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FG Gives ASUU Six Days Ultimatum To Call Off Strike

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FG Gives ASUU Six Days Ultimatum To Call Off Strike

The federal government has ordered the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, to reopen all federal universities in the country by December 4, or face mass sack.

Nyesom Wike, the supervising minister of Education, also directed the pro-chancellors and vice-chancellors to ensure that members of staff who resumed for work were provided with the enabling environment for academic and allied activities.

Wike warned that any academic staff who failed to resume on or before the stipulated date automatically ceases to be a staff of the institution.

ASUU had on July 1 started a comprehensive strike in public universities across the country, protesting the non-implementation of some issues contained in an agreement it entered into with the Federal government in 2009.

In his reaction to the directive, chairman of the university of Lagos branch of ASUU, Oghenekaro Ogbinaka, said the directive was strange and laughable.

He said that this was so considering the fact that the union was yet to get back to the government, after its deliberations with President Goodluck Jonathan.

“Our reaction is simple. Let us just wait for the seven days to come around. What government has just done shows that they were not committed in the offer they made with the union that had the Trade Union Congress President and the Minister of Labour in attendance,” he said.

He added: “We are not going to fall to that blackmail. Now, which one is better: government acceding to our demands or issuing out threats?
Honestly, this whole thing ought to have been easily resolved, given the approach taken by President (Goodluck) Jonathan, but it is like we want to be taken for granted after all and it is unfair.”

Also commenting on the government directive, Sat Obiyan, head of department of political science, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, said that the ultimatum was not the best approach to resolving the issue.

Obiyan said that the threat might achieve some success because some lecturers would resume for fear of losing their jobs, but it would not end the crisis in the education sector.

“Nigerians are worried over the situation. The prolonged strike is not good for the education system in the country, but the federal government’s approach now is not the best,” he noted.

Obiyan urged the federal government to have a rethink and implement the agreement reached with the union, while also urging union members to give the presidency the benefit of doubt that the agreement would be implemented.

The coordinator of Education Right Campaign, ERC, Hassan Soweto, said that the ultimatum would only worsen the problem, noting that it was against the principle of public bargaining.

“What ASUU wants is some level of commitment from the federal government before it will suspend the strike. It is not right for the government to use force in a democracy,” he said.

APC Stage Protest At INEC HQ Amid Tight Security

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APC Stage Protest At INEC HQ Amid Tight Security

The All Progressives Congress, APC staged a street protest at the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC headquarters in the Maitama district of Abuja on Thursday in spite of heavy security presence and initial plans to scuttle the action.

Soldiers were drafted to the INEC headquarters Thursday as part of heavy security build-up to forestall the breakdown of law and order and motorists witnessed huge traffic jam around the city central as a result of the protest.

Leading the protest were former head of state, Mohammadu Buhari and former Lagos State governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, among other high profile members of the party.apc protest 3

The party called for the cancellation of the November 16 Anambra gubernatorial election, as well as the removal of the INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega.

According to the party in a formal protest letter submitted at the commission, the Anambra election falls grossly below any acceptable standard and spells doom for the country in 2015 if Jega is allowed to continue to head the electoral body.

It also called for the suspension and prosecution of all officials of the commission who have ever been indicted for electoral fraudulence to purge the commission of such compromised officials.

Some of the handbills used for the protest read: “INEC, Just 1 Authentic Permanent Voters’ Register Please”, “INEC Stop Disenfranchising Nigerians With Fake Multiple Voters’ Registers”, “2015 No Hope With Jega”, “Overhaul INEC Now! 2015 This INEC Is Not Capable”, “What of Delta-Central Senatorial Election?” “Oguta Election Not Concluded, Why?”

Meanwhile, a mild drama ensued just after the protest between members of the party and an official of the Automaten Technik Baumann, ATB, one of the companies in charge of enforcing electronic parking system in the city.

The official got more than he bargained for when he clamped the tyres of a car belonging to one of the protesters. On getting to their vehicle and seeing the tyres locked, the owner pleaded with the official to unlock the vehicle but he would not agree.

The argument drew the attention of more protesters who pounced on him and severely beat him up, seizing his clamping equipment and all the monies he had made for the day.

It took the intervention of some journalists to rescue him.

Below is a copy of the protest letter submitted at the INEC headquarters:

28th November 2013
The Chairman,
Independent National Electoral Commission,
Plot 436 Zambezi Crescent,
Maitama District
,
FCT, Abuja,
NIGERIA

Dear Sir,

Re: ANAMBRA STATE GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION: A CALL TO SAVE OUR DEMOCRACY.

