Workers' Day: NACA Calls for Implementation of HIV Workplace, Anti-Discrimination Law

As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to mark the 2018 International Workers Day today, the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) has called on employees and employers of labour to push for the implementation of National Workplace Policy on HIV/AIDS, HIV/AIDS Anti-discrimination Act and the National HIV/AIDS Stigma Reduction Strategy.

In a statement made available to the media on Monday which was signed by the Director General of NACA, Dr. Sani Aliyu, he said HIV response in Nigeria has been hindered with cases of employment-related stigma and discrimination, adding that it has continued to constitute a major threat to the goal of ending AIDS epidemic by 2030.

According to him,  “The unequal treatment of workers based on their HIV status in the workplace is a clear breach of their right to gainful employment. A 2012 study of stigma among people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Nigeria showed that 26 per cent of those surveyed have lost their jobs or sources of income in the past years due to HIV related stigma.

“Managing HIV workplace discrimination and strengthening compliance to statutory anti-discrimination laws by employers and employees alike is a critical element of the HIV/AIDS response in Nigeria. There is clearly a need to protect the rights of PLHIV while promoting access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support within the workplace.”

He said people living with HIV/AIDS have fundamental human right to work just like every other person else, adding that stigma and discrimination have become potent threats that undermine opportunities for people to obtain decent employment.

“As part of the long term goal of eliminating stigma and discrimination in the workplace, NACA continues to collaborate with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment and other partners to ensure that employers of labour are aware of and comply with the provisions of the National Workplace Policy on HIV/AIDS (2013) and the National HIV/AIDS Anti-Discrimination Act (2014).

“The continuous engagement of relevant stakeholders has led to strengthened capacity for compliance and effective implementation of HIV workplace policies. It has also built capacities on available options for addressing discrimination including redress and legal services for survivors of human rights violations,” NACA boss stated.

He said while NACA looks forward to the end of AIDS epidemic by 2030, the Nigerian Government remains fully committed to improving the health of Nigerians and getting to zero new HIV infection and discrimination.

APC Blocks Sheriff's Visit to Party Headquarters …Borno State APC: Why We Oppose Sheriff's Registration in Abuja

The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has again rebuffed the move by former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to rejoin the ruling party.

Senator Ali Modu Sheriff planed defection to APC was to have been heralded by a reception at national secretariat of the party in Abuja last Wednesday.

Sheriff was scheduled to meet with the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, along with members of the National Working Committee (NWC) Thursday but the meeting was cancelled at the last minute.

According to the media invitation sent out by the APC publicity unit, Sheriff was expected to storm the APC national secretariat in Abuja with his supporters by noon Thursday.

However, in a statement issued by the party's National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdulahi, it said Sheriff would not be received back to the party in Abuja.

The statement said in line with the constitution of APC, registration of members is done at ward level not headquarters.

"Our attention has been drawn to reports in some sections of the media that the former factional Chairman of the PDP, Sheriff, plans to defect to the APC.

"While we are aware of such intentions, we wish to restate our earlier position that anyone who wants to join the party should do so at the ward level.

"We are happy to welcome new members to our party, but membership cards are not issued at the party national secretariat," it said.

Meanwhile, the Borno State chapter of the APC has given reasons why it is opposed to the move by Sheriff seeking to renew his membership of the party in Abuja.

While speaking to journalists at the party's national secretariat in Abuja, the state Chairman, Hon. Ali Bukar Dolori, said the move was a dangerous one capable of causing confusion in the state branch of the party ahead of the forthcoming congresses.

According to him, "We have read news on the social media yesterday and in some national dailies this morning, that Sheriff will be received by our national chairman today at the headquarters of our great party.

"I want to assure you that the news remains a rumour because somebody is only trying to fly a kite which is capable of causing dangerous confusion during the state congresses in Borno State.

"We are aware of that well-articulated plan, and we are ready to defend any attempt towards destroying our party at any level and in any state, not just Borno. We shall conduct our congresses peacefully without any rancor, and I assure you nobody can create any faction for our party in Borno State during the Congresses expected in less than two weeks.

"I also want to draw your attention to the relevant section of APC constitution that deals with eligibility for membership: Article 9.1 of the APC Constitution (October 2014 and amended).”

The chairman drew the attention to the provisions of the APC constitution which requires that application for membership shall be made to and cleared by the ward executives of the party in the local government area where the person was born, resides, works or originates from.

For the online registration, the constitution said it is acceptable provided that it is cleared by the NWC of the party.”

