Action Alliance Supporters Lay Siege to INEC Office Over Ballot Paper Exclusion

Supporters of the Action Alliance (AA), in Oyo State have laid siege to the offices of INEC in Ibadan.

The AA members were protesting against the exclusion of the party’s name and logo from ballot papers during last Saturday’s aborted National Assembly elections.

The demonstrators carried placards accusing the election regulator of a deliberate attempt to exclude the party from the general elections.

The AA Chairman in Oyo state, Mr. Tunde Anifowose-Kelani, said that the party was surprised to find that its name and party logo were not on the ballot paper.

He said the attempted exclusion of the party was an indication that INEC was not yet ready for the election. “They (INEC) are taking us for a ride. They must correct this error before Saturday’s election. If they refuse to do that, we shall definitely go to court, he said.

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-04-05 19:55:37 -0400 INEC STAFFER ATTACKED AFTER SEEN ALLEGEDLY MAKING OFF WITH BALLOT PAPERS A woman member of the staff of INEC - the Independent National Electoral Commission – was attacked in Asaba in Delta State, yesterday (Monday) by a group of youths.

According to reports, the woman was seen leaving INEC headquarters allegedly carrying away thumb-printed ballot papers.

She was reported to have been stripped of her clothing and “almost lynched.”

The incident was confirmed by the State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Charles Muka, who said that his officers eventually rescued the woman.

Since last Saturday, political party supporters - especially the Democratic People’s Party, the DPP - have been keeping a vigil at the INEC offices at Asaba. They have been trying to ensure that removals of ballot papers, as is claimed happened yesterday, are prevented.
 

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-04-05 18:11:55 -0400 HELP FOR JOURNALISTS DURING ELECTION PERIOD Media centres have been opened in each of Nigeria’s six-geo-political zones to aid journalists in the coverage of the on-going elections.

The centres are located in Lagos, PortHarcourt, Owerri, Gombe, Kaduna and Abuja.

They are being managed by the Institute for Media and Society, in partnership with other NGOs including Media Rights Agenda, the International Press Centre, the Nigerian Association of Women Journalists and the Electoral Reform Network.

The Public Relations Manager for the Lagos Media Centre, Kehinde Aig-Umoru said journalists are free to use the Internet and the centre;s monitoring facilities without charge.

She said the Centres would also provide legal and counselling hotlines which individuals and civil groups could call to report election related human rights abuses. Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-04-05 17:09:20 -0400 ELECTIONS LEAD TO LARGE BANK WITHDRAWALS

Large sums of money are being withdrawn from commercial banks in Lagos during this election period,

A bank manager in Marina, Lagos Island said his branch recorded withdrawals running into millions of naira last Friday – the eve of the botched National Assembly election.

A cashier with another bank in Oregun, on Lagos mainland, also said some of their customers withdrew up to three million naira at different times in a single day.

One other bank cashier in Ogba, also a Lagos suburb, said some customers had to be locked out because there were too many people crammed inside the banking hall trying to withdraw cash.

Professor Akpan Ekpo, head of the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management, a division of the Central Bank of Nigeria, said such withdrawals could trigger election-year inflation.

However, he said that the bank was taking all necessary measures to mop up any excess cash in the economy. Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-04-04 22:38:23 -0400 ANGRY YOUTHS ATTACK INEC OFFICIALS FOLLOWING POSTPONEMENT OF POLLS Some youths and party supporters at a polling centre in Ado Primary School in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, reacted angrily to the announcement of the postponement of the Parliamentary elections throughout the country, by attacking officials of INEC and hindering their movement back to their office in the local government secretariat.

The youths, who suspected foul play, held the INEC officials hostage and in the process destroyed the car that brought them to the polling unit, injuring the driver.



Calm was however restored when policemen shot in the air several times to disperse the angry youths. Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-04-04 22:36:02 -0400 MUSLIM GROUP SAYS DON’T BLAME INEC The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has urged Nigerians not to blame the INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega, alone for the postponement of the National Assembly elections. The group said this was because INEC had maintained its independence through the new process and called on Nigerians not to “slay the goose that lays the golden eggs.”

Is-haq Akintola, the director of MURIC, in a statement signed on Sunday in Abuja said the group “laments over this national tragedy, but we salute the INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega, for having the courage to face the truth early in the exercise. The non-arrival of materials can hardly be blamed on him personally.”