The above subject refers. On the 16th November 2013, the good people of Anambra State woke up with great aspiration and expectation to cast their votes to elect a new Governor for the state.

Prior to the date for the Election, the ominous signs of an election that was pre-determined to favour specific interests against the run of the electorate support were already clear. When our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) noticed these foreboding signs; we immediately drew the attention of the electoral umpire and the whole world to them.

The issues, which our party complained about through official correspondences and various press releases, are several. These include:

The unholy conspiracy between the electoral umpire (INEC) and the presidency/PDP to rig the Elections to rig the election in favor of APGA.
Mass disenfranchisement of voters through use of multiple voters registers,
Deliberate delay in the distribution of electoral materials in the opposition strongholds,
The disappearance of electoral officials and result sheets meant for opposition strongholds,
The sudden creation of about 3,00 voting units, of which our polling Agents did not receive Tags,
The unconstitutional 22-hour curfew, which was a ploy to give the riggers the leeway to actualize their rigging plans while the vigilance of the Electorate was inhibited by the curfew already in place.
The unlawful deployment and use of the military during election and purely civil activities.
Our complaint about the Anambra Resident Electoral Commissioner, Professor Chukwuemeka Onukogu and other Federal Commissioners who had proven to be biased through his conduct in previous elections.

Despite INEC getting information of our complaints, we were doubly assured that our fears were founded.

The elections that were superintended over by your commission was grossly below any acceptable standard, whether local or international. The deliberate tactic to prevent democracy and serve the two parties’ interests, PDP and particularly APGA in this case cannot be democratic and in the voters’ interest.

And the only face saving decision for you and your commission in this circumstance is to cancel the charade, which you want to reinforce of the electorate as a credible election.

We cannot gloat over the dangerous signs and the gathering storms that portend a coup d’etat against the yearnings and aspirations of our people.
The reasons why we cannot accept this infamy of your commission as regards the Anambra election are as follows.

The Manipulation of the October 12th Delta Central Senatorial District bye- election.
The refusal of INEC to conclude the election started since July 29th 2013 in the re-run election to the Imo State of Assembly in Oguta, in spite of the fact that there was a clear winner.
The abnormality displayed in the State House of Assembly by-election in Ringim Constituency of Jigawa state.
The danger that the shenanigans, the conspiracy and the subversion of the will of the people signifies to our democracy.
The question our generations’ yet unborn will ask and their judgment if we refuse to do what is right to arrest the drift of our nation to the straits of destruction which have dire consequence for our people.

A flashback into our political history has revealed that the subversion of the will of the people has always ended in a catastrophe for our nation, thereby drawing back our quest for development.
The collapse of the first and second republic political experiments are pointer to the dangerous path we are treading once again.

We, in the All Progressives Congress (APC) cannot be cowed, for this is a time that calls for all brave men and women to rise to the desperate call of the silent majority to rescue our nation from the assured perdition of a PDP led government at the Federal level.

If you recall, the 2011 National Assembly Elections were cancelled due to the failure of your commission to achieve the right parameters for a credible election. Our position is that if you could cancel an election that has already commenced and voting was ongoing due to flaws in that electoral process, your assertion that you do not have the authority to cancel an election that you have acknowledged as flawed and “messed up and sabotaged” cannot be sustained.

The observed flaws in the election were deliberately planned as a strategic conspiracy of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to rig the Anambra Governorship election in favour of their surrogate party, the PDP faction of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA). With your acknowledgement of these far reaching vitiating factors, your grandstanding to uphold the outcome of the flawed election and your haste to conduct what you call a supplementary election, without first correcting the innate flaws in the electoral process is unacceptable.

We have lost confidence in the ability of INEC as it stands today to organize a free, fair and transparent election anywhere in Nigeria if the Anambra style is repeated.

OUR REQUEST

An outright cancellation of the Anambra Election, having been marred by serious irregularities and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
INEC should discard the present fake multiple voters register and produce one authentic voters register that will not disenfranchise any voter and be published 30 days before any election can take place in Anambra state.
The suspension and prosecution of all officials of the commission who have ever been indicted for electoral perfidy to purge the commission of such compromised officials.
The immediate redeployment and investigation of the current Anambra Resident Electoral Commissioner, Professor Chukwuemeka Onukogu.

