The hashtag #EdoDecides is trending on Twitter today, and the reason is that currently the gubernatorial elections are holding in the state with thousands trooping out to the various polling booths in Edo state.
There are some interesting headlines in today’s newspapers all bearing on the ongoing elections, here is a review:
New Telegraph reports that the portrait of a convicted terrorist, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, popularly referred to as the “Underwear Bomber”, is in one of the ‘voters’ registers’ in circulation ahead of today’s gubernatorial election in Edo state. Abdulmutallab was convicted in the United States of attempting to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear on board an airline from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, on December 25, 2009.
Governor Adams Oshiomhole made the allegation yesterday when he raised the alarm on the existence of a fake voter’s register in the state. Speaking during a visit to the governor by the United States Consul General in Lagos, Mr. F John Bray, Oshiomhole said he was shocked to see the portrait of the “underwear bomber” in the fake register, but with a Benin name. Oshiomhole, who raised concern about the duplication of the voters’ register by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), said:
“Right now, we have evidence of two versions of voters’ register – the one they have officially been distributed and the one that some elements within the ICT in INEC have also produced in Abuja. “And what they have done in the past, which we hear they want to re-enact again, is that whereas they will display one voters’ register which is reasonably accurate, there are still some flaws, but let me say it is about 85 per cent accurate.
“They also have a fake one which they intend to bring and spring a surprise in certain locations where they believe that they have no chance, and when the voters go there and you find a voters’ register different from the one that you know, there will be confusion in those voting centres. “For example, I was shocked to find the portrait of Mr. Abdulmutalab, and that will interest your Excellency, the young man who has been jailed in the US for a terrorist act. “His portrait is in the fake voters’ register with a Benin name under it.
I am sure if you look at the face, if we don’t know the face, you the US officials know the face. And you find the name under it, that it is a Benin name in Ovia South West.”
According to Vanguard, the Nigerian Senate, yesterday, September 27, moved against last week’s recommendation of the National Economic Council, NEC, which asked the Federal Government to sell the country’s national assets. The Senate’s position came on a day the Federal Government said no final decision had been taken on the matter.
NEC had recommended sale of the assets to raise capital to shore up foreign reserves and, by extension, bail out the country from the current economic recession. The Senate’s decision is in line with recommendations of its ad-hoc committee set up to review its two-day debate, last week.
The committee in its report submitted at plenary, outrightly rejected government’s planned action, a decision which ran contrary to the position of the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, who had earlier backed government’s decision.
Speaking on the security at the Edo elections, This Day reports that as registered voters head to the polls in Edo state today, September 28, to elect a new governor, a total of 26,900 army and police personnel have been deployed statewide to ensure adequate security before, during and after the election.
A breakdown showed that the army will deploy 1,900 officers and soldiers while the police have moved 25,000 of its personnel in the state for the election. In addition, two drones are to be deployed in each of the three senatorial districts and six gunboats in the riverine areas.
The Commander, 4 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier-General Benbela Raji, explained that no military personnel would be found at either the voting or collation centres, but would cordon off adjoining routes to the polling units to ensure that criminals or people who want to foment trouble are not allowed into those areas. “The Nigerian Army is there to play a supportive role to the security agencies.
Should there be issues or security challenges beyond the control of the security agencies, the military will, of course, be activated to take care of such situations,” he said.
In a separate briefing, the Inspector-General of Police (IG), Ibrahim Idris, stated that the enforcement of the restriction of movement in and out of the state commenced at midnight yesterday and the deployment of 25,000 personnel of the Nigeria Police Force.
As expected a war of words has erupted between PDP and APC, Punch reports that the PDP on Tuesday, September 27, accused the APC government of Governor Adams Oshiomhole and the electoral umpire of allegedly inducing election supervisors to compromise the outcome of the poll in nine out of the 18 local government areas.
The state publicity secretary of the PDP, Chris Nehikhare, who spoke to journalists in Benin, said the party had received information of an alleged distribution of N2m by a senior official of INEC to the supervisors on behalf of the state government.