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-04-04 18:38:02 -0400 PRESIDENTAL CANDIDATE HELD BY POLICE ON DUD CHEQUE CHARGE The presidential candidate of the United National Party for Development (UNPD), Mrs Ebiti Ndok, has been remanded in jail for allegedly issuing fake cheques to two Abuja hotels.

She was remanded by the Keffi Chief magistrate until April 19 in the Maximum Security Prison, at Keffi, in Nasarawa State,.



Mrs. Ndok was arraigned by the police last Thursday after she reportedly issued dud cheques for the sum of a million naira to the Onnyx Hotel and another, for half a million, to Transcorp Hilton Hotel, both in Abuja.

Both parties had been on Mrs Nodk’s trail in connection with the cheques and only caught up with her when she appeared on last week’s televised presidential debate.

Mrs Ndok was said to have stayed at Onnyx Hotel between last November and January but was evicted for failure to pay her debts.

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-04-04 18:34:18 -0400 THREE LOCAL POLL OBSERVERS SAY THEY ATTACKED BY POLICE Three domestic poll observers have complained that they were manhandled by soldiers in Nasarawa Eggon local government of Nasarawa State during last Saturday’s botched National Assembly election.

The three - members of a local NGO called Nasarawa Youths For Better Democracy - also alleged that their equipment was damaged when the soldiers tried to stop them from filming the voting process.

State Vice Chairman of the NGO, Samuel John Magaji, told the local government electoral officer, Jacob Ajuh that they were ordered to stop filming the voting process despite identifying themselves as accredited election observers.

The army authorities have not yet spoken about the incident. But there has been controversy over an alleged order by the Police that recording equipment, including mobile phones, should not be used at polling centres. INEC however said it had no problems with recording equipment being used.

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-04-04 13:38:15 -0400 ELECTIONS TIMETABLE – ALL CHANGE The timetable for elections in Nigeria has been dramatically changed.

This follows the suspension of voting for the National Assembly and the Senate on Saturday because election materials were not available.

INEC – the Independent National Election Commission - first said that the Assembly and Senate elections should be re-run this Monday, But following protests from the political parties that this was too short a notice, INEC has announced a new timetable.

Voting for the National Assembly and Senate will now take place next Saturday, the 9th of April.

The crucial vote for the presidency will be held on the following Saturday the 16th of April.

And voting for state governorships and house assemblies will take place 10 days later on Tuesday the 26th of April.
 

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-04-04 13:37:59 -0400 POLITICAL PARTIES DISCUSS NEXT MOVE FOLLOWING POLL SUSPENSION Nigeria’s main opposition parties are meeting in Abuja, following the suspension of polling in yesterday’s National Assembly elections. INEC has rescheduled the poll for tomorrow (Monday 4th April).

The Abuja meeting is reported to involve the main opposition parties – the ACN, the CPC and the ANPP - but it was not known if the ruling PDP would also be attending.

Even before the meeting two of the parties - the ACN and CPC - had rejected the Monday poll date. Both parties suggested the elections be moved to Saturday April 9th, the day scheduled for the presidential poll.

The CPC are believed to favour holding both the National Assembly and presidential elections next Saturday. The ACN want voting for the Presidential to be postponed until after the gubernatorial elections, scheduled for Saturday 16th April. Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-04-04 13:36:51 -0400 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AND SENATE ELECTIONS POSTPONED – JAPANESE TSUNAMI BLAMED

Voting in Nigeria’s National Assembly and Senate elections has been suspended by INEC, the Independent National Election Commission. Voting is now planned to take place on Monday,

The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Atthairu Jega, said that this emergency action, was being taken because election materials had not reached the 1200 polling stations, in time.

He told reporters in Abuja that the materials - which were being printed abroad for security reasons - had been delayed because of a shortage of aircraft as a result of last month’s Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

Professor Jega apologised to all voters and explained that the voting materials – ballot papers, result sheets and so on – had only arrived in the country at 9 o’clock this morning (Saturday) which made national distribution impossible.