We, as a party, we demand honesty and transparency! If our requests above are not acceded, it will confirm that Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is deliberately (by either gross incompetence or more suspicious means) interfering in democracy.
Finally, we demand for the outright cancellation of the manipulated November 16th Gubernatorial election in Anambra State.
Yours Sincerely,

Chief Bisi Akande,
National Chairman,

All Progressives Congress (APC)

Offer Opens For Investigative Fellowships At Harvard

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Offer Opens For Investigative Fellowships At Harvard

Journalists with at least five years of investigative reporting experience in the field can apply to the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics for a yearlong fellowship at Harvard University.

The fellowship seeks to produce specialised writings about targeted private or public institutions that are either for-profit or non-profit.

The selected institutions are public health, the financial services industry, the elected, state judiciary, media (public and private) and Congress.

Salary will be commensurate with experience and health benefits provided.

In addition, international fellows will be assisted with visas.

Applicants must submit application materials online, two letters of reference, a CV, a comprehensive project budget, a proposal describing the institution planned to be covered, and any relevant experience with that institution.

The deadline is January 1, 2014.

To apply and for more information, click here.

 

40 Boko Haram Members Killed By Military In Borno Raids

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40 Boko Haram Members Killed By Military In Borno Raids

Musdapha Ilo, Maiduguri

Over 40 suspected members of the outlawed Boko Haram sect were reportedly killed in air and land raids launched by the military in Borno state.

The raids on hideouts of the sect in Bita village, along Damboa- Gwoza road, took place Sunday and early Monday.

Bita is located about 32 kilometres west of Gwoza and about 135 kilometres away from Maiduguri, the state capital.

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A similar attack about a fortnight ago in the village left over 20 suspected terrorists dead while others escaped the area injured.

A reliable security source said that the offensive was aimed at flushing out the insurgents suspected to have fled the recent attacks on the troops by the military.

It was however difficult to get official confirmation as the lack of network in Borno State made it impossible to get across to security outfits as at press time.

Mass Defection From APC To PDP In Nasarawa

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Mass Defection From APC To PDP In Nasarawa

Over 4,000 members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, on Wednesday defected to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Keffi and Kokona local government areas of Nasarawa State.

The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that the defectors were formally received into the PDP fold at Keffi and Garaku, by the state’s chairman of the party, Yunana Illiya.

While performing this task, Illiya commended the decision of the decampees and urged members of other political parties in the state to emulate them.

He assured them that the party would continue to initiate programmes aimed at bringing development to the people, while canvassing for votes from the electorates in the upcoming local government elections in the state.

The chairman said that if elected, the party would embark on massive construction of rural roads to open up the rural areas in the state, adding that the plight of women, children, persons with disabilities as well as other vulnerable groups would also be given top priority by the party.

While appreciating the people for sustaining peace in the two council areas, Iliya urged them to maintaining the culture of tolerance and peaceful co-existence.

Speaking on behalf of the decampees, Ibrahim Anfani, said that their decision to join the PDP was informed by the leadership style of those elected under the party’s platform across the state.

Anfani said that most of the people elected under the platform of the PDP had carried everybody along irrespective of tribal, religious and political inclination in the state.

ASUU Strike: FG Rejects Lecturers New Demands

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ASUU Strike: FG Rejects Lecturers New Demands

The supervising minister of education, Nyesom Wike, has condemned the new set of conditions given by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, as a yardstick to call off its over five month old strike.

The minister stated that the union was demanding for its arrears of four month salaries to be paid including the implementation of the N1.2 trillion pledged by the federal government for the rehabilitation of public universities in Nigeria.

Wike said the union presented these new conditions to the federal government after its National Executive Committee meeting held in Kano state, North-western Nigeria.

He added that the federal government and the members of the National Assembly would engage the union further in finding a lasting solution to the issue.

Meanwhile, the committee of pro-chancellors of federal universities had on Tuesday called for the immediate re-opening of all universities currently shutdown across the nation.

This directive was handed down to the protesting lecturers in a communiqué signed by the committee’s chairman, Kimse Okoko.

The communique explained that the committee’s decision was based on the negative impact the strike has had on the university system, students and the parents and appealed for the understanding from the leadership and members of ASUU to ensure speedy restoration of academic activities on campuses.

It also expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the referendum conducted in all the branches of ASUU nationwide, which voted 60-40 in favour of the suspension of the ongoing strike.

The federal government had in October announced the suspension of salaries for members of the union, insisting that it will operate on the basis of “No Pork, No Pay”.