He stated: “It has come to our attention that INEC and the state government have seriously compromised the election that is going to take place tomorrow (Wednesday). “People involved in this conspiracy are those that have leaked this information to the PDP and to us to act very fast.
She (INEC official) has been sharing N2m to supervisors in at least nine local government areas of Edo State. “What they have done is that they have written results for the nine local government (areas) on behalf of the APC.
These results are being held by the supervisors and the collation officers at a point where they plan to switch the results with the real ones at the local government level once the election is done.”
Daily Sun reports that the leader of the Biafra Independence Movement (BIM), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, yesterday, September 27, declared that nobody or group of persons can stop the actualization of Biafra as an independent nation. “If I will not get Biafra, I wouldn’t have come out to start talking about it in the first place; and my purpose of studying non-violence method for years in India would have been defeated,” he added.
Going down memory lane, he recalled that he had in November 1999, internationalized the struggle, and applied to the then UN Secretary General, Mr. Koffi Anan.
That the people of Biafra, consisting of the five Igbo speaking states and with large populations in Rivers, Delta and Cross River states numbering about 40 million be admitted, registered or in the alternative be treated as an unregistered nation in any of the organs of the world body.
“I also wrote that the life and properties of Ndigbo be protected during and after the self-determination of Biafra and to dismantle all the toll-gates mounted on erosion devastated roads across South-East and Niger Delta areas,” he recounted. “We are firm that Biafra can never be wished away,” he concluded.
The Guardian reports that when Obasanjo spoke at this year’s World Pension Summit ‘Africa Special’ co-hosted by the Netherland – based World Pension Summit Organisation and the National Pension Commission (PenCom) in Abuja. The former president accused governors of spendthrift, he said:
“I remember when I was the president, I initiated the idea of saving the Excess Crude Account (ECA) for the raining days, but the governors resisted it and told me there was no need saving because it was already raining. If it was raining then, what do we have now?” He pointed out that the failure to save is what has pushed the Nigerian economy to where it has found itself today. On the pressure being mounted on Buhari to deploy the pension contributions to long-term investment to yield returns as well as provide services.
Obasanjo maintained that pension funds must only be invested in sustainable investment platforms like housing or road infrastructure as is the case in Singapore where he said every male Singaporean owns a house with the assistance of finance from pensions.
There are some interesting headlines in today’s newspapers all bearing on the ongoing elections, here is a review:
Governor Adams Oshiomhole made the allegation yesterday when he raised the alarm on the existence of a fake voter’s register in the state. Speaking during a visit to the governor by the United States Consul General in Lagos, Mr. F John Bray, Oshiomhole said he was shocked to see the portrait of the “underwear bomber” in the fake register, but with a Benin name. Oshiomhole, who raised concern about the duplication of the voters’ register by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), said:
“Right now, we have evidence of two versions of voters’ register – the one they have officially been distributed and the one that some elements within the ICT in INEC have also produced in Abuja. “And what they have done in the past, which we hear they want to re-enact again, is that whereas they will display one voters’ register which is reasonably accurate, there are still some flaws, but let me say it is about 85 per cent accurate.
“They also have a fake one which they intend to bring and spring a surprise in certain locations where they believe that they have no chance, and when the voters go there and you find a voters’ register different from the one that you know, there will be confusion in those voting centres. “For example, I was shocked to find the portrait of Mr. Abdulmutalab, and that will interest your Excellency, the young man who has been jailed in the US for a terrorist act. “His portrait is in the fake voters’ register with a Benin name under it.
I am sure if you look at the face, if we don’t know the face, you the US officials know the face. And you find the name under it, that it is a Benin name in Ovia South West.”
According to Vanguard, the Nigerian Senate, yesterday, September 27, moved against last week’s recommendation of the National Economic Council, NEC, which asked the Federal Government to sell the country’s national assets. The Senate’s position came on a day the Federal Government said no final decision had been taken on the matter.