He accepted full responsibility for what he described as a “major lapse” but laid the blame at the feet of the supplier who had failed to deliver the election materials in time. He said that postponement was the only way to ensure free, fair and credible elections. Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-04-04 10:35:48 -0400 ELECTION POSTPONED INEC officials leaving a polling centre in Lagos after the announcement on Saturday that voting in Nigeria’s National Assembly and Senate elections was being postponed until Monday (Photo credit: PHILIP NWOSU)

Please click on Audio button to see photo. Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-04-02 19:03:52 -0400 VOTING CONTINUES IN PARTS OF LAGOS DESPITE POLL SUSPENSION Voting continued in parts of Lagos, for at least one hour after the announcement of the suspension of polling in Nigeria’s parliamentary election on Saturday.

Voting will now take place on Monday, according to INEC, the election regulator.



It was reported that some election officials refused to stop the voting, saying they had not yet received any official directive. Others took it as a ruse by the security services in an attempt to try and disperse the crowds that had gathered at the polling stations

Among those who managed to vote prior to the suspension was Lagos Governor Babatunde Fashola. He has come out against holding the suspended parliamentary elections on Monday.

He said it would be more sensible for the elections to be held next Saturday on the same day that voters would be going to the polls to choose a new president.

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-04-02 12:52:00 -0400 Voting chaos Voting chaos - voters in Langtang in Plateau State queuing to vote in Saturday’s elections. These voters reportedly waited four hours and more, in vain for the voting process to begin. Please click on the Audio Button to see the picture.

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-04-01 14:46:57 -0400 POLITICIANS TRYING TO INFLITRATE ELECTION OFFCIALS INEC COMMISSIONER CLAIMS A senior INEC official has claimed that some politicians are trying to influence the personnel who have been hired to run the coming elections.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Cross River State, Mike Igni, said he was particularly worried about what he alleged were attempts to influence members of the National Youth Service Corps, who make up the majority of the polling officials.

He told the National Mirror newspaper that, “The politicians are desperately after the officials. They are infiltrating the corps members and civil servants we have detailed to conduct the elections”.

He added, “We are familiar with our responsibility as electoral umpire, we are not here to count money, we are here to count votes.”

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-04-01 14:44:46 -0400 USE LAY PEOPLE AND RETIRED JUDGES ON ELECTION PETITIONS SAYS LAWYER A leading lawyer has called for the setting up of special arbitration panels – presided over by lay people and retired judges - to handle the election petitions that are expected to be filed over the coming weeks.

Chief Afe Babalola SAN said that retired judges would be “less influenced by factors such as career advancement and monetary inducement” in making their judgements.

He also said that experts such as political scientists, sociologists and even clerics, could give the tribunals greater credibility.

Bablola’s comments follows serious allegations of corruption against serving judges that have been made during the election campaigns.



The Chief Justice of Nigeria has recently appointed 110 judges to handle the flood of election petitions that are expected to follow the 2011 polls.
 

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-31 22:03:31 -0400 N LC CONDEMNS RESTRICTION ON VOTERS The Nigeria Labour Congress - the NLC - are protesting against the instruction by the Inspector General of Police that voters will not be allowed to stay close to polling units after casting their votes.

NLC President, Abdulwaheed Omar, said that the suggestion by the security agencies that voters should keep at least three hundred metres distance from the polling units after voting was not acceptable.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja he said that at that sort of distance voters would be unable to effectively monitor the voting and subsequent counting.

He went on to say that as long as voters were peaceful and orderly there should be no need to restrict their presence in any way at the polling units.

INEC, the Independent National Electoral Commission, has encouraged voters to stay around the polling units in order to ensure that voting and counting is conducted properly.

But the Police Force Public Relations Officer, Olusegun Amore, says the three hundred metres distance is laid down in the 2011 electoral law. Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-31 21:53:48 -0400 PROBE THIS SCANDAL – CHIEF JUSTICE URGED

An anti-corruption advocacy group, the Campaign Against Corruption In Judiciary, CACIJ, has called for a full investigation into the alleged 6 billion Naira fraud that is rocking the National Judicial Institute, the NJI.

The call comes hard on the heels of intensified efforts by human rights organisations to get the sacked Acting Chairman of Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC, Dr Uriah Angulu, reinstated.

The Campaign Group told journalists in Lagos that any attempts to sweep the alleged bribery scandal against NJI under the carpet would be resisted.

CACIJ is claiming that Angulu’s dismissal is related to his investigations into the alleged fraud, which has been linked to his strong stand against election rigging.