Trigger-Happy Police Corporal Kills Inspector

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Trigger-Happy Police Corporal Kills Inspector

From Jefferson Ibiwale, Benin

A Police Inspector has allegedly been shot to death by a trigger-happy corporal identified as Oziegbe Omobude, from Uokhai community in Owan East local government area of Edo state for reasons that are still unclear.

The incident reportedly took place on Monday night at Iyoha road beside Guinness Nigeria Plc, Ikpoba Hill, Benin city when the victim was on his way for an official duty at the United Bank for Africa Plc, located at Agbor road.

Another corporal who accidentally boarded the same vehicle with the suspect also sustained gunshot wounds from his gun-wielding colleague who apparently suspected that he saw him kill the Police Inspector.

The second corporal simply identified as Ayinla had alighted from the bus and was demanding for his change from the bus driver when the suspect shot at him and ordered the driver to drive off.

The suspect police officer is presently on the run.

When contacted, the State Police Command spokesman, Moses Eguavoen, said he was yet to be briefed on the incident.

Meanwhile, the injured Ayinla is said to have been hospitalised in an undisclosed hospital at Ikpoba Hill area of Benin where the corpse of the late Inspector was also said to have been deposited.

 

Senator Denies Dumping PDP For APC

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Senator Denies Dumping PDP For APC

Chairman Senate committee on New Partnership for Africa’s Development, NEPAD, Simeon Ajibola, from Kwara state, has denied claims that he is a member of the Abubakar Baraje-led PDP splinter group that merged with the All Progressives Congress, APC, on Tuesday.

Ajibola’s told newsmen that at no time did he associate himself with the splinter group in Abuja on Tuesday and called on Nigerians to count him out of the merger since he and other senators alleged to be part of the group had never attended any of their meetings.

He said further that senators Zainab Kure (PDP- Niger), Awaisu Kuta (PDP-Niger), Bello Tukur (PDP- Adamawa), among several others were not part of the group.

“When they were branding the news about that 22 senators, including me, were in the PDP faction,10 out of the 22 were not with them and there is no way we can be said to be with them in the so called merger,” he said.

Ajibola added: “In Kwara, they even invited me, but I refused to attend and they reported me to the traditional council of my local government. By 2015 or thereabout, Nigerians will know those who are grassroots politicians and those that are tigers on the pages of newspapers.”

Meanwhile, the special adviser to the President on political affairs, Ahmed Gulak, has said that the Presidency welcomes the idea of the merger between the splinter faction of the PDP and the APC and does not feel threatened in any way.

“The presidency does not feel threatened and the PDP does not feel threatened. PDP is the party to beat. We have had it before even people who had occupied higher offices left the party and came back,” he boasted, adding that “outside there, there is nothing, it is empty. PDP is the only party.”

In addition, the PDP in a statement signed by its national publicity secretary, Olisa Metuh, said the meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and the seven aggrieved governors would still hold at the Presidential Villa on Sunday.

The meeting was earlier billed for last Sunday but was cancelled as the President arrived Nigeria from a foreign trip and said he was too tired to attend.

The Cost Of Anambra Governorship Election

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The Cost Of Anambra Governorship Election

By Eze Onyekpere

In the run up to the Anambra State governorship election, the parties and candidates deployed a lot of human and material resources. Like the other aspects of electioneering, the Electoral Act governs, sets limitations and prescribes permissible human and financial conduct while declaring others illegal. In all the analyses so far, the overall concern has been about what happened on the day of the election and the issues so far raised include a voter register that seemed to be adulterated, logistic challenges related to supplies of materials, late commencement of accreditation and polls and outright sabotage by electoral officials. In all of these, the popular position seems to indicate that the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission was sub-optimal.

But there is a missing link. The Electoral Act sets limitations on the resources a candidate in a governorship election can spend. It also places a limitation on the use of state resources to the advantage or disadvantage of any candidate. By Section 91 (3) of the Act, the maximum election expenses to be incurred by a candidate at a governorship election shall be N200m. A violation of the provision attracts a fine of N800,000 or imprisonment for nine months or both. The Act also prescribes that no individual or other entity shall donate more than N1m to any candidate and a violation also attracts a sanction. For incumbents, the Code of Conduct for Political Parties states that all political parties shall separate party business from government business. No political party shall use state vehicles, or other public resources for any campaign or any other party business. However, if what we saw in Anambra is anything to go by, it appears that these rules were more obeyed in breach than in compliance.