NEC had recommended sale of the assets to raise capital to shore up foreign reserves and, by extension, bail out the country from the current economic recession. The Senate’s decision is in line with recommendations of its ad-hoc committee set up to review its two-day debate, last week.
The committee in its report submitted at plenary, outrightly rejected government’s planned action, a decision which ran contrary to the position of the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, who had earlier backed government’s decision.
Speaking on the security at the Edo elections, This Day reports that as registered voters head to the polls in Edo state today, September 28, to elect a new governor, a total of 26,900 army and police personnel have been deployed statewide to ensure adequate security before, during and after the election.
A breakdown showed that the army will deploy 1,900 officers and soldiers while the police have moved 25,000 of its personnel in the state for the election. In addition, two drones are to be deployed in each of the three senatorial districts and six gunboats in the riverine areas.
The Commander, 4 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier-General Benbela Raji, explained that no military personnel would be found at either the voting or collation centres, but would cordon off adjoining routes to the polling units to ensure that criminals or people who want to foment trouble are not allowed into those areas. “The Nigerian Army is there to play a supportive role to the security agencies.
Should there be issues or security challenges beyond the control of the security agencies, the military will, of course, be activated to take care of such situations,” he said.
In a separate briefing, the Inspector-General of Police (IG), Ibrahim Idris, stated that the enforcement of the restriction of movement in and out of the state commenced at midnight yesterday and the deployment of 25,000 personnel of the Nigeria Police Force.
As expected a war of words has erupted between PDP and APC, Punch reports that the PDP on Tuesday, September 27, accused the APC government of Governor Adams Oshiomhole and the electoral umpire of allegedly inducing election supervisors to compromise the outcome of the poll in nine out of the 18 local government areas.
The state publicity secretary of the PDP, Chris Nehikhare, who spoke to journalists in Benin, said the party had received information of an alleged distribution of N2m by a senior official of INEC to the supervisors on behalf of the state government.
He stated: “It has come to our attention that INEC and the state government have seriously compromised the election that is going to take place tomorrow (Wednesday). “People involved in this conspiracy are those that have leaked this information to the PDP and to us to act very fast.
She (INEC official) has been sharing N2m to supervisors in at least nine local government areas of Edo State. “What they have done is that they have written results for the nine local government (areas) on behalf of the APC.
These results are being held by the supervisors and the collation officers at a point where they plan to switch the results with the real ones at the local government level once the election is done.”
Going down memory lane, he recalled that he had in November 1999, internationalized the struggle, and applied to the then UN Secretary General, Mr. Koffi Anan.
That the people of Biafra, consisting of the five Igbo speaking states and with large populations in Rivers, Delta and Cross River states numbering about 40 million be admitted, registered or in the alternative be treated as an unregistered nation in any of the organs of the world body.
“I also wrote that the life and properties of Ndigbo be protected during and after the self-determination of Biafra and to dismantle all the toll-gates mounted on erosion devastated roads across South-East and Niger Delta areas,” he recounted. “We are firm that Biafra can never be wished away,” he concluded.
The Guardian reports that when Obasanjo spoke at this year’s World Pension Summit ‘Africa Special’ co-hosted by the Netherland – based World Pension Summit Organisation and the National Pension Commission (PenCom) in Abuja. The former president accused governors of spendthrift, he said:
“I remember when I was the president, I initiated the idea of saving the Excess Crude Account (ECA) for the raining days, but the governors resisted it and told me there was no need saving because it was already raining. If it was raining then, what do we have now?” He pointed out that the failure to save is what has pushed the Nigerian economy to where it has found itself today. On the pressure being mounted on Buhari to deploy the pension contributions to long-term investment to yield returns as well as provide services.
Obasanjo maintained that pension funds must only be invested in sustainable investment platforms like housing or road infrastructure as is the case in Singapore where he said every male Singaporean owns a house with the assistance of finance from pensions.
No comments:
Post a Comment