Embrace Real Madrid's Glorious Champions League Feats While it Lasts

I know, I know. Real Madrid is mega-rich, mega-successful and mega-annoying.

But here’s some bad news you almost certainly know already: Unless you root for one of maybe 10 clubs in the world, yours is never winning the Champions League. Soccer is as top-heavy as any sport, so you have to find someone or something to root for at the highest level.

You could analyze the tactics and pour over the match film and still come up well short of reasonable answers for why Real Madrid has put together the most unprecedented dominance in the history of club soccer. It doesn’t make sense. So isn’t it sensible to just embrace it?

Take Wednesday’s Champions League semifinal leg against Bayern Munich, for example. The Allianz Arena is a cauldron for 99 percent of Europe. Not Real Madrid, which plays with such reckless abandon that it’s now won three straight times at Bayern’s home stadium in the Champions League knockout stages.

And perhaps the key is that abandon is completely self-conscious. Real Madrid absolutely knows how good it is, and it absolutely fills the side with confidence every time it takes the pitch.

That’s why Marcelo, Marco Asensio and Lucas Vazquez put away Bayern Munich. It wasn’t a multi-goal showcase from all-time great Cristiano Ronaldo. It was supporting players punishing mistakes with ruthless efficiency (and making up for their own).

This team isn’t simply bought and paid for, either. Vazquez is from Real Madrid’s academy. The club identified young stars-in-waiting like Asensio and Isco early in the transfer market, and beat others to their signature. Same with Marcelo. Real Madrid developed all of them into match-winning talents, as it has with others in this current squad.

Then there’s Zinedine Zidane, who was a phenomenal player but also a big risk as a manager. That didn’t stop Real Madrid’s brass from hiring him to oversee the club’s B-team without the necessary experience, nor did it stop them from sacking the vastly more experienced Rafa Benitez after half a season in charge to make way for Zidane.

The reward? An incredibly well-tempered leader who’s never for a single moment looked overwhelmed by the toastiest seat in soccer. A man who hasn’t wavered in supporting a volatile defensive spine, nor hesitated to bench established stars. A club legend who fought to get defensive midfielder Casemiro into the Starting XI on a regular basis, a move which paid off tenfold.

And boy, does Real Madrid work hard. What they may lack in strategic acuity they make up for in effort, abundance of quality and some decidedly dumb luck. And it won’t last forever. The core players have been around awhile now, so the reality is they’re about to get old or get sold. But three Champions League trophies have rained down thanks to their time together.

Remember all the talk being about when Real Madrid would win a 10th European title, aka La Decima? They’re on the verge of La Decimotercero just four years later. They’ve trademarked winning Champions League games they shouldn’t, getting results when it makes zero sense that they would.

So no, this last half-decade of Real Madrid isn’t soccer at its purest. It doesn’t need to be. It’s glory, and more endearingly, it’s glorious absurdity.

CULLED FROM YAHOO (adjusted)

We Will Resort To Self Representation, If Omo-Agege Is Not Recall, Group Tells Senate Leadership

Peeved by alleged injustice meted against their representative in the National Assembly, a group, Delta Central Collective Base (DCCB), in Abraka, Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State has called on the leadership of the Senate to honourably allow Senator Ovie Omo-Agege to continue to represent them without any hindrance, threatening to resort to self or collective representation.

The group wondered how the seat of their representative, suspended Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, would be vacant for the rest of the eight Assembly without anybody speaking on their needs, alleging that it was a deliberate attempt to shut out the fourth largest ethnic group in the country which he represents.     

DCCB, in a protest letter addressed to the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, and copied President Muhammadu Buhari as well as all the security agencies, on Thursday maintained that the suspension of their senator and Delta Central from the Senate was extremely provocative.

The group was particularly angry that Omo-Agege was being sanctioned for associating with about 60 other serving senators but as a frontline member and Secretary of the Parliamentary Support Group for President Buhari was suspended while others were left alone.

DCCB in the letter signed by its Chairman, Chief Clever Akpovona Egbeji, expressed dismay of how expressing a dissenting opinion on a contentious amendment to Section 25 of the Electoral Act, 2010 regarding election sequence became an offence against the Senate for which a senator was purportedly suspended for 90 legislative days.

The group stated further in the letter that under the constitution, a senator can only vacate his seat if he dies, resigns, recalled, decamps from the party on whose platform he was elected (without a division in that party) or he is otherwise removed by an appropriate court as such, the Senate has no constitutional powers to suspend or nullify a senator’s elected to represent his people.

