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More than 1,689 litigation received over 2019 general election, says INEC

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More than 1,689 litigation received over 2019 general election, says INEC

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it recorded over 1,689 court cases arising from the 2019 general election.

Mohammed Haruna, INEC National Electoral Commissioner in charge of Niger, Kogi, and Nasarawa states, said this on Thursday in Lafia during the state level post-election review retreat.

Haruna said more than 890 of the cases were pre-election matters arising from the conduct of political party primary elections, while 799 were election petitions at the various tribunals across the country.

According to him, the pre-election cases indicate that political parties need to put their acts together in order to deepen the nation’s democratic process.

He also said that the cases before the election petitions tribunals showed that much still needed to be done to improve on the electoral process.

“We are here to review what we did for this year’s general election with a view to improving on our subsequent outing. You will agree with me that any document is work in progress, you can never get it perfectly,” said Haruna.

He expressed optimism that from the review of the 2019 general election with inputs from the various stakeholders, subsequent elections would be better than the previous as noticeable pitfalls would be addressed.

Haruna cited the unprecedented number of political parties that participated in the 2019 general election as one of the challenges that the commission faced during the conduct of the polls.

In his remarks, Uthman Ajidagba, Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, said that 26 cases were recorded in the state from the 2019 general election.

Ajidagba said two were pre-election litigations while 24 cases were at the election petition tribunals. He said that there were no much complain from the elections in the state given the minimal numbers of cases.

“That we have this small number means that there was a level of satisfaction but some people just want to prove points by going to the tribunal,” he said.

He maintained that the post-election review retreat was very crucial to enable the commission to correct identified lapses and consolidate on the successes recorded.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the post-election review retreat had in attendance, Electoral officers from the 13 local government areas of the state, returning officers as well as collation officers.

(NAN)

Okorocha sworn-in as Senator

Nneoma BENSON
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Okorocha sworn-in as Senator

THE former Governor of Imo State, Rocha Okorocha, on Thursday has been sworn in as Senator representing Imo West district.

He was sworn in by the newly elected Senate President, Ahmed Lawan.

Okorocha was earlier denied access into the National Assembly complex on Tuesday during the inauguration of senators, owing to a court order restraining the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) from issuing a Certificate of Return to him.

He was alleged to have been declared winner under duress, a report quoting the returning officer.

The federal high court on Wednesday had given a final verdict on the case, asking the INEC to issue Okorocha a Certificate of Return as senator-elect representing Imo west.

Okorocha on his part, through his media aide, appreciated the INEC for issuing him the certificate at last. He also thanked the returning officer for declaring him a winner “under duress”, saying such an act has rather attracted to him public sympathy.

 

Ezekwesili asks Buhari to tackle poverty in honour of Abiola

Rebecca Akinremi
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Ezekwesili asks Buhari to tackle poverty in honour of Abiola

OBY Ezekwesili, former Minister of Education, has asked the President Muhammadu Buhari government to show it was easier and faster to tackle poverty in the 21st century “than it was when Moshood Abiola was alive”.

Ezekwesili made this known at an event organized by the Pro-Democracy Movement in Lagos to commemorate the Democracy Day on June 12, according to Punch.

She said since “democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people”, those at the helms of affairs should be bothered about the high rate of poverty in Nigeria. According to her, that was the issue the late Moshood Abiola wanted to resolve before his mandate was stolen.

“What was the rate of poverty when Chief MKO Abiola enunciated a manifesto that talked about farewell to poverty? What you can see clearly from the indicators is that poverty has increased,” she said.

Ezekwesili said the greatest honor the government could give Abiola was to show that it was easier and faster to tackle poverty in the 21st century than it was when he was alive.

She noted that what has happened between 1993 and now is that “Nigeria has overtaken India, a nation that is about six times its population, by having the largest number of extremely poor people in its population”.

“If you have 93 million people living in poverty, then it means that you must focus the government on them”.

But what she said had happened in the government was the monopolizing of political and governance space, adding that citizens “whom the democracy should be for” were excluded. Ezekwesili said the political class has “weaponised poverty as an instrument of perpetual control”.