The group has called on the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, to urgently investigate the matter. Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-31 21:51:02 -0400 ACN GOVERNORSHIP CANDIDATE REARRESTED The ACN’s candidate for the governorship of Akwa-Ibom State, James Akpanudoedehe, has been rearrested, less than one hour after he was granted bail by a Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday.

Akpanudoedehe has been in detention since last week, charged with treason and felony. The charges followed clashes between his supporters and those of the PDP, which led to two deaths and the mass destruction of state government property.

The presiding judge, Adamu Bello, granted Akpanudoedehe bail because, he said, the police could not prove the link between him and the alleged offences.

Shortly after he was rearrested in the court premises. It is understood that he is to face similar charges back in Akwa Ibom.

Meanwhile, the ACN has called for the sacking of the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim. They have linked him to the arrest of Akpanudoedehe and described him as the tool of the PDP in their attempts to rig the elections. Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-31 16:37:06 -0400 ROAD DEATHS MOUNT DURING ELECTION CAMPAIGN There has been a dramatic rise in the number of people killed on Nigeria’s roads during the election campaign.

According to the head of the federal road safety Corps Marshall Osita Chidoka, no fewer than eight hundred and thirty three people have lost their lives on road crashes during the past four weeks.

This is – coincidentally – the same number as were killed on the roads in the whole of the first half of 2010.

Chidoka directly blamed the huge rise on the way that the increased tempo of political campaigning has affected traffic on Nigeria’s roads. He described the situation as “very disturbing”.

He said that he had written to the political parties seeking heir cooperation in trying to reduce road accidents, but this had failed to achieve any meaningful results.

The Corps Marshall was speaking in Abuja at the launch of one hundred new patrol vehicles and road construction equipment.

He also blamed the increase in road deaths on the growing trend for political parties to obstruct road safety signs with their campaign posters.

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-30 21:29:00 -0400 AKWA IBOM YOUTH PROTEST TREASON CHARGE Reports from Abuja say that large numbers of young people from Akwa Ibom State have been protesting against the detention and trial of the ACN’s gubernatorial candidate for the state, Senator John Akpan Udoedehe.

Udoedehe was arrested and detained following the mayhem that occurred in Uyo, last Tuesday when PDP supporters clashed with a rival gang from the ACN. Four people were reported killed as a result.

The accused, a two-term senator and a former minister of the Federal Capital Territory, appeared in the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday charged with treason and felony. Bail was refused and the case was adjourned until Thursday.

During the clashes 800 cars and 500 tricycles, bought by the state for use as public transportation, were reported to have been destroyed. The value of the lost property has been estimated at 2 billion naira.

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-30 21:27:09 -0400 ELECTORAL COMMISSIONER ARRESTED OVER ALLEGED ASSAULT OF JOURNALIST The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Osun State, Mr Rufus Akeju, has been arrested.



The arrest followed a petition to the police by the Nigeria Union of Journalists on behalf of the state correspondent of the Leadership Newspaper, Sefiu Ayanbimpe, who claims to have been attacked by the Commissioner.



According to the Vanguard Newspaper, Ayanbimpe was investigating allegations concerning a 25 million naira bribe.

The correspondent was reportedly invited to the Commissioner’s office, where he was physically assaulted by Mr Akeju in the presence of senior officials of the commission.

A Federal High Court has now banned INEC from using Akeju in the forthcoming elections.

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-30 21:25:29 -0400 THIS TIME, NO BRIBES, SAYS INEC Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has warned its officials against taking bribes during the general elections beginning this weekend.

Head of INEC’s Public Affairs Unit in Lagos, Mr. Femi Akinbiyi, told journalists that 2011 would be a total departure from the past.

This time, he said, there would be no doubts about the integrity of the electoral officials.

Akinbiyi said any official caught engaging in any form of misconduct would be promptly sacked.

He also warned politicians to stop attempting to bribe INEC officials and gave the assurances that personnel and materials will be properly protected throughout the election period.
 

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-30 21:23:32 -0400 ISLAMIC SUPREME COUNCIL WARNS YOUTHS A senior Moslem cleric has warned against getting involved in election violence.

Mr. Muhammad Qasim, the Deputy Director of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, has said that wanton violence was unislamic.

He challenged anyone to show him where, in the Quran, it says, ‘’kill people during elections or anytime you please’’.