The group therefore asked the leadership of the senate honourably and urgently to allow their senator to continue to represent them in the Senate without any hindrance whatsoever, vowing that they will not allow anyone to expel them from Nigeria which their allegiance, patriotism and contribution were unquestionable unchallenged.

DCCB warned that if the Senate fails to allow Senator Omo-Agege to represent them in the Senate, they would resort to self or collective representation by going to the Senate physically in their numbers to represent themselves in the Senate, noting that their removal, without any constitutional basis from decision making in the Senate was a very clear existential threat to them in the Nigerian state.

Finally, Senate Summons Buhari Over Killings In Benue, Other States

President Muhammadu Buhari has been summoned by the Senate to explain the spate of killings in Nigeria.

This followed a deliberation of a motion on ‘Continued Killings in Benue State’ sponsored by the lawmaker representing Benue North West, Senator George Akume.

The killings in the country have become worrisome to state governments and their people, with Benue being the worst hit following the death of no fewer than 35 people since the beginning of the week.

The motion was extensively debated on Thursday in Abuja by the lawmakers who concurred with an earlier summon of the President by the House of Representatives on the same issue.

However, lawmakers at the Upper Chamber asked President Buhari to address a joint session of the National Assembly, suggesting measures by the Presidency to curb the alarming rate of insecurity in the country.

The Senators also expressed concerns about the competence of the country’s security chiefs and the need to declare a state of emergency in the states experiencing security crises.

CVR: INEC Registers 304, 359 Voters in Enugu

 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it has registered a total of 304,359 voters made up of 154, 830 females and 149,429 males in the ongoing continuous voter registration exercise, (CVR) in Enugu State as of April 20, 2018.

Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum on CVR and update on the commission's readiness ahead of the 2019 general election, on Wednesday, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Mr. Emeka Ononamandu, said they were working round the clock to ensure every eligible voter was captured in the registration exercise.

He said the commission had distributed 22,913 outstanding Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVC) from 2014 registration exercise that was not collected then.

Ononamandu said the total number of registered voters has placed Enugu State within the first 10 states that have registered more people than other states in Nigeria.  Ononamadu further disclosed that the commission has transferred 3,272 registered voters to the state and recorded as well as collected data for replacement of a total of 10,144 defaced or lost PVCs.

 The REC said though INEC has done well in the continuous voter registration exercise, it has faced serious challenges of burglary which has affected its performance. 

“Since September 2017 till date, INEC in Enugu State has faced three major burglaries that led to loss and eventual recovery of our Direct Data Capture (DDC) Machine which occasioned some delays in our CVR efforts. On September 25, our Enugu South Office was burgled and DDC machines as well as other accessories stolen. On November 2017, Oji River office was burgled while our Ezeagu Office was burgled on March 19, 2018. These burglaries have seriously affected our CVR output. 

"This is a dangerous trend that is becoming more consistent in Enugu than other states. It has reached a point that I am ashamed of regularly reporting case of burglary of our offices to our national headquarters. 

“The commission has faced incessant harassment of our staff and registration officers in the field. In one occasion, our registration officer was stabbed with bottle while he was handling registration at Prison Club. In other places, it is rare to see citizens harming a registration officer or disrupting the process because there was no security attached to each registration centre,” he lamented.

Ononamadu, however, assured the residents of state that under his watch, their votes will count in 2019 general election.

Court Rules Against Election Reordering By National Assembly

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, has ruled that the National Assembly does not have the power to amend the election timetable of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

It would be recalled that the Federal Legislators had adopted a reordered sequence of the 2019 general election, putting the presidential election last in a bill that was transmitted to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent.

However, it was rejected by the President who said the amendments if allowed to pass would violate parts of the constitution.

Shortly after President Buhari rejected the bill some lawmakers said the national assembly would evoke its powers under section 58(5) of the 1999 constitution to override the president.

However, Accord Party through its counsel, Wole Olanipekun, filed an application to stop the lawmakers from tampering with the electoral act.

Ruling on Wednesday, the court declared that it was the prerogative of the electoral commission to determine the sequence of elections.

THEWILL recalls that the move to amend the timetable sparked controversy among the lawmakers leading eventually to the suspension of Senator Ovie Omo-Agege.

Okunnu: Obasanjo is Nigeria's Problem, He Killed True Federalism

 

Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has been told to stop parading himself as democrat as he was accused of being responsible for the death of true fiscal federalism in the country.