She noted that these 93 million people vote out of ignorance, if at all they did. “Unfortunately, some of the 93 million people don’t vote and when they have the power to vote, they don’t clearly know how to exercise that vote in their own interest. What do you then do when the excluded have a way of conspiring with a system that has excluded them to entrench the exclusion?

Sound policies, strong institutions, effective and efficient investment in public goods and services are what the government should provide the country to attain a height of productivity, lifting the people out of poverty, said Ezekwesili.

She also urged privileged Nigerians to use their positions to uplift the poor for a change in their orientation, as well as to improve their productivity.

Ezekwesili said Nigerians must also speak up against bad government such that what will guarantee progress in “perpetuity is the office of the citizens”. “Stop swallowing your voice. Stop being distracted by daily bread issues. We need a coalition of forces of citizens to say, ‘we can reclaim our land’, she chanted.

Adherence to the rule of law, participation, responsiveness, transparency, accountability, equity and equality are the concepts of good governance, Ezekwesili outlined. “But when you don’t see these, then you know there is no good governance,” she said.

NASA renames street for ‘hidden’ black women mathematicians

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
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NASA renames street for ‘hidden’ black women mathematicians

NASA has renamed the street outside its Washington headquarters to honor three black female mathematicians whose pioneering work on the agency’s early space program was chronicled in the film “Hidden Figures”.

Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson provided pivotal contributions to space flight research from the 1940s through to the 1960s, when the United States first sent men to orbit and then walk on the Moon.

Despite their achievements, all three had to confront the racial segregation of the era.

They were among dozens of African-Americans, both male and female, who worked as mathematicians and physicists for the US space program, even as they were forced to use separate bathrooms from whites, and were barred from the same restaurants and schools frequented by whites.

The trio’s work was largely forgotten until they were profiled in the book “Hidden Figures” decades later by author Margot Lee Shetterly, later adapted into the 2016 blockbuster of the same name.

Shetterly said the decision to ordain Hidden Figures Way honored “the contributions of unseen individuals who were there at the beginning of the story, and whose persistence and courage have delivered us to where we are today.”

“These female mathematicians were doing the heavy lifting in aeronautical research and many, many other fields long before those chunks of electronic circuitry became the defining feature of our life and work,” she said at a Wednesday ceremony outside NASA.

In 2015 US President Barack Obama gave Johnson, who is now 100, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.

Jackson and Vaughan died in 2005 and 2008 respectively.

NASA will next month celebrate the 50th anniversary of the successful Apollo 11 mission and humanity’s first Moon landing.

The agency last month announced its plan to return astronauts to the Moon by 2024 through its “Artemis” program — named for the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology.

AFP

Can social media help anti-corruption drives? A Nigerian case study

Editorial
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Can social media help anti-corruption drives? A Nigerian case study

Tolu Olarewaju, Staffordshire University

CORRUPTION can have a crippling effect on a country’s economy. This is why African businesses have described ending corruption as “priority number one”.

Take Nigeria, where the basic infrastructure deficit is huge but funds to improve its infrastructure always seem to end up missing or misallocated. In addition, projects are started and never finished. As a result the country’s roads, rail and ports are in a deplorable state.

Nigerians also suffer from persistent electricity shortages. They lack pipe-borne water and proper sanitation facilities. Housing provision is a problem too.

The country has spent billions of US dollars to resuscitate its power and transport sectors. But it has very little to show for it. Nigeria is not alone. Researchers often report that infrastructure spending is regularly used by public officers and government officials across the continent to misappropriate funds.

Tackling corruption is notoriously difficult. Once it’s embedded in a country’s systems it’s difficult to weed out. But a fresh approach is being pursued in Nigeria – with some startling results. Ordinary citizens are mobilising the use of technology and social media to produce evidence that’s used to hold officials to account.

Our research set out to discover whether the use of technology and social media by ordinary citizens to monitor infrastructure projects could result in more infrastructure projects being completed – and could also lessen corruption.

A version of this approach has been tried in countries like Peru and South Korea. Nigeria seems to be the first – at least on the African continent – to monitor infrastructure projects in this way.

Our research found, for example, that the camera feed showing the construction of the second river Niger bridge, and similar schemes by Tracka gave citizens the power to monitor infrastructure projects. It also increased transparency and could be used to hold the government and engineering firms that build infrastructure to account.