Mr. Quasim said the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs has been working with the Christian Association of Nigeria, on ensuring peaceful elections, devoid of religious or ethnic violence. Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-30 15:23:17 -0400 LIVE DEBATES – WITH AND WITHOUT CANDIDATES – A KEY FEATURE OF THE CAMPAIGNS

President Goodluck Jonathan has made a last-minute appeal to the three main opposition candidates not to boycott tonight’s live television debate.



Their boycott follows Jonathan’s refusal to appear with them on an earlier debate programme organised by the news channel NN24.

Debates – broadcast live on radio and television – have been a feature of this year’s campaigns for the Presidency and for the governorship of Lagos State.

Whilst the Lagos gubernatorial debates have been relatively trouble-free with most candidates agreeing to take part, those for the Presidency have been dogged by charge and counter-charge.

The three main opposition candidates - Buhari, Ridahu and Shekaru - are boycotting tonight’s debate for two reasons.

First, they were angered by Jonathan’s refusal to appear with them last week on NN24’s debate programme.

Second, they suspect that Jonathan might be given the questions in advance of tonights’ debate. Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-30 15:21:14 -0400 CALLING THE FAITHFUL TO VOTE As the elections approach party campaigners have turned their attention to reaching voters through the churches and mosques.

In Lagos special election sessions have been held at Muslim groups including Ahmadiyya, Ansarudeen and NASFAT and at Anglican, Baptist and Catholic churches.

Gubernatorial candidates were invited to outline their electoral platforms giving the congregations a unique opportunity to listen to the politicians’ programmes and to question the candidates about them.

Party campaigners were also on hand to flood the worship centres with posters, handbills, branded souvenirs and other gifts items.

In order to boost their electoral chances candidates with particular religious affiliations made donations to their mosques and churches, while those who subscribe to the traditional religions asked their priests to appease the deities on their behalf. Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-29 20:13:44 -0400 SOYINKA WARNS NIGERIAN YOUTHS AGAINST VIOLENCE As the general election approaches, Nobel Laureate and Pro-democracy activist, Professor Wole Soyinka, has called on Nigerian youth to stop allowing themselves to be used as instruments of political violence and confusion.

Talking to journalists in Lagos, Professor Soyinka said it’s been very depressing, seeing the way politicians and their campaigners are paying young people to become arsonists, thugs and vandals

Soyinka warned the youth to: “stop parading themselves like prostitutes, looking for the highest bidder” unquote.

He also blamed the slow progress of the country’s development, on those he called the ‘’Babas’’ - the old and desperate power brokers: ‘’ the ones responsible for where Nigeria is today.”

Soyinka told the journalists that he was very worried about the levels of political violence, even before the start of the general elections.

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-29 20:10:47 -0400 NEW OPINION POLL SUGGESTS JONATHAN LEAD INCREASING A new poll, from a well-established international polling company, has suggested that the PDP’s Goodluck Jonathan is still well ahead in the race for the Presidency.

TNS-RMS, which claims to be the largest polling company in sub-Saharan Africa, found that support for Jonathan is running at 66 per cent. In second place, according to the poll, is the CPC’s General Buhari on 18 per cent, third is Nuhu Ribadi of the Action Congress of Nigeria on 6 per cent and in fourth place, the ANPP’s Ibrahim Shekaru on 3 per cent.

The poll is based on interviews with over 15,000 people across Nigeria. It shows an increased lead for Jonathan compared to one published last week. That poll, conducted by Ipsos for THISDAY, put Jonathan on 60 per cent and Buhari on 22 per cent.

The TNS-RMS poll also showed that Nigerian voters thought that personality was much more important than party when deciding how to vote.

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-29 16:49:41 -0400 APPEALS TO YOUTH TO REFRAIN FROM ELECTION VIOLENCE Ahead of elections which begin next week, a former Lagos Attorney General, Professor Yemi Osibajo has urged Nigerian youth to use their votes to elect candidates who have shown that they are trustworthy.

Speaking at a meeting organised by the youth wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Osibajo said that they should see themselves, not as leaders of tomorrow, but as leaders of today.

Osibajo went on to denounce the poor quality of governance that Nigeria has suffered at the federal level; but he urged the youth not to use violence to try and change society but to use their thumbs on the ballot paper.

