote “FUTMINNA has even released exam table already, which will commence on 13th of Feb till 1st march, and I did my voters card in Benue during the Asuu strike, so there is no chance of me voting anymore.”
Another user with Twitter ID @moipackage, also tweeted that “I really don’t know why @Asuu cannot give a compulsory one-week break for all students to return home and take their PVCs and do the same again the week before elections. The FG kept you home for 8 months, and your salaries are still withheld till now.”
The ICIR confirmed that Bayero University of Kano scheduled a two-week holiday for the 2023 General elections in its calendar.
However, a student of the University, Saliman Ibrahim, who spoke with The ICIR explained that although the two weeks may have been fair enough for students to exercise their rights during elections, many of them still couldn’t travel to get their PVC as they registered in their respective homes.
Similarly, insecurity, fuel scarcity and inflation of transport fees are other reasons why many said they have decided to remain in school during the general elections, according to Ibrahim.
FUTMinna to hold exams two days after presidential election
The ICIR gathered that the Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUTMinna) would be writing exams during the period of the presidential election.
According to the school examination timetable that The ICIR obtained from a student of the university, the students will write exams a day before and two days after the election.
The students have Saturday, the election day and Sunday exams free.
A student of the university who preferred not to be named for fear of victimisation said some of them would write exams a day before the election as the school only gave Saturday the election period.
The source stressed that the examination continues two days after the presidential election.
A screenshot from a Twitter thread.A screenshot from a Twitter thread.
Reps ask FG to shut down schools
Following the reaction of Nigerians, the House of Representatives has also asked the federal government to shut down tertiary institutions to allow students to exercise their rights during the general elections.
The house called on the Federal Ministry of Education and other relevant stakeholders to direct all tertiary institutions to suspend academic activities during the period of elections.
According to Kebbi state representative Ibrahim Tukura, over 3.8 million of the newly registered voters are students, accounting for “40.8 per cent of the total number of newly registered voters.
He also called for a special PVC collection for students.
“The students are busy with academic activities, and the Independent National Electoral Commission is engaged in distributing PVCs at the wards across the 774 Local Government Areas of the federation, which deprives students of the opportunity to collect their PVCs,” he said.
Electronic election, a way forward – ERC
National Coordinator Education Rights Campaign (ERC), Hassan Taiwo Soweto, has called on INEC to adopt the use of electronic election to allow people to vote for their preferred candidate, adding that Nigerians should be able to vote irrespective of where they are once they register with them.
Soweto, in an interview with The ICIR, said the INEC seems unconcerned about the millions of students who may likely not vote due to the ongoing session, stressing that the electoral body should have planned for this ahead.
According to him, school management should grant students who are willing to vote leave so as to allow them to exercise their constitutional rights.
Varsities can’t be forced to close for elections- INEC
The electoral commission, in an interview with The Punch disclosed that the universities can’t be forced to close for elections, adding that the commission don’t have such power.
According to INEC chairman’s media aide Rotimi Oyekanmi, “Each university has a governing council that decides how the university should be run. I doubt it, although I stand to be corrected if the National Universities Commission can indeed issue a directive to universities on when to go on holidays or operate.”
Ministry of Education declines interview
On January 25, The ICIR reached out to the Ministry of Education spokesperson Ben Goong to seek reactions on the alleged move to disenfranchise millions of students, but no response has been filed.
Other efforts, such as SMS and WhatsApp messages, were also not returned.
Produced in partnership with the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) with support from Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO).
THE Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council has accused the All Progressives Council (APC) of running a religious organisation in the name of a political party.
The campaign council’s spokesperson, Kenneth Okonkwo, made the accusation while speaking during a Twitter space organised by The ICIR, on Monday, January 30.
Faulting the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket fielded by the APC, Okonkwo noted that any party that does not recognise the country’s diversity is going to cause instability.
He stressed that the Labour Party is trying to prevent war in Nigeria by pushing for Peter Obi’s presidency.
“Any party that doesn’t recognise our diversity is going to bring instability. Haven’t you heard some clerics saying they are going on Jihad to support Muslim-Muslim ticket. That’s war. And that’s what we are trying to avoid when we were saying bringing same fate ticket in Nigeria with what we know is not going to help us. A lot of Muslims are against it.
“Can you imagine in a party, you have the Senate President, Muslim. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Muslim. Deputy Speaker of the House, Muslim. Presidential candidate, Muslim, Vice presidential candidate, Muslim, even National party chairman. At a time when we have a Muslim Chief Justice of the Federation. So what kind of party is that?