The accusation was made by Alhaji Femi Okunnu, the man who handed over to Obasanjo as the Federal Commissioner for Works in the government of General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) at the launching of former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Obong Victor Attah, book, ‘Attah On Resources Control’ on Wednesday.

According to him, it was the 1979 constitution which Obasanjo midwifed that turn the country into a unitary state even though the country had rejected in the past.

Okunnu, who was the chairman of the occasion, said the crisis that still rages in the country till date over fiscal federalism can be traced to that constitution which placed all resources in the hand of the federal government instead of the existing system whereby the producing states get 50 percent of the resources while the remaining 50 percent is share between the federal government and the federating states.

He disclosed that this was what was enshrined in the 1963 republican constitution, “and this was what the 1978 Constituent Assembly recommended but was rejected by Obasanjo.

“Nigeria ceased to be a federation in 1979. Federation was killed by Obasanjo military government. He is the problem of Nigeria, not the solution. The 1979 constitution killed federalism in Nigeria; it introduced unitary system of government into the country.”

Okunnu disclosed that under the military regime of Gowon, both General Samuel Ogbemudia  of Midwest state and Commander Rufus Diette-Spiff of Rivers State enjoyed the 50 percent derivation from oil revenue throughout their time, but lamented that Obasanjo killed the system.

He lamented that it was this “anomaly” that has prompted all the constitutional and national conferences held to correct the system without any success, suggesting therefore that the country should go back to the 1963 constitution which he insisted is the best model for Nigeria.

The author, Obong Victor Attah, recalled the harassment he endured from Obasanjo because of his stance on the issue of resources control, regretting that it was a phenomenon that was most misunderstood.

He said the main problem associated with call for resource control was that those who knew what the agitation was all about don’t want to associate with it, and those who don’t know, don’t want to know.

Attah concurred with Okunnu that if Obasanjo had been a democrat, the country would have been better than it is now.

The former governor said he supports the call for restructuring, because that the country cannot have it without fiscal federalism without it, warning that without it, Nigeria cannot make any progress.

Adewole: Why Pay Parity Between Doctors, Other Health Workers is Untenable •Insists no work, no pay policy is automatic, legal

The ongoing industrial action by the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) may not end anytime soon as the parties involved are not shifting their positions with Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, insisting that there can never be pay parity between the Nigerian doctors and other health workers.

Media findings on Wednesday revealed that the JOHESU's demand for pay rise and salary adjustment reflects exactly the amount currently earned by the counterparts within the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).

A document obtained by the media containing the proposed Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) from level 09 to Level 15 revealed that is at par with the revised Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) from entry-level 01 to the apex level 07.

While the CONMESS level 1:1 for doctors starts with annual salary figure of N1, 316, 488 and peaks at level 7:9 at N7,708, 500, the proposed CONHESS mirrored exactly the same amount with level 9:1 of N1, 316, 488 and peaked at level 15:9 at N7,708, 500.

But Adewole, in an interview on the issue, reminded the protesting health workers that one of the cardinal demands for salary review looks like a quest for parity with the doctors, which according to him, is not attainable anywhere in the world.

He noted that while the federal government is willing to consider the salary adjustment, but that throughout Nigerian history, there has never been a period where the doctors received the same salary as other health workers.

 "One thing is clear, we will never support parity, and I think we should put that up-front. There has never been any time in the history of this country when there was parity, and we will never support parity.

"We will be willing to support adjustment, but we will never support parity because, it has never happened before independence, after independence till date, there has never been parity between doctor and non-doctors," he declared.

Speaking on the ongoing JOHESU strike, the minister said efforts are being made to end the industrial action as ongoing negotiations to resolve the issues are being handled by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).

"The strike would end soon. We are addressing it comprehensively. There are quite a number of funny issues, and we want to make sure that we handle it comprehensively. We don’t want to end the strike only to face another one so we are looking at it comprehensively and in totality," he stated.

Adewole, while dismissing the allegations of discrimination and acts of intimidation against JOHESU members, cautioned that the policy of "no work, no pay" is legally binding and hence, automatic and beyond him.

At Chatham House, Atiku Says Nigeria Must be Cured of Dependency on Oil

Former Nigerian Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has called for urgent restructuring of the country's institutions in order to cure the states and federal government of addiction to oil revenue.

Atiku was addressing an audience of intellectuals, businessmen and Nigerians in the Diaspora at Chatham House in London, United Kingdom.