Meanwhile the leader of a civil society group, the Youth Action Initiative Africa, Samson Itodo, speaking in Abuja, has joined the call to youth to refrain from violence and, instead, become ambassadors of peace.

Itodo said democracy and sustainable development can only thrive in an atmosphere of peace.

Kendrick Max from the American Embassy, speaking on behalf of his Ambassador, said that recent spate of pre- election violence, which many blame on the politicians, poses a serious threat the credibility of electoral process.

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-29 16:46:19 -0400 MOVES TO ENSURE PEACEFUL POLLING DAY As part of the effort to ensure that voting across Nigeria takes place without violence, the Nigeria Police High Command, has begun deploying security equipment across all states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.



The equipment includes 600 patrol vehicles, armoured personnel carriers, bomb detonation vans and other anti-terrorist equipment.



The Minister of Police Affairs, Humpreh Abbah, launching the equipment warned that anyone caught formenting trouble during the election would be dealt with according to the law.



Abbah went on to caution his security personnel across the country, not to do anything that might threaten the peaceable conduct of the poll.



For his part, the Inspector General of Police Hafiz Ringim said the equipment would enable the police to carry out their constitutional duties more effectively.
 

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-28 19:26:22 -0400 Jonathan Reported to have signed National Minimum Wage Bill into law. Reports in THISDAY newspaper say that President Goodluck Jonathan has signed into law the new national minimum wage bill.

This follows a call from some leaders of labour unions for a poll boycott if the bill was not implemented.

The bill provides for the implementation of an 18,000 Naira monthly minimum pay for Nigerian workers.

However, according to the THISDAY report, the new Act gives state governments freedom to negotiate local variations in the rate with their workers. This, says the paper, was the result of pressure from some state governors who wanted the President to delay signing the Bill until after the April polls.

A government official is reported as saying that, because of the controversy, President Jonathan did not want to make an open show of signing the Bill into law.

The President is due to meet with labour leaders in Abuja on Tuesday to discuss implementation of the new national minimum wage. Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-28 19:23:59 -0400 Disabled persons threaten to boycott election

People with disabilities are threatening to boycott next months’ elections unless President Goodluck Jonathan signs into law the Disabilities Bill.

This is not the first time that the group would be demanding presidential assent for the bill. It was first rejected by former President Olusegun Obasanjo during his term of office.

It was re-presented to the National Assembly in 2007and finally passed by the Senate in March 2009, at a time when the United States of America had commemorated 20 years of its Americans with Disabilities Act.

The President of the Joint Association of Persons with Disabilities, Danlami Basharu declared the intention of the association to call for a boycott the elections in Abuja at a capacity building workshop for political candidates with disabilities. Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-28 14:41:52 -0400 DAME JONATHAN TAKES CAMPAIGN TO ACROSS THE COUNTRY The wife of Nigeria’s President, Dame Patience Jonathan, has added a new dimension to her husband’s electioneering campaign.

Mrs. Jonathan has not only been following her husband on his campaign tour but also independently, with her pet NGO, “The women for change and development initiative”, she has been running her own national campaign train in an effort to drum-up support for her husband’s presidential bid.

This is the first time in recent Nigerian history that the wife of a leading candidate for the Presidency has played such a prominent role.

The First lady’s Special Assistant on the media, Dr Isiaka Alijan, likened her boss’s efforts to those of the wife of the President of the United States, Michelle Obama, who played a major role in her husband’s successful bid for the White House three years ago. Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-27 12:02:12 -0400 International Press Centre Launches Election News Service The crucial role the media has to play in ensuring credible, free and fair elections came into focus in Lagos at the weekend during the launch of ‘The Nigerian Election News Report’ by the International Press Centre (IPC) in collaboration with the UK-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR).

The web-based news service will be using the innovative Interactive Voice Response technology to provide election news for up to 2000 working journalists across the country via their mobile phones.

Already, 150 practising journalists have undergone election reporting skills training. These will form the core of contributors to the news service although other journalists can contribute stories for a fee of N7500 for any used story.