But we also found that there were challenges. For example, citizens needed data and power to monitor infrastructure projects. Neither was always available.

The approach

Monitoring projects has been used by firms and the government as a way to provide more transparency.

For example, research from Uganda shows that corrupt government officials were less able to siphon money for their own enrichment when citizens knew where money was supposed to go and could therefore monitor spending; the diversion of funds fell by 12% over six years.

Research from Kenya also showed that public monitoring of government projects reduced corruption by 20%.

In Nigeria, we investigated infrastructure projects that were monitored by citizens and compared these to infrastructure projects that weren’t monitored. We found that there was a positive link between citizens using technology and social media to monitor infrastructure projects and better completion rates and standards for the infrastructure projects.

Generally, when government officials and infrastructure building engineering firms knew that they were being monitored, they didn’t want to get caught out. In certain cases, citizens were able to engage with the ministry of works and their state governor and use social media to engage in discussions about the project.

By taking pictures of the proposed infrastructure sites and tagging their state governors or representatives in regular posts about the infrastructure projects, civic participation was encouraged. Although there was no often response in the first instance, the high visibility generated by social media and the threat of losing forthcoming elections often resulted in the infrastructure projects being completed. But this was only for projects that citizens could monitor – and there are too few of these. Even we struggled to find many.

Our investigations also revealed that frequent offline and online discussions created awareness about the infrastructure projects and helped citizens to suggest projects that would be useful for their communities.

Challenges to this approach

This approach is not without its challenges.

For example, citizens needed key information to monitor infrastructure projects properly. This included the type, cost, key stages and duration of the projects. Only then would they be able to compare what was actually happening before their eyes to what had been budgeted for so they could alert the relevant authorities as soon as there were discrepancies.

Mobile network technology and access to social media platforms are also needed to make this work.

There were also social and cultural issues. Some citizens didn’t want to engage with social media and technology for personal reasons. In addition, when evidence of corruption was reported by citizens, some saw this as a politically motivated attack. The result was that they lashed out instead of trying to solve the corruption being exposed.

Other challenges included:

  • a lack of clear penalties for individuals involved with monitored infrastructure projects that not completed, or not completed to a decent standard;
  • a lack of follow up by the relevant anti-corruption authorities; and
  • not enough being done when there were clear cases of standards not being met.

Implications

Technology and social media can be used as effective tools by citizens to monitor infrastructure projects. But this isn’t enough on its own. It can only be effective if budgets are also made fully visible.

This would enable citizens to know what they are monitoring and what to look for. Citizens would be wise to demand such transparency: honest governments will have nothing to fear.

This points to the need for a comprehensive approach to tackling corruption. This would need to include transparency and offline and online citizen engagement. In this context, technology and social media could be used as complementary tools.

If African governments and infrastructure building engineering firms on the continent are really concerned about corruption and want to show that they have nothing to hide, they can use this approach to gain more trust from the citizenry.

Tolu Olarewaju, Lecturer in Economics, Staffordshire University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Democracy Day speech: Buhari’s GDP growth rate contradicts figures from CBN, IMF, others

'Kunle ADEBAJO
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Democracy Day speech: Buhari’s GDP growth rate contradicts figures from CBN, IMF, others

DELIVERING the customary annual speech on the occasion of Nigeria’s Democracy Day celebration on Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari said the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to grow by 2.7 per cent in 2019. This projection has, however, been found to conflict with various other sources.

“We now have witnessed eight quarters of positive growth in the economy and our GDP is expected to grow by 2.7 percent this year,” Buhari said.

While it is true that Nigeria has witnessed positive economic growth for eight quarters, since it exited recession in the second quarter of 2017, The ICIR could not find a single authority backing the  claim that GDP will grow in the same measure as quoted by the president.

AfDB, CBN, others disagree

The African Development Bank (AfDB) in its Nigeria Economic Outlook states that the country’s real GDP is projected to grow by 2.3 per cent in 2019 and 2.4 per cent in 2020 “as implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan gains pace”.

Also, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its World Economic Outlook reports released in January and April stated that Nigeria’s economic growth rate is 2.1 per cent in 2019, and will be 2.5 per cent in 2020.

Its downward revision of the figure, the IMF explained, is as a result of the global “softening of oil prices”.