“It’s even against our Constitution. It’s against Section 14, sub-section 34 of the Constitution. It’s against Section 15, sub-section 1, sub-section 2, sub-section 3(d) and sub-section 4 of the Constitution. You can’t have a party and give it an appearance as if it’s a religious party or an ethnic party.”
Speaking on the Labour Party’s structure, Okonkwo further stressed that the South-East and South-South are for Obi, adding that he will share the South-West with the APC presidential candidate, Tinubu.
According to him, 90 per cent of Nigerian Christians will vote for Obi due to the Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“If you like it or not, 90 per cent of Christians, Nigeria wise, are doing Obi. And the reason is that they don’t want Muslim-Muslim ticket. I am telling you that those Christians would still have voted against Christian-Christian ticket, it’s not about religion. It’s another fact that we are a divided nation.”
He stressed that Obi’s structure had already been in existence since 2019, noting that it is strong and firm.
Suggesting that Obi is the third-force, sought by Nigerians, Okonkwo added: “When this movement started, It predated Obi entering Labour Party. Since 2019, Nigerians have been unanimous that the major political parties have failed. They lost confidence in the major political parties, and they wanted third-force but who is going to be a symbol of this third force?”
LABOUR Party campaign spokesperson Kenneth Okonkwo has said Peter Obi’s political structure is more reliable than that of his opponents because it is rooted in the people.
Okonkwo spoke during a Twitter Space organised by The ICIR with the theme ‘Peter Obi and 2023 Presidential Elections: Defining the Structure’.
He noted that Obi’s structure is the people, contrary to what he described as the “paid structure” enjoyed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Progressives Congress (APC).
He argued further that those supporting PDP and APC candidates were doing so for their personal gains, rather than for the Nigeria’s benefit of the country.
“When it comes to structure, he has the most widespread and reliable structure of volunteers. Whoever you see calling Obi is doing so without any expectation of monetary inducement,” he said.
He stressed that Obi has a more reliable structure, which he described as organic and filled with committed people.
Okonkwo also argued that Obi has deep-seated and empathetic supporters from both the PDP and APC, many of whom have issues with candidates both parties presented.
“Apart from being the flagbearer of Labour Party, Obi has structure across the states, local governments and wards because the people are his structure. We have many members of PDP and APC who support Obi’s cause because of their belief in him.
Commenting further on Peter Obi’s chances without a governor, a minister and representatives at the National Assembly, Okonkwo said, “Peter had similar challenges before he became the governor of Anambra State.
“When itcame in to the contest for the governorship position of Anambra State, I know as a fact that All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) has no structure. No senator, no state or federal lawmaker, not even a councillor. It goes a long way to justify my point that the people are the structure.”
Speaking further on the APC and PDP, he said, “They know that if they don’t spend money, nobody will follow them. The structure they keep speaking of is the structure of corruption, criminality, insecurity, poverty, unemployment, illegality which kept us currently where we are as a nation.”
THE Kano State economy, valued at $12.39 billion, is expected to grow appreciably with President Muhammadu Buhari’s commissioning, today, of the Dala Inland dry port (IDP) in Dala local government area of Kano State.
Kano State is notable for commerce, and economic watchers believe an inland dry port would deepen its wealth expansion with neighbouring states and the Niger Republic.
Kano State remains the largest non-oil and gas economy in the country with an estimated $12.39 billion market size driven by commerce, manufacturing and subsistence agriculture.
Shortly after commissioning the Dala IDP, President Buhari proceeded to the Kano Grid Solar Power project at Kumbotso.
The President, alongside the Kano State governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, and his deputy Nasir Yusuf Gawuna, commissioned the solar power project.
The project would be supplying power to some of the industries in the state to ensure Kano remains an industrial and commerce hub.
The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Shippers Council, Emmanuel Jime, remarked at the occasion that the Dala IDP would boost the trans-Sahara trade and, indeed, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
He also declared the dry port as a pacesetter for other dry ports in the country.
“Kano leads the way as far as commercial activities are concerned, as all the states in the northern part of Nigeria regard Kano as the commercial hub,” he said.
The NSC boss noted that the support and partnership of the Kano State government with regard to the development of the Dala IDP should be emulated by other state governments.
According to him, the port would serve to decongest the seaports and reduce the cost of doing business.
“It will provide an avenue for shippers in the hinterland and neighbouring countries like Niger, Chad, and Benin to have their cargoes transported to their doorsteps,” he said.