Mr. Lanre Arogundade, Director of the IPC explains the benefits of the initiative: “This is an opportunity to let the world know that yes, Nigerian journalists are committed to free and fair elections and they are committed to doing their work in a professional manner’

Ivor Gaber, professor of political journalism at City University London and consultant on this project, also underscores the relevance of the website: “This website is about trying to help the Nigerian journalists improve their role as watch dogs; so, yes, we want to help the Nigerian media contribute to Nigerian democracy’

An election reporting manual authored by the IPC, the IWPR and the Media Rights agenda was also presented at the event. This is intended to serve as a guide for election coverage for all journalists for the current and subsequent elections in Nigeria.

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-25 21:52:16 -0400 Opposition candidates may lift boycott of Presidential Debate Two of the main opposition presidential candidates, Nuhu Ribadu of ACN, and Ibrahim Shekarau, ANPP are re-considering their decision to shun the forthcoming presidential debate slated for March 29th.

The original decision was in protest against a perceived bias in favour of Goodluck Jonathan on the part of the debate organizers and also their frustration at his refusal to take part in an earlier debate,

A close aide of Ribadu is quoted as saying: “ The organizers are promising us that they will not favour the president during the debate , so we are reviewing our stance.”

Shekarau is also understood to be reviewing his position following wide-ranging public pleas and reassurances from the organizers.

The debate is being put together by the Broadcasting Organization Of Nigeria, an umbrella body for all Nigerian radio and television stations and the NTA.

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-25 18:52:59 -0400 UK Polling Expert says Jonathan still the favourite to win A UK polling expert has said that This Day newspaper’s poll published earlier this week, giving Goodluck Jonathan a large lead among voters, should be regarded as a reliable indicator of his current support across the country.

However, it does not take into account the fact that under Nigerian electoral law, for a candidate to win in the first round, he must get at least 25 per cent of the votes cast in at least 24 states.

The poll, which was undertaken by the international pollsters Ipsos, showed support for Jonathan of the PDP running at 60 per cent, for Buhari of the CPC 22 per cent, for Shekarau of the ANPP 6 per cent and for the ACN’s Malam Nuhu Ribadu 5 per cent.

Dr Jane Green of the University of Manchester, the polling expert for the BBC World Service, said: “This poll used over 11,000 respondents, far outstripping the usual number used by British pollsters. However, a great deal can happen between now and polling day, but this poll tells us that something dramatic would have to occur, if Jonathan is not to win on April 9th.”

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-25 08:55:12 -0400 Culture Of Violence The Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka has appealed to politicians and citizens to shun the violence and killings that has chararterised the ongoing political campaign across the county.

Soyinka says the current mentality could be blamed on few politicians who are bent on winning elections at any cost.

“We have to find ways of circumventing this mentality of winning through violence. It’s got to be made quite clear that not only will the violence not get the results that the violent people want but that the violent people will be punished. There’s been too much impunity, too much immunity, a failure to not not only prevent violence but punish in an open public way.”

Professor Soyinka was also forthright in his condemnation of the Inspector General of Police who recently said that voters will be forbidden from using mobile phones as recording devices in and around polling centers?

“The citizens should first of all ignore that completely because it is an illegal and illegitimate kind of request it is contrary to democracy which is openness and accountability and now people are being reminded of one of the simplest ways of ensuring accountability and the police place themselves against that”
 

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-24 16:06:51 -0400 COMBATTING ELECTION VIOLENCE AND RIGGING Efforts to combat both the growing poll violence and attempts to rig the forthcoming elections have come from the Federal Government and a State Governor.

The Minister of Police Affairs, Abuja, Humphrey Abba, speaking after the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council said the Federal Government would be clamping down on any one caught formenting trouble during the election period.

Meanwhile Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi has renewed his call for the setting up of an Electoral Crimes Commission to try all electoral offenders, including INEC officials, security agents, politicians and corrupt judicial officers.

Fayemi made this call while speaking at the Nigerian Bar Association’s Ikeja Branch in Lagos.

The Governor said the current legal system had failed to deal with the problem of poll rigging. He called for the setting up of the new Commission with a brief to enforce the electoral acts and to ensure that those convicted received appropriate punishment.

Since 1999 no one has been convicted of an electoral offence in Nigeria. Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-24 10:31:37 -0400 Upsurge Of Electoral Violence Ahead April polls

With two weeks to the start of the general elections, political violence is becoming a growing threat to the credibility of the April polls.

Nine states, right across Nigeria, are now flash points of violence.

Akwa Ibon, Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Anambra, Katsina, Niger, Benue and Plateau states, have all recorded incidents of political killings and attacks at campaign rallies.