He said restructuring in Nigeria was no longer a subject for debate but a necessity because history will record that "we were too drunk" to look after the oil revenues from crude oil sales when the prices were high.

Atiku added that the country had nothing to show for the revenues collected over the years because poverty levels remain high throughout the country.

At the government level, the former vice-president called for reforms especially to introduce effective revenue collection and transparency at all government levels.

He said his dream was to see pure devolution of power and federalism in Nigeria.

Atiku also argued that there is no alternative to a policy that promotes the growth of local economies, calling for an urgent diversification programme to be led by the federal government.

"Let's begin to visualise a Nigeria without oil," he said.

The former VP said the country could only succeed in an environment where there is a more open and market orientated economy.

Atiku blamed Abuja for the problems in some of the states, arguing that they must be encouraged to be self-reliant, and stop depending on handouts from the federal government.

He said further that some of them continued to borrow beyond their means for recurrent expenditure rather than learning how to generate the funds locally and internally.

According to him,  the administration that he and former President Olusegun Obasanjo led between 1999 and 2007, had liberalised and paid off Nigeria's debts in full, adding that something had gone wrong in the last 12 years, and that borrowing has gone up again.

The former vice president said he wants to see a budget heavy on capital expenditure to improve the country's infrastructure. He said the states must be challenged to take on these projects on a micro level.

The potential People Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate called on the current government to embrace the private sector and other partners to help both restructure and move the country forward.

On the social contract between leaders and the led, Atiku said it was important to change the politics as well-moving towards true federalism.

He urged Nigerians to get involved in a collective effort to move the country forward because both its citizens and Africa need "a Nigeria that is working.”

The former VP said some of the recent statements by some political leaders about the youths where an indication that they do not understand labour or business. He said Nigeria must adopt a system where only people who understand business must go into government.

Atiku therefore called on Nigerian voters to demand concrete plans from those seeking political office on how they would create wealth and generate income. He said slogans cannot build a country, but a shared vision can.

Finally, in an explosive question and answer session, when asked if he considered running as an independent presidential candidate in the event he failed to win the PDP ticket, he said: "We wait until that time."

Nigerian Government Tasked on Commitment, Investments in Youth Sports’ Devt

Sunday Okobi and Ugo Aliogo

Experts and sports enthusiasts in Nigeria have maintained that with heavy investment and conscious interest in developing sports for Nigerian youths, the country can solve the biting crises affecting its young populace.

They therefore called on the federal government to increase investment in youth sports development as part of efforts to improving sports and gainfully engaging the young people in the country in order to be at par with other countries like South Africa, Kenya, Egypt and others in Africa.

At the recently held Youths Sport/Business Summit in Lagos, the founder of  Little Tigers Football Club, Mrs. Amaka Onyejianya Agbakoba, was of the opinion that despite being a sporting country, sports’ development has been mainly focused only on football (the country’s national sports),

Agbakoba, who was also one of the organisers of the summit, posited that there is need for government to focus its interests in other sports because “there are so many areas in youths’ sports- management, the training, facilities as well as sports mentorship which are very important.”

She stated that the forum was targeted at increasing participation in sports at the youth level, addressing the financial gaps in sports finance and infrastructure, advising that sports should also be focused as an alternative source of income, socialisation and business.

The lawyer cum sport expert told THISDAY that there is no commitment in driving the growth of youths’ sports development in Nigeria because of the perception that it is not lucrative, noting further that there is need for concerted efforts in developing the youths through different kinds of sports if the country is to explore the potential of its young population.

Agbakoba lamented that the goal of most Nigerian sports men and women is to compete for another country, which she noted should not have been if the government at all levels and the private sector place their foci on improving youths’ participation and interest in sport.

The founder of Little Tigers Football Club further stated that there is need to focus attention sports such as swimming, basketball, hockey, squash, cricket among others, adding that the private sector is really driving the growth of sports in this country, but there is also need for more support and improvement.

Collaborating Agbakoba’s stance of sports’ development, the Chief Executive Officer of Sand Sport International Concept, Mr. Ola Tosin, urged the federal and state governments to show sincere commitment in developing sports in the country, lamenting that lack of facilities for athletes to train in the country has contributed to brain drain in the sport industry as many Nigerians prefer to represent other countries in major sporting events.

He also stated that the poor provision of welfare package for the country’s ex-sports men and women have led many to live a beggarly life, adding that in developed countries, ex-athletes who had brought glories to their countries are honoured, always remembered, and are attached to companies and institutions that would provide support after their active years.