Available evidence indicates that the frontrunning candidates spent money above the permitted ceiling. A candidate claimed and indeed has an office in every ward in the state; the cost of running these offices alone is in tens of millions. These offices had paid personnel and equipment. Candidates even housed some workers and supporters in hotels.  A single carnival-like rally, many of which were held across the state by the frontrunners, with all its logistic costs relating to hire of venue, public address systems, podium, seating arrangements, security, transport, various dressing materials, food, drinks, and entertainers, live media coverage etc, requires a financial outlay of more than N15m. These frontrunning candidates held not less than 10 of such rallies. Of course, there were all manner of gifts to traditional rulers which are only known to the givers and the takers.

The advertisement in the print media was also very expensive with newspaper pages that cost over N500,000 each. For the electronic media, the massive jingles on radio and television cost hundreds of millions.  The billboards that were in all nooks of the state, posters that were pasted and torn the next minute; hire of campaign managers and other staff of the campaign team cost a lot of money. The sudden charitable disposition of some candidates who donated millions of naira to all kinds of “philanthropic” purposes and candidates who offered material benefits to persons attending rallies and events also added up to the cost of the election.

For state resources, the ruling party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, had no business appointing public officers paid at the public expense to run its campaign. Official cars and properties had no business at the rallies of the ruling party whilst the state’s fiscal resources by law should not be deployed to the advantage of the incumbent. The idea is that if the incumbent party or candidate is allowed to use public resources for campaigning, it will amount to an undue advantage against the opposition considering that the resources belong to all.  It is within this context that reports of gift of vehicles to traditional rulers during electioneering fails the test of legality and legitimacy. Even the idea of dragging traditional rulers who are supposed to be fathers to all to endorse a candidate seems to be stretching politicking too far.

On the day of election, there were reports of money being shared to voters, being an attempt to induce them to vote or abstain from voting in a particular manner. Before the election, money exchanged hands and there were reports of fundraising events where huge sums of money were raised.  In all the foregoing, there was little or no regard for the Act which states that any person who directly or indirectly by himself or by any other person on his behalf, gives, lends or agrees to give or lend, or offers any money or valuable consideration for the purpose of influencing a voter commits an offence and shall be liable to a sanction. The reports indicated the law enforcement agents looked the other way while these offences were being committed. No arrests were made and of course, no one has been charged to court.

Although one may query the basis of the N200m limitation in a governorship election, it is still the law and needs to be enforced. But there appears to be no political will to enforce same. The INEC may have been overwhelmed by sheer logistic arrangements as to have time to monitor the expenses of candidates. But nothing stops it from demanding an official expenditure report from candidates and their parties. The truth is that the election may be inconclusive and the stakes too high because of the financial commitment of the candidates.

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The INEC officials who sabotaged the election must have done so under the influence of monetary inducement. No candidate easily accepts defeat after investing billions of naira in a political enterprise. The full scale monetisation of campaigns has made it extremely difficult for reasonable men and women who do not belong to the millionaire club to emerge as candidates. Such reasonable men and women can only emerge with a godfather who if they succeed, will seek to control the state from the back door. It will be easier for elections to be free and fair if candidates stick to the legal expenditure ceilings.

If the 2015 elections will have the massive influence of money as happened in the Anambra election, then the elections will face a strong crisis of credibility. Even if INEC does not have the capacity to monitor the campaign finance provisions of the Act, it should seek a strong partnership with the civil society, anti-corruption agencies, and the academia, etc. This partnership will work out a framework to actively engage and monitor campaign finance and use of state and administrative resources in the run up to the elections in 2015. We should no longer tolerate a situation where votes are won and lost based on the quantum of money available to the candidate.

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Russian Military Expert Shot Dead In Yemen

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Russian Military Expert Shot Dead In Yemen

A Russian military expert was killed and another injured on Tuesday when gunmen driving a motorbike opened fire on them in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, local media reported.

The two were advisers to the Yemeni armed forces, the Barakish news website said.

Drive-by shootings and abductions have increased since the 2011 uprising against long time leader, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who stepped down in 2012.

Last week, a lawmaker was assassinated by assailants on a motorbike in Sana’a.

Authorities have blamed the violence on militants linked to al-Qaeda.

On Monday evening, 12 suspected members of al-Qaeda were killed in an air raid on the restive southern province of Abyan, according to a website affiliated with the defence ministry.

Yemen is a stronghold of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and US drone strikes aimed at Islamist militants in Yemen have increased in recent month.

Militants have repeatedly called for attacks on foreign diplomats and embassies.

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