The main political parties - the ruling PDP and the opposition ACN, ANPP, CPC and the Labour Party are all in the frame as culprits.

Journalist Dele Agekameh, a veteran observer of Nigerian elections, asks in The Nation newspaper: “How many more deaths will be recorded among politicians, the various parties and their teeming supporters?”



However, despite this major problem, the President and security agencies have assured the public that the political violence will not be allowed to threaten next month’s elections. Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-23 12:53:51 -0400 Parties Mobilise Youth and Women Voters

The youth and women - who account for 6 in 10 voters- have come in for special attention by the political parties as the election campaign moves into its last weeks.

Music and town hall meetings are the main focus of the campaigning being targeted at the youth. Popular musicians are paid to perform at campaign events. After the rallies some of the youth are invited to private meetings with politicians and party organisers.

Meanwhile the parties are wooing women voters at private dinner and breakfast meetings.

These meetings give women and young voters the chance to tell the parties what they want the politicians to pay attention to, both when campaigning and when elected to office. Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-23 11:15:11 -0400 Voter Education Hots Up At Political Rallies With less than two weeks to go before national elections political parties are embarking on massive voters education efforts.

Their rallies are more than just a chance for politicians to make speeches, Almost as much attention is devoted to educating their followers about which party logo to vote for at the polling station.

ACN candidates ensure that their party symbol - the broom and the flag - is conspicuous at the campaign venues and displayed on the T-shirts and towels that are sold at the rallies.

For the ruling PDP, their umbrella logo and party colours, are essential features seen at their campaign venues and their refrain “power to the people” reverberates as the party’s anthem.

The display of a head of “corn” is the unique symbol to be seen at ANPP campaign rallies. Party candidates shout repeatedly at their rallies, urging their supporters to look out for the Corn symbol at the voting centre.

And the Labour Party tries to ensure that its supporters place their thumbprint in the column with the Party’s wheel insignia.

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-22 14:26:14 -0400 Kenyan Election Initiative For Nigeria Nigerian voters are set to benefit from the lessons learnt at the Kenyan elections, which were marred by post-election violence and poll rigging.

Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka will be launching a Nigerian version of the Ushahidi platform in Lagos on Thursday (24th March).

The platform enabled Kenyans who witnessed post-election violence and rigging to report them to an operations centre where they were verified and then posted on a website, which had a map showing where the incidents had occurred.

The Nigerian version, called Reclaim Niaja will enable people to report election incidents to a special toll-free phone lines operated by the Lagos-based Community Life Project. From here, complaints will be passed on to INEC and other agencies. All verified reports will be posted on a website -www.reclaimniaja.net - linked to Facebook and Twitter.

Ngozi Iwere, Executive Director of the Community Life Project, said that Reclaim Niaja is a chance for ordinary Nigerians to make their voices heard in the democratic process.

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-22 14:04:34 -0400 Union demands minimum wage implemented before election The Nigeria Labour Congress is threatening to disrupt next month’s elections unless all state governors sign up to the new national minimum wage.

With just a few weeks to go before voting begins, the congress says workers should not vote for parties or politicians who do not support the new minimum wage.

The Union is calling on any politician seeking the votes of Nigerian workers, to make what they call an ‘’explicit commitment’’ to the implementation of the wage.

The Vice President of the Labour Congress, Alhaji Issa Aremu told journalists in Kaduna, that the signing of the minimum wage act by President Jonathan was a clear indication of his interest in the overall welfare of Nigerian workers.

Elections Nigeria KeyPress News Text 2011-03-22 09:59:29 -0400 Business booms at campaign rallies Elections aren’t just about parties, politicians and voters for armies of vendors across Nigeria, it means boom-times.

On a typical day at one of the many political rallies up and down the country, traders can be seen selling T-Shirts, face caps, small towels with party logos and many other souvenirs – all of which have been commissioned by party stalwarts.

Once the party stock has been depleted, vendors will grab the opportunity to start selling from their own stocks, but with a fifty per cent increase.

For food and drinks vendors it’s a really a good day. The party faithful, who sometimes spend many hours at the rallies getting hungrier and thirstier, which is good news for the traders. A plate of food that would normally cost 100 naira will go for three times that price. Cold drinks that normally cost 60 naira go for 120.