Former minister of budget and national planning, Udo Udoma, however disagreed with the international organisation’s forecast, insisting that the economy is expected to grow by 3.01 per cent this year.

Udoma’s figure was echoed in April by Ben Akabueze, Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation.

Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) likewise said the bank has made a forecast that the economy will pick up and grow by three per cent as recovery from the recent recession is becoming more self-sustaining.

Infographic by Damilola OJETUNDE

Conclusion

The president’s claim is inaccurate and cannot be substantiated relying on projection by experts. Meanwhile, two other claims made by the president were found to be correct.

He said: “According to United Nations estimates, our population will rise to 411 million by 2050, making us the third most populous nation on earth behind only China and India.” This is supported by the United Nations’ World Population Prospects of 2017.

He also said: “The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index which is the gauge of manufacturing activity in the country has also risen for 26 consecutive months since March 2017 indicating continuous growth and expansion in our manufacturing sector.”

Again, this claim is supported by the CBN’s monthly Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) Reports. Though the index points occasionally reduce compared to preceding months, the CBN explains that “a composite PMI above 50 points indicates that the manufacturing/non-manufacturing economy is generally expanding”.

Nigerians express mixed reactions over Democracy Day on social media

Amos ABBA
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Nigerians express mixed reactions over Democracy Day on social media

TWENTY-SIX years ago, Nigerians took to the polls on June 12, 1993, to participate in what has been described by many as the “freest and fairest” general elections in Nigerian history.

M.K.O Abiola was on the verge of being declared a winner before former Head of State Ibrahim Babangida annulled the elections, and handed over to an Interim National Government, ING.

On the first anniversary of the annulled elections, after he publicly declared himself Nigeria’s lawfully elected president, Moshood Abiola was arrested, and charged with treason by the late General Sani Abacha, the man who took over from ING headed by Earnest Shonekan.

After spending four years in detention, and the subsequent death of his wife Kudirat, Abiola died in mysterious circumstances on the day that he was due to be released.

President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier on Monday declared June 12, as a public holiday, to commemorate Nigeria’s National Democracy Day after previous leaders failed to immortalise the late MKO.

However, it’s been twenty years of unbroken democratic rule in Nigeria since May 1999. While many Nigerians view the democratic process as a work in progress which can get better, others disagree stating that the nation has failed in terms of democratic gains achieved so far.

The ICIR gleaned opinions of some Nigerians on Twitter about the democratic prospects of the country after 20 years of civil rule.

A Twitter user whose handle is @omoniyi_martins posted this text on his handle: “Happy Democracy day fellow Nigerians. Welcome to Nigeria, Home of corruption. Home of negligence. Grand Home and Bank of Poverty. Ambassador for terrorism and insurgency, with corruptible leaders. Happy Demonstration of craze Crazy Demonstration.”

In contrast, @KadariaAhmed expressed optimism in her tweet with the hopes that more grounds could still be covered.

At the time of filing this report, Kadaria’s tweet had been retweeted 118 times.

Below are more reactions from Nigerians on their thoughts on democracy day.

Former Senate President Bukola Saraki, in his tweet reflected on what democracy day should mean to Nigerians.

 

Businesses took advantage of the epochal event to advertise their products.

 

Find more tweets here.

After death of staff, union gives NIMC two-week ultimatum over welfare package

YEKEEN Akinwale
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After death of staff, union gives NIMC two-week ultimatum over welfare package

THE Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) chapter has issued a two-week ultimatum to the management of the Commission to address the poor welfare package of the workers.

The union in a letter addressed to the Director General of the Commission titled “perceived refusal to address staff welfare in the commission,” and dated June 6, 2019, lamented that six workers died of curable ailments due to the poor handling of the staff welfare by the management.

The letter which was also copied to Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation was signed by Lucky Asekokhai and Odia Victor, Chairman and Secretary of the union respectively was sent to The ICIR.

The six staff of the Commission that died were those from  head office in Abuja and those in states such as Ondo, Anambra, Adamawa and Kano.

The union said it was worried that the NIMC management relegated to the background, the issues of staff welfare, especially in the area of dwindling staff salaries, non-payment of allowances and non-implementation of para-military salary scale.