Continuing, Agbakoba told Yellowstone that “government can come in through awareness and creating working groups and committees of committed individuals in order for the sports sector to succeed. We have local games and some wonderful initiatives by some local bodies such as banks. We need to see more government involvement as well because when it is overtly driven by private sector, it has its disadvantages. Therefore, when government lends its support, it helps to democratize it a little bit- sports become more of a democracy, giving people opportunity to participate.

“Presently, it is seen as a luxury. It should be part of life from inspection from nursery. But when you look at the deplorable state of infrastructure, you will feel disappointed. We are here to highlight that there is a critical need to begin to address the low standards.

“My advice to the youths is that they should get involved in sports they are passionate about. Grassroots development is quite big in Nigeria and there are many bodies at that level that support athletes. It is a question of aligning yourself with groups and individuals that will support your sporting dreams. My assessment of sports in Nigeria is that it is untapped. It is as if much of the funding goes into football only.”

Donald Duke Berates Okonjo-Iweala For Revealing Their Private Discussion In New Book

Former governor of Cross River state, Donald Duke has berated former Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, over the inclusion of a private conversation between both of them in the latter’s new book.

 Okonjo-Iweala recently published a new book, titled, ‘Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines’, detailing her experience as a minister of finance.

In the book, she revealed that Duke had urged her not to serve in President Goodluck Jonathan’s government in 2011 to deny Jonathan’s government credibility so that it would be “weak and not succeed”.

However she rejected his counsel and served in the government as Finance minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy.

Irked by the revelation, the former governor, who is reportedly gunning for the vice presidency under the third force movement led by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, described Okonjo-Iweala’s action as being in “poor taste.”

“It’s true I met with Ngozi when the rumors were swirling about her being considered for appointment,” he wrote on his Twitter handle.

“As ‘friends’, she having been literally dismissed from an earlier appointment as finance minister, I urged caution.

“I made no mention of adding or subtracting credibility to anyone or govt.

“It was ‘two friends’ discussing careers. It ended there and she subsequently made her choice which I respected.

“However, I think it is in poor taste and demeaning of her to report a private conversation in whatever self laundering attempt she may be up to.

“With hindsight, I was vindicated, Ngozi, as Minister of Finance and Economy, despite massive revenue receipts, left Nigeria poorer than she met it.”

Kaduna to Hold Council Elections May 12

  

Local government elections in Kaduna State slated for May 12, 2018, will still hold in spite of last Saturday's fire incident that gutted some offices of the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KAD-SIECOM).

Chairperson of the commission, Dr. Saratu Binta Dikko, announced this at an emergency meeting with all the political parties in the state on Tuesday.

She said however that Smart Card Readers (SDR) would not be used for the election as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would not be able to make the SDR available.

Dikko stated that Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) would be used and verified through the voters register during the election.

But the major political parties, especially the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), were not disposed with the decisions of the electoral body.

The PDP was particularly not comfortable with the decision to conduct the council polls without card readers.

State Secretary of the PDP,  Ibrahim Wusono, alleged that it is a grand design by the APC to rig the elections

He said: "Conducting the elections without card readers is not acceptable to us in PDP. The card readers must be made available during the election."

The APC on its part called for the postponement of the elections because of its forthcoming national convention in Abuja.

Acting state Secretary of the party, Yahaya Baba-Pate, noted that the timing was not good enough as the National Convention of the APC will come up two days after the scheduled polls

"We in the APC are calling for the postponement of the election because of the APC national convention coming up on May 14.

"It has been the tradition nationwide that whenever there is national event, the state event has to step down for the national event, therefore, we are calling on  KAD-SEICOM to postpone the election to enable stakeholders prepare for the national convention," Pate said.

But the commission boss explained that they had started talking to INEC about card readers about two years ago when she was planning for the elections.

"We were shocked to get a letter from INEC that it would not be able to provide us with the card readers because it was preparing for 2019 elections.

"INEC cannot hold us back, so we have to go ahead with our own election as scheduled.

"If there is anybody here that can convince INEC to give us the card readers, we will appreciate it.

"However, we are going to use electronic voting machine which is one of the sensitive materials," she said.

Dikko maintained that there was no reason to postpone the elections because of the national convention of the APC, noting that the two events are not holding on the same day.

She admitted that although  some of the election materials were destroyed in the inferno, the remaining Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) would be adequate for the conduct of the elections.