It noted that the amount allocated to the payment of staff salaries and wages in the 2019 did not show any improvement, wondering what the NIMC management has been doing on issues like the implementation of the para-military salary scale, payment of allowance that was removed upon joining IPPIS, payment of first 28 days being owed staff that had been recruited since 2013 and payment of hazard allowances.

The union said it was left with no option than to issue the ultimatum after exploring all peaceful means to make the management yield failed.

“Having resolved to seek the way forward rather than continue to suffer in the midst of plenty, the union hereby requests the Director General and his management team to address all the contending issues as enumerated above, especially the staff welfare within two weeks ,”it said.

“Note that if by the end of June, nothing significant is done, union will have no option but to employ all available tools within its power to ensure that the above listed issues get the needed attention.”

The union further urged the management to heed its warning before “it is too late,” noting that it appreciates and works towards a peaceful work environment and prosperous commission for all.

NAF helicopter crash lands in Katsina, but no casualty

YEKEEN Akinwale
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NAF helicopter crash lands in Katsina, but no casualty

A NIGERIAN Air Force (NAF) Helicopter has crash landed while returning from an anti-armed banditry combat mission in the Northwest  under Operation Hadaran Daji.

According to a press release by the Nigeria Air Force on its verified Twitter handle @NigAirForce, the incident happened at the Katsina Airport at about 3.30pm today, 12 June.

The statement said details of the cause of the incident were still scanty.

It however, disclosed that there was no loss of life, either of persons on board the helicopter or on the ground.

The Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Sadique Abubakar, the statement added, has immediately directed the constitution of a Board of Inquiry to determine the exact cause of the incident.

“The NAF continues to solicit the understanding and support of the general public as it daily strives to ensure the security of Nigeria and Nigerians.”

The Nigeria Air Force in April joined forces in Katsina State to flush out kidnappers and armed bandits when it launched “Operation Tsaftar Daji” with the deployment of modern fighter jets.

Atiku advocates true dividends of democracy, says, ‘June 12 not enough’

Nneoma BENSON
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Atiku advocates true dividends of democracy, says, ‘June 12 not enough’

FORMER Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that the declaration of June 12 to commemorate democracy in Nigeria does not echo the true dividends of democracy since inception.

This information was contained in a statement made available on Wednesday.

Abubakar said June 12, embodied something much bigger, but “a threshold moment in our national life that demands of us as democrats to do a soul searching and ask the salient question of all time: how better off are Nigerians?

“It is not enough to declare June 12 a Democracy Day when the government of the day is disrespectful of the rule of law and wantonly disregards court orders on issues that border on fundamental human rights.

“It is not enough to declare June 12 a work-free day when the ordinary people of Nigeria still don’t have the freedom to find a better life from the suffocating grip of poverty, when Nigeria is now the global headquarters of extreme poverty,” Abubakar said.

According to him, Chief Mishood Abiola’s campaign choice of ‘HOPE’, encapsulated in his slogan wasn’t to deceive Nigerians with the hope he could not deliver upon, and as such called on every June 12 convert to demand of those, either in government or in private lives, to deliver on the promises they made to the people.

“It is therefore not acceptable that an administration which had an opportunity of four years to deliver the promise of change to Nigerians, not only reneged on that promise but propelled the country into a near-comatose state will lay claims to being a true friend of the June 12 struggle.”

He noted that being a June 12 lover is far off believing in the common good of the people, but a concentration to rebuild the Nigeria economy, creating wealth and jobs for the unemployed masses.

He added it is about shared prosperity and not the inclination of shared pain.

He enjoined the masses to keep the HOPE alive as the struggle of June 12 continues.

“As we celebrate yet another episode of the June 12 struggle, the desire for hope is more preponderant today much as it was twenty-six years ago. So, for all true lovers of democracy, let us keep the ‘HOPE’ alive.”

Buhari had on June 6, 2018, declared that June 12 would be the new Democracy Day in commemoration of the presidential election of June 12, 1993, presumed to have been won by the late Chief MKO Abiola.

The president on Monday, June 10, signed into law the Public Holiday (Amendment) Bill which accommodates June 12 as the new Nigeria’s Democracy Day, replacing May 29,

Senator Ita Enang, the presidential aide noted that the newly amended law shifts the public holiday observed on May 29th to June 12, every year.

 

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